Presenting our work to Digetex.

Today we presented our work and final outcomes to the Creative Director of Digetex, Debbie McKeegan! The presentation was just 3 minutes long so it was a challenge to make sure that I was concise and got my point across effectively. I therefore couldn't show all of my work, but I wanted to take her through the journey of my project. I selected a few drawings from my body of work, and made design progression boards to make sure that I didn't have too much to talk about. I started by talking about my concept and context, and briefly showing her a few initial drawings from my visual research. I then moved on to explaining my colour palette and showing how my designs started to develop from the research I had done. Finally, I showed her my final collection and context images. I explained how I responded to each of the trends she gave us, and showed a strong awareness for my audience.

I feel that preparing well for this presentation meant that I came across as being confident and professional, and kept to the time frame. I had organised my work and bookmarked my sketchbook to ensure that the presentation flowed well, and I knew exactly what I wanted to say about each piece. I chose to show Debbie a cross section of my work because I feel it is necessary to understanding my final outcomes. I also opted to show her physical boards and sheets rather than a powerpoint because I would rather see physical things in front of me, and not just see work on a screen. I believe this was very effective as she responded well and could see exactly where my ideas, colour palette, and inspirations had come from. The only thing I would have changed about my presentation would be printing out my designs onto A2 paper. The large format printers have been out of order for over a week, so it wasn't possible, but I feel that having my designs at a larger scale would allow her to further see how they might look on a cushion for end use.

Final Collection.

For the last few days of this project I have been putting together my final collection. I am really pleased with the final designs, and I feel that they represent my progression work and initial brief really well. I have ensured that a variety of my ideas, concepts and processes are represented within the collection, such as watercolour, felt tip, fine line and floral studies. I have met the clients brief perfectly, producing lots of drawings, and keeping a hand drawn feel to my final collection, not just creating a sea of photoshop files. I also wanted to ensure there was a variety of scales within my collection, by having some small and some large scale patterns. I also revised the collection as a whole numerous times to ensure the colour mood was perfect, and represented my colour palette.

As well as perfecting my final collection, I also created context images for each design to ensure that the client can see my design on the products it's intended for. From the start my context has been cushions, but as Debbie said she was also keen for me to bring my designs outdoors, I decided to adapt my collection to be suitable for garden furnishings too. This was also a challenge for myself as I had never designed for outdoors before, but I really enjoyed creating bright summery designs and context images, so I will definitely be doing this again! The images below are a handful of my context images, and they show how my designs are versatile and can be used for the home or garden.

Overall, I am confident that my final collection meets the brief Debbie gave us, and I believe that I absorbed all of the advice and feedback I have been given throughout the project to produce a strong collection and ensure the client is happy. This proves that I understand how design works in the professional world, and that I adjusted and adapted my approach to embrace this.

Design Progression

I have recently been designing more prints for the brief, based on the visual research I have done so far. I am fairly happy with the results, and I think some of my designs have the potential to be part of my final collection.

This design below (Image A) was created from a watercolour piece that I created by blowing paint with a straw (Image B). I like the fact that it looks like branches, or grasses, and also the contrast between the bold shapes in the background and the watercolour in front.

Image A: Watercolour Branch Print

Image B: Watercolour painting using a straw.

During the week I have spent quite a lot of time working on a few different poppy designs, including drawings and watercolour. After completing the designs and looking back on them a few days later, I have realised that they aren't right for this project. I feel that these designs would suit a surface pattern based project better, for example a stationary collection, rather than the cushion collection that I am designing for in this project.

Image c: An example of a Poppy design I created

One of my more successful designs is also shown below (Image D). I created lots of similar variations of this using watercolour, line, and solid colour, and I feel that having a simpler, geometric design has the potential to compliment the rest of the collection well.

Image D: Geometric Triangle Print

Image E is a final example of some of the designs I have created, which consists of a scanned in sketchbook drawing of a flower. I like the contrast between the grey background, strong lines, and bold colour within the flowers. I feel that it represents my colour palette well, and overall it works as a design. The inspiration from this came from a Clintons Wrapping paper as shown in Image E on a previous blog post (http://jennasimpson94.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/developing-ideas-and-meeting-with.html). I took on board the qualities I liked most in the design and translated it to this brief.

