Geometric shapes for screens

Today I have been using photoshop to create geometric patterns ready to hand in to Yasmin to have put on screens for when I use the print room on Monday.

In the designs I tried to create contrast in shapes and scale, I have also tried to combine different shapes together to create interesting patterns. I am looking forward to combining these with my floral designs in the print room on monday !

Combining florals and geometric shapes

Over the last couple of days I have started to combine my floral designs with geometric shapes. I have started to do this through both digital techniques as well as by hand through collage. Below are some images showing some of my developments.

Here I have started to combine my floral digital images with simply geometric shapes, I did this as initial experiments to see how my 2 ideas would combine together. I am pleased with how this have turned out. I need to keep developing these further something I am very wary of is making sure you can see the main pattern is of flowers. I don't want the designs to become to abstract. 

This is a collage which I created by cutting a triangular pattern out of one of my floral designs and then I layered on top of another to create the effect shown. I am pleased with the finished effect even if it did take me 2 hours to cut out !!

Here I used the triangles which I cut from the last collage with dot stickers to create a geometric pattern which combines florals, circles and triangles together I feel this has been suss full. I partially like the effectiveness of the dots, this is something which I am going to develop further. I am going to scan these collages into the computer and develop them further using photoshop. I feel this will enable me to create some interesting effects.

Here are some more experiments of digitally combing my floral images with geometric shapes. Within these I have started to experiment with scale and composition. I particularlly like the patterns where I have combined different geometric shapes together.

These are 2 of my favourite digital prints in which I have combined my floral and geometric patterns together. My hope is to have these digitally printed on to silk. I feel that these 2 designs our finished as they are and I feel that if I worked further into them they would become over designed.

In this collage I have started to develop my use of the stickers. I feel that they have worked well here with the digital design enhancing the pattern which I created on the computer.

My plan is to continue to develop the ideas which I have talked about above. Another way in which I am going to develop my work is by taking my floral designs into the print room using the sublimation printer. My plan is to experiment with combining my floral designs with geometric shapes using flocking, foiling, Devore and disperse dyes. I have handed my designs to Neil and have booked into the print room for monday. All I need to do now is to create my geometric patterns for my screens.

Writing a good introduction

Today I had Context studies, in which we discussed what makes a successful introduction to a dissertation.
To do this we got into our groups and had to look at past successful dissertation intros and decided and dissect what we thought the successful aspects where.

The aspects to a good introduction are:

• Intro is the place for definitions
• No vague statments
• Be clear on what I intend to explore within my dissertation
• Outline each chapter giving a brief idea of its content
• Include primary research such as gallery visits etc
• Talk about my practice
• My personnel view
• Italics can be used to define a word and emphasis its importance
• Images can be used to explain my question but it is not there as decoration
• Bold opening statements work well to catch readers attention
• Discuss the past, present and future
• Quotes can be used

For our homework we have to start to write the introductions to our dissertation, writing at least 200 words. I am going to use the above aspects to help me structure and write hopefully a successful start to my dissertation.

Having a plan is the key

I feel that the key to success is to have a plan, I know this doesn't work for everyone but for me this is what can make my project successful. It helps me to keep focused and on track.
I have just handed my final draft of my learning agreement in, within this I had to write a week by week plan of what I am going to do, I feel so far that I have been treading water and lacking focus. So to start the week off in the right way I have written my plan for the week up in a larger scale and hung it in my room.

In my plan I have written what I want to have achieved by the end of each day, while and University and at home.
I am hopeful that by doing this I am enabling myself to become more most efficient self, and that I will allow myself to achieve the goals and ambitious which I have set my self in my learning agreement. If this is as successful as I am hoping it will be then I shall continue to do this every week.

