From my tutorial with Helen i decided to get some ideas down on paper in a more organised manor than when i was scribbling notes during the tutorial. Initially i was worried that my ideas would be lacking; however, once i started i found it hard to stop and have managed to come up with a broad and diverse range of ideas. Where i could i tried to group the ideas around one central topic so this could become the overarching story and all the sub points be the activities going on within this. When thinking of ideas i tried to either relate them to my research, demographic or floral alien theme.
Despite initially feeling this task would be an uphill struggle im so glad i just cracked on and got it done as i never expected to come up with so many ideas. I feel the best course of action developing from these is to pick out some of my favourites and then start to look out how different elements could come together and relate to my imagery so far. Initially i was really worried bout drawing new imagery to convey these themes; however, there are some elements which do really excite me such as a field if flowers. As my characters are of floral form i think this will be really interesting to play with and may allow me to inject some humour into my outcomes.
Throughout this mogul i have been creating a mind map of ideas for my show space which i have now decided to present in my sketchbook. The reason for deciding to stick it in now is that on page 42 i have created another mind map for stories/ scenarios for my aliens to be in so they now coordinate as a double page spread. For this mind map i have decided to create it on a sustainable and eco-friendly paper which features bits of plants to add textures. I felt this was much more interesting than doing my mind map on normal printing paper.
Central to my show space will be the dolls house. This is an idea that i came up with discussing my space with my mentor as it is appropriate for my target demographic. Despite liking this idea, i did want to discuss it with tutors to get their expertise on how they think it will work. Overall there was no objections so this is an element i definitely want to include, if i can find one appropriate. The kind of dolls house i will be looking for will be wooden and white; however, if it is not white i am able to paint it myself. I feel a plastic dolls house may look slightly tacky and distract from the rest of my show space.
From here i will continue to add to my mind map if any new ideas arise. Within my research into kids bedroom products i have included a substantial amount of items; however, within this mind map i only want to include ideas which i think will really work in my space as a way of refinement.
On this double page spread i have decided to continue with my watercolour aliens. For my final collection i want a good range of aliens i am happy with and that i feel really reflect my market so, i feel the more i do the bigger range i will have to choose from. For my final collection i do not intend to use all the aliens i have created; however only my favourite selection.
Within this double page spread i have also included some images of what inspired each alien. When thinking about ideas for them i have my primary photography up on my laptop and generally sit and stare at a photograph until an idea comes to me. Although sometimes i have to stare at an image for a sustained period of time thinking about how i will extract different elements to create my aliens, i have found this to be the best way to come up with imagery. If i am still feeling uninspired by an image i return to my research and this normally provides me with some good ideas. Depending on how inspired i am from an image i produce a different amount of paintings from it. At the top of the page is a picture of some leafs i saw in Colombia, from this i managed to create three totally different outcomes by using different elements. The three aliens i created from this study are the two slightly to the left of the image and the one to its right.
One thing i did start experimenting with at this stage was adding gouache to my mix of different paints. As i was mixing watercolours with white acrylic this was using a vast amount of paint so felt by utilising these it may allow me to achieve a richer colour without using up all my watercolours. Overall i feel this has really worked as it is allowing me to be more economical with my watercolours whilst achieving the same hues. Although mixing in gouache with the white acrylic did help, i realised i had to include a lot more water than when i was using watercolours and acrylic alone. The process of finding the right balance of this was one of trial and error, but in the end definitely worth it.
Overall from this double page spread i feel i have had varying levels of success. I think the central alien with an orange head and pink petals on page 25 really works, especially in relation to my young demographic. One i feel does not work so well is the pink and brown alien in the bottom right of the same page. Although i do feel it looks alien it is too rigid in its structure and i do not think the brown in the body is suited to my demographic. Although there are issues with this alien, i feel i can easily manipulate it on Photoshop to make the lines softer and less like they’ve been drawn on a graph as well as this, i can swap the brown body and eyes for a different hue.
