emmawednesday - Tumblr blog

[emmawednesday]

End of Project Reflection

Now that my final major project has come to the end (deadline tomorrow), I’m feeling very proud of what I have a achieved in the space of time and with the quality of my finals. At the start of the project I was worried that I might not produce designs that I would be proud to show at New Designers, but all that worry and stress has faded away! I’m immensely proud of myself and my designs and cannot wait to show them!

The way I envisaged my designs at the start of the project is actually quite similar to how they have turned out, which has really surprised me. Usually the way I expect my designs to look at the start of a project, tends to be very different to what I finally produce. I think this hasn’t happened in this project because of the amount of research and development I did in the previous project which lead up to this. That then meant that I could continue to develop the finer details of my processes, materials, imagery and techniques, resulting in a more refined and higher quality finish but the main ideas staying consistent. This has really helped my products fit together well as a collection, which I had struggled with in the previous project. This is something I’m very proud of, because I’ve achieved a well rounded collection but have still been able to showcase lots of different ideas and concepts within this. I believe that this is down to lots of testing, developing and frequently going back to my range plan to visualise all my planned products together throughout the project. This way of working is something that will stick with me, and I will use in my projects after graduation.   

One challenge for me in this project has been creating my look-book, professional photos and press-pack. All of which I am extremely happy with the results, but found difficult to begin with because I had not produced any of these things before. I started these a few weeks before the deadline as I had worries about them and didn’t want them to look rushed. Surprisingly they didn’t take me as long as expected. I planned and designed my look-book, and completed the press pack in a few days, all to a quality I’m very happy with. My photos did take a few shoots and a lot of time spent editing, but has all been worth it. I’m so pleased with my studio images, they reflect my calming theme so well, I could not be happier with these. I’ve been able to use these photos on my business cards & postcards, in my look-book and on all of my social media accounts and in my online portfolio. They represent my project as a whole, and have encapsulated my theme and application better than I could have planned. 

To my shock I now feel very ready to start my career! I had expected to finish this project and be stressing and worrying about not being ready for the world of work or know how to function without uni! I do think its going to take a few weeks to get used to not sitting at my desk writing to do lists for my project, but I am very excited to start new things. After the shows, I am planning to develop my final designs further, into fully commercially viable products to make and sell B2C through my website. As well as this I am starting my new job very soon, 5 days a week but only until 12:30 which means I have plenty of time to work on my own projects from home. Over the last year I have felt very inspired by tropical themes, which have been trending in fashion and interiors for a while now. This is a theme I’d like to have a go at, and am thinking about designing a small collection for over summer. 

In all, I am so pleased and proud my final major project which I cannot wait to show at New Designers. I know that this project will be the start of my career which I am very excited for, and feel very ready to get going with! Although it is sad to be living uni, I couldn’t be happier with my project and so I’m very pleased to be leaving on a high note!

[emmawednesday]

Photoshop visualisations of my finals designs.

All of my designs and products as for a home interior application. To be used as a way of de-stressing and relaxing. Picture coming home from a stressful day at work, to sit in a quiet, relaxing and comfortable space with a cup of tea and book.

I have produced floor cushions, yoga mats, a bolster, scatter cushions and a set of aromatherapy products. All of these have been designed with the sole purpose of creating a relaxing experience to benefit mental and physical wellbeing.

[emmawednesday]

undefined

My final major project - Karma Kalm - coming to New Designers June 28th-1st July

[emmawednesday]

Some images of my final designs from my recent photoshoot in the uni photography studio. I’m really pleased with these photos, I think the white backgrounds work really well to reflect the calming concept underpinning my project. I plan to use this style photography for an promotion or anything that is representative of my project as a whole.

[emmawednesday]

undefined

Testing out one of my final yoga mats!

[emmawednesday]

Reflecting on my visualisations, look-book imagery and potential video.

Yesterday I did a photoshoot of all my finished products in the photography studio at uni. All of the images I took there have clean white backgrounds, and to me have a great sense of calm to them. 

Previously, I had already done a couple of photoshoots of my aromatherapy designs. These where lifestyle and outdoors shots as can be seen above. At the time I was really pleased with these, and I still do like them a lot as individual photographs. Now having taken photos with white backgrounds and no additional props, I feel that my previous photos do not represent my calming concept as well. They are quite busy, with a bit too much going on in the background, that I feel detracts from the products and my theme. 

Seeing these two different photoshoot styles along side each other, I think they are very contrasting and do not wrk together. For this reason I will not be using the lifestyle and outdoor photos in my look-book. I want my look-book to be clean and professional, and represent my project clearly and precisely. I will use only studio/white background shots for this.

