Although having finished my collection as i have another 2 weeks until the hand in i have been wondering if i could develop it further in anyway. One thing i have decided to do is try out marbling to see if this could help to develop my liquify designs/ experiments.
For this i experimented with a range of hues, mostly trying to stick to those within my colour pallet; however, also trying out a wider range of hues as i can easily edit the colours digitally to suit my colour pallet. Overall the marbling did not turn out very well when transferred onto paper. I would have also loved to have tried this on silk; however, as the university and shops are shut i had to utilise the materials i had at home.
After realising the paper transfers were not working out i decided to instead photograph the paint in the water. I feel this is a lot more successful as the photographs manage to pick up the range of hues and fine details of the paint swirling round which was lost in the paper transfers.
Overall despite feeling that the photographs are really pretty i feel the fine mix of hues and details are much more appropriate for an elder demographic and my simpler interpretations of these currently within my designs are better for my very young market. Although i will not bring this experiment into my final collection i would still like to develop some of my photographs digitally to add to my portfolio.
Since finishing my project i have been applying to jobs and also developing my portfolio toward a women’s market. When applying for jobs i am mainly looking at women’s and children’s wear and thanks to focusing my third year toward children’s ranges i have a lot of imagery for this market; however, not so much choice for women’s wear. In order to use my time wisely i have decided to develop designs and motifs towards a women’s market in order to expand the range of imagery i can select for my portfolios.
Using the information within our brief and provided within Emmas powerpoint presentation i first decided to collate this information so i had one concise list of things my look book needed to include. Once happy with this clear list i then went about creating my look book in Illustrator.
For my front cover i decided to use the same template that i used for my sketchbook labels so my look book front cover matched the front covers of my other submissions. As well as this, i also decided to use the same font throughout my look book as i have throughout the rest of the collection so everything looks professional.
On the inside cover i decided to utilise my three selected mock ups as well as some other images. I thought this would be a good way to display my three selected mockups all in one professional layout. These three mock ups i selected as my favorites as i feel their layout is the strongest and they show the shade of the garment/ product meaning they look natural.
For my introduction page i decided to use a photograph of myself and my degree show statement. This page should give the reader a good idea of what the collection is about, where the ideas arose from and the designer that created them. As well as this, i have also included my contact details so if someone wants to enquire about a design they have a range of different contact options.
Having never created a look book before i was initially worried about what it would entail; however, it simply uses a variety of skills we have already developed as textile designers and combines them in a new way. I am glad i got the opportunity to create a look book as now if an employer asks if i know what one is or what it includes i can answer confidently.
Since Laura Ashley has gone into administration i have decided to update my customer moodboard with a new company. It is not stated as of yet when the retail outlet shall completely close down; however, as my collection is being produced for SS’21 i feel it best to change this as by then it will no longer be a competitor.
To select a new store for my competitor board i referred back to my research and selected a brand that focuses on design for children. I felt Nubie was a nice contrast to John Lewis as it focuses on children’s interiors but does reflect a similar price range.
For my mockups i have decided to use a variety of images and products to displace my designs onto. Although my collection is predominantly for interiors i also wanted to show how my pj collection could grow past the one i designed for the show.
To show my developments i am started with those mock ups i feel were not very successful. Although the below mock up of bunting would have given an idea of what i was intending to create, the final outcome of this mock up is not very natural. Despite searching i found it hard to find a plain image of heart shaped bunting which i could place my images onto as most were patterned or of a low image quality. To try and make the displacement of this outcome look more natural i added a gradation to try and convey shade; however, this was not enough to make it look natural.
Within the below outcome i feel this is more successful than the previous; however, fails to look as natural as i would have liked. Because of the amount of opportunities to displace different patterns on different products in this image i did spend an awful long time creating it and felt there was no more i could do. So i did not overwhelm this outcome with patterns i also experimented with adding a yellow hue from my colour pallet to one of the blankets and curtains. What drew me to this image were the toys on the floor which resemble a little girls bedroom as well as amount of different products i could manipulate.
The below image was a lot easier to displace my design onto as it was just one flat surface. Despite this i did still add a gradient to my design to add some shade and make it feel more natural.