Previously when painting my aliens i have realised i am left with a vast amount of spare paint which i have mixed up and gets washed down the drain. To reduce this waist i have completed a range of experiments using these hues. Throughout these experiments i have worked to create a variety of patterns and textures using a rounded paintbrush.
When thinking about how to present these outcomes i was initially thinking of presenting them in a grid how they are above; however, i did not feel this was very inventive. Instead, i have decided to use them as backgrounds for my aliens in order to start to visualise how they could look within scenarios. Overall i feel this is a lot more exciting than what i was originally envisioning and brings these two experiments together.
I feel i am now at a stage where i need to edit the aliens i currently have digitally so i can start to count up how many i have for my final collection. At this stage they are all very much their own entities; however, are not coming together as a group. I feel working with them on a digital platform could help me to manipulate them so they can all start to come together.
To continue my iridescent experiments i have decided to utilise watercolours which i will also digitally edit using the liquify tool on photoshop. Despite within my most recent tutorial Sian mentioning that i should now stick to my colour pallet; which i agree with, i hope to edit these hues digitally so they are of a better resemblance. Despite this, within these experiments i decided only to use the hues present within my colour pallet although they do vary in tone.
To create these effects and patterns i used a rounded brush and simply flicked the paint over each page. I did not want to create a really controlled and refined outcome like i do with my alien illustrations; however, wanted to see the effects this would produce.
Within these outcomes i wanted to explore how different colours would work together and also the use of negative space. Due to the technique used i did not have much control over the scale or size of each drop of paint. Within my first outcome i explored harmonious tones with a large amount of negative space compared to my other outcomes. Overall this outcome does come across very subdued and quite unexciting as the colours blend well with one another and also with the white background.
For my second experiment i decided to use a smaller piece of paper to see if this would have any effect on my outcomes. Overall i do not feel this made much difference except i was able to use less paint than if i had produced the same outcome on an A4 page. Within this outcome i explored an ombre effect of negative space with a monotone colour scheme. I really liked my previous liquify outcome using only one hue so hope to create something similar with this outcome. I feel the use of negative space makes this outcome look a lot more considered and also gives the viewers eye a path to follow rather than jumping to and from different parts of the page.
For my third outcome i wanted to explore contrasting hues so decided to refer back to the A4 sheet. I find this outcome to be similar to my first as the end result is not very exciting to the eye. Perhaps using a smaller A5 sheet does create a bigger impact than i originally thought. Although glad i experimented with contrasting hues i am worried about how easy this outcome will be to edit within Photoshop. When changing the properties such as hue, saturation and levels they will all be effected in the same way; however, the pink may react very differently to this than the green.
For my final outcome i decided to explore a bigger range of harmonious hues and minimise the amount of negative space. Overall i feel using a selection of hues including pink, two oranges and a yellow adds depth to this outcome with the pink standing in the foreground and the yellow sneaking in right in the back.
From these experiments i started to look at how i could develop them in Photoshop. Initially i started to look at muting the tones so they better reflected my colour pallet. Within my first experiment i decided to use my second watercolour experiment and turn it purple. I felt the purple much better reflected my colour pallet as when i was playing with the levels, hue, saturation and contrast although the green did become lighter it was still quite saturated.
From here i started playing with the liquify tool. Overall i feel my previous experiments were much better as there was a lot more colour and this helped to make more interesting patterns. I feel the purple and white creates a much more refined outcome more suitable for an elder demographic.
As i did not like the vast amount of empty negative space i decided to use my fourth water colour experiment as this had a lot more positive space. To make these hues more suited to my colour pallet i went through the same process as i did with my purple experiment; however, this time decided to keep the hues the same and only change the tone. Overall this has come out a lot lighter than my original experiment; however, the pink hue now appears more red which is coming away from my colour pallet.