I will still use my lifestyle shots on social media and in the submission of this project, however I’m going to stick to the studio photography style for anything commercial or representative of the entire project.

As well as this I had been planning to make a video. This was going to be focused on movement, where I would have someone going through gentle yoga routines using my final products. This was to highlight how my products would be used and to communicate my theme. However, now having taken photos of my finals in a photography studio, I don’t feel a video is necessary to fulfil that intended purpose. I feel that the photos I have already communicate my calming theme and featuring myself as the model shows clearly how the products would be used. As well as this, now that my finals are finished and have been made into finished products, they already show what they are for without needing a video to portray their purpose. 

I’m still planning to make a video at some point in the future, possibly in the summer. However this will be for promotional purposes and will focus on advertising the products as apposed to portraying the theme of a project. I intend to develop my finals further after graduation into fully commercial products which I intend to then make and sell. A commercial video will be more appropriate for this.

[emmawednesday]

Reflection

There are now 2 weeks until the deadline. I’m on track with my time plan despite many things not going to plan or as expected (not necessarily in a bad way). Some of my design ideas have altered as I’ve been going along, when I’ve encountered issues with print processes or materials. This has mostly resulted in improvements being made and new ideas that I wouldn’t otherwise have considered. However I’m still going forward with all of my main design ideas, only with a few minor changes. 

One of my finals is for a meditation cushion. It is printed on to 500gsm Cotton Canvas so that it is hard wearing against floors and rough surfaces. The main design has a paint wash background, with detailed floral line drawings fading from dark to light. The design is fairly large scale and has been digitally printed on to the fabric. On top of this I have hand screen-printed textural passionflowers, in a thermochromic puff binder which I have been testing over the last few weeks. I then intended to cut the fabric down and sew it into a segment shaped meditation cushion, (approx. 50cm x 25cm) but since printing I am considering leaving the design as a fabric sample, because I feel it would be a shame to cut it down. I will continue to think about this, and discuss with my tutors as I still have plenty of time to make it into a product.

I plan to have 9 final designs completed at the end of next week so that I have time to photograph my work and potentially get a look-book printed in time for the deadline. If I run short of time, I will leave the look-book until after the deadline, and make a couple for the degree shows.

[emmawednesday]

Final testing and sampling for one of my yoga mats.

[emmawednesday]

Doing some late night printing in the library! 😴 Today I finished my 3 yoga mat designs which I'm printing out to scale (almost - as big as the printer will print!) to check the quality before making my finals. These will then be digitally printed on to 1000gsm Neoprene and made into yoga mats with rubber bases and bound edges. I plan to hand print on top of one of these to add texture and grip. The hand printed motifs will be applied to specific points on the mat to highlight key areas where hand and foot positioning should be in most basic yoga poses. This allows the user to correct their position, and improve their balance and posture by keeping better alignment in their yoga practice.

[emmawednesday]

undefined

Started printing a couple of my finals this weekend. I will hopefully have them finished mid next week if all goes to plan! I still have more techniques to apply to these fabric designs before sewing them into cushions for restorative yoga and meditation.

[emmawednesday]

Today I finished my final designs for my aromatherapy set. It consists of 3 tin candles and 3 reed diffusers, featuring 3 painted designs. 

As I can’t get to the studio this week, I cannot start printing any of my other designs so today I decided to do a little photography of my aromatherapy products instead. 

[emmawednesday]

Sample of my block print final design. 

There are a few things I want to tweak before getting it digitally printed, and then made into a 90x90cm floor cushion. 

[emmawednesday]

Working on a few colour changing fabrics today in the studio.

[emmawednesday]

Swatches, sampling and testing techniques in the studio and at home.

[emmawednesday]

Still constantly referring back to my theme, concept and outcomes. I've been looking at Bohemian interiors, getting some inspiration from the lifestyle concepts behind them and using this to inspire my work. I aim to create a range of interior products for meditation and relaxing zones that fit into the home environment.

[emmawednesday]

Morning thoughts to start the day positivity!

Ask yourself: what’s good about this moment right now? Is the sun out? Can you hear birds? Are you drinking coffee? Can you smell freshly cut grass? Is your bed soft and warm? These little things are oh so precious and yet seem so arbitrary.

[emmawednesday]

Doing some more drawings today to put on screen, to add to my imagery that I'm sampling with. I've been creating different compositions from these and testing & sampling lots of different techniques