Image E: Grey Floral Print

Creating more designs this week has helped me to work out what is working and what is not. I also had a pin up this week of all the work and designs that I have done so far, and this also helped me to realise how my collection might come together, and see how my colour mood is working across the designs. I need to make sure I have a mixture of scales in my designs, as well as a combination of solid colour and watercolour so that the collection isn't too digital or watercoloury, but is a good mix of both. So far I am really pleased with how my work has responded to the trends and the brief that was set out at the start. I have managed to combine them all well, whilst putting my own spin on things. I feel like I have absorbed all of the advice Debbie has given us, and produced work that reflects this. 

As one way of deciding which designs might suit my final collection, I spent time this week

placing some of my designs onto cushion images. This has also allowed me to realise which designs are working better than others and play with scale; some of these images are shown below (Image F & G).

Image F: Felt tip Design on Cushion

Image G: Watercolour Branch Design on Cushion

After creating some context images I realise that my designs look good on the cushions, but that maybe I should try taking some pictures in different environments such as outside, or even on different sized cushions. Rather than just doing a typical sofa cushion, I could create big floor cushions or bean bags as well! I feel like this would add a fresh feel to the collection, and show how diverse my designs could be! It would also push my out of my comfort zone and allow me to take on a new challenge.

I aim to carry on designing for the remaining time that we have on the project, and then put together a strong final collection that shows how well I have embraced the brief, along with context images to compliment these.

Colour, Inspiration and Internship!

My Colour Palette: 

After creating a few designs, I have decided on a final colour palette for my designs. The inspiration for my choice of colour came from one of the colour palettes that Debbie gave us initially which included bright pinks, pale blues, yellows, greens and greys! I loved the idea of challenging myself by using bright colours, as I usually work with subtle, cool colours. When I started designing with the scheme I found that the palette naturally started to develop, and below is the final colour palette that I chose, along with some colour source images found online. 

Image A: My colour palette

Clarissa Hulse:

I have spent some time during this project looking at designers other than Digetex that provide me with ideas and inspiration in relation to the brief. Clarissa Hulse is one designer that is particularly relevant, as she designs cushions for the home, with bright bold colours. The way she uses her colour palette is very clever, and her combinations of colours work really well together, and this is something I want to take into my own practice and develop in my designs.

Image B: Bright cushions by Clarissa Hulse. http://clarissahulse.com

Image C: Bed sheet set by Clarissa Hulse. http://clarissahulse.com

I like the fact that she uses her prints along side solid bold colour, such as on the duvet (Image C) and on the back of her cushions (Image B). Her designs also consist of only two or three colours, and I feel that I could have some designs like this in my collection that are simpler, in contrast to some complex watercolour based designs. I also feel like in my collection I could suggest a complimentary colour for the back of each cushion to enhance my designs.

Image D: Triangle collage of Designs inspired by Clarissa Hulse

Image E: Stripe collage of Designs inspired by Clarissa Hulse

Above are some examples of how I have embraced the way she works. I have taken the idea of introducing block colour between designs on board and I think it adds a really interesting quality to the designs which could be part of my final collection.

Internship with Digetex:

After meeting with Debbie twice, she emailed me and asked me to go down to Digetex in Trafford Park for an Interview. I was so excited to be offered this opportunity as is means that she is really impressed by the way I have been responding to the brief she has set, and proves that I have embraced new challenges, understood her professional brief, and met her requirements. I was lucky enough to be offered an Internship with them, and I am so excited! I will be starting throughout this project, doing a day a week working in their studio. From then on I will be working 4 days a week over the whole of summer! It will be a fantastic opportunity and I can't wait to see what I learn! 

I also feel that this will enhance my work for Unit X, working even further in collaboration with the designers in the studio, and having first hand access to the way Digetex work and working in a professional context.

Developing Ideas and Meeting with Debbie from Digetex!

This week I have started to experiment with my drawings and paintings to see how my designs might come together. We have also had a meeting with Debbie so I wanted to have lots of drawings to show her as well as the start of some design ideas so that I could get valuable feedback on my work. I started by combining a floral line drawing with my textured watercolour experiments (Image A and B). I like the results because they combine the 'File line' and 'Watercolour' briefs well, and think they could work really well as a print on a cushion.

Image A: White watercolour floral print

Image B: Black watercolour floral print

I also used my line drawings as motifs with solid colour (Image C), as well as experimenting with the motifs having watercolour texture running through them (Image D). I like the effect created by the Image C, as the clusters make it look less obviously floral. I also like the line texture that is coming through on Image D, and the fact that some of the lines are bold, and some fade more than others.

