UNIT X - Blog Post 6

The Unit has eneded creating a Portfolio I can take out into the real world.

I have chosen to start my portfolio with a collection of drawings demonstrating my ability and where my inital ideas have come from followed by all three of my different collections. I've mounted paper and fabric throghout the Portfolio intending the variety to keep veiwers interested but also giving them a sense of weight and feel of the fabrics I've chosen.


The visualsations giving a suggestion of where the prints may be place I have kept simple to allow the designs to speak for themselves. 

Visualisation for Throw, Cushion and Vases

Bedding Visualisation

Along with my main A1 Portfolio I have compiled a sketchbook of mark making and smaller line drawings so employers can see all the different styles I work with. I have also printed two fabric sample books from both of my digital print collections, keeping them small will allow me to easily transport my designs and allow people to quickly flick through them getting a sense of my collections and the fabrics.

Overall I feel  this unit has prepared me when it comes of presenting work to a professional standard and understanding the requirements that are needed to be a surface print designer. The contextual research has played a big part in driving my work whilst the trip to Chelsea Harbour really helped me to define where my work is suitable in terms of high end market or high street. Alex's presentation on getting yourself known and how it is so easily accesable for our work to be seen with all the social media and websites available has made me aware how essential this is. Where as speaking to previous students including Abigail Hutton and looking in detail through their portfolios has been one of the best insights on what I need to do after University to ensure I have my best chances of getting a job.

I am happy with my collections and the body of work I have put together to date. The next couple of weeks I am hoping to establish my self online by creating my own website and concerntrate on selecting work to present for the degree show.

UNIT X - Blog Post 5

Getting towards the end now my designs for all three collections how now been refined and finalised. There is variation within all three collections not only in terms of outcomes and colour ways but they nature of the designs.

Collection One Sheers

 I feel the way I have managed to explore and develop such diveristy within each collection all driven from the same inital research shows my abilities as a designer, idea wise but also that I'm not scared of new exploration and inspiration that could potentially take my designs down a entirley new path.

My sampling has turned to digital print now testing my finalised designs on suitable fabrics for their outcomes. Cotton satin and silk viscose satin have been the most succesful at grabbing the colour within the designs but also are a suitable weight for their outcomes. 

Collection Two Surface Pattern Domestic Living Area

For collection two with suggested outcomes as throws, pillows and vases I have tested a select few designs vases, I chose a vase with a simple shape as to not detract from the prints themselves. I think it is interesting to see the designs at various scales and also how they can work on a new surface other than paper or fabric. 

Collection Three Bedding

  Throughout the unit I have been doing research into other designs digital portfolios and blogs to help with the presentation, layout and style of my own. Two of my personal favourites where Abigail Huttons and Marzena Jasniewska. Abigails website manages to show a vast range of skills she has and her abilities as a designer without over loading you with repeatative images. Where as Marzenas clean cut style that presents all her designs on the first page instantly attracting your attention.

Marzena Previous Students Website

For me personally, somebody who is aspiring to become a surface print designer I think a combination of the best quailties just discussed from both their digital portfolios is what I need to be considering when making my own. 

UNIT X - Blog Post 4

Back from Easter break I am developing designs for both my bedding and interior accesories collections whilst spending time in the print room furthering my fabric samples for my repeat pattern sheers collection.

Using paintings, dyed fabric and screen prints as new drawings to create new designs from I've experiemented with panel designs and mirrored repeats. At the moment I feel my throw, cushion and vase collection is much closer to being refined and finalised then my prints for bedding which I need to do some new contextual/inspirational research into before I can develop them further.

Ink Drawing Edited and put into Simple Repeat

In the print room I have been testing new methods for my sheers collection, printing with foil glue on varied fabrics has been my most succesful. When held up to the light the design becomes visible perfect for the voile outcome sheers are often used for. 