Developing drawings

Yesterday I started to scan my first initial drawings into photoshop enabling me to start to develop my ideas and this also allowed me to see if my drawings would work for the ideas which I have. During my tutorial with Les on monday he suggested that I spend my week in 2 sections the first half drawing and looking at / for visual inspiration and the second half developing my ideas.
I have to say I was skeptical about this idea as I generally work so that I do all my research first and then once I have done all of it I start to develop my findings and initial visual studies. However I have to say I feel that this has worked well It has allowed me see which of my drawing styles are working best to create the types of patterns I want, as well as this I have been able to experiment with different colours.

Here are some images which I have been using for colour inspiration within my digital designs.

Here are some my initial digital designs, within my designs I have tried to create abstract floral designs working with my drawings and a bold and bright colour pallete. I have also trued to experiment with scale of design as I know this very important in the effectiveness of a pattern.

Overall I am pleased with how these have turned out for first attempts, my plan is get these digitally printed using the sublimation printer so that I can experiment with combining my florals with geometric shapes. I plan to do this using Devore, foiling, flocking and using disperse dyes.

As well as developing them in the print room I am also going to get them printed on to paper and work with them in my sketchbook developing them using collage, this is a technique i love to use and i find it is a very effective way of developing ideas.

Here are some images of the types of effects I want to create through collage.

A busy yet productive week !

This past week has been very full on, it has to be said I started the beginning of the week feeling behind to be honest, I found that worrying about my dissertation title put me of balance and prevented me from moving forward with my project.

On monday I had my first one to one tutorial with Les, I found this helped me as it allowed to raise my concerns about my project as well as ask questions which where concerning me. I took my learning agreement to show Les as well as the images I had found on Pinterest which I am using as my inspiration within this project. Discussing my ideas for the project with Les allowed me to hear his views on my concept and I was happy with the feedback which he gave me, he understood my point of view and the concept which I am trying to achieve. 

when I got home from my tutorial I felt still a little panicked, I'm not sure why this was, I feel it may be as I saw the amount of work some of my fellow students already had compared to mine and I felt I was behind and this is never a good feeling. Because of this as soon as I got home I started drawing from images of flowers which I have taken over the years from Kew gardens, my own garden to the botanical garden I visited in Scotland.

Through my first visual studies of the 60s I saw that the floral designs / motifs used where more abstract than what I would consider realistic, because of this i decided to aim for my abstract drawing methods and media such as Mono printing, inks, gouache, felt-tips and water colours. Below are some images which I have been taking inspiration from within my drawings.

Here are some images of the drawings which I have been creating from my photos of flowers in the abstract styles of the imagery above.

I am pleased with how these initial drawings have turned out I particularly like how effective the mono printing has been, in the bottom image I have started to work back into the design using felt tips I feel this has worked well and is something I am going to develop further within my drawings.

On tuesday I had my Second Contextual studies lesson this time jill joined Felicity in the lesson. the soul purpose of the lesson was to solidify our ideas and create a question which are dissertation will be based upon. I had started to research into digital printing and traditional methods using the books I got from the library last week so I was going to lesson with more ideas and more focus than last week. We got into our groups and began to discuss our ideas with one another. Jill came to speak to my group I found she really helped me, I told her my ideas and she asked me question by doing this she was able to understand want I wanted to look at, I explained that I wanted my dissertation to link with my studio practice. Jill suggested that I look at 60s designers and look at how they used traditional techniques in the 60s and then look at how they are reinventing their designs for todays market using modern digital techniques. I really liked this idea and i feel that it will lend itself well to my studio practice. 

the designers i am going to look at are :

• Zandra Rhodes
• Celia Birtwell
• Biba
• Horrockses

my question is going to be:

How are 60s designs being reinvented through digital printing?

I left the lesson feeling more up beat and overall more settled in my title and now I just need to start my research.

Learning Agreement

Today I have been trying to type up my learning agreement ready for my tutorial with Les on monday. I have to say it has taken me longer than I would have hoped, however  I am pleased with what I have achieved.
Instead of just writing a draft I have typed everything up, I feel that by doing this I can show Les my exact plans and therefore the feedback I receive, I feel will be more Constructive. This will also allow me to make changes easily ready for the first draft hand in of my learning agreement on thursday 17th October.

