Michael Kidner - live brief

After our weekly meeting I have decided to respond to the Michael Kidner live brief, I find the prospect of the brief really exciting as I really enjoy the use of bright and vibrant colours and having an extended colour pallet. So for my starting point I decided to look at Kidner’s work, the main request from the brief seemed to be to capture the essence of his work, so the colours and the general optical aesthetic. I wanted to capture the optical illusion feel that he had to his work but in a new form, so I started researching and stumbled upon the idea of paper folding. The technique seemed to capture certain elements of the geometric forms that developed in his work. So I developed this idea as my starting point, I started by using a book from the library ‘Folding Techniques for Designers’ learning how to create complex patterns from simply folding one sheet of paper. I liked the idea that from something so simple can come something so complex and interesting to look at, similar to Michael Kidner’s work. I really like how his work appears so simple yet it was all a carefully thought out, complex balance of colour and shape.

 Michael Kidner - Various works

 From these paper folding’s I knew I needed to start adding colour in order to respond closer to the brief. So I decided to start developing digital designs which I knew I could then use to fold into the work I had been creating the week before. Initially I created a few simple designs using photographs of the paper I folded adding colours which I took from Kidner’s work, this started to produce some interesting designs. However I felt they lacked depth to the designs, they seemed a bit simple and uninspired in terms of context, using simply the paper folding’s to create the shapes also meant that the structure and shape was limited.

After being unsatisfied with my initial digital designs I decided to research more to find an inspiration point for my drawings. I chose to focus on architecture which possess pattern, colour and interesting shapes. Jared Lim was a particular photographer that inspired me, his work had a definite structure and a similar feel in general to Kidner’s work. Responding to these images I created some simple drawings which I then developed into more complex designs, using the element of repetition to build an optical effect. 

Bradford Project - Context

This week I focused on my samples, I managed to complete them, including laser cutting the fabric with my designs, then transfer printing the corresponding design on top. I think overall it went successfully, and I am happy with my final collection of samples. It was a little difficult matching up the designs with the laser cutting; however, it was much easier than it would have been to print and then try line up the laser cutter to the print designs. 

After seeing my collection of samples, I felt inspired as to how I could imagine them in a fashion context. So my next step, using the fashion research I had gained, I started designing different garments which I think would benefit from my sample style, thinking carefully about the holes in the designs.  One of my samples had a gradient of cuttings, fading from large holes at the bottom to none what so ever at the top of the sample, this sample in particular made me consider designs in terms of having the pattern show certain areas of the body over others.

These are some of the visualisations I came up with, whilst designing I noticed that the structures I swayed more towards were typically thicker fabric designs, for example blazer jackets. The fabric I used for my samples was the heaviest weight synthetic fabric I could find, however I understand that if I were to continue developing this project I would need to source heavier weight fabrics in order to achieve the designs I imagined.  

Overall I really enjoyed doing this project, it has pushed me a bit further out of my comfort zone, allowing me to experiment more with a different style of photography and therefore experimenting more with the structure of my digital designs. Also it has provided me with the opportunity with using the laser cutter, which is something I would defiantly like to continue to include in my work. I like the depth it adds to my print samples, and the idea of being able to take away certain areas and incorporating this into the design really starts to create some interesting ideas.