Friday, 22 February 2013
FMP
Alice in Wonderland is a very famous story by Lewis Carroll, which has over time been created in to various different versions of books and films. I have chosen this to base my final project on as the story is so unique and extravagant, and the characters are so distinctive. This has left me with many different ideas to work from.
Sunday, 3 February 2013
Final Evaluation
We were set a Live Brief at college, consisting of an Interior project and a Fashion project. The options were to work for a woman named Alison, creating an upholstery for a chair which would be placed in a clients house, or to create a bag lining for Moo Designs to be used in a Spring/Summer collection of their bags. I chose the Fashion project for this brief as the Fashion industry is where I see myself in the future not in interior. I also take a great interest in not only the design aspect of fashion but also the business aspect, so i saw this as a great oppurtunity to gain some experience within the industry working for a client.
When first recieving the brief, I visited the Moo shop to take some photos for my Primary research, but also to get a feel of the designs and colours used within the shop. I came out with lots of useful information and photos, and even a few observational sketches. I were sure these would help me upon my way in creating a succesful bag lining for Moo.
I moved on further developing my research by looking on the Moo website and also their facebook page, to see how the promoted and advertised their products. I also got photos of these and logged them in my sketchbook for future reference. I found the Moo shop very interesting and unique, and this followed on throughout their promoting and advertising as they made it very original like their designs.
I researched really obvious designs such as cows and cow print, as the name of the shop is Moo, and took this further in to creating my own original version of cow print. I really liked this design as it suited the name of the shop but was also very elegant and unique. I then looked further into the seasons, as this was for a limited edition Spring collection. I found butterflies were very pretty for a pattern and would also look great in the lining of a bag. I sketched out my 2 patterns and then made them in to repeat patterns ready for my screen.
We were to draw our designs on to kodatrace, which I found very difficult as not having done this before. It was very time consuming, and I experience quite a few problems during the process. Half of my design had dried on the kodatrace, and started to chip and peel off. This made me a little angry as I had spent a lot of time on my design. I did it again anyway, but it chose to dry and chip off repeatedly. After numerous attempts at trying to paint my design on to kodatrace, inswapped the paint for a light resistant pen, which although thicker than the paint and paint brush, seemed to work more effectively. I finally finished my tracings, and handed them in to be produced on to screens. I learnt from this experience that I needed to manage my time more effectively, as this took up a week out of my printing time, giving me less time to create my samples.
Our client came to visit us at college regularly to give feedback on our designs and also to help us so our designs were something they would like to use. On visiting the first time I had left all of my work at home, which gave me no help what so ever as my client could not give me any feedback for the work I had done. Then, unfortunatly, the second time the client visited I was off ill, so again was not able to recieve any feedback from them on my designs. I made sure that the third time they visited I was well prepeared and managed to get some excellent feedback from them. They told me they really liked my cow print design and to take that one forward, as it was similar to a design they had on their carrier bags in their shop. I was very pleased that they were happy with my design and no changes were needed to be made which was good.
The client had asked for their logo to be incorporated in our designs, but as my designs were a little busy, I had to create a print of their logo and just print it at the bottom of my samples. I explained to my client that I had it on a seperate screen, and it could be printed anywhere they wished afterwards, and would definatly be able to be incorporated. I do think this knocked me back a little bit as most of the girls in the group had incorporated repeatedly in their designs.
I did lots of experimentation including different fabrics and different colour schemes. I experimented on cotton, devore silk viscose, muslin, white muslin, silk, velvet and also borsalini. I also looked in to the colour schemes that my client used, and experimented with colours such as tan, chocolate brown, light brown, lime green, light grey, dark grey, black and white. I didnt really experience many problems with my experimentation, apart from after using a dark colour on one of my screens, I found it difficult to wash out and this blocked my screen, so when I used it the next time, part of my design was missing. Luckily for me, I was able to scrub my screen and managed to get it clear again, and my design was back to normal. I had slight problems with lining my cow print design up for the repeat as all the design looked pretty much the same so it was difficult to see what matched up where. Also, I spent a lot of time trying to create a grey procion dye. They all seemed to be drying blue rather than grey, but I finally got there in the end by adding a teaspoon of brown to add a bit of natural colour. This created a nice grey that actually dried grey afterwards. Apart from this, my time in the print room ran very smoothly and I was able to create quite a few samples.
