Evaluation for Practice Unit

After completing this unit, I have successfully developed a form of good practice in the sense of how I work; from taking an original idea, through to visual research, and then a successful realisation of the idea in the form of a print. In addition, I think I have successfully realised my place in the world of design as a digital print designer that utilises technology to develop conceptual prints that can be adapted to be used on a variety of garments, for a customer market of girls around the age of 17-28 that like to experiment with fashion and enjoy bright prints. This unit has helped me contextualise my work realistically for the outside world for when I leave university, which is what I originally set out to do.

For a successful project I found that having primary research is essential for beginning any design work, and that it is okay to look at ideas that have done before to inform a path of research. For example when I got stuck with realising the theme of death in what I wanted to do, going back to what I enjoyed doing and exploring a past interest of cells helped create a  healthy starting point to explore printing cells onto fabrics, to be made into garments, to come up with my idea of 'Wearing Death'. It is also very useful to go back to primary and previous visual research, and laying all my work out, when I get stuck on what to draw as sometimes looking back over things with a new frame of mind can spark an idea.

Market research has also been important to inform the development of my prints, as being aware of what is already out there and who buys what, made me realise what makes a successful print. This in combination with trend research has made me realise that I prefer working with a predicted theme to make my work relevant and successful to the right customer. After choosing to not to do the mature collection, I found that I preferred, and worked best, creating prints for girls around the same age as me, because this is the market level that I am most familiar with, and can relate to.

Artist research has also made me more aware of what is out there already and who works in a similar way to me, so I can improve on my own practice. It has also raised my awareness of how I could advertise my prints and my skills as a textiles practitioner, which are essential skills for when I leave university. Entering competitions, and work experience research has also helped prepare me for life after a student, as seeing my prints in context, highlights what works in a successful digital print for certain garments, and market levels.

For the next unit I look forward to further exploring the use of technology in creating textiles for fashion, by using more applications to create prints, and applying them to garments to be made into a collection.

 

Visuals of Prints on Garments

Hermione de Paula–Autumn Winter 2012 Ready to Wear

(Image from http://blog.first2print.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/digital-print-services-nyc-hermione-de-paula.jpg)

I picked a designer dress as that is the market level that I would target if I was to make prints for dresses.

River Island mens t-shirt

 (image from: http://www.riverisland.com/men/t-shirts--vests/print-t-shirts/Ecru-smoky-photo-print-low-scoop-t-shirt-276252)

I picked a high street level for mens tshirts.

Looking at how others use placement and enineered prints I have thought about how my prints would be used on a garment:

(Photoshopped image from: https://s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/cklimage/images/detailed/64/DSC_0584.jpg)

 Decided on a print for dress as the skirt doesn't quite look right, this may have been the type of dress used. Thus it would be easier if I used my own images from a photoshoot.

(Photoshopped image from: http://site.topdogshirts.com/images/next_level_apparel/3600white.jpg)

I decided on an enlarged placement print with more white space, as after looking at River Island t shirts, they seem to tend to be more on a section or from an arm. I tried to archive the print coming from a corner with this look.

After incorporating the research that I collected from the fabrics and garment I looked at previously in the shops I decided to print on to a good quality silk that would make a front panel like the jumpers found in All Saints, that are 100% silk. Simmilar jumpers have been found in H&M, Ted Baker and ASOS.

J.Crew Merino silk-panel sweater in antique floral £118.00

(Image from: https://s7.jcrew.com/is/image/jcrew/A1921_NA7131_m?$pdp_fs418$)

Price and fabric research on similar items:

Ted Baker £119  Knit: 100% Viscose; Woven: 100% Polyester - Makes it machine washable

H&M £59 Merino wool, Silk

ASOS £185 Body: 42% Wool, 24% Viscose, 24% Polyamide, 5% Polyester, 5% Silk - Concession brand which means limited pieces.

