FMP RESEARCH: WEEK 3

This week I began experimenting with initial image-making fed by my research into feminist matters in fashion and fashion publications. Using images and text from vintage publications as well as contemporary magazines I created simple collages that provoked thought around debates of sex, gender and equality. This sparked ideas around the concept of creating fake advertisements in my proposed magazine, as a playful but thoughtful way of interrogating issues in the fashion media industry.
This made me start thinking about the identity of my publication. I started thinking about ‘trigger words’ that appear in advertisements or women’s/fashion magazine that could have connotations that fit with a feminist theme. Taking inspiration from Riot Grrrl zines and the way they reclaim aggressive or misogynistic words in their publications, I wanted to put a contemporary twist on this. I brainstormed words that popped up in adverts or articles that suggested concerns around women’s bodies, beauty or sexuality, as well as researching into other offensive terms for women to find a catchy, meaningful title.

BROAD – old-fashioned, offensive term for a woman. also think about stature or build. sounds aggressive and stern (could also mean something to do with print? ‘broadsheet’)

SILICONE – cosmetic surgery, implants, artificiality but also smoothness and perfection

FILLER – surgery and beauty standards, but also could sound sexual? also a term for a sound or word to fill a pause. (type meanings – filler text.) could also have food connotations?


After this experimentation I was motivated to look further into contemporary design of small-press or artistic publications, to get ideas for visual identity and alternative printing methods – to take a contemporary approach to the older, photocopied zine. I looked briefly into Bay Garnett’s Cheap Date magazine (which I want to look into further during my FMP – content ideas, design and written tone) which was mainly black and white but with creative, childlike graphic design. This made me start looking at graphic designers that create work that isn’t traditionally clean or professional, such as Lennarts and de Bruijn, whose work features bright colours, wild combinations of typography and shapes. I also looked at People of Print’s poster zines, which look risograph or screen printed, a method I am very interested in exploring further as I have used risograph printing in my personal work and love the vibrant colours and overlapping of layers. The fold-out design of these zines also helped me start thinking about the formatting of my publication, as I want to explore more creative ways of working with ‘the book’ as an art piece, rather than creating a conventional magazine.

FMP RESEARCH: W E E K 1/2

I began my research for Part 2 of this brief by thinking about issues or activism I am interested in. My dissertation topic is querying the revival of 1950s lingerie/corsetry and how this relates to the eroticism of this time period as well as the present day. Through my research and writing for my dissertation I became interested in the matter of lingerie, erotic imagery and fetishism as a feminist issue and the debates around it, so I particularly want to investigate feminist issues or imagery for my FMP.

I began my research for this brief by looking initially at feminism in fashion – for example the rising trend of feminist slogan t-shirts and campaigns, and the issues that arise with this in a capitalist society – asking the question, can fashion ever really be feminist? I think this is an interesting area to research and interrogate as there is a huge rise of feminist discourse particularly online and in art collectives, but there is a feeling that feminist acts in the fashion industry are quite superficial or meaningless, due to design, production and marketing methods.

I progressed my research into feminist discussion through image-making, by looking into Riot Grrrl zines and the aesthetics, characteristics and topics they adopted. I am particularly interested in self-published zines as a form of rebellion, and the fact that they can defy all norms or expected qualities of  because of this. I began to question whether it is possible to create a subversive fashion publication, going against the expectations of how one should be designed, the content inside it and how it generally talks about fashion and style, and addresses the reader.

I want to continue my research into alternative graphic design, image-making and aesthetics for publications, to begin thinking of ideas for my own publication, and the identity, tone and discussion it will provide.

AD394: P A R T 1 evaluation

C R I T I C A L  R E F L E C T I O N 

For this brief into activism in fashion, I wanted to explore an area different to what I would usually look at. My work often focuses on themes of feminism or mental health, but I wanted to push myself to focus on concepts and ideas I don’t usually feel I have the knowledge to pursue. A lot of my personal image-making work outside of university has focused on plant life and botanicals and so I wanted to bring this interest into this project brief.

