Tagged: reflection

AD394: presentation

(notes from my presentation of work)PART 1: Activism in Fashion Communication

I initially researched into trends and forecasting using Trendtablet and Li Edelkoort’s anti-fashion manifesto. I wanted to investigate something I haven’t explored in previous projects, and a lot of my personal work outside of university, and my internship (at Hi Cacti, a cactus concept shop in Brighton) was based around botanicals, plants and wellbeing so I decided to explore this trend further, looking at the appreciation of plants in all areas of our lives and living in harmony with nature.

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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.

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.