My First University Project!


Recently I have been not posting much about university - If you have followed me since I went to college you will know that I kept you updated all the time however my first university project has been crazy mad. 4 modules, A blog and a social life is hard to balance out but I am slowly getting the hang of it. Today I shall be sharing with you the development and process of my first university project as it is my hand in date on Monday.

The brief


The brief stated that the project requirements were to create 3 boards. An 'inspiration/trend' board, Market/Product board and a final fabric board. As well as a research journal which I just did as a sketchbook showing my research and development. My project was to work within pre-set parameters, To engage with global trends and use that as inspiration for my project. To develop an understanding of the role of commercial designer. To develop samples from my workshops that are relevant to my project either for interiors or fashion market. This project is also based around the brand Anthropologie, This means my final fabric samples will be researched and created for Anthropologie. I thought about it as to think that at the end of the project that I would really be presenting my work to Anthropologie that way I would make my project suitable and professional as that is what commercial designer is all about - Working to set requirements and being professional.

Research

To start off my research I looked into one of the A/W 15/16 Macro trends on WGSN which I was set in my brief. I decided to look at Every Utopias. As it all about finding paradise in the everyday and my everyday utopia is going on nature walks - I though this was amazing and so beneficial as I can always find so much inspiration in nature. This also ties into the mini stories in each macro trend which is micro-adventure's which is all about nature and earth. My second everyday utopia is blogging - This also ties in with the second story in the macro trend which is stock fantasy - This is all about digital and futuristic. I also looked at the A/W 15/16 for print and graphics and it is based on landscapes and digital printed landscapes that are abstract.









I created a mind map to gather my thoughts. 

I then started gathering inspiration that was relevant such as nature, landscapes, flowers, digital prints, glitch and distorted photo's. You can find my project inspiration post here. I collected all this inspiration in my research journal.






I then started to focus on what product I would like to focus on, Then I could think about what fabric and techniques to use - My first workshop rotation was print however because I was quite poorly for this workshop so I took full advantage of the photoshop lessons I have been having on Monday Mornings. From then I decided I would do a digital print for my technique, To do this I would have to use polycotton material with at least 60% being polyester for the dye to fix to the material once I had printed my design.
So I started looking at products, First I looked at cushions as the ones on the home section on the anthropologie website were very layered up and looked more like a one of piece of art I though this would be a great opportunity to create a fabric sample really unique. However all the cushions looked really textured and I wanted to create a digital design. I then started to look at coat's as I am a big fan of bomber jackets, I thought I could design a print for a bomber jacket like the vintage versace ones. When I looked on the anthropologie website for coats and jackets I saw a lack of colour and I though it was a missed opportunity. So I decided to look on ASOS for bomber jackets for prints based on nature for some inspiration.



Samples

Throughout my digital design lessons on Monday mornings I have been creating new designs by scanning in my drawings and using my own photography. Each week I would learn a new skill such as the gradient tool, layers, filters etc... I would take that new skill and improve and get better each week. Through out my design samples you can see an improvement.

My Photoshop blog posts -



Above are all the digital designs I created for this project, The last being my final design. I am really happy with how it came out. When printed onto fabric I will also be adding embellishments which was inspired by Manish Arora's SS15 collection. 

Sheets

Trend/Inspiration Board - This board is filled with the images that inspired me the most. I have concentrated on the presentation of the boards throughly to make them consistent and to give them some of my personal style.


Market/product board - This board is filled with my developed designs and products that my fabric sample could be used on, I looked into cushions and coats (bomber jackets).

Fabric board - This board is not completed yet but will hold my final fabric sample and two colour ways as well as fashion drawings.


I hope you enjoyed this long winded blog post but now you are all up to date on this module which is professional practice. I also have two other modules which is theory in context and materials and processes. I will now be keeping you updated much more on my university work. 

Thank you for reading.

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