Within my below mock up i displaced a selection of different designs. Overall i really like this outcome as as the overall look is very natural and the selected image does look like a little girls bedroom.
Within this mock up i selected three designs, a blender, a hero placement and a secondary placement design (the secondary placement design is in the bottom right). Overall i feel this once again has worked really well as they look natural and work well together. As well as this the teddy’s help to convey the theme of a little girls bedroom. I would have liked also to change the ribbon around the teddy’s necks using my own designs; however, because of the stripes this did not work.
This mock up was one of the simplest for myself as it only includes one flat design. Although it is simple i believe it is effective because of the use of light and shade.
Overall i feel the below mock up has worked as my design is successfully displaced and the contours of the fabric are visible; however, part of the fabric is very textural which distracts from my pattern. Once again within this image i have displaced a hue from my colour pallet as well as one of my designs much how a bed sheet is normally plain with a patterned duvet cover.
The below mock up i feel is the most successful out of all that i have done because even i could be fooled into thinking it was real. The contours of the fabric look very natural behind this pattern and show through well. As well as this the shading below the garment help to enhance this.
I also feel this outcome had been very successful but i believe the previous is more so because it had more and deeper creases in the fabric. Within this image i took the opportunity to displace two alternate colour ways from my collection to show how these could be developed into garment products as well as interiors.
Much like the previous design i have also utilised this image of two girls to once again show how my alternate colour ways could be used on garments. Overall i feel these have been very successful and show how my collection could appeal to a more conservative market who prefer classic stripes or those who prefer something that is different to anything else on the market.
For my final mock up i decided to create my physical pj set; however, mocked up digitally. Overall i feel this has worked really well and does look awfully similar to the product i constructed.
Within my feedback from our last design group project i was advised to make the layout of my mockups more interesting so i have decided to do this again within this project. As my collection is for little girls i wanted to make these really fun and engaging so have experimented a lot with combining mock ups, scale and including designs. Overall i feel these have really worked and are a lot more interesting than when the mock up is standing alone. As well as this by including more than one mock up in each image this shows how well my designs are working as a collection. I really enjoyed creating these as i really got to use my imagination.
Reflecting back to first year i cant even begin to describe how much my skills have developed in the way of mock ups. Back then i had no idea what a mock up was nor how to use anything within the Adobe suite so seeing how far i have progressed is a real eye opener. I now feel so much more confident in my skills which improve with every outcome i create.
Since creating these mock ups i have decided to return and create some more. Although wanting to create a variety of pj mock ups to show how my collection could be developed into this market area i felt they were becoming dominant so wanted to add some more of interiors and products.
For my first mock up i decided to create one of a cushion. Overall despite really liking the image and it being of a good quality i found it hard to displace my designs onto it as there was not much shade so all the designs i displaced looked rather flat. To try and make the design look more natural on the product i experimented with the brightness, contrast and levels in the adjustment panel of photoshop; however, had no luck so felt it best i moved on.
For my next mock up i decided to displace one of my alternate colour way designs onto a roll of wallpaper. Although i have already displaced my designs onto walls i have not as of yet onto rolled up wallpaper so thought this would add some nice variety to my mock ups.
To try and make my mock ups more imaginative i first placed all 4 colour ways onto one A4 page in Photoshop; however, then thought it may be interesting to make a repeating pattern out of my mock ups. Overall i feel the repeating designs do make the mock ups look more interesting and could also be developed further into designs them selves. Despite this, as mock ups they are not clear to their purpose and look more like a design than a mock up.
As well as displacing a design of alternate colour ways onto a roll of wallpaper i then decided to do the same with a hero design onto a different roll. Where as my blender design in alternate colour ways only contains one hue in three tones this hero design contains a full multitude of hues and tones so works slightly differently when displacing the image. Overall i feel this design with more hues looks more natural; however, this could also be down to the image i displaced my design onto because of varying amounts of shade.
For my last displacement i decided to use an image of a child’s desk and displace my designs onto the wall, curtains and lamp. Despite this being an opportunity to displace three designs onto one image i decided only to use two to show how one design could be used on different products. Overall i feel these do make an addition to my mock ups; however, are definitely not my strongest. Despite much experimenting i found it hard to displace the design onto the curtains so it looked natural. I believe this because the shading and highlights of the curtain are not very defined so it was not the best image to use because of this.