As the client had recommended cotton and also NO velvet, this meant more experimentation on cotton. This was a reasonable request as cotton is the most suitable fabric for a lining as it does not stretch or rip easily, also velvet would not be suitable for a lining, as could get damaged easily and is a little bit too much for a bag lining. Although I didnt mind these constraints, if they were not set, I would of experimented more on thinner and more elegant fabrics such as silk and devore as these are more expensive and glamorous fabrics.
When looking in to customers, I came up with a similar person to myself as a customer for Moo, which made it easier when taking in to consideration what a Moo customer would want. I fund my designs suitable and would be happy to have them in a lining of any bag I purchased myself.
Overall, I thought my project went well, as I enjoyed it over all the other projects covered this year in textiles. I feel that this project gave me the chance to prove to myself and also to a client what I was capable of, and because of this I put in a lot more effort. I was able to work independantly, but also as part of a team to create a design for my client. I found this brief very exciting but also very stressful, as not having worked for a client before and being put under a lot of pressure to produce something that hopefully my client would like. On the other hand, it gave me great experience for the future and working with clients, and also helped me in deciding in what direction I would like to go in the future.
I have to admit, I did not use my time very effectively, as I spent the first three weeks of the oroject researching in to a design, which left me with little time to actually create my design and create samples. If l were given the time to go back and do it again, I would of chose a design sooner, and then given myself more time to spend on my design to make it perfect. Ultimatly, I was very happy with my final outcomes.
I began using my diary effectively, jotting down what I'd worked on each day so I knew how much time I had used and how much time I had left. I also used it to note down what I had done and what I still had outstanding, which I think helped me in getting my project finished on time.
I put all of my photos on my blog which I took from my clients shop, but then after then I did not out anything else on my blog until the final week. I think this also knocked me back a little bit as I was then rushing in the final week to et everything up to date on my blog and to make sure everything was annotated and evaluated correctly. I wish I had used my blog more effectively, to note down the experimentation in the print room such as fabrics and colours used.
Overall, I was satisfied with ths project, although concentrated too much on my samples and probably did'nt create enough research and sheet work. I feel this has effected my grades, and if I would of managed my time effectively I could of put more effort in to my sketch book and sheet work to create an all round satisfactory project. If i were to do it again I would put as much effort in to my sheet work as I did in to my samples to improve my project.
When first recieving the brief, I visited the Moo shop to take some photos for my Primary research, but also to get a feel of the designs and colours used within the shop. I came out with lots of useful information and photos, and even a few observational sketches. I were sure these would help me upon my way in creating a succesful bag lining for Moo.
I moved on further developing my research by looking on the Moo website and also their facebook page, to see how the promoted and advertised their products. I also got photos of these and logged them in my sketchbook for future reference. I found the Moo shop very interesting and unique, and this followed on throughout their promoting and advertising as they made it very original like their designs.
I researched really obvious designs such as cows and cow print, as the name of the shop is Moo, and took this further in to creating my own original version of cow print. I really liked this design as it suited the name of the shop but was also very elegant and unique. I then looked further into the seasons, as this was for a limited edition Spring collection. I found butterflies were very pretty for a pattern and would also look great in the lining of a bag. I sketched out my 2 patterns and then made them in to repeat patterns ready for my screen.
We were to draw our designs on to kodatrace, which I found very difficult as not having done this before. It was very time consuming, and I experience quite a few problems during the process. Half of my design had dried on the kodatrace, and started to chip and peel off. This made me a little angry as I had spent a lot of time on my design. I did it again anyway, but it chose to dry and chip off repeatedly. After numerous attempts at trying to paint my design on to kodatrace, inswapped the paint for a light resistant pen, which although thicker than the paint and paint brush, seemed to work more effectively. I finally finished my tracings, and handed them in to be produced on to screens. I learnt from this experience that I needed to manage my time more effectively, as this took up a week out of my printing time, giving me less time to create my samples.