Following editing the hues i went through the same process with the liquify tool . Overall i feel this outcome is a lot more dense with texture and colour; however, i still feel my original liquify tool experiments are a lot stronger in relation to my market. As well as this, with dense colour there was so much more i could play and experiment with which i feel will be more beneficial with my collection
Overall i am glad i completed these experiments as i really wanted to see how they would turn out; however, i do feel my original designs are a lot stronger. I have ordered some marbling inks from Amazon; however, now i think i will return these as my digital experiments are a lot stronger and accurately represent my colour pallet.
Today i ended up having two tutorials with Helen, one about my project in general and another specifically about my brief. Although i was not anxious to go over my brief i am glad we have covered it as it has allowed me to update it with my new ideas as i did not want to do this before recieving feedback. Luckerly my brief was pretty good the first time round so it was only minor changes mainly to do with language which needed to be changed.
Now having updated my brief and spoken to Helen about my project she agreed that a younger age demographic may be more appropriate which is what i have been thinking since starting to create my imagery. Instead of my previous age range of 8-11 i have decided to lower it down to 5-10. I feel this is a lot more appropriate and also suits my softer colour pallet a lot better.
The main focus from my first tutorial was Helen mentioning that there needs to be some sort of story behind my aliens. For this we covered the ideas of:
Hanging out together
Interacting with eachother
Talking
Flying
Sitting
Lying down
Dancing
Sitting on each other shoulders
Trees/ city scape
Urban enviorment
Space
Cars and space ships
Hobbies e.g. gymnastics, the park
Having a picknick
Now aiming for a younger demographic i feel this should inspire some new ideas. A point which i felt was really interesting was breaking up my collection of 30 designs into much smaller collections which all work together but relate to slightly different themes e.g. a set at the park, a set in space, a set in an urban landscape ect. I feel breaking my collection down into much smaller groups will be really beneficial as i will be able to focus my ideas a lot more. My first step toward creating these stories will be trying to edit my aliens digitally so they look as if they’re facing each other and interacting. This will take some playing about on Photoshop; however, i am sure there is a way of doing this.
Another point that was raised was that my aliens need some sort of facial expressions. I mentioned that i have previously experimented with mouths; however, felt these didn’t work. Instead Helen mentioned using emojis to gather inspiration. I think this is a really good idea as it is amazing how emojis, although using the same template can convey so many emotions. When thinking about editing my aliens i will definitely refer to emojis to gain inspiration on different emotions they can be conveying when chatting to each other.
Although having created my iridescent experiments Helen also mentioned that i need more background ideas. For these she suggested stripes or spots. I feel to keep these within my style i can create them once again utilising the liquify tool on Photoshop. This should allow me to create these pattern; however, create them in a slightly childish way which i feel will really relate to my theme. Before deciding whether to include spots and stripes i feel i should decide on the scenes i want to create as these may inspire new ideas or relate best to stripes or spots.
Overall i found catching up with Helen really useful as i want to start creating my designs soon. From here i need to have quite a big think about what scenes and storys i want to portray and how i want to create these, either through watercolours, digitally or in a whole different way. I feel this could really help bring all my imagery together and also help my aliens to look more playful so they’re more appropriate for my new younger demographic.
Today in the cohort meeting we mainly covered the interim presentation and our press packs. These are two things which i was anxious to find out about as the interim presentation was meant to be this Thursday and we didn’t have any information. It is a relief to find out what we have to do for the presentation; however, i was getting quite worried that we would have to have a set amount of tasks done between now and Thursday. It would have been useful to be informed sooner about what we had to do even if it was very briefly as i have had this date in my diary since the start of my mogul and not really sure what i would have to prepare for it.
It is a relief to hear we will be covering the group and individual press packs on Thursday as this was another thing that was slightly unclear. Although Phillipa did cover this with us some weeks ago she covered the whole range of options; however, did not mention specifically what we needed. I think it will be really useful to have a list of things we need to include and then another list of things which are not essential; however, we can consider including.
