Concept Capsule Collection

 (Sketchbook Concept Illustration Designs produced by Myself)

      I am so pleased with how my capsule collection has come out. Admittedly, I probably have produced to many to be similar to any real collection, although I felt so inspired doing these illustrations knowing that I am so close to constructing my final garment, that I feared I may miss out something great within these designs. I love the minimal approach to these designs and I hope to pursue this look for my final designs also, but the designs itself has the subtle tones of colour and the dark, short hair works really well with the garments, hence I should consider this look for my final shoot. Throughout these designs, I have reflected on all the processes I have done up to this point and they work really effectively on the designs. Evidently, I do not want to make one garment piece per model, I want to make a whole garment ensemble to make them as effective and true to my theme of "Living with Dementia" as much as possible.

     In terms of fabrication, I need to be very careful and realistic as I don't have as much time to create the garments as I would like to and let alone challenging myself by making 2! Nonetheless, processes such as knit take a great deal of time and I would need to make sure that I would have enough wool and time to make the knit pieces look as detailed and professional as possible to boost my overall grade for my Final Major Project (FMP). In addition to this, I looked back at my stand work whilst drawing these illustrations, but I really need to think of the shapes I want for when my models wear them and try relate the shape to my theme also. In my head, I do imagine creating a trouser and skirt combo, but with more of a twist, whether that being in the details or the physical structure of the garment and how it will effect the model once worn.

 (Sketchbook Concept Illustration Designs produced by Myself)

     I feel that some of my designs look slightly more so like costumes and I really want to avoid this look, although I am glad that I have made this aware to myself so that it will not effect my final designs. Moreover, I am excited to see how they will look once complete, but as I said above, time management could be my worst enemy. If I could have done anything differently with these designs, it would have probably been to refer back to my quick designs I did and see how much of an impact that it could have made on them. Not only this, but I wish I added more print detail into these designs as it may have been nice to have added more colour. Nonetheless, the minimal, simplistic look adds character to this theme and it is carried throughout my books and to ruin the flow could look disastrous. The next stage will be to complete my final designs, but to expand on my designer skills, I want to produce front, side, back illustrations so that the viewers can get a better look as to what I want to achieve for my final garments and I hope they will look similar or practically the same in 3-D form!

Quick Sketches

(Quick sketches produced by Myself)

       Quick sketches are perhaps my absolute most favourite processes to carry out as a designer on this course. Not only does it really help inspire you for future designs, but it also gives you the ability to be fast and flexible with whatever shape or detail you have in your mind and then translate it into a 2-D flat. Admittedly, there is always room for more when it comes to quick sketches, but I feel that I have completed more than my brief would have expected me to and for that it shows that I am a risk-taker, motivated and passionate about my Final Major Project (FMP). It is really frightening to think how close we are to finishing our projects, but I feel that I am at a very good stage within my FMP. At the last group tutorial, my tutor said that I had the most designs in the group so far and that really did make me feel great! Not only this, but it also encouraged me to create even more and I already have so many ideas I want to portray for my capsule collection. 

      The jackets and coats were probably my favourite designs I have produced and this is due to referring back to past stand work I did in my experimentation weeks. Nonetheless, I feel that I won't be making any jackets as I don't want to risk running out of time or rushing the garment, which will do me no favours. Despite this, all the drawings refer back to all the processes I have done and the ones I think look most effective are the ones with knit details as I feel this adds more perspective and also layering of texture which will look even more professional and well-thought of in terms of construction of both fabrication and pattern pieces. 

        With these designs, I see a lot of potential that can be taken into my capsule collection, the trousers in particular I have a keen interest in. In terms of construction of my garments, I don't want to make one piece per model, I want to create a whole set to make the garment look fuller with all the added extra details, let alone structure once on a human form. If I could have done anything differently, it would have been a good idea to have produced more professional flats to relate to these quick sketches. Plus, it could have been interesting to see how these would have looked with added colour, but I need to refer back to my prints to get a better idea of what colours I should be looking out for. Furthermore, it is nice to see the way my print is Incorporated into my designs, but I fear that it won't look as effective as a 3-D form. By this, I mean that either the print could be too bold, the fabric may not be quite right for the print, the layering could look rather tacky and there are many other elements that I don't feel quite certain on, although it would be nice to find some sort of way to use the prints within my garments. 