Our client came to visit us at college regularly to give feedback on our designs and also to help us so our designs were something they would like to use. On visiting the first time I had left all of my work at home, which gave me no help what so ever as my client could not give me any feedback for the work I had done. Then, unfortunatly, the second time the client visited I was off ill, so again was not able to recieve any feedback from them on my designs. I made sure that the third time they visited I was well prepeared and managed to get some excellent feedback from them. They told me they really liked my cow print design and to take that one forward, as it was similar to a design they had on their carrier bags in their shop. I was very pleased that they were happy with my design and no changes were needed to be made which was good.
The client had asked for their logo to be incorporated in our designs, but as my designs were a little busy, I had to create a print of their logo and just print it at the bottom of my samples. I explained to my client that I had it on a seperate screen, and it could be printed anywhere they wished afterwards, and would definatly be able to be incorporated. I do think this knocked me back a little bit as most of the girls in the group had incorporated repeatedly in their designs.
I did lots of experimentation including different fabrics and different colour schemes. I experimented on cotton, devore silk viscose, muslin, white muslin, silk, velvet and also borsalini. I also looked in to the colour schemes that my client used, and experimented with colours such as tan, chocolate brown, light brown, lime green, light grey, dark grey, black and white. I didnt really experience many problems with my experimentation, apart from after using a dark colour on one of my screens, I found it difficult to wash out and this blocked my screen, so when I used it the next time, part of my design was missing. Luckily for me, I was able to scrub my screen and managed to get it clear again, and my design was back to normal. I had slight problems with lining my cow print design up for the repeat as all the design looked pretty much the same so it was difficult to see what matched up where. Also, I spent a lot of time trying to create a grey procion dye. They all seemed to be drying blue rather than grey, but I finally got there in the end by adding a teaspoon of brown to add a bit of natural colour. This created a nice grey that actually dried grey afterwards. Apart from this, my time in the print room ran very smoothly and I was able to create quite a few samples.
As the client had recommended cotton and also NO velvet, this meant more experimentation on cotton. This was a reasonable request as cotton is the most suitable fabric for a lining as it does not stretch or rip easily, also velvet would not be suitable for a lining, as could get damaged easily and is a little bit too much for a bag lining. Although I didnt mind these constraints, if they were not set, I would of experimented more on thinner and more elegant fabrics such as silk and devore as these are more expensive and glamorous fabrics.
When looking in to customers, I came up with a similar person to myself as a customer for Moo, which made it easier when taking in to consideration what a Moo customer would want. I fund my designs suitable and would be happy to have them in a lining of any bag I purchased myself.
Overall, I thought my project went well, as I enjoyed it over all the other projects covered this year in textiles. I feel that this project gave me the chance to prove to myself and also to a client what I was capable of, and because of this I put in a lot more effort. I was able to work independantly, but also as part of a team to create a design for my client. I found this brief very exciting but also very stressful, as not having worked for a client before and being put under a lot of pressure to produce something that hopefully my client would like. On the other hand, it gave me great experience for the future and working with clients, and also helped me in deciding in what direction I would like to go in the future.
I have to admit, I did not use my time very effectively, as I spent the first three weeks of the oroject researching in to a design, which left me with little time to actually create my design and create samples. If l were given the time to go back and do it again, I would of chose a design sooner, and then given myself more time to spend on my design to make it perfect. Ultimatly, I was very happy with my final outcomes.
I began using my diary effectively, jotting down what I'd worked on each day so I knew how much time I had used and how much time I had left. I also used it to note down what I had done and what I still had outstanding, which I think helped me in getting my project finished on time.
I put all of my photos on my blog which I took from my clients shop, but then after then I did not out anything else on my blog until the final week. I think this also knocked me back a little bit as I was then rushing in the final week to et everything up to date on my blog and to make sure everything was annotated and evaluated correctly. I wish I had used my blog more effectively, to note down the experimentation in the print room such as fabrics and colours used.
