Portfolio

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Evaulation

After the practice unit I had a very good idea of what I wanted to achieve in unit x, with my motifs and mark makings I made a good foundation for unit x to create patterns and final pieces. In my learning agreement I stated I want to establish myself as a versatile textile designer and I think in this project I have managed to stay versatile without stretching myself too far. I did have mixed feelings about crossing over from interiors to fashion but I think accessories is a good compromise.

Material investigation was a very important part of unit x as I hadn’t previously researched a lot of materials and hadn’t considered how it would affect my practice. I ensured that I prioritised exploring materials and it helped my practice dramatically. In previous projects I had avoided making any mock ups of my work but in unit x I learnt the importance of being able to produce a mock up. Especially after not being able to produce mock ups for the live brief, after university if I am working with a client or company they won’t be able to see my vision so it’s vital I provide a concept.

Keeping my work in line with my audience has been a constant focus throughout the project. With having the bright, strong colours throughout all of my prints I want them to have more exclusivity. When it came to picking fabrics, I constantly thought about my target audience and how I want to showcase my work as a textile designer

Challenges within this unit have really tested my ability to problem solve. In my learning agreement I stated the budget in my live brief may have been issue so I should have addressed the point of who would funding the project earlier and I would have been more prepared. My problem solving has greatly improved within this project, my fabric for the cushions in the degree show were the wrong sizes so I had to solve this problem by sourcing a different fabric for the back of the cover.

I have tried to make my body of work varied, as I want to be a versatile designer and showcase the skills I have picked up throughout university. This has only been possible by managing my time more efficiently, in the practice unit I was starting to get better at time management but in this unit I have really learnt the value of managing my time and seeing what’s possible within the time frame.

Overall, even though unit x has been incredibly challenging it has built my confidence as a designer drastically. By creating my foundation in the practice unit, it inspired me continuously throughout this unit. The processes I have learnt will certainly help me after university and I now feel prepared for what path I may take whether it be freelance or working for a company I now have the ability to manage my time and problem solve.

Final Cushion 1/5

This is one of my five final cushions, I wanted it to be made before assessment but the other 4 will be made for the degree show. In my previous blog post I stated that when I ordered my fabrics I made a mistake with my sizes as the fabrics were so expensive and it wasn't viable to have my cushions at the price point for that length of fabric. I initially thought that all of my cushions would be a repeat print, but after making a mistake with my fabrics I ended up getting a larger piece with more of a placement print. 

The mistakes I made seemed to end up working out well for me, the cushion turned out to be quite large as I didn't want to lose any of the pattern. Throughout my cushions I am using feather inners as it fits in with my price point, using a polyester filling would ruin the whole aesthetic. I had to source other fabrics for the backing of 4 of my cushions (including this one) but I am very pleased with this. I think if i would of had the pattern of both sides it wouldn't have looked as good. The majority of my patterns are very busy and all feature a lot of colour, to have them fit together may not have worked as well as having a fabric backing. I was slightly worried doing this would make my cushions not put them at the higher price point but the fabrics are all good quality. Whilst I was struggling with my cushion prototypes if I'd used a different fabric backing I think I would have felt better about the process and the photos I took.

Its inspiring to see the final product, before this unit I hadn't experimented much with fabric samples so to see my patterns in a product makes me positive about my future after university. Producing this cushion also shows my improvement in time management skills as I was able to get this one finished before the deadline.  I have also made a good contact with the company that have put together my cushion covers, the service was great quality with a good turnaround time, so after university this contact will be invaluable. 

Tie Project

Tie Photoshoot

With one of my prints, I had an idea that it would look good as a tie design, I used the same company that I received my fabric samples from as their fabrics had showcased my colours nicely which my project is all about. I really would like to be versatile with my prints and by creating this tie I thought it would show in my portfolio and unit x project how versatile I am as a designer. 

The issues I had with this were for this printed tie it was £24, the quality of the finish wasn't up to a high standard that I expected for this price point. This has made me realise that for after university, if I wanted to work freelance it would be a good idea to learn how to put together my own products so that I know the finish will be to my standard. Also when it comes to price point if I was paying £24 for the production a tie that needed extra work from an external source the price of the tie would be very expensive. Whereas if I could do the finishes myself I could simply order the fabric in a bigger role to have a bigger profit. 

Tie Photoshoot

This is also an important lesson when it comes to what I produce after university, there are certain times where my work will be in someones else hands, as I can't do everything but I will need to do better research when it comes to the quality of what is being produced. I tried to externally getting the issues with the tie fixed but was told it would need to be hand stitched. To showcase my tie how I thought it should be showcased I did a photoshoot in an office environment. 

Overall the product has taught me a lot because I have said throughout the project I wanted to make my prints versatile so they cross over from furnishings to fashion and this shows me what my pattern could be used for and not just for soft furnishings. I have also solved a lot of problems after the issues I had and in the end managed to have a selection of images to show my print in use. 