As an avid social media user, I was seeing the growing trend in plants and nature, particularly on Instagram and through others’ artwork, so I used this as initial inspiration to kick-start my ideas process, as well as researching into visual artists, designers and fashion brands that are focusing more and more on the concept of natural living that harmonises with the contemporary world around us. The brief was quite open, to focus on either ‘anarchism and revolution’ or ‘peace and prosperity’ – I therefore took my work in the direction of peace and prosperity, to demonstrate the changing attitudes to how we treat our planet and the appreciation we should show towards it.

I would say my work and the direction I wanted it to take changed several times throughout the project. I initially wanted to create quite a broad publication that featured elements of lifestyle, health, fashion and visual art, for example the rising trend in veganism and house plants, visual art that takes inspiration from this, and try out some fashion editorial shoots featuring these concepts. I realised I did not have enough time to make this a reality and was perhaps setting myself too broad and time-consuming a task, so I decided my publication should be a summarised – or extract from a trend book, displaying only a couple of areas of a trend rather than a full report that would be used in the industry.

I wanted the publication to be accessible to the public, perhaps resembling an independent magazine, and providing inspiration and ideas for not only designers and makers but also individuals looking to change the way they approach fashion – this idea came from my initial research into Li Edelkoort’s viewpoint on the future of fashion, and how she states that the industry needs to change to keep the interest of this generation of outsiders (who are ‘hungry for consensus and altruism’ rather than the latest fad or repetitive trends).

I feel I allowed my skills to develop in this project, through learning to conduct in depth visual and theoretical research to feed my ideas – I became aware that when I had not done enough research my ideas came to a halt and I was unable to move forward with my creative work. For example, it took me a while to create fashion illustrations I was happy with due to not researching into existing illustrators. I also conducted more primary visual research, visiting galleries for inspiration – even if simply for colours, shapes or process ideas – and visiting Kew Gardens to obtain a rich library of photographs (and drawings) that I could experiment with and use throughout the project and beyond.

I am particularly happy with the way I developed my InDesign and layout skills, to create a cohesive publication with contemporary and experimental design, while still keeping a professional look. I particularly enjoyed working with textiles when I experimented with plant dyes, and wish I had taken this further to create tactile, multimedia work.

I regret the issues I had with time-management, and becoming demotivated when I hit a creative block or received criticism, as I would have liked to experiment more with fashion photography and include an editorial shoot in the trend book. This project has definitely taught me to keep researching and creating to reach a conclusion I am happy with, and to experiment more with different media and methods. I think I have learned a lot about the way I work and how I can constantly improve and carry this forward into my final major project.

finalising trend book concept/visuals

R E W O R K I N G  M Y  I L L U S T R A T I O N

After researching deeper into my subject matter and creatives that could inspire my imagery, I reworked my fashion illustrations to push myself more to use different processes and experiment with my drawing style. 

This was my favourite illustration; I combined and layered line drawing with marker pens, fineliners, my own photography and found images to create fashion illustrations focusing on colour, texture and contemporary design. I think this made them fit well with the clean, vibrant still life photography that I have decided to lay alongside them in my publication, to create a strong feature on plant-based dyes and textiles in fashion.

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WEEK 4: deepening my research

Our group crit on 17th October revealed that my ideas so far are perhaps too textile based and that there is not enough research to back up my ideas as a realistic “manifesto” for fashion change. As I do not want to alter my ideas completely, this has encouraged me to continue and deepen my research into areas that relate to my chosen topic, and ensure that I bring fashion/garment ideas and visuals into my work (as much as I do enjoy to work with art and lifestyle concepts). I do not want my work to focus on textiles or plant dyes necessarily but do want to use this idea in my publication, so will ensure I incorporate this somehow into other visual work – perhaps to be used in illustration or collage for fashion? Showing that I have considered textile methods such as fabrics and dyes while also illustrating finished garments in trends?

