FELICITY BROWN

• Layering of fabric adds texture and volume to the outfit. A build up of material creates shape as well as adding to the design. 
• Taking inspiration from continuous layers of material that create a structure of lines used on the body.
• Looking at how colour has been used within the lines and material on the garments. 

The Projects 2012

The Dress Collection A/W 2011

  

TRACIE CHENG

• Tracie Cheng simply uses singular lines to build up her design. 
• Repetitive lines that follow each other adds movement and depth to a flat print making it feel three dimensional. 
• Continuous design.  

Locating Brief. 14TH DECEMBER 2015

For my self initiated project I will be starting with primary research of crisp snowy mountains, ski slops and surrounding views in France. Initially I will be looking at the lines within these photographs, the edges of the mountains and the continuous marks that are made with the blade along the slopes, responding to these photos by creating abstract drawings and mark making. I hope to develop my ideas through printed textiles both screen and digital print working with a variety of other medias within print such as foiling, flocking as well as puff binder to experiment with my designs and help evolve my work. Also gaining further specialist understand of print within design.

I will start my research off by looking at artists and designers such as Tracie Cheng, Felicity Brown and Bottega Veneta for inspiration, especially looking at these designers to see how they use line within their work. I plan to use my time wisely within this project aiming to create a collection of samples and designs for a menswear fashion context of garments and accessories.

Evaluation 21ST November 2015

Through out this project I feel like I have created a good collection of samples and prints relating to my theme of complex and minimal, showing this through both process and design. I feel I experimented and took risks in my work, playing with plenty of techniques within print, producing samples from photo transfer and screen printing. I definitely found a style of mark making that I feel works for me and that I enjoy creating. Focusing on the materials I used to draw with, this is where I found my research through plenty of mark making. I stuck to using black and white to concentrate on the design rather than colours, this helped develop my theme by sticking to a minimal colour pallet creating contemporary designs that I was then able to develop further within the process of print, experimenting with techniques such as disperse dye, puff binder and foiling. 

Overall, I feel I have been able to show what context I see my designs working in, originally directing my designs to a womenswear fashion collection, I found during the project my prints and drawings where more fitting for a unisex sportswear collection. Once I had decided this my prints seemed to work a lot better with my concept, printing onto sportswear fabrics such as fleece, lycra and and elastic polyester I was visually able to see my designs in context with the body. 

Context

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

           

Flats from WGSN Active/Sports. 19/11/2015

http://www.wgsn.com/search/search.php#%7B%22start%22%3A%200%2C%20%22limit%22%3A%2050%2C%20%22f_limit%22%3A%205%2C%20%22q%22%3A%20%22flats%22%2C%20%22facets%5B%5D%22%3A%20%5B%22category%7C18828%22%5D%7D

Heat pressing 17TH November 2015

After experimenting in the print room with different techniques and mark making using a different type of media, I applied these to my original prints that I feel made them look more like a sports wear print and design. I played around with disperse dyes, layering netting over my print before pressing it, I used french chalk to stop the dye printing in places and bondina, sticking two different fabrics together creating a new material and design. I also tried covering bubblewrap and another type of netting in disperse dye to print but these melted onto the fabric instead, although this worked and still gave an interesting effect. 

ADIDAS X TOPSHOP

Adidas and Topshop created a collection using classic sportswear designs by Adidas but made them more fashionable to be worn all day everyday. Using busy, vibrant prints and colours they have used sections and panels to divided these on the garments. Looking at the way they have only used part of the print on a piece of clothing and the impact of the design that adds to a garment.

Print Screening 12TH November 2015

In the screen printing room I created a lot of samples, experimenting with different techniques and ideas. Using foil adhesive glue then heat transferring foils and flock paper, using pearlized pigment binder and puff binder with my designs to create interesting samples. I feel the puff binder worked well to create a raised surface of design which works well in my sportswear collection, working on lycra and elastic polyester. I also had a go at printing onto a quilted stitched fabric to see what would happen to the design with texture underneath. I feel this worked well as it added another technique and design to the original prints, I could see this working well on a sports jacket or fleece. 

Using the screens to apply the designs kept the effect of the marks and layers of paint compared to the photo transfers I had done previously, so the print room has been beneficial for me to be experimenting and taking risks with textures. Although I feel I should of planned the designs I wanted to create before the session, as I was experimental with the medias I was using but not with my designs, overall I feel I made some strong samples for my work and didn't want to make them too busy by layering up all different designs.

STELLA McCARTNEY FALL 2013

Stella McCartney's stripe collection inspires me when working on my own designs by looking at how she has used a basic line pattern and predominately a monochrome colour scheme to create a whole collection. Especially looking at the placement of the designs on the garments and the directions the lines are going in, as well as the scale on which the patterns are on the body.