 My print on a jumper panel

(Image from http://www.boutique1.com/media/catalog/product/v/i/vince_240695_403cbl_fm.jpg)

I have also looked on  WGSN and been inspired by this image:

Mugler resort 2013 collection

Source: As seen at hellotailor.blogspot.co.uk

(Image from http://www.wgsn.com.ezproxy.mmu.ac.uk/content/report/Trend_Analysis/Materials/Inspiration/2014/February/smooth_shells_emerging_womenswear_textiles_trend.html )

"A new direction for modern separates is created with smooth sportswear fabrics in a white-on-white palette, along with reductive architectural silhouettes and minimal detailing." -
By Heloisa Righetto, WGSN post, 07 April 2011

Which made me try the print on neoprene as it seems like a type of material that is light but possible to keep it's shape making a shell shape possible.
However, the closet image I could find to visualise this idea is a skater skirt/dress, as it has quite a stiff shape but still floats.

 My print on a dress

(Image from https://s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/cklimage/images/detailed/64/DSC_0584.jpg)

I think the dress worked out quite well as it is easier to displace the print onto it.

Existing neoprene jumpers:

UNIF - NEOGRAM SWEATSHIRT $108.00 

(Image from - http://unifclothing.com/womens/neogram-sweatshirt-2135 )

 

Market Research - Outward Thinking

Using WGSN I have searched for existing cross analysis of shops used in trend books.
http://www.wgsn.com.ezproxy.mmu.ac.uk/content/report/Business_Strategy/Business_Insight/2014/February/us-retail--january-same-store-sales-analysis.html

Cross examining classic plain black dresses from shops with different target audiences:

Primark - black party dress £17

Shop level - bog standard, value price 

Fast turn around, large production, latest on trends. 

High street - Topshop £25 - 75 

Black plain party dress

Stylish but affordable 

Student friendly. 

Top end high street - All Saints plain black dress £88-168

Someone that normally shops at high street shops that wants better quality and potentially an investment buy/ special occasion dress. 

Designer- Lanvin - plain black dress approx £11841.47 

Favourites for the celebrities, professionals with extra expenses looking for a nice dress for a special occasions. 

Couture - Elie Saab - on quote £16,000 - £100,000

Not oftern plain as people tend to order straight from the designer so they'd want something special and worth the large price tag. All hand sewn = price includes a lot of labour and made to measure. Most commonly bought by celebrities for prestigious events. 

This research has made me think realistically about how much I would price any garments that I would make and what processes I would use. For example if I was to create prints for mens t-shirts, I would possibly aim for high street range and keep my prints quick and simple to create and produce to keep costs down and profits up.

Neon Lights - Thinking about refining colour

I have decided to look at more trend research to explore a more refined colour pallet to used and found this:

Inspiration from A/W 14/15 London Selfridges Window Displays

Image Source: Andrew Meredith http://www.wgsn.com.ezproxy.mmu.ac.uk/content/report/Retail_and_VM/Visual_Merchandising/Best_Practise/2014/February/a_w_14_15_londonfashionweekwindowsvmanalysis.html

Anna Lomax

I think the below two prints were quite sucessful as they have the 'digital' and 'technology' look that I was going for with the conrast or colours against the black and blurred lines.

Print above made with glowing edges filter (CMYK)

 Video above: (made the same way as the previous one; used the kaleidoscope app and then uploaded onto Instagram) Glowing edges print in kaleidascope app and 3D print below made into a video on Instagram. This video was entered into the Nivea Interngram internship program. The brief is to create a creative video on Instagram for a chance to win an internship on their social media team. The winner will be picked

This way of finding potiential employees for this role is relitively new, so it is hard to find what they will be looking for, but it is catching on quite fast!

Information on the intership:

http://interngram.tumblr.com/

I have used this as an oppotunity of getting my work out there with hashtags on the video and having my work avaliable on the range of platforms the company is advertising the competition on.

QR codes creators (http://www.qrstuff.com/) can be used to scan links, for example a link to that video:

Print above: Glowing edges plus 3D ajustments (RGB) Placement print (T-shirt) Layout inspired by Raw Pop Art. Hodgepodges by AGARES. Image below:

http://www.tumblr.com/search/pop+art 

RGB allows a brighter colour contrast, which means the 'neon' look is more archivable in RBG format over CMYK.

