Final Line up!

In the last couple of days we began to develop our final line-up. Colour played a part in this as now we had to create a colour story for our collection from an image. I chose the same image I got my first shape from. I thought the mix of colours had a nice balance and there was a mixture of neutral and brighter colours within the one image.

Selected image

Colour story

From this colour story I developed my final line-up. I selected six designs that I thought had variety of silhouette, interesting forms and that fullfilled the brief. I was happy with my final line-up.

There was a problem with the type of paper used when photocopying my line-up. The type of markers that I used reacted differently to this type of paper and turned one of the colours green. It was meant to be a browny, mushroomy colour but instead went a green colour. I noted this in my sketchbook however so it was not a problem.

                                                                                         Final Line-up from Sketchbook



The last thing I needed to do was make a cover for my sketchbook and bind it. binding was easier then I thought I didnt take me long once I got the hang of it.
I got a dark blue colour for my cover as it was one of my colours in my line-up. I also cut my two shapes out of gold paper and stuck them on the cover. gold was also a colour from my line-up. I placed acetate over the cover to protect my sketchbook.

Cover of my sketchbook

After the two weeks were finished I was sad it was over. I learned alot and it only reinforced more that I know for sure I want to do fashion.

I really enjoyed the two week fashion project and am looking forward to ranking!

Fabric weight experimentation!

We were told to get 2 metres of a light weight, medium weight and heavy weight fabric to cut our shapes from and see how they react when placed on the body. I enjoyed this as it was good to see how the fabrics would fall. I learned alot about how fabric choices for the particular garments are extremly important and you need to be realistic when designing..for example it would'nt be possible to use chiffon on a stiff, structured garment.

My lightweight fabric was satin lining.
My medium weight was polycotton
My heavy weight fabric was a 100% percent wool fabric.
I also got a thick wool jumper from a charity shop to use as a heavy weight fabric.

Lightweight

Medium weight

Heavy weight #1

Heavy weight #2 - wool jumper

I recorded how the different fabrics fell on the body and if they held there shape or hung down. I did this by taking photographs, taking notes and sketching.

Recording the results of the different fabrics

Designing!

I was excited to start designing as I love fashion illustration and designing. The croquis made drawing my designs so much easier and quicker as I didnt have to work out the proportions of the body everytime.

I really enjoyed working on the mannequin as it was really hands on and creative.

Stand work

From my stand work I started designing. This was my favourite part of the process because I can be really creative and imaginative and come up with a design that I really like and be really experimental. I just love designing so I loved this! 

Design research page from sketchbook

Designing with the croquis was fast. I was really happy with my croquis. I liked the way the pose wasnt static, there was movement as if she was walking down a catwalk which I felt helped bring the designs to life. 

My croquis and designs

I Included both my shapes in alot of my designs

Parasites!

I was really inspired by my new source. I thought it made a much greater impact and got much more of a reaction then the coral did.

Analytical drawings from sketchbook

I enjoyed researching my source and finding fashion references

I found one image particularly interesting for its potential for finding shapes. I pulled my first shape from this image. Its an intricate shape which took a while to cut out but the result was worth it. 

Image I pulled first shape from

Chosen shape #1

I found a second shape in a different image but then decided to simplify it more where i found a segment of the shape in a different image and used that. I was happy with both my shapes as they were different from eachother. One was long and narrow and the other was broad. The two shapes together gave me alot of opportunities to experiment and have fun.

Image with chosen shape #2



Finding my source.

Choosing the right source was harder then I thought. I first chose to continue on using my source from semester one which was the tops of electricity poles. I did some drawings of them but after discussing my choice with a tutor I decided to change my source. The telephone poles and wires were all very linear and were not right for a brief that centers around finding new and interesting forms. Idecided to go back and do more research to find a source that would give me more options.

Analytical drawings from a page in my sketchbook

I chose to start researching the natural world instead of industrial/product design as my source in semester one was so man-made and industrial that I wanted a change. While researching natural life under the sea I came across coral. I liked the colour possibilities they gave me and thought the different formations could be good to work with. I gathered my research and began doing analytical drawings of the coral.

Pages from my sketchbook of drawings of the coral

From these drawings I was able to get a better understanding of my source. As I began to pull shapes from the coral I noticed that it was getting hard to distinguish which shapes came from which coral. I was concerned about this but I chose two shapes anyway to see if they would work for me.

My two chosen shapes from the coral

I cut out the two shapes from paper and began working on the mannequin creating different forms.

 

Some forms I created on the mannequin

Although I did find some interesting forms from the two shapes I wasnt inspired or excited by them. I had a decision to make to either carry on with the coral or change to a new source which was in the back of my mind..parasites. I decided to change and I'm so glad I did.

I immediatly went and researched parasites, did drawings and pulled shapes. I was also glad that I had changed my source twice before as I gained more knowledge and practice of what I had to do so changing sources on day two was quick and successfull. 



Fashion 2 Week Project.

I was excited to start my three chosen disiplines as it was so different from the 12 week project from the first semester. I wasnt sure what we would have to do considering we only had two weeks for each disipline.
My first disipline was fashion. I was so excited to start it and was so glad it was my first one.
On the first day we got a brief. It was centered around creating interesting forms from two shapes which we would pull from a source we had chosen from either "The natural world" or "Industrial/product design".

On the first day we had to choose our source and begin doing analytical drawings of it so as to gain a better understanding of our source and the shapes we could pull from it.