Foil Glue on Sheer Fabric

I have found the devore linen a challenge, alot of my designs are created from fine lines so seeing the burnt out design on a thicker fabric that doesn't allow light through is proving hard. Next week I am going to continue sampling with it. It is a fabric I would like to keep within the collection as it adds variation to weight and texture but also possibilties for other complimentary outcomes. 

Devore Linen Attempt before Burnt Out Properly

I was planning to create a look book from the sheers collection as it not only demonstrates a variety of repeat styles but also a variation of techniques you can only achieve through screen printing such as flocking and foiling. However, after creating some of the samples and realising the best way to veiw them is often held up in natural light as you would see them in context I have made the descion not too as binding them together would take away from the what the designs are essentially about.

UNIT X - Blog Post 3 - Over Easter

Over Easter I  have spent time doing further sampling in the print room. The addition of pigment rather than just using reactive dyes on my fabrics has made a dramatic turning point with my designs.The flat colour and graphic style of my imagery on screen has added variation to the ombre and gradient designs I've been creating up till now.

Pearl Pigment on Velvet

I've now made the decision to go down two routes, splitting what was going to be one large minimalistic collection into two more varied collections with their own colour stories. 

One collection with the outcome intended to be interior accesories - throws, cushions and vases.
The other a bedding collection with prints that can be adapted to single, double etc size duvets and pillow cases.

When I started to work in photoshop putting my print samples into repeat suggestions I also experiemented with combining the blurred colour transisiton aspect of my designs with the graphic flat imagery. This design imparticular is when the turning point occured. Printed on a fresh, crisp white fabric I could see the tones and graphic qualities well suited to bedding rather than throws, and other items you may find in a domestic living room.

 

Graphic and Blurred Qualities Combined & Visualisation

I did some research into designers who combine both those qualities within their own work and come across Lorena Gaxiola who designs in a similar way for her bedding and rug collections for inspiration on how I could continue to develop this new approach. 

Lorena Gaxiola

Her most recent collection has a limited colour pallete so although designs are very varied they still all work together. This is one of the reasons (besides my colour stories being suited to different outcomes) I have decided to split my one colour pallete and collection into two smaller ones.

UNIT X - Blog Post 2 - London Contextual Research

Before Easter I travelled down to London to vist Chelsea Habour for further high end contextual research, inspiration and to help me come to a conclusion on which fabrics would be appropriate for my context/designs. 

Mark Alexander Devore Linen

  
Mark Alexander's fabrics have had a big influence within this unit. He has inspired me to take the designs from my first collection in the practice unit and develop them further onto new materials. I have demonstrated alot of repeat styles within that collection that I would like to include in my portfolio but the fabrics I initally used were more of a dress weight. To adapt their suitability to the context of sheers fabric collection for an interior I'm going to develop my sampling further on  Devore Linens and Velvets, Voiles and Silk.

My second collection that I've been adding drawings and designs to throughout this unit has now been confirmed it has a much better suitability towards a high end interior market. I found within London alot of the high end companies had such as Anthropologie and Designers Guild had similar qualities within their designs including colour palettes, total variation, abstract mark making and fabrics. 

Designers Guild

Alot of my designs so far for the second collection have been panel designs. Designers guild demonstrated some simple side to side repeats using textural imagery. It's made me consider a more simplistic approach to the repeat styles I use within this collection not to overcomplicate them and detract from the minimalistic style of the designs.

Jessica Zoobs collection collaborating with Black edition demonstated a very inspirational range of fabrics and compositions. The textual qualities within the linen she uses provide a fresh and contemporary contrast against the luxorious velvets. Velvet and moleskin cotton are two fabrics I have been using within my second collection as the pile allows me to create textural differences and resists that are a feature of my designs. I'm now considering the additon of Woven Silks and Linens or possibly a plain weave cotton to the collection that would be suitable to use as a throw unlike the onesided pile fabrics I've previously been sampling with. 

