Assignment 3

( I have edited this post)

Our task for this week has been to use http://cross-search.dundee.ac.uk to research the topic I had chosen in my last task. I found this website difficult and very frustrating to begin with but quickly got the hang of how to use it.

I had to find 6/7 resources from journals, film book, audio visual, magazines and websites. I had to vary my research but could only find journals on my topic, using the cross search. To vary my research I went into the library and collated information from a few books.

The sources I have chosen are as follows:

Beazley, M (2004) Stiletto, London, Octopus Group Ltd.

Strengths: Highlights the bad structured within Stiletto shoes. This book gives an opportunity to put woman off wearing stilettos.

Weaknesses: It talks about history of the shoe and when they were used. The idea of my shoe hasn't been used in the past so I need to look at research that looks into changing the design for the future, as shoe designs havn't been practical for my subject area.

Caruana, S and O'hagan, M (1976) Social aspects of alcohol and alcoholism, London, B Edsall & co Ltd.

Strengths: The book focuses on the impact of drinking in general looking at how social workers are trying to help and the effects of the family.

Weaknesses: I am look at the effects of alcohol not alcoholism as a direct issue, so the effects in the home and families won't be any help for my research.

Coggans, N and McKellar, S (1995) The facts about Alcohol, aggression and adolescence, Kent, MacKays of Chatham PLC.

Strengths: This bok looks at the problems that exist with the intake of alcohol. It addresses some of the reasons why adults acts the way they do through drink and get into trouble.

Weaknesses: It was published in 1995 so it shows the issues have still not been fully addressed and research must been taken further.

Eyl, A (November 2007) A qualitative study on the comfort and fit of ladies’ dress shoes, unknown.

Strengths: It is the fit of a shoe that makes it more/less comfortable rather than the aesthetics.

Weaknesses: There was no one that had any foot or lower limb injuries in the experiment and it doesn’t say if their feet sizes were all the same or varied. Any of these factors may change the opinion of a comfortable shoe.

Langer, P (June 2007) Step by Step, unknown.

Strengths: It lets you know the different types of insoles to make shoes more comfy and what types of feet are suitable to each shape of foot.

Weaknesses: The insoles are only for sport shoes and may not fit or be shapes for any other type of shoe.

Maunch, M (April 2008) Do the feet of German and Australian children differ in structure? Implications for children’s shoe design, Taylor Francis Ltd.

Strengths: It indicates that children from Germany have longer and flatter feet where as, Australian children have squarer feet. This mean that children from different continents have different foot types so shoes couldn’t be a standard width and shape, sold worldwide.

Weaknesses: It only indicates that children’s feet are different from another continent. It doesn’t say if the same applied to adults. Their feet may change as they get older and then be the same in different continents.

Menant, J (2008) Effects of Shoe Characteristics on Dynamic Stability When Walking on Even and Uneven Surfaces in Young and Older People, unknown, Elsevier Inc.

Strengths: The best for aesthetics for balance is one with/without tread, a medium hardness for the entire sole, with a low collar.

Weaknesses: With the consumption of alcohol which I am looking into, the balance control will need to be considered when designing the possible shoe.

Unorthodox Styles (2005) Sneakers the Complete Collectors Guide, United Kingdom, Thomas & Hudson Ltd.

Strengths: Showing how Sneakers have become more popular now that they are used as a fashion statement rather than only a sports shoe.

Weaknesses: They are chunky styles that have been shown, not delicate enough to have removable heels attached, but the same concept may apply to my design idea.

The second part of the assignment was to surf the web and list the top 5 websites relating to my area of design that I would find most useful. I also had to find another top 5 websites I would use for either my area of design again or for general useful information that I can gain research information from, for my design studies and studio project work.

The 10 websites I have chosen for textiles are:

www.vogue.co.uk
www.elleuk.com
www.fashiontrendsetter.com
www.designcouncil.co.uk
www.wired.com
www.thetextileartist.com
www.62group.org.uk
www.desginweek.co.uk/news
www.bbc.co.uk
news.cnet.com

I havn't split them into two clear groups because some of the websites overlap and can be used for general information and also be useful for studio work. I often browse design realated websites just for general knowledge, in turn I could say it was a general knowledge website rather than for design. I just found it easier and less complicated to list them all together.