This
unit for me has been a huge learning curve; with the tight deadlines,
working towards a refined live brief, and learning new techniques all
at once. Time management has been the most important skill throughout
the enquiries, for me balancing both the projects side by side was
near impossible so I chose instead to work on each one individually.
By working on each individually I was given tighter times on each
project, I feel that by giving myself sub goals at the end of every
week, and
working on the train and coming in early every morning
I was able to keep on top of the workload reasonably well. As
I gave myself a shorter time to work on each project I found myself
developing much of my work and designs independently, after
completing these projects I feel a lot more confident in my own
decision making as the risks I took proved to be well spent. Such as
using monofilament
as
the seersucker section of my warp.
As
I have stated before this project has been tight, time wise, and
decision making and development has been quick and concise. Within
the Wallace and Sewell project I found my self leaning a new
technique, as there was not much time I found myself thinking very
critically towards my samples extracting the successful areas and
disregarding the “failures”. Within the Wallace and Sewell
project especially I found myself developing every sample until I
found the “perfect” technique for my final collection. I
undertook the same thinking during my Self initiated brief, once
again I was using a new technique and had little time. However
instead of using my sampling as a means to developing and refining I
used Photoshop heavily; creating compositions that I know would be
successful or need little development once woven.
Working
with an external brief has been a pleasant eye-opener, working to
such specific requirements while keeping your own style is a
challenge and I have been enthused by the prospect. I feel that by
taking part in this live brief I have begun to develop designs
differently, I have become more aware of the end use of my samples
and I'm beginning to take this into account when I begin the project
not just once the samples are made; considering yarns, structures and
finishing techniques from initiation to completion.
As
is shown throughout my blog, sketchbook, and samples I have
experimented and tested different techniques constantly. Within my
first brief I chose to dye all my yarns as my colour pallet was very
specific, I then went onto make a double cloth warp, of which I have
never done before, within the double cloth I attempted my different
structures and tested all of the different combinations of
alternating the cloth its self. I also attempted to felt the sample
as I had initially desired to cut into theme but as I dyed my yarns
the ability to felt was lost. For my Self initiated brief “The
Face” I once again experimented with my warp by using monofilament
as my seersucker sections, as I was informed by my tutor this has not
been tested before and there was not granite that it would work. The
technique was successful and the risk paid off as the seersucker
sample I produced went into my final collection.
Naturally
when making the Wallace and Sewell collection from the very beginning
I was considering yarns and technique, making sure it was suitable
for their fashion line. I used 100% pure wool as my yarn throughout,
as they only use natural yarn, and worked hard on my finishing
technique a I know they value the finish of there products. When I
was designing my warp I also took into account scale as I knew my
sample was intended to be a scarf I
made
it quite wide and all my samples long in order to give to scale
proportions, I
also used Photoshop to make visualizations that displayed the length
of the scarf and the overall proportions.
For me the self imitated brief wad harder to pin down, to being with
I wanted the collection be be very different from that of my live
brief and I chose to make it in a gallery style. Thus my choice of
yarns and techniques didn't need to be suitable for manufacture or
fashion they simply need to respond to my brief “The Face”. As my
project developed I began to see, assisted by my tutor, other areas
where my samples would be well suited for; blinds and room dividers.
Although
my samples were not initially intended for this outcome I used Photoshop to create visualizations that transformed my samples into
the large scale pieces they would need to be to fulfil
this new end
use.
Thinking
contextually has been very important to me within this unit,
naturally as I have undertaken a live brief that requires you to
thoroughly consider the final outcome of your design, and as I am
trying to see which area of the weaving world I see my work and
myself settling into. I haven tried to keep myself aware of designers
though the contextualization of my projects, and I feel I have done
this very successfully in the face that my samples work well for
their intended use and, as my self initiated project displays, other
end uses too. An area I know I can begin to develop upon is the end
users of my products, thinking about the exact audience I want to
work for and not just the area.
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