Cushion Production

As I wanted 5 cushions for the degree show, I have been looking into the process of having them made. I want them to look like the real product, down to the filling inside. Having done my material investigation, I am certain of the fabrics I want and I've taken into account how the fabrics will look next to each other. After researching into where I can get the cushions made, I found that this could potentially very expensive. I need to try and keep my outgoings to a reasonable level as in the outside world after university it will be crucial to keep to a budget especially working with external clients. Seeing as I have used very bold colours within my project, this is very important to make sure they're fluent throughout. Having looked at quotes for making the cushions I thought it best to order my fabric from the website I used for my samples to ensure fluency throughout my project and find another source to make the cushion covers. 

07/05/16 

Whilst ordering my fabrics, I started to regret deciding to do 5 cushions as the price was starting to add up quite drastically. I came to the conclusion that the best idea to keep my cushions at the higher price point and within my vision was to back my cushions with a plain coloured fabric. This alters my vision slightly but it solves a big problem, it is essential I learn from others within this process. There are certain areas that I am not knowledgable in and I have to adapt my practice from the knowledge I gain from others. 

16/05/16

I have had back one of my cushions made and I am very happy with the result. As stated before I had to change the vision slightly as my price point didn't match exactly with what was achievable with the budget. This has taught me to take more care with numbers and ask for help when needed from other specialist areas. I am happy I came to get at least one cushion ready before assessment as this shows my time management skills have improved dramatically which will be crucial when leaving university. 

Material Investigation

In my brief I stated that I wanted to aim my cushions at a higher price point, to keep everything to the same standard the material investigation was really important to find fabrics that keep in line with the higher price point. In the practice unit I stated that I wanted to investigate materials more to better my practice as a designer. 

Oxford Linen Look 322gsm

This fabric would be suited for outdoor cushions but it wasn't the high end fabric I was looking for.

Quilted Jersey Stretch 255gsm

This material was too thin and cheap, it would be more suited to a fashion outcome rather than soft furnishings.

Suede Vision 180gsm

This fabric did not suit my target audience and didn't have a soft finish. Although the colour and pattern came out nicely.


Lucent Satin 120gsm

This material was spot on for what I was looking for, it had a nice sheen to it and the pattern didn't bleed.

Plush Velvet 450gsm

This fabric had a nice luxurious feel to it that I was looking for but the detail of the pattern didn't come through. It also may not be suitable for cushions and may be more suitable to fashion.

Velvet Shimmer 371gsm

Velvet shimmer gave the finish I was looking for as I'm going for a more expensive price point and this fabric will show that.

Crushed Velour 180gsm

The crushed velour combined the two good aspects of the lucent satin and plush velvet as the pattern came through nicely but had a nice sheen and luxurious feel.

Live Brief Evaluation

As a live brief I worked work with a franchise letting company to create artwork for their office revamp. With the company being a franchise I had a very limited colour palette and theme to work with which turned out to be good practice in comparison to usually having freedom. Initially I had a variety of ideas such as a wall hanging or soft furnishing piece but after a discussion with the company I was told that I would need to fund the project so this hindered me slightly as my unit x project became expensive and it was viable to have the same budget for both projects.

Initial Mood Board

Communication with the company was good throughout which included emails and face to face meetings, this communication was a good confidence builder for after university as I may be again working with other companies in this capacity. The issue I had was that it wasn't always viable to give the customer physical copies of what I wanted to achieve and mostly consisted of digital prints for them to see. In the future if working with a company again I would limit myself to working on smaller, fewer projects at a time especially if I was funding them myself. 

As the budget was a huge factor, I had to scale down some of my ideas and came to the conclusion that working on stationary would be good for the company and the budget. This is also good promotion for not only the company but myself as well, as they would be seen by a lot of people and they could potentially open relationships with other companies. 

 Print Design

My idea was to buy mock notepad and pens that I could use with transparent adhesive paper to show the company what they could potentially look like and this process is very cost effective. I created images on Photoshop of what these could look like so I had various ideas to show the company and proceeded on what they told me they liked. As I had only shown digital mock ups to this point I thought it would be good to show them an actual copy. I had a major issue with the paper and it ended up not working well with an inkjet printer and I couldn't produce any samples that I felt happy with to showcase.

Notebook Concept 

In the timescale given by the company I couldn't fixed this problem in time and couldn't produce any mock ups for them apart from the digital mock ups. I think this could have been an issue for me as the company most likely would have been more excited if they saw what it could look like.

To conclude, the company were happy with the work produced but their circumstances changed but they ended the communication with a possibility of working together in the future which could be useful after university. 

Developed Prints

After deciding to work with my practice unit motifs, I was still in the mind set of the patterns I was focusing on in that unit, which was what about detail and busy prints. I regrouped to realise that I wasn't working on my practice unit it didn't need to be the same and I had to really try hard to work on what I wanted to change in the last unit.

I had so many drawings and motifs in the last unit I was really disappointed as the project went on I started to get carried away with different aspects and almost forgot about my drawings and motifs. So I decided to go back to the very first motifs I did and see if I could make something from them in Unit X. 

From a professional aspect, I need to ensure that I have a range of different prints and patterns in my work and portfolio to show I can do a range of styles. I don't want to just showcase one style of work I can produce I want to show as much as possible. In terms of my degree show, as I have used bold colours I don't want it to be too overpowering and by having the more simple designs it breaks up the overall look.