Jessica Zoob Sample Book and Fabric Hangings

UNIT X - Blog Post 1

The first three weeks of Unit X have consisted of a lot of research; this has been broken down into how I could continue forward with my previous project, contextual research, artist influences and further primary visual research. 

Photography

To expand my visual research further I started looking at textures created by nature to develop my mark making and enable me to create new patterns. The landscape photos I am planning to use as composition and colour proportion influences within my designs inspired by Marimekko. 

Marimekko

Another major artist influence so far has been Lynn Pollard, although working to a different context of fine art the simplicity of her work and colour palette/colour proportions are qualities I saw within my own work towards the end of the Practice Unit and all aspects I want to drive further within Unit X. 

Lynn Pollard

Context wise I have been researching into a diverse range of products suitable for a domestic home to see where my designs would be appropriately suited. After researching into companies and designers such as Designers Guild, Harlequin, Maria Hatling and Fiona Howard in search of items that would not only work with my designs but also could work together as a collection I have decided surface print for interior accessories is my way forward; at the moment throws, cushions and ceramic vases accompanied by some form of wall artwork is what I envisage.

Maria Hatling Interior Accessories

I feel at the moment some of my initial drawing work isn't as good as it could be, my composition could be more thoughtful however now I have more visual research these should improve. I have continued with the resist idea and introduced using gloss as a way of creating marks and patterns within my ombres and gradients rather than bleach. I think the contrast in textures it creates on paper as well as its shiny finish when applied thickly is working well and also ties together the textural qualities I created on the pile fabrics in the Practice Unit.

Ink Drawing with Gloss

Week Eighteen Evaluation

Overall I think I've accomplished everything I set out to do in my learning agreement in terms of aims throughout the unit. Some ideas have took different turns than I thought they would and certain mistakes have lead to inspiration for positive change.

Experimenting with new fabrics I've never worked with before such as the moleskin cotton and linen and testing out designing for new surfaces is what I want to drive in Unit X. I think the addition of ceramics and glass has had a positive impact on my work and finishes off the fabric collections.

Although I like Collection One and think it works well together some of the fabrics sampled on could have been a heavier weight to be more suited to an interior. It was very much concept based thinking about the bleaching of the coral reefs throughout.

Collection Two to me is more exciting, the addition of colour in my work after working purely in whites I enjoyed. I was much more experimental with art work in this collection and think it definitely paid off. I was a bit unsure at first where I would place ombres and dip dyes in a home at first other than in panels however contextual research and inspiration lead to the addition of surface print for accessories too that works well with my contemporary designs.

In Unit X I hope to continue painting, dying and fabric sampling to create artwork for designs. I want to take Collection Two further and continue combining the textures and mark making with ombres in different ways. At this moment in time the outcome will be an interior surface print collection that can be applied to fabrics, wallpapers, ceramics and glass.

In an addition to the live projects I've carried out I've also been networking for the last six months on Facebook and Twitter. It started off with me uploading an image of a piece of artwork I did and people responding asking for orders. Money was transferred via Paypal and in total I've posted out over twenty canvas'.  Like my ceramic transfer commission I carried out as one of my life projects it's taught me a lot about costings and timings but also that you can use social media sites as a way of getting extra work.

Week Seventeen

This week I've tested new surfaces for both collections applying ceramic transfers onto tiles and printing some smaller scale designs onto acetate as a way of simulating glass. I enjoy working to a variety of surfaces and think the contrast of the hard smooth surfaces against the soft / textured fabrics I've been working with. After sampling it's confirmed my first thoughts that working with these new materials is a direction I would like to go in unit x.

Collection Two Visualisation

I had a go at some visualisations using my photographs, seeing how my designs work together as a collection is something I could have benefit from earlier on in the project. In unit x I intend to do them throughout as it's easier to see if my work fits into its context and what could possibly be missing in terms of scale, colour and compositions or accompanying designs.

