Stage 5- Final Stage

     After evaluating the beginning stages of the development of my collection, I have taken into consideration that my final prints need to be a bedding set size once in repeat. I did research into the measurements of a double bedding set; which is 200cm by 200cm, I now always work to these specific measurements when putting my designs in repeat as would a bedding designer. I made sure that my previous designs don't distort or pixelate once in the correct measurements, I then altered them to these. Through this I learnt that I should always research the measurements I need to work to before starting to design.

     Through my research I found that bedding designs at the moment are very busy and colourful and the colour scheme I had chosen was very bright and vibrant, I think this was successful. I also noticed that a lot of the engineered designs were very large; taking into account the parts of the design that would come off the edge of the bed. Through the evaluation of my recent designs I knew I needed to take this into consideration when creating my final collection. This is one design I created that I made the boarders larger, taking into account the bedding hanging over the edges of the bed.

     During the past analysis of my recent designs I found that I wasn't challenging myself enough with the types of patterns I was creating, so I decided to do this so visually my final collection would be more varied. I think this was integral to my learning process and I now have a better understanding of different patterns. In the development of my final collection I incorporated mirror repeat, half drop repeat, block repeat and engineered prints. Even though I have not included all of these into my final collection I can show through my development I have a very good understanding of each of these.

 Mirror repeat- part of development.

Half drop repeat- part of development.

Block repeat- part of development.

Engineered and mirror repeat- part of development.

     I did research into how they would be printed if they went into manufacture. I already knew my designs would be digitally printed as they are so detailed and would be produced many times. But I also did research into what dyes would be used and which colour model would be used, such as RGB, CYMK or Lab colour. I found that reactive dye is usually used in digital printing as you can achieve brighter colours with these. I also studied which colour model would work best with my designs and I found that RGB would be the best as it doesn't distort the colour which is important that it is vivid.

                                                 

                                                 

An example of a colour model test- top is RGB, bottom is CYMK. CYMK distorts the colour whereas RGB is bright and vivid like original design.  

     I did research into what fabrics are used in bedding so I could have swatches of what fabric my designs could be put onto. I found that Polycotton Percale, Polyester IFR, Cotton, Waffle Cotton, Egyptian Cotton, Cotton Percale, and for a more lustrous feel, silk. I then did research into which fabrics take dye best as it is important to me that the colours are vivid. I decided that the fabric I would use for my bedding would be Cotton Percale, as I feel that it would be more appropriate for bedding than just plain cotton as it is a little stiffer but still as soft; and Silk/ Viscose satin, as I wanted a more extravagant material than Cotton Percale but with the mix of Silk with Viscose it wouldn't be as slippery on the bed as plain Silk. I found this information very important to my learning process as I know I will have to know these things when I am designing patterns for a company, as information like colour models and fabric can affect your design and the production and popularity of it once in stores. 

     During the evaluation of my previous designs I decided I wanted my designs to feel more organic like the images of earth from space, this was inspired by the piece by tactile wonderland which looks very space- like and ordered but is also organic looking with its textures. This is what I aimed for with my designs and I think I achieved due to the detail I pay to different textures, how my colour choices accentuate this; and the overlapping of some images making it feel more natural.

 An image taken from space of earth showing natural growth and textures. 

                                     

Tactile Wonderland.

One of my designs with a more natural feel of growth, created by using different tones and textures.

     For my final collection I chose six designs, they are all very different images but link together as a collection due to the colour scheme. I felt at first that I didn't have enough designs in my collection as I had created so many designs during my development stages, but I feel that each of my designs are of good enough quality to be printed onto bedding and this is the most important factor. To present my designs I have printed my two main designs onto A1 paper as all furnishing designs are printed onto either A0 or A1 paper. To show my designs to a professional standard I have printed a piece showing each over- all design, so you can see the repeat and how it would appear on the bedding set. I have also printed out a scale piece of each print so you can see how it would appear on the bedding and appreciate the textures, scale and colour. For my two main designs I have also created a visualisation to show how each would appear on a bedding set, with pillows and an underside of the duvet cover. On the Diane Harrison studio visit I noticed how the designers there created visualisations, with a simple birds eye view of the bed showing the top of the duvet cover as a square and the pillow cases at the top as two rectangles and a triangle in the corner of the duvet cover representing the underside of the duvet cover. I chose to use this idea in my representations and I think they look simple but professional.

