Locating Unit

For my Live Brief I have chosen to respond to the Tiger Print ‘Capturing Christmas’ brief. I chose this one because I thought it would be a good chance to explore photography more, whilst working on my self-initiated locating brief. I also think it would be easier to manage both projects at the same time if both are digital based, besides it could also help develop ideas, keeping my focus set on photography. The Brief asks you to capture the spirit of christmas in an image. The image must be suitable to use on a range of giftware, Including christmas cards, gift wrap and gift bags. The client for the brief is M&S and the have asked that the image is suitable for commercial use.

After reading the brief I went and researched Marks and Spencer’s existing Christmas products, fortunately the project has been set around Christmas time, making product research easier, along with the added consideration that it is easier to capture Christmas because of all decorations up in preparation for the holidays.  On the left is existing photographic cards available at M&S, I noticed a lot of the images were macro images of food, something to keep in mind when taking my own photographs. On the right is ‘Not on the High Streets’ photographic christmas cards. I think doing this research helped me to understand what I should focus on photographing. 

(Left) Marks And Spencer's  (Right) Not on the Hightstreet 

Locating Unit

After knowing what I wanted to do I set out and took photographs. Knowing that I wanted to look at two main areas of photography. Nature and the silhouettes within it and street photographs, capturing puddles and the reflections they hold.

These are some of the images I like. I edited the original images, removing some areas of colour, exaggerating the contrast. I then started to layer them in Photoshop, experimenting with opacities, allowing various areas to be seen through the top image.

These are some of the multiple exposure images I created. I really like the contrast of the dark lines from the tree silhouettes, and this is something I will carry on to develop. I also like the bits of colour that stand out which I think has been emphasised by desaturating sections of the images.

During my tutorial, Me and Teresa discussed how to improve the images. We decided that in order to develop further I should look as some other areas of photography. Based on my initial research I thought that architecture would be a good area to look at due to the angular shapes and straight lines. I think it would work well to create a contrast, making really striking images.

Locating Unit

For my Locating unit, self-initiated brief, I decided to push my boundaries, step out of my comfort zone and explore more of a digital side to print. After seeing an image of a friend’s photography work where they had layered the same image onto of itself, I decided to look more into a similar style of photography. Through looking in books and researching online, I found that there is a specific style of photography layering different images on top of one another. This 'Double Exposure' photography really appealed to me, and so I decided that this is where I would start for this unit. . Whilst researching I found photography Jon Duenas who has a collection of double exposed images, and whilst the subject is predominantly portraiture, I think this style of photography, just using other subjects would be an interesting and different starting point for my self-initiated unit.

https://uk.pinterest.com/Beckyleanne0473/

The main success of these images I think comes from the contrast between the two images. Having a large focused subject to create a shape, which is then filled and layered with a busier image. These photographs by Dan Mountford really inspired me, especially the one on the left, mostly because the subject of the images is similar to what I would like to explore.

After deciding this, I had to think of what types of images I want to merge and so I took to Pinterest to find any style of images that caught my attention. I found a couple of different things appealed to me. The first was landscapes and nature, mostly because it is an area of photography I have always wanted to explore, but I also thought that it would make a good subject for my busier photographs. The second area that I thought would be interesting is street photography, Using images of straight lines on roads, mixed with the soft blurred edges of puddles. Similar to these I found below.

https://uk.pinterest.com/Beckyleanne0473/

Intentions- Pinterest Link

This is the research board I have created throughout this unit.

http://uk.pinterest.com/Beckyleanne0473/intentions-unit/

Intentions - Evaluation

My Final Samples 

Demonstrate evidence of Risk taking and Experimentation – 

I think through out this unit one of my main aims was to continuously experiment. I wanted to use this opportunity to test everything I can within the print room and get to know how everything works, in order to have a wider knowledge of print to work with in the future.

I think I have taken many risks in making decisions I wouldn’t normally make, for example; using a refined colour palette, keeping my designs restricted and simple in terms of composition and also I think designing for interiors was my biggest risk as I tend to head towards a fashion direction. However I am really glad I have taken these risks because I have come to realize that I really enjoy the world of interiors and it now definitely something I would like to work more into.

Articulate Research and Concept –

Beginning from my summer research I think I have built upon research in a very systematic way. My research would lead me to find more research and I think the possibilities for the subject I chose (botany and entomology) is endless and I would like to revisit this in the future. I feel like I could have built more and more on this unit using all of the inspiration available out there.

My overall concept was to keep my work simple and fairly scientific, in order to reflect my research and I think this is an interesting idea because its not as widely explored as other print outcomes that look at floral patterns and other popular flower based inspirations.