I have conducted some research in my sketchbook into fashion illustrators to strengthen my illustration work, and one in particular that I looked at interested me. Elyse Blackshaw’s fashion illustrations are expressive while also being young, fun and contemporary. They remind me of the comments I made on Basquiat’s work at the start of my research, of how I wanted to learn to be more expressive and not to confine my work too much or be too perfectionistic. Her figures focus on colour and texture rather than defined shapes, with a childlike quality.

Elyse Blackshaw fashion illustration. Instagram: @elyseblackshaw

 

I have also begun to look more thoroughly at trend reports and trend books, e.g. at Trend Union’s books, the “mode information” website (which stocks styling forecasts, trend books and colour books) and WGSN reports online, to examine the kind of imagery used and how trends are portrayed, described and analysed. This has given me a better understanding of what my publication should include, from the graphics/layout, to text, photography and illustration, and has inspired me to create a broader range of imagery to enable the book to act as a sort of “moodpboard” so that readers can really understand my concept.

W E E K 3 ethnobotany: natural plant dyes

I conducted a still life shoot based on the concept of ethnobotany and natural dyes in textiles. I wanted to focus on vibrant colours and bold shapes to give the images a contemporary look and make them differ from already existing images around this subject (which often focus on neutral tones, minimal styling and low contrast photography). I purposely picked plants that are known to give strong/vibrant colour results, such as pomegranate, beetroot and turmeric, so I could create bright and fun images with them. I intend for the these photos to feature alongside samples of fabric that I have actually dyed with the plants to demonstrate how natural dyeing is possible and effective…to hopefully inspire a change in the way we think about the designs and colours of our clothing – maybe we should be dyeing garments naturally ourselves? Maybe we should simply source more ethical brands that do this already? Could this inspire a larger interest in up cycling and DIY fashion, that has so far only been picked up by outsider groups that do not “associate” themselves with mainstream trends?

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W E E K 2: Kew Gardens visual research

I visited Kew Gardens to get initial visual research to kickstart my project. I focused on interesting shapes, colours and textures that could be translated into a fashion context. I am looking to be able to use these as inspiration or even incorporate them into illustrations, fashion illustration and collage to be included in my publication.

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ACTIVISM: W E E K 1 initial research

I begun my research for this brief with Li Edelkoort’s trend forecasting, someone I constantly return to for inspiration and research in the area of future fashion and lifestyles. Edelkoort’s Anti-Fashion Manifesto highlights how fashion is becoming repetitive and no longer capturing the interests of consumers, especially of our generation that are now more concerned with altruism – working together and helping each other, not necessarily being at the top…and I therefore became set on an idea of perhaps helping the planet or environment, something not typically associated with fashion but a trend that is definitely appearing in our attitudes and lifestyles, particularly of my generation.

To begin gathering exciting visual/artistic research I visited exhibitions that interested me in London:

Basquiat BOOM FOR REAL at the Barbican allowed me to learn more about this artist, his values, techniques and processes. Basquiat’s often surreal messages formed in his work were created by the use of mixed media, often layering appropriated images or photocopies with paint, photography and text to create large pieces of work with many different thoughtful visual elements. I was particularly inspired by his work as it made me think about pushing boundaries with my image-making, taking risks and experimenting more, rather than sticking to safe practices that I know well already (which is something I often struggle with).

I also visited Rachel Whiteread’s exhibition at the Tate Britain – a sculpture artist whose work I’ve always loved for its aesthetic qualities but also the intrigue behind her processes – most of her pieces are so large you cannot imagine how she possibly constructs them. I especially like the colour palettes of her work; when seen collectively in an exhibition I could admire the pastel colours of her sculptures, in purples, blues, yellows and pinks – which helped me to think about placing pleasing colours and shapes together in my work, especially as I’ve started to think about creating more of a trend or look book rather than a typical magazine.

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