Locating- Project Evaluation

For this project I was asked to create and develop my own self initiated brief. I knew it was important to manage my time because not only would I be working on my self-initiated brief I will also be responding to at least one of the live briefs. To help me stay on track and manage my own workload I created a timetable at the start of the project so I could see exactly what I had to do in weekly sections. I am really glad that I did this because I feel that I would have fallen behind on my work had I not set myself realistic weekly goals. Because I broke my work down into manageable chunks I felt that I kept on top of everything well. I feel that I managed my time well because I also factored in when I would be away in Paris to go to the Masion et Object trade fair. If I had not written this into my plan and worked more the week before I went to Paris I feel like this would have had a detrimental affect on my work. By putting up a printed copy of this timetable on my bedroom wall I could clearly see what my goals were for that week and week about doing this accordingly. I set my time aside for doing my live project brief so that it wouldn’t overlap with my self-initiated brief and I would not get confused. I think that my time management skills have improved since starting this project and I am definitely going to use these skills in my next project. Especially creating an initial weekly timetable.

Whilst I was in Paris, as well as being incredibly inspired by the work I saw and the people I interacted with, I also collected a lot of business cards and leaflets of designers. I had the amazing opportunity to speak to current designers in the business and learn tips from them about where I may want to take my own work in the future. I also signed up for the website patternbank.com so that I can keep up to date with the upcoming trends and give myself a larger insight into the textile design world. As well as networking, I followed lots of different artists and designers on Instagram and Pinterest that I found whilst researching. I think that this has helped me a lot because it’s a very visual and creative outlet that I can easily see wherever I am on mobile devices. It’s also a good way of seeing contextual research and easily saving images that are inspiring or relevant to my own work. I aim to continue to use this technique to further my future development.

Throughout my project I feel that my work developed quite dramatically from my initial drawings and ideas. I initially wanted to look at wildlife and animals but after doing more research I felt I was more inspired by the landscapes that I was looking at as apposed to the animals directly. From this I started to create more drawings of mountain ranges, trying to capture the remote sense that I was seeing in my research. When I started designing I knew I wanted to keep a very grey and neutral, earthy feel. But after I created some Brusho paintings I knew immediately I wanted to include these within my designs. The contrasting colours and the grey tones gave my work an arctic and outdoor feeling which is what I wanted to achieve. When I was designing for the Bradford textiles competition I knew the sort of interior range I wanted to create, but whilst doing this I read the fashion entry of the competition. This is where I got the idea to start to develop my existing designs to fit a fashion context. I did lots of contextual research into fashion and decided that I wanted to take my work down the route of ski and snowboard wear. I think that this worked very well and I was pleased that I decided to go ahead with this theme. I also think that my work developed hugely after I took my digitally printed fabric into the print room. I think it can be hard sometimes to visualize how a design on a computer screen is going to look when it is printed out. I was pleased with my prints but I felt that some of them needed to be developed by hand printing elements such as flock and foil. I carefully planned out what I wanted to create with my prints before I went into the print room, and I was generally pleased with the outcomes. However one of them did not come out the way that I had wanted it to because the lines on my motif screen were too thin. I have learned from this and will ensure my motifs on my screen are suitable for printing.

I feel like from doing this project I now have a much clearer sense of where I see my work going in the future. I have looked at a lot of artists and designers and gathered a large body of contextual research that is relevant to my own work. I now see myself working towards designing my own interior products, either independently or working for a larger design company. After creating my designs I used Photoshop to put my own designs into situ. I feel like I chose suitable and relevant locations for this like modern apartments and ski chalets. These are the places were I can see my work being displayed. I created a consumer board to clearly show the type of person who would buy my designs and this showed how I could see contextual links between a type of person choosing a type of design for their home. Hopefully I have chosen this well as I feel that my own work is quite contemporary and would be purchased by a quite successful person with a distinct style.

Overall, by doing this project I feel like I have learned a lot, and my work has certainly developed. Having Rianna as a tutor again for this project really helped me because I feel that she understands my work and always gives me clear and consistent advice on how I can improve. Going to the group tutorials and receiving feedback on my work has also really helped me improve. As someone who is quite unconfident about showing my work I initially was very nervous about going to my tutorials. But I have realised that I have become much more confident in my work and within myself by talking and presenting my work to others. Because I have had the support of my tutor and my peers throughout this project I was able to clearly see my strengths and weaknesses within my own work and I feel that this has helped me develop. Not only am I pleased with the work that I have created for this project, but I feel that my work for this has been much more relevant to the type of thing that I would like to after I graduate. I am glad that I tried designing for interiors instead of fashion because I really enjoyed it and I can see my work more in that context. I feel that since starting the project I am much more driven to create work to the best of my ability because I am starting to see my own work in a contextual and professional way.