My two main designs in visualisations and scaled images A1 size.

The rest of my final collection.

 To prepare for my presentation I have evaluated how well my presentation went during the interim assessment with the designer from Diane Harrison, I found that the designer wanted a faster overview of my development ideas, so I know for my final presentation I will have to edit some of my ideas out to keep them interested. They also liked to ask questions about my ideas so I need to make sure I am prepared for this. At the end of the presentation I will ask the designer if they have any more questions as this will show I have confidence in my designs and am happy to talk about them in a professional manner. For my presentation I want to give the designers a brief overview of my development and ideas taken from the theme we had given from them, giving them chance to ask questions at this stage, and then present to them my final collection, showing my understanding of the professional industry such as measurements, types of pattern, fabric, colour, images used and contextual research.

     Overall I have learnt a lot during this project, it has helped my understanding of the interior industry and presenting my work to a professional audience. I have learnt more about the production side of furnishing such as colour models, fabric and dyes but also the design side such as taking into account measurements, how visualisations are an important part of the design process; and challenging myself to learn different types of pattern and ways to create visual research. I learnt a lot about how professional designers work within a design company during the Diane Harrison studio visit, such as programmes they use and different ways of creating prints such as by hand instead of digitally, I will definitely use this process in future. I believe that my presentation skills on a professional level have improved due to this project as I have learnt how to give a brief overview on the most important factors and talk about professional factors affecting my work and develop on this.

     

  

Stage 4

The feedback from the designer from Diane Harrison Studios was very positive, he said I had lots of ideas to work with and so needed to focus them and decide how I was going to use them to create my end collection. He agreed with me that I needed to look back at my contextual research to help me decide what kind of prints I wanted to create. He said he felt that my strongest work was my own drawings and my marble paints; he agreed a combination of these would work well. But he could tell I wasn't as inspired by the hand created prints and the cubed microscope photographs so I have decided to leave these out of my design plan. I felt more confident after speaking with the designer as he confirmed my thoughts more.

I started the development of my collection by looking back on my contextual research and recognizing what kind of designs I would like to create. I especially like these pieces by print artists Claire Scully and Ce'li Lee; geometrics and mirroring are very popular at the moment in both fashion and interiors and I thought my visual research would work well with this idea.

Claire Scully

Ce'li Lee

I decided to repeat an image I had already created by doing in industry what is called a engineered design. I thought this worked very effectively so I decided to create more in this way with a mixture of my drawings and contrasted marble paintings. These worked well and I am happy to continue working with these elements. I decided that my designs worked best as bedding as they are a little whimsical and unusual to be on curtains or wallpaper. When I spoke to one of the designers on the studio visit they said that more outlandish designs usually go on bedding. I created visualisations of my designs to see how they would appear on bedding and this was successful. 

To make my work become a more professional standard I need to take into account the scale I create my patterns so they would not become pixelated if I blew them up to scale. I also need to take into account when I am creating designs that are around the boarder of the design, that once on a double bedding set, this would lay down the sides of the bed so when looking over the bed you wouldn't be able to see around 20cm off each edge. To improve my work I need to challenge myself and stop creating engineered and mirrored designs. I found a wallpaper print I liked from Tactile Wonderland that uses mirroring but has a slight change in the design; I have decided I need to do this in my work to make it more organic. 

Tactile Wonderland

Stage 2

After the presentations in class I started by doing research into a number of the different themes to find out which interested me the most and had the most information for me to work with, I then picked Exploration, focussing on Space specifically.

I started doing contextual research to see what kind of print I would like to produce, taking inspiration from all areas of art as this helps with making my designs innovative. All professional designers pay attention to all aspects of art and the world around them so I think it is important I do. I knew that I would need an idea in my head of what kind of images I would like to use when starting my visual research as some could become useless in the future, and I wanted to become more efficient with my time like a professional designer would; just creating the work that is needed to produce the final design in a limited time.

 I decided after my research I would like my work to use lots of layers and a change in tone and opacity between my images, like the work of Betsey Walton and Marcel Wanders.

Betsey Walton

Marcel Wanders

I did contextual research into artists/ designers that based their work on space to see how they interpreted it. I decided to put all my contextual and space research on two separate boards on my Pinterest page to make them easier for me to access. Most designers create a folder or mood board for their contextual research but I thought as most of my work is done on the computer it would make it easier for me to access, with a few main research pieces on a mood board in my sketchbook.