Starting to Refine Collection Two

I have selectively refined collection two. It's gone down the route of simplistic gradients, ombres, blurring and controlled mark making. I've been combining mark making with dying in my fabric samples, recently these have been improving now I know the direction of the minimalist approach this collection has ended up taking.

Mark Making Resist on Dyed Moleskin Cotton

Week Fifteen and Sixteen

Further Drawing Experiments

This couple of weeks has consisted of further exploration of sampling and the addition of silks. The rich colour combined with the texture from Zeddana Silk creates a new interesting feature itself as opposed to the wish washy flat colour on my finer fabrics tested in this collection. I hope to continue testing this with the addition of bringing Linens back into my sampling.

Textured Silk Sample

Taking photos ready to use for visualisations has inspired me contextually. I think this second body of work (collection two) is well suited to the accessories side of interiors with the bold splashes of colour and texture.

Although intended to be high end visiting high street stores such as M & S Home, John Lewis, Natuzzi and Laura Ashley has not only made me re-consider the dual suitability for the collection of high end but also high street too. It helped bring focus to where I can visualise these designs object/ context wise.

Initially I felt the work was more suitable to a high end due to the costing of the materials I was using but also combining processes such as print, dye, and devore. Now I'm considering accessories (ceramic vases, dinner sets, glasses, cushions & lighting) a high street context could also be appropriate.

Week Fourteen

After initial sampling for collection two and further inspiration I have decided to put collection three on hold. There is so much more development than I first thought and new directions this second collection of colour transition could take.

Kate Blee

Kate Blee along with Susan Bosence has provided me with inspiration of new surfaces I could work with and objects I could use within my dying to create new line and texture. In this sample I used pegs dipped with bleach as a way of making controlled pattern within an already dyed fabric inspired by Susan.

Susan Bosence

Bleached with Pegs Sample

Revising collection one and furthering the accompanying ceramic sampling rather than just visualising pattern placement will be more beneficial in the long run as materials and methods need testing.

My ideas for collection three at the moment are more finalised in my mind in terms of colour, material, technique and imagery, continuing exploring inspiration and my ideas for collection two is what I intend to experiment with and explore more over the next few weeks.

Week Thirteen

Pigment Resist on Velvet Cotton

After sampling in the print room and some inspiration/contextual research my second collection has had a turn in its direction. Rather than dip dying I've found stripes created by tie-dye much more interesting visually, in this print that has inspired my turning point I used pigment as a resist that I printed onto the fabric first. It works really well on pile fabrics creating a contrast in textures and subtly shows the design. After sampling a range Velvet Cotton and Moleskin Cotton have proved to be the best in keeping the rich warm tones of the colour. 

Paola Navone

Paola Navone's rug collection has inspired to test various folding methods, the lines she creates are much more appropriate to an interior typical tie-dye prints you may see in fashion. 

Ralph Lauren

Vera Wang

Context wise Ralph Lauren and Vera Wang have designed contemporary ombre and dip dye bedding collections whilst Romo Black's Orchis Collection includes cushions, upholstery fabrics and drapes for a contemporary home. 

Over Christmas

Ombre / Dip Dye

Drawing for Collection Two was a priority over Christmas, with dying, devore and colour transition being the main focus of this collection I experimented with ways I could translate this onto paper. Gradients and new takes on the typical dip dye was my started point quickly moving onto more interesting markmaking. Using bleach proved very successful, the uncontrollable lines all were very fitting to my initial inspiration of coral reefs. It seemed I had finally found the most fitting media to capture the tentacles of a Jelly Fish.

Ink and Bleach Drawings 

A little dying of fabric took place, simple dip dyes onto already burnt out devore turned out more interesting than was intended. I had placed wallpaper face down on the floor for somewhere to put my fabric while it dried, when removing it these prints below were created. The textures and marks created are so random, they demonstrated the colour transition approach I'd been trying to create but in a much more interesting way. I'm going to continue making drawings this way when I go back in the print room expanding my range of mark making and dying techniques. 

Fabric Prints