Consider a more creative/reflective approach to process –

I feel that for this unit I focused mainly on my print room ability, and whilst this is more time consuming that creating digital prints I found it helped me to understand the world of hand print better. It allowed me to understand how much hard work can go into the simplest looking prints and that refining your choice of techniques is sometimes better than using everything you know.

I feel an important part of my process for this unit was testing. By doing this I was able to decide what worked and what didn’t, giving me the chance to be more critical and build on my work before refining towards a final collection.

Demonstrate the ability to Contextualise Practice -  

From the start of this unit I have been constantly looking at different artists and designers that can inspire me in anyway, and whilst now looking back, not all of the practioners I found may not be relevant any more, I feel that all of the research I did helped to build the path I was lead down. By finding a target market for my designs to be aimed toward, I feel it helped me to overcome a few obstacles, for example the struggle I was having with my digital designs and the composition I would choose.

Use Systems and Scenario thinking – 

For this unit I think I worked harder in all areas, including my sketchbook, visual research, blog, print work and contextual research, and I think it has helped me to develop stronger work, giving me a strong contextual base to my work and a more creative design subject.

I have kept up to date and motivated through out this project and I think a large part of that is down to what area I chose to explore. Whilst the unit was “future past” I chose to not look at textiles archives and to instead look at things, which interested me, and things that I could take more inspiration from. 

Conclusion

Overall I feel that this unit has been really successful for me, it has taught me so many things. For example; how important contextual research is in helping you develop forward, how testing before you jump straight into creating samples is key because it helps you to make decisions and a better informed choice and also it helped me to discover that inspiration can come from anywhere, not just textiles practitioners. I feel I have worked with a more motivated and positive attitude for this unit and I have produced a higher standard of work which I am proud of.

Intentions - Visualisation

I decided that a good way to understand if my designs would work for interiors, specifically wallpaper, would be to test it. So I printed onto some sample of wallpaper, curious as to how it would look. I found that they didn’t print very clean and they looked unprofessional and messy. However, I did not realize that to print onto paper you had to use different dyes and have a separate induction into the print room. So after I had shown my tutor these samples and she explained to me why it went wrong, I then had an induction into the paper print room.

I started to develop some design boards to help me build my wok into a story that made sense, just to clarify and arrange all of my thoughts. Starting from my initial research images and drawing developments to consume and concept boards.

One of the boards that I really enjoyed making was the visualization of my products. I photoshop-ed my designs into images of interiors to create a visual of what my designs would look like if I created finalized products. I found this really satisfying being able to see them in an appropriate environment instead of just as samples. These are some of the images I edited my samples into.

 

 

Intentions - Digital Designs

I knew I wanted to work digitally but I was struggling to understand how this would fit in with my screen printing work because my designs seemed to be taking a graphic route. I was using my images of flowers and the occasional insect that I took through the summer, manipulating them to create patterns and different motifs. My first attempts weren’t very good, the were underdeveloped and didn’t have many positive attributes.

I found myself a little stuck for my digital ideas, which is when I decided to do more research. I thought that if I found a target market then I could tailor my designs to work in that area. This is when I found Timorous Beasties, a design due whose work is extremely similar to mine. The subject of Insects in their ‘Darwin’ Collection helped to inspire me more and so I chose this as my target outlet. I noticed in many of their designs that the work took the form of columns almost. So this is what I decided to take from this, in order to create a similar style to their work.

These are the digital designs I created in response to Timorous Beastie’s work using my images and motifs. I left space in the designs so that not only did it reflect their work, but also so that I could work back into them into the print room and develop my designs further.

Intentions - Print Room

I had another productive week in the print room, testing more techniques. I tested out flock and foil, which I haven’t used before. I also tested the idea of creating silhouettes with discharge dye, which I think worked successfully and I will be carrying it forward towards my final samples. I also printed my motif back into my silhouette using flock, which is another technique I will be carrying forward as I think it had a massive impact, yet is still aesthetically simple. I also tested this process including iridescent foil, (a choice I made because of the similarity between the foil and the backs of beetles and the wings of flies) However I felt that it was to bold, making the focus of the colours of the foil, which is something I would like to avoid. I want the focus to be on the motifs and the patterns I create.

This week I also continued to look for contextual research and I found a few designers that had a similar subject matter to my work. I found (Left) Laura Zindel –Bug dishes (Right top) Porter's Original Paints – beetle wallpaper (Right Bottom) ‘Day Birger et Mikkelsen’ – Cushion covers. I found all of these inspiring as I was struggling to think of many examples where insects were the subject of interiors

 

Intentions - Context and Testing

In my tutorial, I spoke to Teresa about the fact that I needed to try to decide what contextual background I saw my work fitting into. I knew that I wanted to work on interiors because it is a risk for me as I normally take my work in a fashion direction. However, I needed to expand on this in order to give myself a sense of direction, so I started to look at soft furnishings, looking at companies such as Clarke and Clarke and Matthew Williamson.

