Evaluation of Practice Unit

     I feel that my understanding of the context for my work has increased greatly during this project, taking into consideration use of colour, size and imagery in production processes. I understand better how the audience influences colour palette and imagery. My work has developed to a more professional standard with my use of the combination of different digital programmes. The professionalism of my presentation has improved with research into designers/ artists use of presentation in different media and the use of InDesign which I hadn't used before. I was ambitious with the aims of my project as I had never designed a floral print before and I have now designed a floral collection suitable to be sold within a wallpaper company.
I feel I have used social media to promote myself as a designer successfully, becoming a top contributor in Linkedin, receiving two awards on ViewBug and increasing followers on my blog. For Unit X I plan to create a digital wallpaper collection for paper.

Stage 14 Analysis

I received a Remarkable Award from the judges on ViewBug.com, this will be shown on their website, Twitter and blog, giving my work more exposure.  http://www.viewbug.com/member/emmasenior1#/emmasenior1/awards?filter=vbawards

I have emailed interior print companies inviting them to my degree show, through this my work will receive more exposure and may lead to experience with the industry through organising internships and making connections.

I have researched into artists' books at the special collections and Magma book shop to inform myself on layout, materials and binding for my photography book. Through my research I have decided I want my book to have a hard cover as it needs to be durable. I also want a boarder round my photographs and printed onto different papers as the textures make it interesting and will change the outcome of the image. I designed my final book on InDesign so the images would be cohesive throughout.

Stage 13 Analysis

I decided that within my mid market range I could afford to have more variation in the colours I use as the imagery is similar. I also considered a green in my colour palette and decided it is not appropriate for interiors as it is similar to hospital gowns. I also reviewed some earlier work and decided I would create check designs which use different textures to my current designs so they would coordinate better. I also wanted to use layers of unfinished lines to represent 'glitches' in my drawn weaves to link with my initial visual imagery.

Stage 12 Analysis

     While developing my Graham & Brown design into a collection I did contextual research looking at other floral design collections with wallpaper companies.  I noticed that the imagery they use is broad and the colour scheme usually binds the designs together, such as in the Designers Guild Amrapali Collection: http://www.designersguild.com/fabric-and-wallpaper-showroom/view-all-collections/amrapali-wallpaper/#.UwC5nvl_tIE    
     I chose to keep the colour palette I originally created for the Graham & Brown brief because this was already appropriate for a floral collection and in the design industry the colour palette is usually the first decision the designer makes. I chose three different colour ways for each design and to create a textured stripe to coordinate with my florals as this is what other wallpaper design companies do.
     I emailed wallpaper companies asking for production costs, ones that replied wished to remain unnamed but informed me that the cost for a roll of wallpaper would average between £4- £7 depending on the type of paint and amount of colours. My designs would be matt paint and because of the minimal amount of colours would only cost around £4 to produce but would sell for between £15 to £25.

Stage 11 Analysis

I decided that I would create hand printed designs for cushions and curtains coordinating with my mid market range as design companies also offer this alternative. I found that companies such as John Lewis offer collections of cushions in different textures and weaves but mostly types of silk and cotton so I decided I would use a mixture of these to represent the types of fabrics I would want within my collection. These samples will not be part of my final collection as I am unhappy with the colours and the outcome of the final prints.

Lewis, J. 2014. Breezy Botanical Cushion Collection. [online image][accessed on 8 January 2014] http://www.johnlewis.com/breezy-botanical-cushion-collection-/p371292

Stage 10 Analysis

I chose this colour way for my mid-market range as I thought it would give me numerous options. Once I had started designing my collection I put some onto my Tumblr page and posted into groups on Linkedin, asking for feedback from professionals in the print industry. It is important for me to improve my designs to a professional standard and a good way of doing this is getting feedback from designers.

Mano Shahlavi who works for Deha, an Italian wallpaper company advised me to coordinate my colours better within my collection. I have since edited my designs and when viewed together they look more cohesive.

Live Project- Graham & Brown live brief

As I would like to work for them in the future I organised for one of the designers at Graham & Brown to set me a live brief similar to their job briefs. I was asked to create a new floral design for their Premier collection. I decided to create mood boards to show my ideas in development and to show I take into consideration things such as market trends. I chose to create my colour palette from the set colours used in their Premier collection so my design felt like part of the collection. In the Premier collection I found that they did not have an oriental floral and this is a popular trend for wallpaper so I decided this is what I would create. I presented my work on A3 boards as Paula Taylor the trend and colour specialist at Graham & Brown asked me to.

For my design I decided to use a mixture of Photoshop and Illustrator to get the best qualities out of both as print designers do. The feedback from the designers was very positive. They liked that I presented my moodboards and showed the importance of them as they use these as inspiration around the design studio. They also liked that I chose the qualities for my design and my colour way from within the Premier collection, ensuring that it would feel part of the collection. The suggestions they made for alteration were to thin down some of the branches and discard the s shape which has formed between the branches so they would flow more. I made these alterations and recognise it is now more agreeable as the flowers aren't overpowered by the branches and the eye can follow the pattern better. 

Original design 

 

Final design

Final design in repeat

I have decided to advance this project and continue creating designs which would be appropriate for the Premier collection. It is important to show I can create floral designs within my portfolio as they are a continuous style within wallpaper designs.