THE TREND-FORECASTING TALK THAT FINALLY ANSWERED MY QUESTION...

Throughout my time at university so far, the question always on my mind had always been; Should I specialise in fashion or interiors? For so long I got swallowed up in which would get me the better job, which would lead me to a job that is more local to me? These questions was leading my practice, to build my portfolio to suit the job I thought I needed. All I knew is that I had a passion for design, mostly digital and screen print. I also have a passion for trends and curating them together along with the research behind them. Did this make me different? I did not want to specialise in a certain thing, I wanted to focus on my passions and what I love doing. This all fell into place today.

Today, a guest lecture and group tutorials were lead by Victoria Redshaw, the person behind Scarlet Opus the trend forecasting agency. Before I attended the lecture, I knew it would be right up my street. I had a good feeling about how I would feel and think about the words she would speak. Scarlet Opus are a trend forecasting agency that work in the interior sector. They attend trend exhibitions around the world, hold seminars and talks, organise trend tours for people to see the world of exhibitions or trade shows through their eyes, they do workshops and work with the media a lot; all while working on current projects with clients and creating seasonal trends. 

To understand what they did as a company was a big relief for me, I never even thought it was a job. This job is all my passions rolled into one. Victoria made us aware that in the industry its not who got the best grade, its about who has the biggest passion and portfolio to back up that passion. It was a weight off my shoulder to say the least. To be in the position that Victoria is in would be my absolute dream job and it has finally answered my question. 

Fashion just is not my forte, why should I try and pursue something fully , that I'm not as interested in when I could excel at something else I really enjoy? I want to put my focus onto interior and lifestyle trends and designs and it feels so good to have finally made up my mind! 

If you are into trends then check out Scarlet Opus website/blog, Victoria really is so knowledgeable and is such an expert in her field. I really enjoyed the lecture she held today where she talked us through her companies trend research process, A new upcoming trend from Scarlet Opus and then held also held small group tutorials where she gave advice and feedback about our BA theory project for our future directions module. I was extremely happy with the feedback I got and with how I presented my ideas. This work is defiantly a passion of mine and I will be updating my blog more frequently with current project developments to share everything!

Thanks again to Victoria, it's been a good day! 

FINAL YEAR IS UPON ME

Browsing through Facebook today when it popped up on my memories - 3 years ago today I was getting the last bits ready for my final major project exhibition at barnsley college  and I was extremely excited to be heading onto a new adventure at Huddersfield University. Its flown so quickly, it's such an odd time, the people from my year who went straight into final year have finished university for good and I'm so excited to go to the degree show and see how much amazing work they have produced. The people who went on to have a placement year/gap year are all just receiving their emails with information about our induction to final year. It all feels so real now, surprisingly exciting though. The past year has been up and down with no real set routine for me, yes some people who had amazing placements and experienced some great opportunities this past year will have such inspiring stories to share when we all get back to class however all the real good placements are down London and if you cannot afford to live there on 1/3 of your student loan then its not really going to be that great. Some people like my self just needed the time away from education, I'm so glad I did. It's been hard but it's really opened my eyes. 

During this placement year, I've set up my own handmade interior business then decided it wasn't what I wanted to do, moved in and then back out of a pub whilst working there too (managed it alone for a brief time too - how fun that was), I've worked for illamasqua and realised even though an amazing opportunity that it's not what I want right now as I've started my own freelancing makeup business which I love more than anything in the world. Makeup is my passion and its something I am good at. I love working on a weekend making people feel beautiful and meeting new clients who become good friends. I have such big plans and dreams for my little business but for now I'm just enjoying it. I've used my gap year to focus on gaining confidence and qualifications in makeup by doing a makeup course. I soon realised when trying to find work experience for placement year that there is nothing suitable in my area. This gives me heart palpitations when thinking about what I'm going to do when I graduate, I do not want to move away and maybe I won't even want to carry on my career in textiles just because theres nothing suitable around here. Makeup is my calling and that is what I will carry on doing, I just love it. So as you see it has been one roller-coaster of a year. 

Since receiving the email for my induction to final year I have been super excited to get back into a routine, back to the grind, the hard work and mostly to see all my girls I've missed them so much. So heres to going back to the adventure and working my arse off to get the degree I've worked towards for the past 5 year. Don't give up on hard work! 

I'm not a quitter, But not a settler. Why I quit Enterprise Placement Year...

By the title your probably shocked right? Don’t judge. I’m just a small town girl trying to find her dream. But this isn’t it. Not right now - Not at this point in my life. I’m one of those type of people that put 110% into their goals in life. Once I see an end goal I give it my all until the challenge is complete and I have achieved what I set out to do. When I applied for Enterprise Placement Year I had in my head that I wanted to become a business woman and most importantly I wanted my designs to be out there in the big world. Little did I know that I did not have an actual business idea which I could write down. 

Finding placements in the Sheffield area is pretty hard, theres not much going at all unless you've got a pocket full of cash and can finance living in London for your placement year to be honest. I knew I wanted to stay local, going to London long term wasn't an option for me. EPY seemed like a perfect fix, a great opportunity to learn new things and to focus on becoming an independent business woman.

At the start I wanted to design as much as possible, license my designs to be used for fashion or interiors. Then more options were flung at me, I began to loose sight of what I set out to do (which I did not really know anyway). The past 5 months I have tried and tried taking my business down different routes, I would start one idea make progress then change my mind, This happened quite a few times. I was sick of starting over, sick of not knowing what I wanted to do, sick of not having a long term goal. I was unhappy and my family and boyfriend knew it from the start. 

