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.