     Overall, I am very happy with how my design process has developed throughout this project and I hope to see them improve even further towards the end. It is a shame as I would have liked to have produced more quick designs, but according to my brief, it is time to start creating my capsule collection, which will then develop into my final designs. As a designer, it is very interesting to imagine that any one of these designs could potentially be my final garment(s), or at least be a major influence to them. Nonetheless, I was thrilled to receive such a good response from my group tutorial and tutor in terms of my designs and I will use this motivation and confidence to push my work further and take bigger risks with my designing process. 

Photoshopped Prints

(Photoshopped prints produced by Myself)

     At this point in the project, it is crucial to get even more perspective in regards to potential design ideas. This led to the idea of using my photoshop skills and seeing where they could get me; as you can see above I have used different primary mediums ranging from photography, prints, samples and more to get a more diverse range of choices/views. I am rather impressed by how much I've improved over this past year in much more technical approach, which I would see as a must, to make a new up and coming even more successful. The designs above are containing some work(s) that I have produced throughout this project and it is interesting to see them on a new surface medium as oppose to its physical self. In addition to this, I really like how each dress looks completely different, even if it is the same garment shape. Despite this, it would have been much better to use different models and garment structures to get more of a open-minded idea on how they would look on a human silhouette. 

    It is agreeable to say that I am slightly disappointed that I haven't used photoshop as much as I have done in the past, although this has given me more of an insight as to what my garments would look like if they included some of the processes I have done up until this point. The next stage after this process will be to start producing some more quick sketches and develop my thought processes further to come to a final capsule collection and hopefully then, select my favourite(s) designs to take into a 3-D garment. Furthermore, quick designs are crucial to help me push this project further so that I can get the best grade possible. 

     From the images above, my favourite piece would probably be the burnt organza on top of the catwalk model. I think this because it reflects my theme well in terms of dementia and the burnt holes representing the lost memories. Moreover, I like the diverse shades and tones within the sample which adds texture and shape to the garment. In all honesty, I don't want to end up making a dress for my final garment(s) as I want to challenge myself as much as possible for my Final Major Project so that I can develop and improve my skills to use for future works and projects. If I could have done anything differently during this process, it would have been to have perhaps changed the colourings and hues of my samples and maybe even use other processes such as collage to add more detail. In addition to this, as I said above, I would have liked to have found other images of catwalk models or maybe even use some of my past stand-work to add my samples to, but the lines wouldn't have been as effective than a flat shaped garment. Overall, I am happy with the way I adapted and worked with this process and it has definitely given me more of an insight as to what textures and mediums I want to use for inspiration for quick drawings and concept illustrations. 

Photoshop Stand Work

(Photoshopped Illustration Stand work produced by Myself) 

      I really wanted to see what my stand work would look like on a human silhouette and I did this by using Photoshop. Photoshop has always been a keen interest of mine as I still consider myself as a 'rookie' to its wonders. Nonetheless, my skills on photoshop enabled me to carry out this process which was cutting out and layering on my stand work on top of catwalk models so that I could get and extremely realistic approach to this experiment. I began this process by simply cutting around the silhouette of my stand work and placing them on the model, similarly to how they were on the stand. Not only this, but I thought that it would be a great idea to transfer the garments onto a human model as oppose to a drawn one. This really helped me see how the textures reflected off of a human form, but also to see how the colourings on the garment would show once placed on a figure and it worked much more effectively as the colours shown through more so than on the drawn illustrations. 

    By using this process, I hope that it will help me develop even more quick drawings so that I can have more of a direct idea as to what I want as a final garment(s). From seeing how relatively quick it took to create my knit samples, I want to see whether I can be ambitious and perhaps create more than one garment to reflect on a capsule collection to make it intwine better that just having the one. Although, before I start getting carried away, I want to do some more drawings and illustrations prior to making my final capsule collection to relate it to my theme of 'Living with Dementia' as much as possible. 

