5B proposal

In my studio practice, my most recent project has been self-motivated. My project is based on birds feathers. I am interested to understand why birds feather as coloured the way they are. Is it warn off, of attract other birds. I want to also look into birds eyesight. I know that birds eyesight is extraordinary so I would like to research the colour spectrum from their perspective. Some birds see in UV light so I want to research the colours their eyes see other birds in. These colours will influence my development work.

As it is a self-motivated project, I was able to choose practically anything I wanted having such a wide scope, I found it hard to narrow it down. If given the chance to re-do the initial research I would consider tackling this project differently incorporating Design Studies methods. I feel I would benefit most using methods for my research because I personally think the most crucial part is getting solid knowledge and facts about the project ahead.

I am gearing my work towards ladies night wear. As I am particularly interested in fashion, I could use secondary sources like, View magazine to give an insight into what the future forecasts are but depending my target market this secondary resource may not always be useful. To keep up with the latest designer trends, I will watch the internet to find their work displayed on catwalks. I will look up other artist’s work that has designed for middle age woman and also artists that have produced designs from nature for inspiration. I will see what works well and understand why it’s good. Maybe it’s the scale or composition, later I will go back and consider these points for mine.

Whilst in my third and fourth year I will continue to use cross search to find information on my topic directly. As it’s on birds feather, I would look at wildlife and nature books. I could also watch wildlife programs and document important information in my sketchbook.

A method of research I would use is interviews. I am targeting the middle aged generation and I will need to know their needs. I would interview ladies to see what they are interested in when buying clothes, what styles they like and how extravagant they like particular items and why, so I can manipulate what they like into my own unique style. I would also interview shop assistants changing my interview questions to see what their perspective on what the middle aged generation require. After collecting results I will be able to expand my brief explaining the criteria I need to meet when going through my design process.

As ladies might not like to be interrogated about their dress sense, I would combine my research with observation source drawings. Sketching middle age women’s movement and posture concentrating on how clothes complement their bodies. I can then decide what textures my designs need to be to create a flattering garment for the body.

After researching through primary and secondary resources I will use spider diagrams to expand on my brief explaining what drawing and developing techniques would best suit the project. Using this it lets you branch out with many different ‘spur of the moment’ ideas and still keeps the same ideas grouped together.

To bring my ideas together I would a create mood board with initial sketches and what has inspired me, introduction colour swatches. In doing this, I can see where I am taking the project, critically analysing it, to see if it’s working or not. I can have discussions with peers about my work. My boards will have a good visualisation of my ideas. They can give me input which could spark new relevant ideas for my development stage.

In my work I want to focus on the structure of the feathers overlapping creating layers and patterns. I want this to come across in my final designs. The client needs to see where my source drawings have came from by retaining the strong shapes through out my work. As images can be interpreted differently by clients, I would meet at regular stages of the development process with tutors showing development boards to ensure I am sticking to my original brief.

Although I am studying textiles as a discipline, I also find myself crossing over boundaries when I am in Design Study lectures thinking of how to incorporate textiles into the world issues. I am starting to think of myself as a designer rather than a textile designer. During lectures I have realised that being a designer is about thought processes and ‘thinking outside the box’. Going through a design step-by-step process is a logical way of working and is a crucial part of any working environment.
As a designer I am starting to think of situations in a creative manner, how can textiles solve this issue? Can I simplify this issue and incorporate it into my studio work.