During the meeting i made the below list of important information for myself to refer back to later:
When looking into substrates for my collection i noticed you could order free samples of blinds from Laura Ashley, one of my main competitors. Naturally i had to take advantage of this opportunity as it is one thing looking into substrates and their content online; however, it is invaluable to be able to touch, feel and look at the fabric substrates in first person.
The substrates took over a week to arrive; however, when they did a booklet of different curtain and blind styles was also included. As well as blinds i have also considered curtains for my collection so this is a really good resource to see the variety of styles and construction based finishes that are offered from my main competitor. Bellow shows an image of the curtain styles Laura Ashley offer. Out of all these styles shown bellow i think the ruffle top really links in with my ideas as the finish of this is similar to the ruffle technique i have been using within the stitch room. As well as this, this style is a lot more playful so i feel it would really attract my target market. I really want to use curtains within my collection; however, whether they will appear within my degree show space will depend on how busy my blind design is as i do not want to have two overwhelming prints on top of one another. The best way to combat this will be to have one product as a blender design and another as a secondary or a hero design so the two patterns are not fighting for attention; however, work together as a collection.
As well as the curtain styles above within this booklet there were also many options on styles of blinds. Up until this point i have been simply thinking of a roller blind; however, these pages within the slide show bellow display a much bigger range of ideas than what i was originally thinking. Although on the third slide there is a great variety of styles, i feel the styles such as venetian and vertical blinds will not be appropriate as i want to be able to display my patterns over a wide surface area.
Despite having researched into different styles of repeat, on slide number one it displays the styles you can have in relation specifically to a blind. When developing my patterns for a blind i will definitely refer back to this slide, as well as my repeating structures research in order to make the most appropriate repeat i can.
Another thing to be considered for my blind is the shape of the bottom edge. These are mainly noted on slide two; however, are also referred to on slide one. Within my home in London we only have straight edge so i had never considered the different edge possibilities. What will confirm my decision for the edge i want for my blind is the pattern i place on it and how well this works for the edge of the blind.
Blind Samples
On the website they allow you to order samples from pretty much any design within their collections so i tried to order a range of substrates roughly within my own colour pallet. I really wanted to see how the substrates within the samples would effect the final woven effect of the blind and how much this effected the pattern upon it.
As my designs will have a lot of detail i need a fairly tightly packed woven effect in order for the printers to be able to pick up the details once placed on the substrates. Although very textural the Cosmos off White/ Grey Green will not pick up the fine details within my designs as much as the Apple Blossom Sunshine will which is noticeable when viewing the two substrates in my sketchbook.
One of the substrates which does have a really nice metallic finish is the Beaulieu Steel. I think this effect will really appeal to my target demographic; however, also help my designs to be even more on trend by relating to some of the trend key points i picked up on earlier in this project. To create this effect Laura Ashley has used a blend of 72% Polyester and 28% Cotton so this effect with this use of substrates is something i will keep an eye out for when ordering my blinds.
Another aspect which is very effective is the machine embroidery used on the Oriental Blossom Embroidery Pale Blush. Despite considering stitch based techniques for products such as bedding i have not as of yet considered it for my blinds. However, as well as thinking of aesthetic factors i must think of practicalities. If i am able to find a company that can do this for me great. But, if i have to stitch into the blind myself i will have to think about how i will either get it under a sewing machine or how easy it will be to stitch by hand. I think at this stage if i am to stitch into the blinds by hand i must stick to the boarder as it will be very hard to keep time efficient stitching into a piece of material as long as i am.
So i have these tactile pieces to refer back to later i have decided to stitch them neatly onto an A3 sheet of white card which will then be mounted into my book. I felt a running hand embroidery stitch would be most appropriate so this page looks neat and professional. I have decided to only stitch one edge down so this page acts like a swatch book and although you can not remove the fabrics, they can still be felt and the properties visible on the back.
Prior to my tutorial with Helen this coming Monday and the interim presentation on Thursday i have decided to draw my initial ideas in a very simple way. Within this illustration there are lots of variations which could happen; however, after consulting with tutors im sure my ideas will develop and i will have a better and more solid idea in mind.