  

Group Tutorial 26TH October 2015

I have been working with the idea of using an minimal amount of process to create a complex design. I have gone back and done more mark making looking a lot at stripes, vertical and horizontal lines and see what outcomes I can get that can then be made into prints. I have also been working on different types of papers, especially tissue paper that has already been creased which adds to the design. Ive been working with white on black and I think this has developed my work well. I am now starting to look at additional ideas of how to print onto black fabrics compared to printing black on white, I have already created heat transfer samples onto lycra and elastic polyester that are strong samples and start to show my prints in context.

Group Tutorial 19TH October 2015

Looking at my work, todays we discussed that I need more designs to work with, I need to go back and do some more mark making but this time thinking about it working in a design rather than just marks, developing these ready to print. 
I don't need to over complicate designs, some work just as a simple print, layering up the prints experimenting with them on photoshop slightly over completed the design but I found some worked well especially fitting in with my theme of complex and minimal but overall I need to go back and create some new designs to push my ideas further and widen my range of designs. 
Also I used the heat transfer to put my prints onto fabric but they didn't take too well as I don't think they where left under the heat long enough and came out with a green tint, so I need to experiment more with the printing. 

Photoshop Prints

Using Photoshop to play around with colour seeing what my prints would look like. Only changing a small amount of colour which made a big impact to the designs and also layering them up. Repeating them worked well as a continuous design to be used on panels as well as using a white layer over the top of my design, taking away part of the design instead of adding to it worked well.

  

ALEXANDER WANG FOR H&M

Alexander Wang's sportswear collection for H&M has a clear colour scheme of blacks, greys and whites which fits in with my own designs and ideas. Creating lots of panels on the body these designs have created a very fashion forward, minimalistic collection. One recurring animal print, in the designs have been printed onto some of the garments and have also been laser cut into others showing a different technique but using the same print. This inspires me to think of how my designs can be used in other area then just print and looking at they types of fabrics that have been used for the sportswear collection. 

Group Tutorial 12TH October 2015

I have been trying out repeating my designs into a continuous pattern, but my group felt this wasn't working as well as it could and discussed just mixing my prints on a garment, working in panels with different design or layering up. 

We talked about adding in colour to my work but everyone seemed to like the black and white colour scheme, but decided I should scan my prints into Photoshop to see them in different colours but been selective with adding in colour keeping it to minimum, trying blues and greys. 

I am going to start creating design ideas to see how my prints would work in context, instead of working on women's wear fashion we discussed using my prints for sportswear and as my colour scheme is black and white at the moment it could work for a unisex collection. Working on materials such as lycra, polyesters and fleece to see what my prints would look like on fabric.

TIMOROUS BEASTIE

Timorous Beasties, wallpaper designs are usually a continuous pattern with a repeated design. Creating one colour prints with tonal shades and highlights that come through in the technique of the design, letting more paint come through in areas compare to others making the colours lighter and darker. Looking at this technique will help with my own work to see how I can make the most of using limited amount of colours, as well as Beasties wallpaper inspires me when repeating prints to see how I can place my own designs effectively and then translating these ideas onto garments.

Layering Prints 7TH October 2015

From the first few print designs I have been working on I feel the marks I have drawn over the top of have worked really well as its added an extra design on the top which starts to make them into patterns rather than abstract marks. It also creates a good mix of techniques and design using drawing and printing together. 

Although I feel I could improve my prints by working more with scale, both the size of the prints and the scale on which I am working, I have started off working on a smaller scale and have kept my prints and photocopies of my designs at the same size, so I think I would be able to develop my work massively by changing my scales around. I also found it hard to translate the marks I have made into drawings as these didn’t give the same effect of the original marks but seemed to work as outlines instead which worked well for layering the designs. 

Crit 5TH October 2015

Working on a larger scale seems to be working well and has a good impact on my work. The marks that I have been creating are becoming very effective and already can see them been used as part of a print design. I have already created a lot designs with my mark making but I need to exhaust these ideas, use the objects I have been using in as many ways as possible; Working in black and white means I am just focusing on my designs and textures first of all, colour can be added in later on. The work I have been developing from my embroidery, looking at the stitching on the back of the designs and creating double sided samples is effective as a stitch technique but the work I have developed from this is where I need to improve. Creating quick sketches of the stitching using techniques such as blind drawing and my left hand to draw the detail haven’t been very successful as they don’t look very interesting and been done too quick. This is just something I have tried but hasn’t been worthwhile.

I definitely need to work on acetate so can visually layer up designs and prints to see what they can look like. Overall I am working to the aim of making a print but my ideas seem that they would work well in relation to a weave, so at the moment I am keeping my options and ideas for sampling and experimenting open to other specialist areas. 

Workshop 28TH September 2015

In todays workshop I felt I got a good idea of what paintings and methods worked well. Although I struggled with finding inspiration of where to start my drawings; we chose words to work from such as random, simple, painted and erased. I felt I didn’t have any visual research that was appropriate to work from as my aim for this unit is to focus on the materials and objects I use to paint and draw with and see the designs from them rather than looking at pictures of primary research. I was also working with my brief of complex and minimal and seeing how I could use the same object to reflect these ideas too. Using found materials as paintings tools worked well and developed my original ideas, also working on tracing paper to create double sided drawings and different layers on one piece.