The links to my contextual research board and space research board on Pinterest are as follows:  

http://pinterest.com/emmasenior1/contextual-research/

http://pinterest.com/emmasenior1/space-research/

For my colour scheme I created a number of different ones as I knew that design companies do this so they can appeal to their different markets; different places and people like different colours.

Another reason why I picked the theme of space was that I knew it would challenge me, as images of space don't have clear shapes to draw from and I usually pick themes which I know will be easy to create visual research from, whereas space is more shadows. This did make it hard for me to create visual research initially but I found a way of editing the images of space so it was easier to differentiate the shapes. I feel this has impacted on my practice as I will no longer be scared of what kind of images I will be working from, as I know if I am finding it hard I can do this process.

From this I created visual research using a number of different materials and in different sizes, focussing on black and white media as I knew they would be put into Photoshop. I knew Photoshop would be more suited for my visual research as I was using different shades, whereas Illustrator specialises in line drawings and block shapes. 

I started to layer some of my images up on Photoshop using colours from my colour scheme to see if my designs would look best with a white/ off white ground or a colour ground. Because there will be so many layers and colour used in my work my designs look best on a colour ground as they sit better in it, they look lost on a white ground.

The Cutting Edge of Wallpaper

I found this amazing book with cutting edge wallpaper designers I have named but a few in my blog.

William Wegman:

Has collaborated with Man Ray on a number of video and photographic installations. Uses humerus images such as his Weimaraner dogs, which have been exhibited in galleries and published in many books. His first wallpaper print was in the 1990's named 'Activities'  which makes reference to a wholesome New England lifestyle which is comprised of inkblots. 

Wook Kim:

Graphic artist, painter and installation artist. Kim plays with our perception of what is wallpaper, using traditional patterns and motifs and inserting into their midst unexpected animals at odd intervals. The animals seem lost, adrift in the relentless patterning around them. Their stylised features make them seem strange and exotic, innocent intruders in a sea of repetition. Digitally printed as Kim tries to stay away from mass production. 

Johanna Basford:

Basford's work is inspired by the wildlife and nature that surrounds her studio in Scotland, using delicate hand- drawings of imagined botanicals, teaming with curious beasts and butterflies are then re- invented into traditional Victorian motifs. The result is a tactile and and intricate print.

Clare Coles:

A merge of collage and embroidery which makes her work totally unique and exciting. Sourcing vintage wallpapers from markets and junk shops, she bypasses the printing process, instead ripping, stitching and embellish them with gems and drawings. Cole has also collaborated with other artists and designers on a number of her projects. In 'Black Blossom and Butterflies' she worked with Kim Robertson who created the graphics and the screen printing, whilst Claire customised the result with stitching and cutting. 

Lene Toni Kjeld:

Focused on the way wallpaper defines a space and has the potential to divide a space. Her paper consists of eight patterns, four main patterns and four hybrids. Her designs morph as they span the room, lace turns into roses. 

Jenny Wilkinson:

Jenny made her name in design with her brilliant 'Wallpaper-by-Numbers' series and has now been heralded as a design classic and is already featured in the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The beauty of these wallpapers is that the owner is free to disregard Jenny's colour schemes and create a look to match their particular home and style. They can also leave them blank or half filled in. 

More Contextual Research

I decided to do more research as yesterdays didn't give me many new ideas. I had already decided to create a paisley print by itself, but this gave me the idea of overlapping my simple line drawings and experimenting with the opacity. I think this will be interesting to experiment with and a much different outcome than the prints I have done before.

This skull image gave me the idea of using my birds as outlines and filling them with my paisley and fruit designs, so I would have no bold black lines in my design. This would also give me a very different outcome than the ones before.

This piece reminded me of bugs because of their armoured plated backs, maybe I could incorporate bugs into my paisley design as birds eat bugs?

New Inspiration

I have decided to do more contextual research to make sure I don't want to run out of ideas, I still have ideas left to try out but I also don't want to feel stuck once I have tried these out. Many of the pieces made me think of just using colour on some of the images of birds, while two others made me think of trying the fruit and paisley print, or bird images in one collected are and then dispersing them out.  

Designer Unknown

Artist Kat Masback

Artist Niko Inko at Street Tattoo.

Artist Hunter Reynolds

Artist Lisa Grue

Artist Angelika Arendt