Final Outcome

My trend book is aimed at the audience of print and pattern designers for possibly Spring/Summer 2014/2015 because it mainly consists of atmospherically pages, suggestions of motifs, and inspirational images.

Although I struggled a lot with dealing with a new way of thinking and working with the mostly conceptual research and creating 3D structures for this project, I think I benefited from exercising my skills in these areas because now I will know what to do and expect next time.

I felt that my time management was quite poor as once I got to creating the trend book that there wasn’t enough visual material for it, as I had been concentrating on creating the garment on the mannequin more. I also think I would have benefited from researching trend and look books more to inform the content of my book as I had previously never really seen one before. However from my research into the process of how and why designers get their inspiration for their next trends from trend books has enlightened me in the process of the design practice of digital print that I plan on going into in the future. I also found that having tutorials with a range of other practitioners can bring a refreshing insight to my work, as the presentation with Laura Bowker made me think about my work in a different perspective.

Overall, I think I have found a balance between research and visual material for the trend book if I was to do this project again. Because I think there’s a point where you research too far at the beginning of the project that you lose the original concept, so I think that is why I struggled with my concept. And I would have spent less time on the slow processeses of manipulating the fabric of my 3D construction, so I had that time to research into trend books more.

New Innovative Creations with Swarovski

The Jewelry finalists for International Talent Support 2013 are chosen, congratulations to: Takahiro Ueno , Milko Boyarov, Marie Cabirou, Shimrit Zagorsky, Rayya Valerie Morcos, Sarah Ysabel Dyne Narici, Marilena Siamptani, Lili Colley, Yun Chin Hsu & Anabela Chan. They will come to Trieste, Italy on 12-13 July for the finals to compete for the SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS Jewelry Award: €10,000 + a 6 month internship

http://www.itsweb.org/jsp/en/jewelry/index.jsp

Exhibition and collaboration

I enjoy collaborating with others to create an exhibition or work on a project together. Having made a physical garment I plan on including it in an exhibition with my tutorial peers in a Manchester art gallery, as we have all influenced one another during this unit there are some things that can be linked together.

I am also planning on collaborating with a creative writer and logo graphics designer on a project in Manchester.

I would have it displayed something like this:

And then have 3 prints projected onto it and different angles. This is the reason why I kept the fabrics I used transparent or white to keep with my theme of light.

Trend Book Research

After researching trend books I have found that designers buy these book to inform their next collection. One of the most popular companies that makes these books is Mudpie and they create a range of books for around £800 each full of Pantone colour swatches, digital fabric suggestions and motifs that can be used to create a collection. Some trend books are less structural and more suggestive of ideas, and others you can buy and use the motifs and colours in them to create a specific outcome.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0a6x2F9pX1qbsxnho2_1280.jpg
What I learnt from Lauren Bowker:

• Digital prints can sell for around £200 a collection.
• Handmade prints and designs sell for around £600 each.
• Hand made designs such as painted motifs and physical structures can appeal as a form of inspiration to a wide range of practices.
• She has not only sold her own designs before but also bought.

So from this I have decided to include pockets of samples in my trend book, so it is not only an atmospherical  kind of book but also has some 'touch and feel' parts in it.

Further Development of my Light Theme Print

In keping with the reflective parts in the prints. I have included my safety pin samples into these ones for that quality that I want and then layered manipulated versions of my colour and sketch samples ontop.

Above: The developed  prinst sample from the two subtle prints that I did, I have increased the contrast and applied one of my wax and ink drawing on top. The wax and ink sample was inspired by the circuit boards in technology.

Above: This print is focusing on 'electrical spark' like spots of colour that I picked out of my dispersed ink samples and layered them to create a repeatable all over print.

Developing my Light Print

I began free transforming each motif one by one but I wanted it to follow a more controlled path.

So I created a scatter brush in Illustrator to get this effect. I also tried to see what it would be like with a graph paper like background, but I think this will make it look too mathematical.

 I will try projecting these two prints to see which is more effective or whether it even shows up or not.

The shapes idea was also slight inpired by Geometry Wars game:

I also took on board the feedback that I got from design competitions such as threadless, and kept it quite simple.

Reflection: This ended up being an element of my trend book, will still be projected onto my garment.

Empasizing my Theme of Light in Print

For this I have used the scans of the safety pin samples to inform the shape and the colours in light for the colour and placement.

I quite liked the contrast with the black background so I used the war tool to see what it would be like. Working off the phrase 'bending light'.

