WEEK THREE

Accessories Week

Day One; working with special object, manipulating and abstracting shapes

This week is accessories week and we had to bring in a special object to use as inspiration for our final accessory design. My object was a bird trinket that one of my best friends gave me for my 18th birthday. I chose this object because i thought the shape would be interesting to work with as you can abstract it and change it to obtain other interesting shapes from within it. 

We started off by recording our objects in as many different ways as possible, for example, drawings, photographs, photocopies etc. I started off by photocopying my object and then drew around the object, layering it over each drawing to get different shapes. I like the repeat pattern effect that this gave to the object and could be used to make some sort of chain for jewellery. I then expanded this further by covering a whole page in my sketchbook with the bird shape to create more shapes but this time I outlined them in pens of different thickness to give it more depth. Here are some images from my sketchbook of the recordings I made:

Once we had recorded the object in different ways we were asked to create flat line drawings of the shapes we made. I chose to use the chain link but break down the bird shape in to different shapes by following different lines. I came up with three different interesting shapes which allowed the object to be much more abstracted rather than just taking the overall shape and using that. We then created stencils or cut-outs of the flat line drawings so that we could turn them in to 3D. 

I used the three shapes and layered them over each other to create something completely different. It had a really nice layered effect but because I used only three shapes I could also use this idea of repetition which I think is really effective as it can add detail without it being too busy. The 3D shape I came up with could be a design for some sort of headwear, eyewear or choker necklace. 

I enjoyed this day much more than I originally thought that I would because I like how taking a simple object could be manipulated in to something completely different and by recording things in different ways you can focus in on one area that you really like and run with that idea.

Accessories from London/ New York Fashion Week SS14

Part of our homework this week was to look at interesting accessories from London Fashion Week. Many of the accessories I saw from the catwalks were linked to the actual garments either by using the sam detailing or the same print. This helps the accessories work well with the clothes and gives designers a chance to come up with different ideas for how accessories should be worn. KTZ had repeated the print and laser cut detailing from their clothes in to their footwear, Topshop Unique also used the same print on their handbags as their clothing. I like how both designers have used simple shapes but repeated them to make them more interesting and detailed. 

I was particularly intrigued by Sophia Webster's twist on nature in her bags and shoes. There were lots of bug shaped bags and slogans on her clutch bags and backpacks. Her designs use lots of colour and the use of more literal shapes creates really cute pieces that will be successful.

Day Two; accessory idea development

Today we brought in magazine tears so that they could be used to help develop ideas for our accessory. We had to incorporate the shapes that we had abstracted from earlier in the week. I already had these shapes cut out and so simply had to start arranging them in different ways to come up with interesting accessories and ideas.

 Here are four of the ideas that I came up with. I liked the idea of layering the shapes to make more interesting shapes and thought it gave my ideas a bit more depth. I wanted to do either a shoulder piece, necklace or head piece. Once we had worked with the paper cut outs I put them in my book and then developed those ideas further by doing drawings and isolating certain parts and then repeating them to build up more layers. 

Once we had developed our ideas we had to pick the one we liked best and come up with a final design for our accessory that we made on the last day this week. Here is the idea that I chose to develop and make;

This was my favourite design because I think it had the most impact and would look interesting once I had made it. The final design I came up with continued the shapes across the neck to make it more of a big neck piece rather than just two shoulder pieces as I thought it would look more effective and it would be more practical when worn on the body.

Day Three; making of accessory

Today we were making our final accessories that we designed on wednesday. I decided that mine would look best if I made out of wire as it's easy to work with and bend in to the abstract shapes I needed to use. When I first started making my accessory it was working well however as more layers were built up, it didn't look as I thought it was going to because I had to use a glue gun to attach the individual shapes which made it messy looking. The final design I came up with was a lot cleaner and softer so I came up with the idea of wrapping white tissue paper around the wire pieces to make them look softer and tidier.

Overall I think that it ended up working better by covering the wirer rather than just leaving it as it made the design much more harsh looking. I think that if I were to do anything differently I would have used a different material rather than wire or found a different way of putting it together. Maybe it could have looked better if rather than using white tissue, I used white thread to keep it cleaner and simpler. 

I want to re-shoot my final accessory with more of a setting rather than just a simple white background as the accessory reminds me of twigs and nature. I think it has an etherial feel and would look much better if there was more of a setting and storyline behind it. 

photographs of finished final accessory

A1 mood board to show developmental stages throughout the accessory week