Overall, I was satisfied with ths project, although concentrated too much on my samples and probably did'nt create enough research and sheet work. I feel this has effected my grades, and if I would of managed my time effectively I could of put more effort in to my sketch book and sheet work to create an all round satisfactory project. If i were to do it again I would put as much effort in to my sheet work as I did in to my samples to improve my project.
Experiment #6
I did another sample on Devore Silk Viscose, but this time i used the Devore paste to print on my butterfly design. I left to dry, then pressed and washed as usual. I died the fabric with a brown procion dye mixed using 1tsp of Blue MX2G, 1 tsp of Red MXG, 2tsp of Yellow MX3R and a cup of water. This design wasnt one of my favourites as it looked very plain and boring, and the design couldnt be seen very clearly unless held up to the light. Although I do like the fabric and the process, I will not be putting this sample forward to Moo.
Experiment #5
The Moo ladies came to visit, and after looking at our samples, decided that green was out of the question for their lining. So I decided to repeat my Devore silk viscose sample, but instead using the browns I had mixed. I did the same prints and process as the green one, but instead I used a tan colour, using 1 tsp of Orange MX2R, 2 tsp of Yellow MX3R and a cup of water. After this had dried I printed my butterfly design on using the chocolate brown colour I made using a dot of Brown RBTN and a dot of Black SNG and a cup of binder. This also turned out really well.
Experiment #4
I decided to experiment on a more elegant fabric, Devore Silk Viscose. I really like this fabric, as it is a lot more delicate and I also like the devore process. I created this sample by firstly printing my stripes design on to the fabric using Devore paste. I then left this to dry naturally. After my fabric was dry, I pressed it using the heat press and then washed it. Washing the fabric now means that where the paste has been printed, all the natural fibres in the fabric are washed away, leaving you with a transparent design. Then whilst the fabric was still wet, I dyed it using a pale green colour which I mixed myself using 1 tsp of Green MC2B procion dye and 1 cup of water. I really like this colour as it fits with the spring theme which is what the lining would be used for. I then left this to dry again, repeating the wash and press process after it had dried. Afterwards, I printed my butterfly design on the top using a grey which I also mixed myself using a tiny spot of Black SNG pigment and 2 scoop fulls of binder. This sample is my favourite one, as I really like the colours but also the fabric and process used. On the other hand, devore silk is not really a fabric suitable for a lining in a bag as it is only thin and may rip easily.
Experiment #3
As cotton was one of the fabrics Moo said they would like to use for the lining of their bags, I decided to experiment with my butterfly screen on Cotton. I used again the same colours as before, but added a little more water to the Procion dye just to make it a little lighter. I really like these two colours together which is why I am using them in a lot of my samples. I really like this design on cotton as the colours are bold and also the cotton is a thicker material, more suitable for what it is going to be used for. The print came out really well and clear, no problems so far with this screen. Only problem with this perticular sample was my screen was not quite dry, so when lifted from the fabric, droplets of water dropped off and left water marks on my design, but they were not too noticable.
Experiment #2
I also experimented with my butterfly screen on White Muslin using the same colours as used on the cream Muslin. Even though I would not be using this fabric for my lining, I experimented on it to see how the colours would turn out on a White material. And as i hoped they came out clearer and bolder than on the Cream. I really liked this design and I think the colours fit well with the theme and also the colour scheme used in Moo.
Experiment #1
After my experiments on paper to check my screens were working properly, I moved on to experimenting on different fabrics. This is Muslin. I experimented on this by using a Orange/Brown Procion dye which I made myself. I made this by mixing 2 tsp of Orange MX2R and half a tsp of Black K2647 and then a cup of water. I dyed all of the fabric with this colour and then left to dry. When the fabric was dry, I washed my fabric, left it to dry again and then pressed it using the heat press. I then printed my butterfly screen on the top using a dark chocolate brown, which I also mixed myself using Brown RBTN and a spot of Black SNG. I think this was one of the best turn outs out of all of my samples as the print was clear and the colours also worked well together. Although, this material is not one which would be suitable for a lining of a bag as it is too thin and may rip easily after a bit of wear.
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