As well as developing my interior collection i have also been thinking about how my collection could develop outside of the interior market. For this i have decided to create some designs for a colouring in book which match my interior range in theme; however, differ in style due to its product purpose.
The idea for a colouring in book was to show how my collection could develop when creating my designs past my initial concept. Children love colouring in and drawing (as i know from having two young siblings) so i thought this would be a really nice way to show how my collection could progress in relation to my demographic.
An exciting element of creating some ideas for this was recreating my imagery; however, in a monotone digital style. I was really interested to see how my imagery would look as line drawings created with my Wacom tablet in Illustrator. Overall i think these have worked really well and would be appropriate for my target demographic.
I created these designs A3 as this is the proposed size for my colouring in book. On the market most children’s colouring in books are A4 so i feel by making mine slightly bigger this should set it apart from others on the market.
Because of the current crisis and that there will no longer be a show i have decided to not kit out my dolls house as i originally planned. Instead i have decided to create a digital mock up of what i would have done if the show had gone ahead. To display this i have used my colour pallet and designs and displaced these onto the house.
Although the outcome of this is not as nice as it would have been if completed for the show i feel it still gives an adequate example of what would have happened and is the best i can do for now.
As well as showing my original static images i have also decided to crop these and place them within one of my hero designs. Initially i was going to move them all onto a single page and add a coloured background; however, thought it would be more exciting to push this further. Feedback from my mock ups within our previous design group project was that i should make my mock up layouts more interesting so this is what i have carried through to this project. Overall i feel my mockups in this placement do look a lot more interesting and also make them more appropriate for my target demographic.
Although it is a shame that i did not get to physically create my dolls house i feel this is the most responsible and professional way i could have reacted to this situation.
Since completing my dolls house mock ups i have finished the rest of my deliverables so have decided to use my time wisely and revisit some work i feel i could add to.
As all the rooms of the dolls house are very similar i have decided to use the strongest photograph i took of one room and mock it up in two different ways to demonstrate how i would decorate a further two rooms.
For the first room i decided to use a secondary design consistently round the whole room. For my second room i decided to use a blender design for the three walls and also add a hero design to the ceiling. Although wallpaper is not often added to ceilings i was inspired for this idea when visiting Sanderson at Chelsea harbour as i felt the wallpapered ceiling in the show room had a really nice visual effect. Across all the different rooms i want to introduce a new layout and ideas so they all differ from one to another to make the overall aesthetic of the dolls house exciting and interesting.
As well as playing with my designs displaced into the dolls house i also experimented with different furniture images which i found online. I wanted the furniture to look natural in the room; however, also match the aesthetics of each room.
After much experimenting i eventually decided on the below final images. I feel the wooden furniture and green cactus better matches the hues of the green room where as the girly teepee best works with the pink rooms. Now having completed an extra two mock ups i think i have much better demonstrated where i was aiming of going with this dolls house and a lot more satisfied with the range of images i have produced.
Despite my collection boards being presented on three separate pages when designing my collection i created it as one body of work rather than subcategorising. I was hesitant to put all my deigns onto one board as they would not be so large and clear on screen so thought this was the best way to do it visually.
I have tried to clarify which designs are hero secondary and blenders via the size each design is presented. Although upon closer inspection this would be clear from the scale, hues and motifs within the designs i think it is a lot clearer if on first glance the viewer can tell which is which.
As well as including my designs on my collection boards i have also chosen to include the name of each design and product code. This is so myself and others can easy recognise a design via name as well as imagery. To make my blog posts more consistent and professional i will now go back through my posts and change the name of each to its name and product code.
These collection boards really helped me to understand how well my designs were working as a collection and also what my collection was missing. As well as this when working with a blender, secondary and hero side by side like this it allowed me to critically analyse whether it was suited to each category and if not, what i needed to do to change it.
Since completing my collection boards i have also created a document with them all on one page to show them as a complete collection.
Although previously showing some alternate colour ways throughout my blog i have decided to revisit these. I realised that some of my attempts were not consistent with one of the rules of alternate colour ways where the value of the hues should stay the same. To rectify this i have redone these colour ways and also developed some more.