It’s 2017 now and I want to do things that make me happy, I want to do things that will benefit myself and my career and push myself as hard as I possibly can. I knew it was time to make a change, I learnt in the past 5 month at EPY that I am a commercial designer - I work better under pressure, with deadlines, to a brief. But I am so happy I made that discovery now rather than later on in life. I know now what my strengths and weaknesses are and what I enjoy doing. I want to be open minded in my designs, not focus my brand on interiors or fashion but to enjoy what I do, experiment while I can and gain as much experience as possible. 

The past 5 month have been tough, I’ve gave it such a good go. Now, Im not a quitter but I’m not a settler either. Im going to push for what I want in life and this is no different. It was a scary ordeal but one I’m so relieved and happy about, Today was the day I quit Enterprise Placement Year. 

This is a new chapter for me, I want to focus on work experience. Progressing my career and myself, gaining new qualifications for the rest of my placement year, enjoying myself and to not over think everything I do but to embrace it. For the next 5 month I will be going down a completely different route. But I cannot contain my excited to start back into final year in September, getting back to a work structure, working from briefs, being experimental, pushing my limits, trying new things and putting my new found confidence and business skills into work. Im always going to be a creative soul, but setting up a business isn't for me right now in my life. Maybe one day, maybe doing something completely different. I’m not planning it. Im just enjoying each day as it comes, doing my best to succeed in everything I do and concentrating on being happy.

Don't settle, speak up and make changes to be happy with your life.

GET OVER IT

The lack of blog post recently hasn't been because I've been too busy or anything like that, actually there is no excuse what so ever. I started this blog to document my printed textiles journey through out college then university. Now in my third year of university, even though I am finding it hard to get back on the right track I know I should still document it, every journey has it's ups and downs. 

This year is my placement year. Everything has changed. I no longer live in Huddersfield and now live above a pub in Sheffield which my mother managers. Living and working in one building, after not living with your parents for 2 years is one hell of a hard work load! 
Being out of the print room and not being surrounded by fellow creatives has took its toll on me. I was all ready and in the correct mind set to set up my own business in this placement year - but it's harder than it seems. I've come to realise that I actually do not know what I want my business to be and I would have probably been better off packing my bags and finding a placement somewhere new and exciting and jetting off for a year. However due to stupid student loans that is not possible. So while I'm deciding what I actually want to do with my life for the next year. I thought I would reflect back onto my blog and have a look at some of my favourite and biggest personal achievements on this journey in hope to get some inspiration and motivation. 

A NEW BUSINESS ADVENTURE...

Well hello, its been a while since I posted on here. Due to moving family homes and student homes its been like living in the old days with no internet... and I don't even have data on my phone!! Last time I was writing on my blog I was updating you all on my mind set on how excited I was to go straight into my final year of university. I knew it was for me, I was so relieved when I made the decision and so happy when my family, close friends and boyfriend told me they supported me all the way. 

Since I can ever remember in my own head I have always wanted to have my own business, something started from scratch by my self and something I could build up and pass down when I'm no longer here. I know it is what I have always wanted to do, weather it be now or in 20 years time. 

I WON A CHAIR?

My most recent project was a live brief with Orangebox and Novaglaze. This project was my first ever surface design project and I completely fell in love with working with hard surfaces, I found it a lot more interesting and easier to visualise my work in industry rather than seeing just a sample of my work. 

Orangebox is a company that specialise in smart working environments such as acoustic pod’s, seating and tables. Novaglaze are a commercial glass company and they also supply the glass for the Orangebox pod’s. Both of these companies were fantastic to work with. They made me feel like a real freelance designer with a lot to give. You know what they say; Fake it until you make it! 

Surface Design Show London 2016

The Surface Design Show London is the biggest and most talked about show for creatives such as my self that have a passion for surfaces, material innovation, textiles etc. Unfortunately this year I could not go but thankfully due to the University of Huddersfield exhibiting there for their 10th anniversary which my future thinking tutor was in charge of. Therefore, Lucky me got a whole lecture of photo's and information on what happened and what new materials was there. 

Before my current project which I am working with Orangebox with, I had never got into working with hard surfaces. Surface design was not introduced to myself. However now it has been introduced to me, I don't think I will ever look back. Working on hard materials as well as fabric gives me so much experimental freedom in my own work, I feel like it has injected the excitement back into textiles for me. A long time ago textiles was just a hobby - Now I am doing a textiles degree it has taken that hobby and turned it more into hard work to get the grades I need for a career that I will love. I am really passionate about design and textiles but it was starting to grind on me and was starting to feel like a chore. Involving new surfaces in my work has gave me the confidence and happiness to enjoy my hobby once again!

The pictures below from the surface design show have been taken by Jo Harris, My tutor at the University of Huddersfield and I am not claiming to own them. 

A little trip to Berlin, Germany.

Berlin, Is one of the most inspiring places I have ever been lucky enough to visit. Only a few day's ago I landed back in England and I wanted to opportunity to share just some pictures I had taken. I found my iPhone to be a real life saver when I was in Berlin, Although I had taken 2 camera's, I didn't like carrying them around the whole time as they are quite bulky, heavy and sometimes I feel like I'm too busy capturing things in the moment that I'm not actually living it. Being able to pull my phone out of my pocket is so much quicker and easier. 

During my time in Berlin, I found a sense of freedom. As my phone did not work abroad, I could only connect to wifi - Not great if its an emergency. However I did let me switch off and connect with the city rather than being engaged with social media.