Whilst researching I found a few pieces of work that used cyanotype ( a photographic process) and whilst I don’t have access to those types of facilities I started researching and found ‘sun paper’ a paper that is readily prepared and is developed by the suns UV light. I was going to buy some of this to create some drawings, until I then discovered Inkodye, the exact same thing, but an ink suitable for fabric and available in different colours. So I bought some of this to test in the print room and these are how my samples came out.

Left (pinterest imges) Right (My inkodye tests)

 

I don’t think the test was very effective because of the lack of sunlight that day and also I found the colours a little disappointing, however I did like the silhouette shape created and so I have decided that I will try recreate this in the print workshop using clear discharge.

 

Intentions - Experimenting with print

My first week in the print room I focused on trying to experiment with as many techniques I could to see what would suit my work and what I enjoyed using. I also dyed my own fabrics up using the dye baths, to achieve the colours to match my colour palette. I also experimented with how I want my fabrics dyed and I think I have concluded (at least for now) that I want my fabrics to have a subtle tie-dye effect to them.

For my colour palette, I chose to have a limited choice of colours, focusing mainly on different shades. I chose to do this in order to set a challenge for myself as I normally have a really wide and bright colour scheme.

I started working on sheer fabrics in order to reflect my drawings, which I have done on tracing paper, with the intention of layering up different fabrics. I quickly realised I was not achieving the clean solid samples I was aiming for and so I tested on a few heavier fabrics, such as medium weight cottons. I tested out a few print techniques; for example, creating a gradient print from black to grey, overlapping my motifs in a pattern using a combination of pearl pigment and dark purple reactive dye.

Doing this week of testing was very useful because it helped me to decide what was successful and what was not. I created a list of questions, which I answered for myself as a conclusion of this week.
-Solid backgrounds or tie-dye? – Tie-dye
-Overlapping motifs or not? – Not overlapping
-One or two colours printed on each sample? – One (keep it simple)
-Where do I see my work? – Interiors
I also decided this week that I wanted to rule out blue from my colour palette to refine it more and keep it simple, because for me, having a smaller colour palette is a challenge.

Intentions - Drawing Development and Research

After visiting a number of archives, I found that none of the work we looked at was particularly inspiring me. I found that it was all completely detached from the work I had begun over the summer, which I was finding inspiring. Therefore, after talking to my tutor I discovered that books and the visit I had already made to the Manchester museum would work as my archive inspiration. From the visit to the Manchester museum I found the insects most inspiring. So from this I decided to start creating some drawings testing out different medias and colours etc. Until I had a break though in one of my drawing styles. I found that linear drawings, whilst simple, appealed to me more and I created a large collection of drawings of different plants and insects.

 

From these drawings, I stared to combine some, merging the plants with the insets, to create something new and interesting. I took my favourite ones and had them developed onto screen to use in the print room. The whole idea of combining plants and bugs reminded me of an artist I had found, Kari Herer, the work of this photographer inspired me and I guess I subconsciously got the idea from there.

intentions - inspirations workshop

Todays task of presenting and reflecting on our summer work has helped me to understand a direction that I seemed to be progressing towards subconsciously. My feedback in general was fairly positive with some helpful insight to moving forward.

Strengths of the work-  One of my group memebers identified that one of my strengths is the contrast between some of my more abstract watercolour sketches, and my detailed ink pen drawings and how they work well together to create depth.

Relationship to specialism- One member of my group commented on my leaf prints, saying that an abstract repeat pattern like that would work well when specialising this year in print. They also suggested that my work looks like the work of a future printer, based on my drawings and style.

Overall concept-  Another strength identified was my overall concept. After starting the summer exploring many nature related areas, such as plants, trees, flowers, insects, animals etc; I then developed into literally combining them (for example in these images)

Areas that need improvement- After my group had decided that the concept behind combining the animals and plants etc together was sucessful, they all agreed that an area to develop would be those style drawings. Making more combinations and experimenting more with the creations I make.

Colour- Whilst I thought I hadnt really refined my colours yet, the members of my group said that they saw a reoccurring theme behind my colours and that I was starting to be selective. With this in mind I think I will look back through my work and pick out drawings that inspire me based on colour and develop a colour palette to keep me coordinated.

Other inspirations- I had a few suggestions from my group on other practitioners or areas I could look into for inspiration. One girl suggested looking into hollographic cards, where one image changes into another, playing on the idea behind my concept, similar to my drawing combining the two tigers. Another girl suggested looking at William Morris to look at the way he turned his floral drawings into print designs. I have looked and found a couple of pieces which I found interesting, and I will now use him as one of my artist inspirations.

