Design Development
The first of today’s given tasks was to design a symbol that was unique and distinctive to our identity and self. We then had to draw and cut out 20 of our symbols. I decided to use the first letter of my name as time was limited. At the time, I felt like I should have drawn a symbol much more individual and specific to me, however, the ‘M” gave me many shapes to experiment with on my mannequin so I am pleased I chose it. I also experimented with a few fonts and shapes to present the ‘M’ but decided on a simple and thick design. Once we had cut our symbols out and placed them underneath our mannequin we then had to move three to the right to somebody else’s symbols. We then had to physically manipulate the symbols onto the mannequin to produce a garment inspired by different words. We did this four times, the first being anger, the second being romance, the third being sexy and the fourth being organisation. Each time we photographed our own work and the work of the person on our own mannequin.
When creating the garment influenced by ‘anger’, words like wild, violence and danger came to mind. This helped me to create something that was uneven and very 3D. With this mannequin, I worked on the front and the sides as I wanted the garment to attain almost an ‘attacking’ characteristic. The person that designed my mannequin using my symbols also allowed their garment to look dangerous as they placed the larger symbols on the shoulders with the tips of the letter ‘M’ at the highest points. I was really fond of the way they placed them symmetrically as the eye was drawn to the height of the ‘spikes’ which really gave a feeling of anger.
The next mannequin we had to design had to resemble the word ‘romance’. I immediately wanted to create something that was feminine and sexy. Therefore I highlighted the mannequin’s waist by placing the symbols flat on the body. These symbols were long so I also let them hang from the mannequin’s hips. Again I worked on the front, but after my tutor commented on not always working in the same place I realised I was limiting myself. I also noticed that the person using my symbols highlighted the waist as well as letting the symbols hang from the hips. They had skillfully incorporated my letter ‘M’ to create an asymmetrical garment with pleats at the bottom. This garment undoubtedly resembled romance.
‘Sexy’ was the following word we had to use to design our garment. The outcome of this adjective may have been my favourite as I used the left side of the back of my mannequin. The symbols I had to use were hands which definitely helped the ‘sexy’ feel of my garment. I used layering to place the hands all the way down the back. Once I had finished the fingers looked like frills which I thought was very appropriate to the ‘sexy’ theme. The final garment we had to design had to resemble the word ‘organisation’. The symbols I had to work with were puzzle pieces which again I felt was a relevant symbol of the theme. There were small, medium and large symbols so I grouped them together starting with the smallest and gradually getting bigger as I worked my way down the figure.
I particularly admired the work of the person using my symbols as they had symmetrically placed the ‘M’s’ all the way down the mannequin whilst also folding them which was interesting. Our next given task was to go back to our own mannequins and design three pieces with our own symbols. My initial design concentrated on the shoulder detail and I thought this was the most successful of the three as I curved my symbols high above the left shoulder which created a dramatic and tactile attribute to the garment.
I found designing my second piece difficult as I could not decide how to layer and work with my symbols. I must have pinned down and removed about six designs before I found my final one. As my first design was 3D I wanted to create a more calm and sensual piece, however, I felt these lacked excitement and creativity so instead I curved my symbols again but this time on the back of my mannequin. My initial work did not include the larger symbols so I included these at the bottom and found it actually worked quite well as it gave an irregular feature to the garment. My symbols covered the whole of the back and this prompted me to imagine a garment with simple detail in certain areas of the figure with 3D-like elements on other areas. For my final design I decided to use my biggest symbol, cut out of the brown paper. This also took my a while as it was the most challenging as the symbol was huge and difficult to maneuver. The end result reminded me of Phoebe Philo’s work for Celine as it was rather bold but very simple. I folded and curved the strands around the figure which again created quite an eccentric quality.
I thoroughly enjoyed this workshop as it gave me a chance to really push my boundaries and experiment with heights and scale. My tutor taught me to think about the appropriate areas of the figure to concentrate on when working with a particular theme in mind. On reflection, it actually really inspired me to produce garments that are eccentric and helped me be one to step further in finding my personal style. Wednesday’s workshop was initially quite a challenging workshop for me as we concentrated on parts of a garment that I have never considered before. We were given a few minutes to design as many collars, sleeves, coats and jackets as possible. The designs had to reflect our symbols. I found my symbol ‘M’ to allow for many designs to play with. I did find it difficult to draw the sleeves and collars at first so I asked my tutor for some examples which helped a lot. I also found it difficult when we had to draw as many designs as we could do in a given amount of time. This is because I am a theorist which means I am a bit of a perfectionist so I think carefully and logically. Therefore I could only design 7 garments when others were designing about 27 in the allotted time. Through completing this workshop, I now realise how empirical it is to consider these areas of a garment when designing. I have also realised that I need to work quicker and with more spontaneity as I need to get my ideas flowing.
On the Friday we had to produce flats on an A1 piece of paper. We had to incorporate both workshops - our garments from Monday and the designs we made from Wednesday. The five outfits had to be coordinated separates that could be worn dependently and together. They had to include coats, jackets, knitwear, trousers, t-shirts, skirts, shirts and only one dress. The A1 piece of paper had to be a concept board that covered our progression and included our symbols and colours. I found this both exciting and daunting as I wanted to make sure that I produced my best ideas. During the day I found it very difficult to get my ideas flowing as I wanted them to be perfect however this held be back massively. Again, I can relate this to the fact that I am a theorist and so need to carefully evaluate the soundness of my ideas before producing them. I produced rough sketches but did not manage to complete the task set for the deadline. This made me feel very disappointed and also made me realise I need to concentrate much more and be much more organised.
We also at one point had to display all our work on the tables and then had to comment on others work. This was very helpful as it prompted many ideas for the layout of my sketch book and also motivated me more as much of the work was very inspiring. The comments I received were mainly on my mannequin work on Monday. They were very positive which encouraged me. I felt my sketches lacked colour and the precision of the figures could be improved. I was not using a template as I really don’t like the final look it gives. I prefer my sketches to look effortless and not too neat. However, I was not able to get the proportions of the body correct so in retrospect maybe it would have been quicker to use a template. Hopefully, in time and with practice I can draw a figure accurately without a template.
In terms of designs, I had many ideas and I had trouble choosing the best ones which also slowed me down. I should have pre-chosen these for homework. In the future, I will aim to complete my homework thoroughly in order to be prepared for the next lesson.
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