Above: Print on a figure. Figure image from: http://static.theiconic.com.au/p/staple-superior-0479-97099-1.jpg

Simmilar prints avalible now:

Image: http://www.wgsn.com.ezproxy.mmu.ac.uk/content/report/Trend_Analysis/Sport/2013/July/s-s-14--bright-berlin-street-shots.html

Source: WGSN 4 October 2013 1920:1280 WGSN street shot, Bright Berlin, July 2013

Bright, 3D ish (Plays with the eyes)

The new prints has been influenced again by the image of Alaxander McQueens dress here that helped earlier on.

In conclusion on the colour theme I decided I liked this new neon-contrast theme, but I also liked the bright orange and navy blue theme that I originally used after looking at 'Un-real' text and doing 'child-like' drawings. Therefore, I have decided on two seperate collections; The neon theme - 3Dee Illutions, and the orange - KaleidaPrints.

Textile Federation 3D Print

Brief and Rules:

Development work:

The print below was created with the kaledascope trace that I did and then scanned in, and manipulated in photoshop. I did not use this one because I thought the symmerty in the print that was the most important point in the kaleidascope pieces didn't come across, so I thought a more clean line approach was more appropriate in the sample below it. I also tried the 'Dream-like reality' colour theme in this sample, howeber I felt the colours were too subtle and blended together too much.

Layout below inspired by triangular kaleidascope breakdown. After looking into how to create the kaleidoscope look with an image in Photoshop I found one way is to use an equalateral triangle.

Above: Placement print edited in photoshop to make 3D. Green and Red stereoscopic.

Above: Zoom in

From completing the Textiles Federation Art Collision competition, it has helped me by looking at a new look of prints that are used for garments. This has improved my way of thinking about composition and opacity in my prints to make it suitable for placement prints, thus it has been a valuable experinece in developing my work.

Creating 3D images

Youtube Video Help:

Colour Channels:

Image from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaglyph_3D

After a few attempts on different designs I have concluded that creating really sucessful 3D images is quite labouring and you have to calculate the correct amount of depth and scale for the correct perception, thus I think my prints may not be perfect but I like the effect it has of blurriness and the seperated colours behind look like the colour specturm made in reflecting light spectrum, gives it a fresh and tecnological look.

From entering this competition it has helped me not only develop my prints for a more commercial level, but it also made me realise another size and scale the industry works at, and how it may be printed in CMYK instead of the usual RGB that I use.

It has also helped me with the layout of my designs, as I have taken inspiration from the kaleidascope prints for the triangular shapes, so I am not just doing random geometrical shapes for placement prints. And from feedback from a potential customer and peer I have found that instead of an all over print, it needed more white space and less clutter like layout that I used previously in the dresses found here.

The Modernist Competition

After entering it before I found the new brief they have put up links in quite well with some of the prints I have already made. I ended up chosing this particular print because it was the one that most accurately reflects the brief.

I also found Style.com quite informative for searching for trends and street snaps.

Céline Spring 2014 Ready-to-Wear

(Image from - http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/S2014RTW-CELINE ) 

Kaleidoscope Application

After looking at Nada Herceg's prints it inspired me to use my idea of kaleidoscopes and to do this I used 'apps' available on my phone to edit my drawings.

Click the link to see the video - http://instagram.com/p/kPEuaNSN-r/

Above: Image captures of drawings in the Kaliedascope app. Screens shot of the apps on my phone below. The video was then uploaded onto Instagram to get an embed code for the blog/shared. 

From this, I have thought about using the videos as an art direction approch, such as advertising/on my website, and I will continue with the use of apps on my phone to include my 3D idea. (explained in the next post)

Nada Herceg

nadaherceg.com/

     "  British Textile Designer Nada Herceg was born in Travnik in Central Bosnia. Daughter of a seamstress, Nada was influenced from a very early age by her mother’s work.  This was a key factor in helping her to develop and cultivate a strong flair for design and creativity.

Passionate about drawing as a child, Nada never imagined that she would one day be perfecting this skill as a designer in a foreign land.

During the Bosnian War she is forced to immigrate to London in 1993.            

