Surface pattern designing

This week I have been getting back into designing for the surface pattern part of my project. I decided when I divided my work that I wanted to work with data for the surface pattern aspect of my project. After having a break whilst working on my botany work, I now know that I want my prints to represent the data I have collected from a specific moment in time.  After looking at how other people represent and collect data, I realised that I didn't want my prints to look like mathematic data as it wouldnt suit my target market, which led me to the idea of making my print a way of representing data, or a moment in time. I am therefore going to collect or draw items at different times and locations, and turn these into prints.

I had already been doing this sort of data collection throughout the project, but this week I took the opportunity to document more objects around me. I started at the bus stop that I use to get to university, and also went on a woodland walk. These have produced good drawings but I feel that in the next unit I can gather more data using more varied locations. This will also end up producing more interesting prints.

When I placed these motifs into photoshop I created a number of prints to allow me to experiment with the motifs to their full potential. This resulted in producing more than one print that had the potential to be a final design with the same elements (shown above). Therefore in Unit X I could recreate a similar print after drawing new motifs.

Next week I want to create more prints with different elements so I can see how the collection might function as a whole. I feel that to enable me to see which prints are working best, I need to take some photos for visualisations, which I will complete next week.

Designing Botanical Wallpapers

After spending two weeks creating detailed botanical drawings I had enough material to create designs this week which are shown below.

When I started to assemble designs, I soon realised that scanning in my drawings at the pencil stage and the watercolour stage was really useful for the design process as it allowed me to build up layers of line and solid imagery. I feel that the different styles of layout, from organised to scattered are working well and are giving a breadth to my collection. I also used many drawings of the same plant to create more detailed prints including buds, stems, cross sections of various parts of the plant and writing (as is used in traditional botany illustrations). I also feel that the context and layout of these prints reflects my concept really well.

Some designs were simpler with just two colours, and the Echinacea design above worked really well, as it also had a linear quality that would work well for wallpaper. I feel this contrast could add a nice variety to my collection.

Creating visuals as I designed helped me to see how the scale of my designs were working and also gave me more inspiration for other designs. I now feel that the way I am working to create my designs is working really well for me. For future designing, I will bear in mind that plants with flowers produced better prints, due to the different qualities to the drawing such as colour and shape.

Botanical Drawings

I have spent the past two weeks dedicating a lot of time to drawings for my wallpaper designs. I know that in order to create high quality wallpaper designs, I need to produce large scale, detailed botanical drawings to work with, so I have managed my time well to accommodate for this.

After my research and experimentation based on botanical drawings, I now have mastered the technique for creating these illustrations. I start off by creating a detailed pencil drawing like the fern above, and then go over it with detailed watercolour as shown in the foxglove image below. This technique has worked well for me as it recreates the botanical illustrative techniques really well, and creates high quality drawings.

When choosing my subject matter to draw from, I have also been considering my initial concept, science and nature. I am keen for the plants I draw to have a scientific relevance, for example, the foxglove has medical properties such as curing heart disease. However if consumed in its raw state its also poisonous.

I feel that using a long period of time to do these drawings was a good use of time management, and will allow me to produce high quality drawings that reflect my concept really well.

Engaging with the outside world: Applying for graduate jobs

I am aware that at this time of year, many graduate jobs are available to apply for which start in September. I have therefore been looking for any relevant jobs within the design industry. I have contacted these companies with applications, which involved adapting and updating my CV, as well as creating a cover letter and answering application questions.

One of the applications that has developed the furthest so far is for the Hallmark Commercial Graduate scheme. I progressed to the fourth out of five recruitment processes which I am very proud of. This involved a telephone interview, online non-verbal and verbal reasoning tests, and a video interview. Experiencing this variety of recruitment processes has been a fantastic experience which will help me when applying to other jobs in the future.

I have also signed up for email notifications for various companies and job sites, in order to give me the best opportunity possible of getting a job when I graduate. I have also updated my linkedin profile in order to make myself a more employable person.