Made in Jesmond Open Evening

The Oriental inspired silk scarves that I screen printed for 'Made in Jesmond' have finally been displayed in the shop along with other students work from my course.


Oriental Scarves

We displayed our items in the shop and merchandised the window to show our handmade pieces.

Work Experience at Urban Outfitters

I have been doing work experience recently at Urban Outfitters Newcastle helping to style the mannequins, window and other tasks. As something I've never done before, I have found it really interesting and a useful experience for the future. I have been really enjoying it so it is definitely something I would like to continue with or do again if I get the chance.

Hancock Museum Archives

Took a little trip to the Hancock museum archives underneath the Discovery museum in Newcastle, to help find inspiration for my final project. I found some interesting animal skeletons which could be good for some initial drawing.

Final Major Project

For my final major project, I have been given the option of choosing my own theme to design a final collection of garment fronts. I am really excited to specialise in my favourite area and I feel this is my strongest above interiors. For my theme, I have chosen to look at structure as I wanted a to keep my theme broad so I have plenty to draw inspiration from. I have been down to the Newcastle Gateshead quayside to look at the structure of the bridges and see if I can take any initial inspiration from there...

 

 

 

 

 

I like the use of line in these structures and I think these might translate well into good prints.

Made in Jesmond

The second brief of my second year at Newcastle college was a live project for 'Made in Jesmond'. I was asked to design my own product  range to be sold within the shop. I have chosen my own theme, which was oriental, drawing inspiration from the Oriental museum in Durham and Newcastle china town. I have really enjoyed this module as I was able to get down some interesting intial drawing and also florals which I haven't had the chance to draw from in a while. 

 

I chose to make a collection of screen printed silk scarves as I am particularly interested in making fashion outcomes. I think I am stronger at fashion than interiors etc and screen printing is something I am really beginning to enjoy.

 I think my first scarf print turned out the best, as I was unsure about the composition I used on the second and the pink I had added into my colour palette.

 

I created my own swing tags asI think they look more professional. I learn't alot from this project about creating my own products and this could be a potential option for my design work in the future.

Subterranean

Since I have been very busy recently and handed in my Subbterranean module, I thought I would share some of the work from the project and how I have progressed...

 

 

Subterranean Moodboard

I am not usually very good at moodboards but I am pleased that I seem to be improving module by module, comparing this to last years attempts! As I mentioned in a previous post, I took inspiration from Chanel's autumn/winter 12-13 collection and chose to look at minerals and crystals. I took a little trip to the Hancock Museum in Newcastle to draw from their mineral rock collection. I feel I achieved some interesting intial drawing work from these studies as I like the textures and shades.

I have been experimenting with 3 way colour seperations for screen printing, which I have found really make my prints more interesting than have one colour. I think this could be a useful skill to have learn't for the future.

I really enjoy drawing my final prints out by hand and I feel I am stronger at this than doing it digitally. I have used my original motifs that I developed and combined them to make two mirror repeat designs for my final collection. I feel these are my best prints so far whilst studying this course which shows that I have made progress.

Technical Repeat

 

Experimenting with the Lasercutter...

Using my new skills in Adobe Illustrator and a few of my motifs from the Subterranean module, I have used the pen tool to re-draw the lines and lasercut out of mirrored and clear Perspex, hardwood and hardboard, layering them up to create a statement necklace. I think the materials have worked well together so I will take this into account if using the lasercutter again in the future. I really enjoyed using the lasercutter and I think my new skills in Adobe Illustrator are going to be very useful in future employment. I am pleased with the result so hopefully this might lead to it becoming a more frequent technique within my work!

Chanel Autumn/Winter 2012-13

Whilst doing my research into my trend I came across the Fall/Winter 2012-13 collection from Chanel, inspired by the Subterranean world. I loved the idea of the crystals, and the colours really stood out to me in shades of precious gems. My research had already made me think about looking at underground caves and the rocks and gems in them but this collection really inspired me to go down that route.

Chanel Autumn/Winter 2012-13 Ready-to-wear
Vogue.com

 

Subterranean

I have just went back to college for the final year of my foundation degree and after a long summer off I'm looking forward to getting back to work. The first brief of the year is 'Skills for Making' and we have to use the skills we have learnt over the past year, and start to work in the direction we want to go in. I have to choose one of three trends from 'Subterranean', 'Geometric' and 'Folklore', and research and develop my theme to finally produce a collection of garment fronts. I really enjoyed making my garment front last year so I really excited about doing this module. Out of the three trends, the Subterranean trend appealed to me the most. I thought it would be very interesting to research and keep me interested throughout the module so I'm very excited to get started.

Journeys in beadwork

I recently visited the Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead to see an exhibition called ‘Journeys in Beadwork’. The exhibition had two parts to it, the first being ‘Culture and tradition in the Eastern Cape’ which explores the history of the beadwork of the Mfengu people in South Africa. The african tribe have beaded collars, ties, necklaces, tobacco bags and other clothing and accessories for generations by hand.

Although, I enjoyed the traditional beadwork, I have to say my favourite part was the second section of the exhibition ‘Dialogues in Contemporary Style’, which featured a display of contemporary fashion beadwork, inspired by the traditional African craft. There were a few designers that caught my eye in this exhibition, one of which was Fabienne Morel who is behind the label ‘BrokenFab’. Her work displayed was called Disco Beading, which is a very appropriate description for her cool, edgy handmade beaded jewellery.

BrokenFab

Another designer I loved was Lisa Folawiyo and her label ‘Jewel by Lisa’. The dress on display was made with beads, sequins and crystals, and really stood out to me.

Jewel by Lisa

 

I found the exhibition very interesting as a whole. I’m already a fan of tribal patterns so I really enjoyed the exhibition and it has inspired me to experiment with beading in my work in the future.