Cultural Activity

After seeing Heather Edwards photography this inspired me to take my own photographs of flowers whilst on holiday in Whitby, and whilst taking pictures I was lucky enough to capture images of bees pollinating the flowers. This prompted me to start looking into bugs, such as bees, beetles, butterflies etc.

My own visual inspiration images

I developed this idea further by visiting Manor Heath Jungle Experience where there was a wide range of interesting plants that you wouldn’t necessarily find outdoors in England. They also had a butterfly world section which was fascinating, seeing the butterflies and cocoons up close.

I then remembered that the Manchester Museum has a whole section of taxidermy zoology, and insect specimens. So I made this my primary visit to collect accurate information to develop my drawings from.

Initial Inspirations

After being asked to fill a sketchbook of drawings over the summer I had no idea where to start and so I initially started off by drawing anything that caught my eye or inspired me. I noticed that most of my drawings were based on nature, whether it be animals, plants, landscapes etc. So I decided to refine this to create a theme; to give myself a sense of direction.

Knowing I was going into print I commenced research looking at examples of print within the industry, I found samples of wallpaper from B&Q to be quite inspiring. These samples then lead me to look at the work of William Morris. The regal feel and rich colour pallets are really what drew me to the designs.

William Morris - images from http://galleryhip.com/william-morris-designs.html

 After seeing possibilities for final outcomes I decided to take it back to the beginning, thinking how the whole design process would have started. I always start my visual research with photography, making a record of shapes, colours, and patterns that inspire me. I decided to start by looking for inspiration from photographers which is when I found Heather Edwards a photographer who has captured many beautiful images of flowers.

Heather Edwards - Images from http://flowerona.com/2012/01/introducing-photographer-heather-edwards/

I knew from this my work would be taking a botanical direction, but I wanted to look at more unusual examples of this and branch out further when looking for inspiration. That is when I found the creative editorials of clothing design company Cameo. I found the graphical feel really interesting and I also thought that the contrast of the floral patterns with the clothing worked really well at capturing my attention.

Images from - http://www.styllure.com/label-to-love-cameo-the-australian-fashion-label-with-the-most-innovative-and-creative-design-approach/

Summer Experience

I spent around 4 weeks of my summer helping a designer, Naomi Quarrinton who had previously worked with womens wear. I helped to develop and create children’s clothing for an online boutique which will be launching soon. After what was initially supposed to be a week’s work experience, Naomi found that we worked really well together, combining ideas and developing designs, and so as a result of this has asked that I say working with her within her independent business. Whilst working with Naomi I learnt many things; for example, how to construct garments, how to draw and cut patterns and how to develop designs which would sell. I also helped with building the website, taking and editing the pictures. This helped me to work on my photoshop skills which will be helpful for when i move back into creating digital print designs.

All of the fabrics we used have been sourced so far and have mostly been prints; and whilst I am not yet interested in developing prints suitable for children I found that the experience was invaluable. It also helped me to understand what it would be like trying to start your own business, which has really inspired and motivated me towards the future.

www.minimakersboutique.com

Pinterest Links

My Pinterest inspiration board http://www.pinterest.com/crazybabe0473/fairgrounds-unit-x/
( My own personal ispiration, artists, designers, images etc.)

Group Pinterest Board http://www.pinterest.com/crazybabe0473/unit-x/
(A board where my whole group could post and communicate ideas and inspirations)

My own work on a Pinterest Board http://www.pinterest.com/crazybabe0473/unit-x-my-images-my-work/
(A board where I uploaded my images just to keep track of my work and progress)

Refelection

After creating a fashion folder that had around 30 pages, we were asked to cut it down to around 10. To concentrate our work for showing to Rachel, the group and Charlotte Heylar from Stella McCartney's Print team. So my group decided the best way to concentrate our work would be to create it digitally, and even though this request was then dismissed, I still found it useful to have created a digital folder for my group because it was a way for me to reflect on the key aspects of our work, focusing on what was really important and what worked well. So I thought I would include it as it is almost my summary of the unit.

 

 

 

Overall I found this unit very complicated, but in a positive way. Learning to collaborate was probably one of the hardest yet most rewarding obstacles I faced and it is something that has really helped prepare me for the future. I think collaborating would be easier with a more directed brief and it would help to dismiss a lot of the unnecessary confusion, however I think my team worked really well together overall.  Even though one of the girls did very little work, I feel like me and my other textile team mate pulled her through and helped develop her ideas, in order to ensure that everyone had a fair part in the work. It also helped pull me out of my comfort zone, creating something I would never have created had it not been for my group.