Culture Project - WEEK TWO & THREE

Day One; development of second culture through collages and sketches

Today I have been working on the Dubai half of the project by using images to create collages so that I can come up with shapes and sketches to help influence shapes and design ideas for my collection. 

I think that by creating collages with different sized images of different architecture in Dubai will make my designs more creative and interesting. I think I want the final collection to incorporate reflective materials and structural shapes. I will then incorporate a more tribal print to introduce the other half of this project.

Day Two; workshop on colour and creating colour ways

Today we did a workshop on photoshop with Dan so that we could start being more experimental with colour and introduce more colour in to our work.

We did this by taking colours from some of our photographs that we are using as inspiration for this project to create colour schemes and colour ways. We started by picking five colours and then finding their contrasting colours or colours that were similar, or complimentary colours according to the RGB colour wheel so that we know they work together.

We then would create colour ways to create a colour scheme that could be used in our projects.

This was an interesting workshop because it allowed us to develop colour and use more interesting colours than what I would normally go for. It made me not stick to the monochromatic colour scheme that I tend to go for because I feel safest with it. 

Day Three; continuation from monday and developing a print

Today I started to blend both the cultures together to come up with some design ideas. I have about 20 designs now and need to narrow this down to six next week for my final collection. 

I have decided that my collection is going to be structured and futuristic like Dubai but then I want to create a print that I am developing from sketches I have done of detailing of African tribes and influences that can be incorporated in panels on the collection. 

For this project I have wanted to created a print as lots of the sketches in my book would work well in a print format. I want my print to be geometric and mirrored to tie in with the contrasting themes of the project. The print will have tribal colours and curves so that it has the natural flow and colour that has been inspired from the african tribes. It will be a mirrored print and symmetric like the city scape of Dubai.

So far the culture project isn't my favourite and so therefore I don't think I've been working as hard as i probably could have been. I have been focusing a lot of my attention on to the Final major project as I want to come up with an interesting idea and have therefore been putting less focus on to this project. I am worrying and stressing about other things. Ive found the culture project quite hard and have been struggling a bit and so therefore haven't really got in to as much as other projects. 

Final Week; 

Unfortunately for the final week of this project I have been off sick due to tonsillitis, this will mean I will have to continue with the project once I am feeling better. I think this will affect my final work because I have less time to develop my final collection and I won't be able to produce a final outcome other than just the drawn final collection. This is annoying as assessment is coming up but I will make sure I catch up with the work the best I can. 

Culture Project - WEEK ONE

Day One; initial research, mood board

Today didn't start out very well as I was struggling to think of two cultures that were interesting enough to compare against each other, I didn't want to choose something too obvious or boring. I was also worried I would choose something that I wasn't actually really interested in. 

I knew straight away that architecture was something I wanted to explore and so I have chosen to look at the crazy place that is Dubai. Over the Christmas holidays I went to Dubai with my mum, I was completely blown away when I got there as it is just a crazy and buzzy place. It is so over the top and vast that you feel like it isn't real. Everything is new and every other car was either a porsche, land rover, rolls royce or some other over the top sports car. The skyscrapers are all so overwhelming and huge and the city scape is just incredible  I love all the reflective surfaces and windows that you are surrounded by. The feeling you get when you're there is something I want to try and get across in my designs for this project.

Once I had chosen Dubai, I was struggling with what other culture to choose, it had to be something completely different that was more natural and so I eventually decided to look in to African tribal culture. I think that this contrasts well with Dubai because African tribes are all about family, nature and the beauty of the natural world. African tribes are also full of colour whereas Dubai mostly consists of mirrors, and silver and chrome. I stick to a fairly monochrome colour scheme most of the time so the African tribes will hopefully help me to use more colour in my work this time so that I have more of a variety. 

Day Two; trip to British Museum and Saatchi Gallery

Today we went to the British Museum and the Saatchi Gallery. Getting there was a bit of a nightmare due to the tube strike however I found the British Museum really helpful as it had a whole floor on African art and culture. This has given me more research for the african culture side to my project and will help me to develop my ideas further. 

Day Three; development of research

I have decided to look at both themes separately and then bring them together later on during the project. Today I have been looking in to the African tribal part of this project by drawing and researching more in to it. 

Sportswear Project - WEEK TWO

Day One & Two; development of ideas for final collection and developing a print

This week I have carried on with working on my collection by working in to the rough design ideas and doing even more drawings of detailing. I have started to introduce a figure so that I can see what whole outfits look like together. I now have so many different ideas floating around my head that I need to narrow them all down to make it more clear as I have so many ideas that I am stuck with where to go next and how to bring it all together to create the final collection. The initial sketches work really well but after having so many I now have so many different ways I could take the collection that I'm struggling to pick what things to go with.

This week I also developed a print to incorporate in to my designs in small details as I need to find a way of bringing in the London landmark idea so that my initial research ties in to my collection and so you can see the flow from beginning to end. 

I've gone for a very simple print that I got from a drawing I did of the gherkin and then just cropped it down and made a symmetric print from there. It is a fairly simple print but as I would only be using it in small places in my final collection I think that the more simplistic the better so that it doesn't overpower the overall design. I have got a greyscale and then a brighter print to add more colour in to the collection. 

Day Three; final design completion 

Here is my final collection for the sportswear project. Overall I am really pleased with the designs however the one on the end on the left I feel doesn't fit in as well to the collection so if I had more time I would have changed this as I don't like it. I like that my collection is fairly simple with it's colour scheme but the shapes being created make it more exciting. 

If i were to create this collection I would use fabrics like neoprene and mesh. I would print my print on to interesting fabrics and use these in the collection as well. I think that this project has been successful and I am glad I chose to do design as I think my work has flourished and is becoming more interesting. I've become more confident in myself and my work due to good feedback so I am glad that I've chosen that design is more my pathway over promotion during my time at Ravensbourne.