I Did struggle slightly with writing the week by week section of what I intend to do as i wasn't sure if I had to include my plans for my dissertation. Another thing I was unsure about was competitions, as I know I want to enter the bradford but this isn't till march and this project hands in on the 29th November, so am unsure if it needs to be included in this learning agreement ?? These are things I am going to bring up in my tutorial with Les.
I found that having already gone to library and looking for inspiration on Pinterest helped me write an in depth description of what I want to explore and where I am going to take inspiration from. Also for a guide I looked at the learning agreement I created for Ba6 last year I found this helped me a lot as well, I also used the diagram which I created on Monday stating my interests and ambitions for the project.
All in all I am pleased with the Learning agreement I have written and I will interested to see what Les makes of it on monday.

Research

Today I  have started my dissertation research, my plan is to make a good start with this ready for my 2nd contextual studies lesson on tuesday.
To start my research I went to library looking for books which explore printing and fabric design within the studio and within fashion. My hope is that the books will help me get a more rounded idea of what I am going to explore in my dissertation and also inform the experiments I am going to carry out in my studio work.

I am going to use this first lot of books as my starting point I have also reserved some books at my locally library. I feel that by using a broad range of books and other sources my research will be in depth.
I have also been using the library resource on the vle to look at past dissertations this is helping me to know what makes a a good dissertation and the work that needs to be done to achieve it.

#Stressed

So today I had my first contextual studies lesson, I left feeling very stressed as all lesson we discussed the dreaded D word. Dissertation!!  Unlike others on my course writing is not something I would call a skill, I am dyslexic and therefore struggle with writing exercises.

My report should be 5000 words and it should inform and support my studio practice, it should communicate my thoughts with reasoned argument and should be sourly based on research.
We went through the different types of reports we can do:

• Style 1: extended essay
• Style 2: industry report
• Style 3: technical report
• Style 4 reflective report
• Style 5: reportage 

I felt most interested in doing either an extended essay or a reflective report. I know that within my dissertation I want to explore the themes of digital printing and traditional screen printing.
Within an extended essay I can cover:

• Sustainability 
• Materials and design
• Fashion and design 
• Dialogues between consumers
• Craft, tradition and history
• Impact of new technology

Within in a reflective report the aim is to directly address my practice. Within the report I should include relevant theories or historical references. In the report I should give an holistic view of my studio practice.

 I feel that within these styles I would be able to explore my theme of printing in a interesting way.
My plan is to research my theme and create a mood board/mind map this will enable to focus my ideas. I feel that planning and timing is going to be key to the success of my dissertation, I feel that by creating a mind map I will able to plot the chapters of my report out and this will also enable me to see if I have enough research to carry me through 5000 words.

At the moment I have 2 possible titles the first is:

• Why are designers leaning toward digital techniques compared to traditional printing methods?
• Is digital printing taking over from traditional methods or can they continue to work together to create unique styles of design?

I am going to continue with my research into printing creating the mind maps as I said to help me see which title I can carry through best. For my research I am going to try and use a wide variety of sources this will help my research to be in depth and allow me to find the best information to inform the writing and structure of my dissertation.
I am not feeling to positive about all of this yet, I am hoping that my research is going to improve my confidence and help me get kick started in the right direction, ready for my first draft of 1000 Words which is due on the 22nd of November! 5 weeks and counting.......

Inspiration...

Here are some images which have inspired me and I feel show the themes which I want to explore and combine together within Ba7.

I love the bold colours within this image, they are very striking and eye catching.

This black and white image of twiggy caught my eye, the mix of geometric and floral design upon the dress she is wearing is very interesting, I particularly like the change of scale with the different patterns on the dress.

I think the floral design upon this dress is beautiful, I particularly like the painted look of the flowers. For me it makes them feel real like you could smell their scent.

once again I chose this image as I liked the contrast of the colours. these are not colours I would have put together myself but I think they work very well together.

love the contrast in scale and tone with the patterns of the garments.