In  2000 she takes a course in Textile Printing and is encouraged by her teacher to further her education. She enrols in a foundation course for Architecture at East London University and eventually graduates as a Textile Designer from Chelsea College of Art and Design in 2006. 

Nada is currently working as a freelance textile designer.  She specialises in  CAD (computer aided design.)

She has worked as a studio assistant for London based designers such as Roksanda Ilincic,     and for various fashion events including London’s Fashion Week."

Image source: Digital Textile Design by Melanie Bowles & Ceri Isaac Published Laurence King 2009 London

 

Herceg demonstrates the creative use of photography in her textiles collection "kaleidoscope". Here she arranged everyday objects and then photographed them through a kaleidoscope, creating there amazing pattern formations. She edited them further by putting them into repeat and printing them digitally into silk, allowing her to maintain their rich, photographic qualities. - Digital Textiles Design book second ed by Melanie Bowles and Ceri Isaac 

Market Research

Looking around the Trafford Centre for existing prints simmilar to mine:

 H&M

 Miss Selfridge

 Karen Millen

 Lipsy

 River Island

 Forever 21

M&S

From this research I have concluded that it is possible that the 'childlike' prints may not currently be used in prints, and girls in Manchester prefer to wear all over simple flora/colour blocks and engineered prints.

The older shops such as Karen Millen used smaller motif prints and strategic engineered prints that create a slimming figure with black panels on the sides of the waist.

The prints tend to be a lot of half drop patterns on dresses such as skater skirts. panels on jumper that are made out of viscose, silk crepe, polyester and merino wool in high end shops such as All Saints.

I best customer profile girls I spotted shopped in Zara that typically wore a plain black coat over a top or dress and shoe boots or flat slip on pumps.

Child like drawn prints development

Image from: http://static.missguided.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/1516x1839/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/l/u/lucie-08.11.13-mc4513_1_1.jpg

Print made with oil pastel cell drawings.

This print was created from using the oil pastel drawings and then manipulated in Photoshop, the look I was going for is a sophisticated childlike scribble in an all over print. I thought the print was a bit too overcrowded and complicated so I decided stripes may break up the print a bit, which I thought was quite sucessful. However the opacity on the stripes may have to be lighter so it isn't just a block of colour.

I found that these prints didn't quite looked refined and finished, so I decided to do some market research to help with this process. By looking at existing prints being sold in shops I can see what I need to do to improve on the composition and colours used.

Research and Development

I decided I got a bit stuck after the http://rachaelskyeung.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/print-on-acessories.html prints so I have layed out all my work so far to pick out any parts that I particularly enjoyed, such as the oil pastle drawings and look for new inspiration in trend bookks.

After looking at Promistyl Inspirations Trend book for s/s 2014 I picked out the word 'childlike' from one of the concept pages, and decided it linked in well with my oil pastel drawings. 

Identities>Funny trip>Dream-like reality:

"(Un)real:

Deformations,agglomerations, drips, new veined aspects and hybrid textures... For a whole array if materials is covering surfaces in strange , surprising ways. Graphic animations alternate freestyle childish scribbles and digital vectorial contours. Colours, just like materials, bring synthetic, chemical aspects for plastic look and feel, revisited playfully and technologically."

Drawings by a three year old:

 

Above drawings by Lucas Sung

 

  Above Drawings by Jasmine and Emerson Lam

 

I also decided on dropping the mature collection, but develop the Brihts collection, as I feel that creating prints for girls around my age is an age rage that I can relate to.

Print on Accessories and Dresses

Moving on from the leggings idea as I don't think the Brights collection quite worked, so I tried on other products such as backpacks and dresses, varying the location of the print.

Image of backpack from Topshop, with my digital print.

Image from http://www.mediamarmalade.com/2013/06/swinging-sixties.html by Melissa Mould
with my print on dress.

 

Above: Working with breaking up the prints to laminate/foil on top of.

Above: Reworked digital print + scanned print on Jennifer Hope. Image from: http://fashionhotbox.com/faq/img_4643/

Refined prints below:

I have refined these prints by adding more subtle layers to create more depth and a united collection look with the same colour palette. The colour has been changed with the hue and saturation option in Photoshop.