The blind at the back of my space will take up the majourity of the back wall. What style i go with for the blind will depend on the pattern i am putting on it so for now i have illustrated this as a roller blind. I have decided not to illustrate curtains within this drawing as i want to present the idea to Helen both with and without and ask for her advice on whether any other students have done something like this and if they have encountered any issues.
Within the central space is a dolls house sitting upon a table or some sort of stand. I felt the dolls house was best raised so people viewing the show could see in side it and not have to bend down to see the interior. The size and stature of the table will depend on the size of dolls house i use. Within the dolls house i want to furnish this using my own designs which will include my own wallpaper and mini bedding sets constructed with my patterns by my self. I felt this was a really good and neat way to show off more of my designs and also have a direct link to my younger demographic.
Right at the bottom of the illustration is a rug. I felt the floor needed something more so this was an obvious choice. Within my bedroom in Cardiff i lay patterned fabrics on my floor so this could be an option or getting a rug produced; however, i still need to look into whether this is possible and how much it will cost. Once again this is another thing i want to ask the tutors about as i may come up with new ideas through my tutorials and speaking to others.
To the left are two hooks, one with fairy wings and other with pj’s hanging. Whilst discussing ideas with my support worker Alexis she mentioned fairy wings and i felt this was a really good idea as they would directly relate to my market. The pattern on the fairy wings would come from my iridescent effects which have a swirling magical characteristic. The idea for pj’s came from my magazine collage earlier in my sketchbook where there was a woman sitting in pj’s which matched her wallpaper. I love this idea and think it could really work within my collection, especially in relation to my younger demographic.
On the right wall there features some bunting. This is something i would definitely love to include; however, instead of in triangles, in heart shapes which are a lot more girly. This i also have in my bedroom at uni and i feel it would make a really nice addition to my space and collection. As of yet i am not sure if i would want this just along one wall or running all around the space to bring all three walls together.
Also on this right wall i have included space for either a print of an alien within a frame or an initial. For this i got inspiration from my research into items for children’s bedrooms. Reflecting on this idea has also given me inspiration to produce stickers with my aliens on them and to stick them randomly along one wall or in one set area. Children love stickers and i feel having these randomly stuck on the wall would really reflect a younger girls bedroom.
Drawing up my ideas for my space has been really useful as it is the first time i have seen it on paper and how it could all come together. Not only has this allowed me to visualise my ideas; however, also given me inspiration for some new ones. From here i will present this idea to Helen and ask for her feedback. Following this i will keep drawing up new ideas regally and leave space on this page for my second illustration.
Since writing this blog post this morning i have no contacted two companies in relation to how much it would be to get a rug with one of my motifs on it produced. Hopefully i will hear back in relation to prices within a few working days
Through applying to the Batsford prize i encountered this online website which allows you to apply to relevant competitions to your subject and also upload an online portfolio which anyone can access (including employers). Despite having a professional instagram and a linked in account i felt this was another very professional way to present my work to any potential employers. Whenever i get a chance between my uni work and job applications, i add another project to my portfolio to demonstrate my range of skills and apply to more competitions.
After creating my collages presented on sketchbook pages 33 and 34 i have scanned these into my laptop and am exploring how i can develop them digitally. Initially before changing the colours to match my colour pallet i thought it would be good to visualise how one of these outcomes would look in a repeat so i selected my favourite that i felt best resembles an iridescent effect and created a mirror block repeat. Overall although this in the state it is in will not appear within my collection it has been a good way to visualise what my starting point is for my digital outcomes. As i had feedback from Sian within my last tutorial to display the full repeat as well as displaying the motif to scale this is what i have done within the bellow two images.
After creating these repeats i decided to try and use the paint bucket tool to fill in the sections with hues from my colour pallet. To do this i cropped out my colour pallet from my colour mood-board and brought it into my Photoshop document. Despite initially thinking this would be the best way to edit my hues, because of the shade on the image the paint bucket was not as effective as i initially thought it would be so i tried to work out a new way to edit the hues through Illustrator.
