project summery

From researching the creative process for my research report it was interesting how relevant it was to my work and how interesting it was to look at my own creative process. Problem solving throughout my process is something I have come to realise is important for me as at the start of a project I can get stuck on refining the idea. I am proud of how much both my projects have developed from the initial ideas and I feel that the project shows how the ideas have evolved throughout the term and the projects tell a story of the journey the work took.

Trips to places such as the plantation garden and garden centres helped me develop my observational drawing and both projects I felt that I did well in developing my idea and using my drawings appropriately. I have learnt during this term that drawing is something I really enjoy doing and bringing the work into Photoshop and creating repeats is what I want to look at for a future career. Fashion is something I have decided isn’t for me necessarily as I prefer interior for commercial use but I did find a way of creating work I enjoyed and finding a way around just designing clothing. Because I enjoy the design part making my fashion project into a projection suited my work style and opened my eyes to new possibilities.

This term I have really focused on digital work and most of my development was though digital experimentation of designs and editing my drawings. I feel that I am stronger at drawing after the summer going to Thailand to learn drawing styles and stop me from focusing only on watercolour work. Developing this skill has allowed me to improve my design work as the base of the design is better quality drawing. Learning also how to adapt the drawings into moving images is something that has excited me as well and something I want to look further into for the future.

This term I have really experimented with the universities resources more and I have taught myself new skills. Learning what was on offer in the design studio really helped me with both projects. I used the laser cutter and took advantage of their printing facilities. As well as this I taught myself how to develop my skills in Photoshop, learning how to edit my context work better and also improving my skills in repeat pattern making with the interior project.

Overall this term has been all about pushing myself and creating work I am proud of and enjoyed doing.

Final thought

For the fashion project I am really pleased with how it has turned out. From an initial idea of cells i felt the idea developed so much over the last couple of weeks. Im really glad that I kept persisting with the drawings and the photoshop editing when I was feeling like it wasn't going right. Im proud of how much I have learnt throughout that project, with using the design studio more, to look at large scale ink jet printing onto wallpaper and the use of the laser cutter, as well as seeing all the different ways of printing out my work onto different papers. I am also really proud of the amount I was able to teach myself, for example learning how to make a moving image gif etc. This are things that now I know how do them I will be much more comfortable with using them in the future.

Experimenting with projection as a second skin was something I am really pleased with. The final outcomes looked more professional that I hoped despite doing the photoshoots on my own. I can see these pieces of work being used in high fashion photography and film. With professional photographers and film makers the designs would look amazing and something new and experimentational. The concept of a second skin based on these moving cells is something I would have never thought of originally but as my project developed it really made sense that this is where the outcome would lead. It was a lot of work and hours of gif making and getting frustrated with my computer and myself but I am so happy with how it turned out.

Making Gifs

Throughout the project I had been experimenting with adding movement to the work and with the final pieces I wanted to include a gif to go with them. This was so challenging as I had never even thought about making a gif before but it was easier than I thought. Through creating tiny movements in images I could the save them and create a script on Photoshop. Getting them to move smoothly was a real challenge and something I did struggle with throughout the process. Also getting them to work on my computer was a complete paint and caused me much annoyance and calls to apple to work out why just running Photoshop was eating all my storage.

I looked at different ways I could get the images to move. I did some that would transform into another cell along with others that would shrink and some that would spin or move. Experimenting was put but frustrating as each gif took me a long time to create as it wasn’t easy work.

I made sure for the end result that there was a gif for all 4 of the final designs, they all moved different ways, and would be projected onto the body. 

Final photoshoot

Looking back, I was able to pick out my favourite designs along with what size and placement I should chose. The final photoshoot I made sure that the images were as focused as they could be. (with a better projector they would have more detail but I couldn’t spend over £50 on it) I was also able to change the background of the screen so it was just the image with a white box around it which was really helpful in making it look professional. The photoshoot was challenging as I needed to get the placement right and still make it exactly in the middle. The images came out really well and I was super happy with the outcome of the work. I then proceeded to pick my favourite 4 that would go towards my final mood boards.