2-Tutor Crit and Development

Preparing for the 2-tutor critique was a little daunting. I prepared two boards for the Bradford Textiles brief which were different in style (see below). I felt quite limited with scale throughout these initial four weeks, as I was focussed on producing a sample board for submission. My tutors agreed that I need to think more carefully about the scale of my sampling and 'go for it' for the next project. I'm excited to try something that I haven't done in the past and see what the results will look like.

  

From the crit, I plan to continue with this project for my self-initiated brief, but focus more on the scale of my samples by using print screen techniques onto large scale fabrics. I feel this would enable me to widen my creative knowledge and would also demonstrate a more 'bespoke' feel - the original idea behind the large scale sampling. To reflect the scale I want to achieve, I have created some A2 drawings using collaging techniques which can then be translated into screens. I will leave the idea of a large scale banner to a live brief, and concentrate on fabric samples for an interior context.

The two collages above were the most successful as I feel they depict my concept the best. I also think the placement of the detailed pen drawing is better considered than some of my other drawings.

Sampling

Over the last couple of weeks I have developed Photoshop designs from my initial drawings of collaged 'banners' inspired by work from a previous unit X project to be digitally printed. However, the outcomes of these prints were not what I wanted; the colours were too dark and the fabric choices were not right for the effect I wanted to achieve. The sublimation printer can only print onto synthetic fabrics, but I thought I would be able to achieve a closer effect to paper using this technique with the selection of fabrics on offer to me. I was also advised by the embroidery technicians that I would not be able to stitch onto paper using the multi-head embroidery machine as it would tear easily, so I began experimenting with Paper Nylon and Poly Taffeta - both thin fabrics with an appearance similar to paper.

Poly Taffeta

Paper Nylon

The sublimation ink absorbed better into the Poly Taffeta than the Paper Nylon, which I think was due to the Paper Nylon feeling as though it had a covering on the surface - my prints were much fainter. I do think both types of fabric were effective, however I prefer how the colours appear on the Nylon with the embroidery as it appears three-dimensional. I produced A4 and A3 banners as these were the restricted sizes available. On reflection, I would have liked to produce a larger scale sample using the sublimation printing method, similar to the paper roll I experimented with in week one of the project, which is a development I could make in future.

When it came to designing a digital embroidery pattern on the ethos software, I hadn't considered the size of the stitch out frame – I hadn't used the software for about 6 months prior to this so it took a while to get used to. Moreover, when it came to stitching my designs out on the multi-head machine, I realised some of my designs were still too large, meaning I had to rescale them and use the sash frame on the machine. It was also difficult to line my designs up with the prints, and in future I will create a reference point on the fabric if I am stitching directly over one particular shape. Furthermore, because the sash frame extends further than the machine front, it can get stuck on the sides, which causes the design to move over the fabric. Although this was unintentional on the mustard colour sample (above), I love how the stitching adds depth to my design, and reinforces the transparency that I wanted to achieve towards the beginning of the project on Photoshop.

Similarly, the embroidery design below, that has been stitched on top of one of my original drawings, reinforces the water marks on the fabric and adds depth and texture to the flat printed design. I intend to explore this further at a later date in the Practice unit.

I will submit an A3 sample for the Bradford Brief as I feel a larger scale sample would be inappropriate to illustrate using the boards which I will put together. I plan to continue creating samples for an interior context, alongside experimenting with scale in the live brief element of the project.

Contextual Research

I usually find contextual research difficult, in that I never know where to start looking. However, I began this project by looking at store websites that I believe my work could be appropriate for, such as Next, John Lewis and Debenhams. From these websites I came across Scion and Sanderson, who are companies that specialize in fabric furnishings and wallpaper.

The two images above, I feel reflect my work in some ways: shape, transparency, colour and style. They have an abstract feel about them, which is a way in which I enjoy working.

Additional samples I ordered from the John Lewis website are shown below. They have similarities to my own designs in that they have transparent areas, geometric shapes, and a graphic linear quality.

John Lewis fabric samples

Custhom embroidered wallpaper samples

The texture of the thread against the smooth paper contrasts with each other, which I feel I could push forward within my own project. I should consider a heavy weight of paper, almost like a fabric if I do use digital embroidery onto paper to achieve these effects, whereas thin printer paper is likely to tear during the machine stitch out.

Sanderson fabrics featured on the John Lewis homeware website, and these particular samples above, (Dandelion Clocks) depicted the mix of colours that I would like to use within my own work. However, after the samples arrived, I didn't feel they gave the best idea of the colours together as there were only small areas of one colour on some of them, which was disappointing. I did, however, have enough of each colour to create swatches on Photoshop to potentially use within my own work.

The Debenhams Autumn/Winter15 Home Catalogue has some fantastic colour inspirations for my work - I knew that I wanted to use purple shades within my work, but seeing the colours within a home environment within the catalogue really helped me to understand the shades that would compliment other colours. I plan to scan the relevant colour pages into Photoshop to create swatches that have more of a sensitivity and warmth to them, compared to other palettes used previously.

Design Development

This week I have concentrated on knuckling down with Photoshop and I feel to have developed as a designer on the software, which is very pleasing. Initially, I was slightly bewildered as to how I could manipulate the images of my drawings into suitable designs for a 'bespoke banner' style wallpaper - as discussed in a previous tutorial.
After playing with the image size and scale of the designs, I encountered a few problems when attempting to print from the wide format printers as I was unsure of the sizing restrictions on them.

I want to push my abilities this year and I am really proud of the outcome; the scale, colours and concept. However, moving forward, I will sample on a smaller scale as it would be too expensive to print at such a large scale all the way through the project.

I plan to sample onto digitally-printed fabric to get an idea for the multi-head embroidery designs that are suitable. I would need to consider appropriate fabrics because the paper would not be suitable for the digital embroidery machine.

At my weekly tutorial, I felt like other people in my group had produced more work during the last week than I had, which made me feel a little awkward when trying to justify myself to my tutor. The last week had been challenging, in that the Photoshop edits took longer than expected to create and the wide format printer also was a new piece of equipment for me. Next week, I will endeavour to work quicker and not be afraid to try new things: I think I worry too much about samples being 'perfect' first time.