After opening the image in Illustrator i tried to image trace the design to see if this would help to reduce the shading between each hue. Once again this wasn’t as effective as i had expected despite trying a range of image trace options such as sketched art, 3 colours and six colours.
After this not being successful i simply used hues from my colour pallet and the pen tool to draw over the original image. This was a very successful technique as allowed me to change the hues present within the design whilst retain the details and textures. Once happy with this outcome i saved the image and opened it in Photoshop to crop around the edges so they were angular and then put the design into a repeat once again.
Overall this outcome bellow is a lot more successful than my initial repeat as it is now in my own colour pallet and includes no shading caused by when i originally scanned the image in. Despite this, as you can see down the centre line of this image there are still some white gaps from where i have not cropped the image as well as i should have done. To irradiate these gaps i went back and cropped the motif down more to remove these.
Once happy with the motif i then moved onto the liquify tool which is why i initially started this process. I have never used this tool before; however, have seen examples of it in use and noticed it can produce the sort of effects i am looking for. Initially i opened the image shown on the first slide and then started experimenting with the size of the brush and started to swirl the pattern around. For these initial two experiments i first started by swirling the design in any way i fancied to see what would happen and on the second done this on a vertical and then horizontal axis. Although feeling these need a lot more development i think this is a great start to creating these effects and definitely something i will continue to experiment with.
Following these initial experiments i have now tried to create an iridescent effect in a more considered way. Overall i really like this outcome (shown bellow) as it is my first that resembles the effect i have been looking for. Now having learnt the technique and understand the process i will try this again with a different selection of hues so i have a variety for my collection.
For my second experiment i decided to utilise some harmonious hues from my colour pallet to create a different effect. For this i followed the same process as before as i felt this was very successful. For this outcome as well as using harmonious hues i also included more white to create a softer and lighter image. Overall i think the dark pink stands out vastly compared to the other hues which are a lot softer in tone. Although this does not create a negative outcome it does mean the contrast is a little too much to use this outcome as a background design.
Despite following the same process and using the same collage design to base my outcome on it is amazing how different this is to the previous showing how much the variety of hues has effected the outcome. From here i want to try a monotone colour scheme to see how this will effect the final outcome.
For my monotone outcome i decided to focus on the purple and white hue as these are both very soft in tone and i felt they would blend together well. To eradicate the issues of white gaps i had within my first liquify outcome i decided to add a box around the edge of the motif so when cropping it in Photoshop i knew exactly where the edges were.
For this liquify experiment i decided to use a circular motion with the liquify tool which created the swirl like effects which blend the two hues together really nicely. This outcome reminds me very much of marbling effects. Within my next experiment i want to try and push this circular swirling motion even further to see if i can create a really smooth blend of the hues.
After experimenting quite a bit with harmonious tones i then decided to experiment with some contrasting. For this i selected purple, green and white so although the purple and green will contrast, the white will help to blend them together. Although these hues are contrasting, because of the softness of my colour pallet this does not create a really dramatic clash of colours.
With this experiment i pushed further with swirling the hues together in a circular motion. Overall i think this is really successful as it really helps to blend the hues together in equal proportions.
Overall i have really enjoyed creating these experiments and feel there are so many possibilities using this technique i could create an entire collection based on the liquify tool. Despite having so much fun with these experiments, i must move on and start to look at other areas. Luckily my fabric samples have just arrived in time for the interim presentation so i want to analyse these substrates in time to have an idea of what i want to use for my collection for this presentation. Now having experience with the liquify tool and understanding a lot better the outcomes i can make from it i feel i want to start to develop some designs using my illustrations before moving further with it. However, i think it would also be nice to create some water colour mark making pieces and then see how i can edit these, also using the liquify tool. I love having lots to get on with and at this stage i have so much to do and experiment with i feel i am really in the thick of it and loving every moment.
BA Hons Textiles Final Major Project Blog 