Throughout my selection of alternate colour ways i wanted to develop my ideas and designs so they would reach out to a wider market and provide more options for those already interested in my designs. Throughout these outcomes i have explored recreating the design in different hues from my colour pallet, some stronger and more vibrant in tone as my colour pallet is very pale and also some really saturated and vibrant tones. As well as this, in a minimal amount of outcomes i have also reversed the value of the hues so the weaker tone will now be the strongest. I feel by experimenting as much as is visually pleasing will give customers a good choice of hues.
To present my colour ways i decided to mount them all onto separate art boards in illustrator which includes their name, product code and hue. I felt this was a much more professional way of presenting these outcomes and now the customer can easily view all my alternate colour ways together. As well as this, this was a much easier way for myself to see exactly what i have and havent explored.
If the show was still going ahead i would have liked to have got each colour way also printed on fabric and presented these so the original would be full size and then a slightly smaller section of each other colour would also be displayed. This would have given customers an easy way to look at both my designs and colour ways in one neat cohesive format.
Now i have presented my colour ways in this style i am a lot happier with my alternate colour ways for this project. I feel i have included a large range of experiments and options for customers meaning whether or not they like my original colour pallet there will be a suitable design for them.
For my next additional design i also wanted to develop my blender designs further. I realised i have used my floral trees in both my hero and secondary designs; however, as of yet have not utilised them in a blender design.
Initially i started by creating a motif using all four different colours and then started to experiment with scale to add depth. Following this i experimented with repeats to find the best way for the motif to fit together, producing a evenly distributed amount of negative space. Despite being happy with what i had produced at this stage i was concerned that there are a lot of hues for a blender design and also couldn’t help but want to find out what would happen if i experimented further with this.
To develop this design further i started to refine what hues would be included and then experimented more with repeating structures. Despite once again liking what i had produced i was still concerned that it had too much detail for a blender design.
It was at this point i started to wonder what this design would be like if i added a colour overlay. Initially i wanted to add a pink overlay to the pink trees and a yellow overlay to the yellow trees; however, then realised it would be nice to not edit the hues but stick to editing the tones.
This design i have chosen to produce in a range of alternate colour ways which differ to my colour pallet in all the outcomes except for the pink. Overall i feel pinking a middle tone for the background and then a darker and lighter shade for the foreground imagery helps to balance the design and adds depth. As well as this, utilising the colour overlay option has helped to really simplify this outcome so it is much more appropriate for a blender design than it was previously.
Now haven taken a break from my designs and focusing on other elements i have decided to refine my collection and create some new designs. There were a few designs within my collection which i wasn’t 100% happy with so wanted to return and create some new designs.
What i realised was that my collection only includes one design featuring one alien and i felt there was room for another design focusing on one piece of imagery. Initially i experimented with repeating the alien and creating a motif.
However, then i thought it may be interesting to see what i could create if i had a single alien featured in a range of hues. To change the hue and tone of the alien i experimented with the adjustment panel in photoshop mainly focusing on the hue and saturation panel. So i could change the hue of the alien to ensure it worked with the original i arranged my workspace so i had two art boards side by side.
After experimenting i created 4 different versions of my alien. Initially i experimented with only using the first and last alien in the line bellow as the hues are more harmonious. Despite this, once creating a repeat out of all 4 aliens i found this to be more appropriate for my young demographic as it created a more child friendly feel thanks to the range of hues.
Initially i experimented with a striped repeat however also then experimented with this half dropped in each vertical row. I could have experimented further with different repeats; however, felt i already have a lot of complex repeats within my collection so something a lot simpler would help to vary my collection. Because of this i decided to settle on my first striped repeat as although it is very simple i feel it will really attract my target market.
Once deciding on the repeating structure i then looked at a range of background hues. Out of the hues i experimented with the yellow was the most successful as the other hues mute the tones in the foreground imagery. Despite liking the yellow i feel the white is the most successful as this helps the hues within the motif to be strong and bold. However, although i may feel this design looks best in white on its own i also have to consider how it looks within my collection. Now having created my collection boards i will add both the white and the yellow and then see which looks best in respect of my collection.
BA Hons Textiles Final Major Project Blog 