(Photoshopped Stand Work produced by Myself)

      This then led to layering the stand work on the model using scale, rotation and much more to add even more depth and detail to the digital garment. Furthermore, this has not only helped me develop my Photoshop skills further, but also encouraged me to try out new methods and practicalities which I can now use for future reference. If I didn't use this process, I can imagine that I would be struggling a lot more to understand its perspective on a human form as oppose to a mannequin. Nonetheless, it still would have been even better if I took a primary photograph or even physically adding my samples on top of a real person to get a glimpse of placement, scale and detailing.

    Overall, these digital processes have given me more of a rounded perspective of my stand work on a more realistic silhouette. I plan on using these images to inspire me for further drawings and illustrations by picking out segments from lines, shapes and processes that I have used within the samples. Not only this, but i also want to try layering with my drawings and illustrations like I did above on Photoshop as it made the garment look much fuller and alluring to the eye. Despite this, I want my garments to be much more traditional in a sense that I don't want it to just be a pile of random gathered material, I want to look into depth of trouser patterns, skirts and much more other than plain knitwear. I feel that this will make my garment(s) look much more professional but also thought out in terms of process because I want to represent the absence within the mind, yet still portray the person from the outside, hence I will use distraught knit with something rather simple and elegant to really enhance this theme to its fullest.

Stand Work Drawings & Illustration Response

(Drawings and photocopying produced by Myself)

     To exhaust my previous process, I decided to take my stand work drawings to the photocopier and played around with the colourings, scale and positioning of the drawings I produced earlier. This process worked well as it enabled myself to play around with colour, which I haven't done much within this project as I wanted to still keep it minimal and simplistic, but with minor detailing throughout. Within this process, it reminded me of the prints I produced earlier in the project using the photography of my hands in the murky water, although this has much more refine detail to it. I don't plan on using this as a print, but if there was more time then it would have been great to have taken this further as an experiment to see what I could get out of it. Nonetheless, as I said previously, colour isn't really going to happen for me within this project which is a shame, although I feel that it adds more depth and innocence to my theme considering it is 'Living with Dementia'. Unfortunately, because I did the drawings on tracing paper, the under layer didn't show through as well, unlike the top layer I produced. Despite this, in comparison to my past experimentations this is a very flat process and I want to try get out of my sketchbook as much as possible, hence this process won't be continued, but I am glad to have trailed it out. 

(Sketchbook Illustrations produced by Myself)

     Above are collaged illustrations I produced in response to the photocopied drawings I just produced. These worked well in my opinion as they reflected both shape and structure. Not only this, but I feel that it being in plain black and white added more depth and it is easier to see the different tones and shades within the collage. By doing this process, it will enabled myself to really focus on the small segments and transfer them into more detailed and fresh illustrations. This will enable me to pick out specific shapes, lines and much more to have very strong concept designs towards the end of this project. Considering these are drawings from my stand work, I feel that they the illustrations are becoming much more textured and shaped, which is what I want at this point of time in the project. It is key to point out that because I am not using much colour, detail is needed to uphold these illustrations to try make them not look too basic or vague. Moreover, the drawings have a lot of the holes from my knit samples and think that these relate to my theme very strongly as I want to show that the holes could be an indication of memory loss or something that is missing from the human form/mind. 

    From my previous research, I feel that this is still on the same sort of level and I need to find away to push past this stage. To push this further, Photoshopping seems the best way to go in terms of further development, but perhaps by using it on an actual physical female model from a catwalk runway to make it seem even more realistic. Doing that process, I will get a much better idea of what I want for shape and placement, which can then be taken back into quick designs and illustrations to make my work as strong and developed as possible. From looking at previous illustrations and developments, I am much more pleased with how I have been working now in comparison to 1/2 weeks ago and this is due to my designs using much more fabrication and response to my research I did at the start of the project. I am looking forward to using all these process combined, which I have a strong feeling will involve knit, mesh and potentially prints that I have already produced. 