Above image by: http://neonblog.co.uk/2013/03/neon-life-in-bright-colours/

As light is a spectrum of colours the colour theme is very wide so I have picked out the shape of the prism that separates the colour in light as a motif.

Distorting the Body with Armour

Choosing Materials for my Garment Piece

Initially I started off with paper and split pins after seeing Una Burkes armour like pieces, and paper is easy to manipulate.

But after thinking about how I am to apply a print I think white paper would look good as a canvas for a projection or even to apply it with photoshop. This also made me experiment with acetate for it's light reflective properties. And I wanted to include done fabric manipulation after seeing the balloon stuffed suit. I also added tracing paper to the list of materials as it is between the two transparisies of paper and acetate.

Reflection:

As the acetate was hard to photograph I decided to put the fabric under it instead of on the surface and I also thought about the way I could have a light up fabrics with LEDs woven in or optic fibres attached to the acetate. 

Small final sample of optic fibre like acetate. This could be improved by using colour onto it if I only needed a temporary substitute for optic fibres for my photographs. 

Combining Light Theme for Print

With the samples I have already made I decided to try to put them together to see how they would work, however I don't think these samples were very successful as they printed out a bit too subtle.

Trends

© mudpie
Reports:
a/w 14/15: future tribes - accessory inspiration - female
a/w 14/15: future tribes - footwear inspiration - female
a/w 14/15: future tribes - garment inspiration - female
mpdclick.com

Shoulder Armour

Armour Dress (£525) by Hannah Marshall

available at the amazing amelie

http://www.hannahmarshall.com/

HANNAH MARSHALL IS A BRITISH DESIGNER, VISUALIST, ART DIRECTOR + CURATOR, WORKING BETWEEN THE WORLDS OF CLOTHING, TECHNOLOGY AND MUSIC AND OFTEN BRINGING THESE DISCIPLINES TOGETHER. THE BRAND IS CENTRED ON THE BODY, IT’S SURROUNDINGS, AND INTELLIGENT NARRATIVE LED SENSORY EXPERIENCES, ONGOING THEMES INCLUDE; IDENTITY, PRIVACY, TRANSFORMATION, POWER, COMMUNICATION, SOUND, TIME + MEMORY.

HANNAH MARSHALL FOUNDED HER BRAND IN 2007 WITH ‘QUIET NOISE’, A QUIETLY POWERFUL COLLECTION OF BLACK CLOTHING ENGINEERED WITH PRECISION, DISCREETLY EMBEDDED WITH CODED BRAILLE MESSAGING, WHICH SHE DEVELOPED EVERY 6 MONTHS. IN 2011 AFTER YEARS OF CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AND AWARD WINNING WORK WITHIN FASHION DESIGN, MARSHALL MADE THE DECISION TO BREAK OUT OF THE SEASONAL FASHION INDUSTRY MOULD TO FURTHER EXPLORE THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN CLOTHING, MUSIC AND TECHNOLOGY. WORKING ON BESPOKE AND COUTURE PIECES FOR ARTISTS IN THE MUSIC, FILM, ART AND FASHION ARENAS, WITH COLLABORATIONS INCLUDING; THE XX AND FLORENCE & THE MACHINE, AMONGST OTHERS.

WITH CURIOSITY AT THE CORE OF HANNAH’S DIRECTION, THIS CHANGE LED HER TO EXPLORE BEYOND THE REALMS OF CLOTHING AND THE RESTRICTION OF BEING POSITIONED IN A SEASONAL INDUSTRY. EMBRACING COLLABORATORS WITH WHOM SHE CAN HELP ERASE RESTRICTED BOUNDARIES AND DEVELOP NEW ONES TO CHALLENGE THE FUTURE CREATIVE. SHE HAS SHIFTED HER FOCUS FROM THE EVER-CHANGING CYCLE OF FASHION AND IT’S INDUSTRY, TO OBJECT AND EXPERIENCE, OFTEN INTERTWINING BOTH. WORKING IN THE SPACE BETWEEN THE BODY AND IT’S SURROUNDINGS, COMMUNICATION IS THE UNDERLYING DRIVING DIRECTION OF HANNAH MARSHALL’S WORK.

Prosthetics Spider Diagram

3D Printing

Designed by Ron Arad for PQ Eyewear, each hinge on the glasses (pictured below and above right) consists of segments like an armadillo's tail. "We made these here," Rowley says, indicating a hulking white machine behind him, which looks like a cross between a dry cleaning apparatus and an industrial oven. "The thing is, you couldn't make these any other way," he says.

http://m.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/apr/30/3d-printing-mainstream-technology