This image caught my attention from the clash of the florals, however I feel that the patterns work well together at the same time which stops one from over powering the other.

I admire the combination of geometric shapes with floral imagery here.

I think the panelling of this dress is very interesting I love the way they have changed the scale of the pattern making the overall effect of the design very unique.

I feel colour and pattern are working well together in this image.

I adore this image, the colours of the floral design to the geometric one are very opposite but at the same time they are working together. This is what I hope to achieve within my work.

This image is what really inspired me the most. This piece is from Matthew Williamson's spring 2014 collection, I cant get enough of the abstract floral design and the bright colour palette makes the design feel very fresh and modern but at the same time the pattern has a 60s feel. I also really like the scale of the pattern, I feel that scale of design is very important to the success of a pattern and it purpose.

I chose this image as I liked the combination of florals and geometrics within the collection. Marc Jacobs resort 2013.

I really like the placement of the design upon this garment I think it is very effective. The tones and hues of colours used are very complimentary to one another but at the same time the hints of colbolt blue, ever green and tangerine orange really help the garment to stand out.

From looking at these images I feel that I have gained some good inspiration which is going to help me kick start Ba7 in the right direction!!

hello year 3

I have to say I wasn't looking forward to going back to uni today !! This is mainly due to how stressed I get, however I have come away today feeling really up beat and positive :)
The first project this year is very flexible allowing me to choose my own theme, the main theme of Ba7 is to allow me to develop and hone my skills. As Les said its our last project to really experiment and to become an expert at what we love to do.

For me this is printing, my hope and aims for Ba7 are that i am able to learn and develop my skills within the print room, as well as this I want to continue developing my skills using digital techniques such as the CAD machine, laser cutter (which i have never used, but I feel this technique could take my work to the next level) and the digital fabric printers.
the main things I need to consider within Ba7 are:

• research
• planning
• time management 
• reflective journal
• context
• assessment 

I have found through my years at uni the importance of research, good and in depth research forms the backbone of a project and the stronger it is the more thought out and developed my work becomes. I know that research is going to be the key to success within to my dissertation. When I went to uni today I had know clue what I was going to base my dissertation on!! however I have come away today knowing that I want my contextual studies to based around the modern and traditional forms of printing and how the 2 can work together, this is a theme which I want to explore within my studio work and therefore it feels like a natural progression for it to became the soul focus of my dissertation.

Planning and time management are both things which i really focused on in my last project of year 2 Ba6, through writing a learning agreement I was able to write a detailed plan of my ideas and concepts down, along with a week by week timetable of goals and targets which i needed/ wanted to meet. through writing a learning agreement i was able to remain focused and achieve the goals which I had set myself, I feel that a this allowed me to be creative and organised at the same time. Therefore I am feeling positive about writing my learning agreement for Ba7 which I am hoping to have the first draft of ready for my tutorial on Monday.

For Ba7 I had no clue of what I wanted to achieve or explore when I woke up this morning, which was a very scary feeling, despite this I am now feeling positive and eager to start. I found the table Les got us to write very helpful with this.

Above is my table on this I have written the process I enjoy, where I look for inspiration from others, the materials I like to use, my ambitions for the year and this project, the context/audience that I want my work to be used for/viewed by, what I want to have achieved by the end and finally the title of the project. this was the only part I struggled with as I didn't know what theme I wanted to use for my work, however on my drive home I started to get ideas of possible themes. at the moment I am leaning towards a 60s theme, as I love to use bold colours as well as geometric patterns and flowers. This is still a rough idea which I am going to start to explore and research into further.

As for the reflective journal I am going to write it on my blog which is what I am doing now :) this is the first year that i have had a blog and therefore the first year which I am writing my pdp here online.

Finally assessment, which I am not thinking about that part yet, submission for this project is on the 29th of November. I just want to give this project my all and really do myself proud and mainly I want to have fun and enjoy my final year of uni before I'm out there in the big world on my own.