     

Stand Work ft Textures

(Sketchbook Illustrations and Stand work produced by Myself)

       To develop my designs further, it is agreeable to say that stand work is a massive benefactor when it comes to inspiration, whether that coming from scale, detail or structure. Considering that I have never used knitwear as a final piece fabrication, I want to exhaust this process as much as possible to get the best results. Using the stand, I got to use all the textile samples that I had made previously, which made it even more interesting as I got to see which area best suited their placement or perhaps taking weight into consideration if they draped or hung lightly depending on  the material; this was generating so many ideas from this process with regards to how I should be shaping and placing all my sample pieces. I really liked how the knit pieces in particular managed to hold a rather manageable structure without it being pinned or held, which could really help with my design ideas. I felt that this process made my silhouette much more interesting as it didn't represent a typical feminine form, nor male and I really wanted to exaggerate the texture on the knit with the holes and frayed segments of wool to correlate well with my theme. As you can see, my illustration was specially designed post my stand work to see how it would look on a female silhouette, although I feel that I should have collaged with these stand works also to get a realistic impression of a potential final product. 

    I am finally coming to the realisation that I am drawing even closer to my final garment(s) which feels extremely weird considering that this project has been going on for a few weeks now, despite this I feel really confident with my progress and development at this time in the project but I need to make sure that I stick to my brief and work at a fast, but steady pace till the end. Not only this, but to push myself further I decided to experiment with both my samples and some of the materials I am going to use for my final piece and in this case, I used the mesh material because I knew that it was easily adaptable to different shapes and structures without being pinned, similarly to the knit samples I produced earlier. I thought that this would make my stand work much more filled and complete as if they were attached, but it proved difficult and slightly tacky as there was not proper base beneath both materials, although from the photographs they do not look so bad. Hence, when it comes to the initial pattern cutting, I think it would be suitable to have perhaps a thin or opaque layer for the under layer of the garment(s), unless my designs have the under layer as a very visible fabrication as a concept.

(Sketchbook Illustrations and Stand drawings produced by Myself)

      After completing my stand work and illustrations reflecting that process, I wanted to do some 3-D stand drawings whilst they were still on the mannequin. In addition to this, considering that I layered the materials on top of each other on the stand, I wanted to reflect this back into my drawings to see what I could have as a process. I think this worked really well as it also reflects upon my illustrations, making all of these processes correlate nicely together. The next stage after this experimentation will be to photocopy my drawings and play around with scale and colour, similarly to what I did right at the beginning of my Final Major Project (FMP) with early stand work development. In addition to this, more illustrations and design processes are a MUST to keep myself on track and pursue as many concepts as possible till I am happy with the final results to then start developing my final designs. This process was by far beneficial towards helping me with design ideas and concepts which came from structuring dynamic shapes and silhouettes on the stand. This will now help me create more define and detailed illustrations, right up until I get to my final designs.

Further Design Illustrations

     These illustrations are my absolute favourite from the whole project so far. I am so pleased with how these look as I have focused much more upon shape, fabrication and detail on these garment illustrations. In addition to this, I recently had my mid-point assessment which went really well and found it very useful to see how I can develop and experiment with my work further to get the best grade possible. I received great reflective feedback on my work, my only true faults was that I needed to connect the dots of my project together, but this was easily fixable by using photographs from previous experimentation and a few more observational drawings. Furthermore, the next stage of my project was to begin designing and I plan to be carrying out many more quick sketches and illustrations which I will use inspiration from gallery visits and other primary research I have found since the beginning of my Final Major Project (FMP). To take this further, I need to experiment further with surface texture and fabrication to get even more of a finalised design in regards to my final outcome for this project. 

      In these designs, I finally managed to incorporate my print designs within the illustrations, but instead of using collage, I drew the basic print shapes myself along with a similar colouring. Moreover, on top of some of the garments I have added mesh swatches to add even more realistic texture on top of the illustrations so that I could get more perspective from a 2-D form. I really feel that my drawing skills have developed tremendously and I am really happy at this point of the project as I am currently up to date with my brief, although there is always room for more!

    Relating back to my starting research and experimentations, there is still a lot of visual referencing to play around with, such as the responses from my questionnaires, photography, samples, sketches and much more, although I want to try not get too sidetracked considering the fact that I am working at a greatly effective pace so far. I thought that doing these illustrations in a greater, yet more minimal tone would help me develop further along within this project, but also to help me with future processes as I am really keen on this illustrations. Not to mention, post drawing these illustrations I plan on doing some 3-D stand work by using inspiration from everything I've done up to this point, especially these illustrations. This will really help me develop on shape and transfer it back into more definitive designs so that I can begin making my final capsule collection and picking one or two designs to make as a 3-D prototype.

(Sketchbook illustrations produced by Myself)