Image C: Flower head motif print

Image D: Flower head watercolour print

I also took inspiration from one of my favourite wrapping papers sold by Clintons, and replicated it as shown below (Image E). I did this because often I see things that I love and doubt that I could do it myself. I wanted to use this project as an opportunity to push my working methods and teach myself new techniques. Replicating the design made me realise what I like about it; the offset colours, and the combination of a colour palette in different variations, compared with contrasting line drawings. Now that I have learnt how to do this, I can take inspiration from the design and use the techniques in future designs.

Image E: My replication of a Clintons wrapping paper

I am very aware that as well as starting to design early on in the brief, I need to keep drawing to ensure that I have a constant source of visual material to make my final collection as rich as possible. I have therefore also started experimenting with another trend that I wanted to focus on, felt tip. I tried to draw stylised patterns based on flowers (Image F), including a more abstract interpretation shown in Image G, using block colour and texture.

Image F: Floral felt tip study

Image G: Abstract felt tip study

I like these effects due to the different line and colour qualities created, and next I would like to try and mix these with other techniques, to see what else I can do with my ideas.

Digetex Visit

This week we also had a visit from Debbie from Digetex which was really valuable! I sat down with her and showed the work I have done so far and it was great to get a second opinion on my work. She gave me some great ideas, like using Chinese brushes from china town, and she responded really well to some of my initial ideas. Debbie also mentioned that my initial research looked strong, and one of the main points that I took from the visit was that she was really keen to take work outside, and work on a large scale. For example I could photograph cushions outside to use these as context images to keep my designs looking fresh! She also mentioned that I could design for large floor cushions or bean bags, and this also inspired me think of different sized cushions. I don't usually think or work in this way so pushing myself to work to a clients brief will both challenge me and help me to embrace professional briefs. She also helped me to realise that our work can't just be nice, and be like what everyone else is doing; it has to be different and unusual because this is what gets your work bought and starts off new trends. I am really keen to embrace this idea, and concentrate on creating unique designs. It was good to know that after following her brief I am on the right track and she likes my work, and now I want to carry on designing and creating more drawings to work with.

Starting Visual Research

I started my visual research by addressing the first trend that I chose: Floral studies. I started this by gathering images and drawings of flowers from a variety of places, the garden, parks, and garden centres. I found that the most interesting photos were those taken in the garden centres due to the more colourful range of flowers. They were full of tone, texture and colour, such as these two shown below. They offer lots of qualities that I can draw and work from. 

After collecting a selection of images, and finding plants to draw from, I began to address some of the other trends that Digetex had given us: Watercolour and Fine Line. I therefore drew and painted them in a variety of ways: creating studies of line and texture, drawing linear, accurate drawings, and loose watercolour paintings. This mixture of styles gives me a lot to work with and I enjoyed seeing the different qualities I could achieve with the media. I was also very conscious that Debbie mentioned that she wanted to see lots of drawing and layering of media, so I wanted to make that aspect very strong in my work.

Image A: Study of Pansies

Image B: Abstract Watercolour Floral Painting

Image C: Fine Liner Flower Drawing

I feel that Image B is very successful. I like the way the paint bleeds in areas, and the colours and style isn't accurate, but is stylised. This is not my usual way of working at all. I usually draw accurately and neatly, so producing such an interesting loose drawing was a shock and surprise to me. Image A represents my style and abilities more, it isn't as loose as the other painting. Unfortunately this weeks setback was that I can't seem to loosen up enough to create more paintings like Image A. I feel as though it was a one off lucky painting and no matter what flower I paint, or how quickly or loosely I try to do it, I can't achieve the same kind of painting. I will keep persisting with trying this style as I would like to achieve a looser and more abstract quality in my work. If I can achieve this effect, I think it will contrast well with the line qualities achieved by Image C.

As well as experimenting with florals, I also experimented with just the watercolour trend to see what kind of effects I could achieve. I painted wet on wet, I bled colour into wet shapes, played with resists and colour effects to try and meet the brief as best as I could. Some of my favourite effects included rice (Image D) and PVA, as well as making wet colour circles and letting the colours bleed into each other (Image E). I definitely want to continue experimenting with these ideas to see if any areas could be blown up and used as a design.

Image D: Watercolour and Rice Study

Image E: Watercolour Study

The next stage for my work will be to continue creating drawings and paintings to work from, but to start experimenting with arrangement and consider ideas about how my work could be translated into designs. I have started to experiment with a colour palette that was on one of the trend boards  provided by Digetex. I can already see that I am slowly changing and adding colours as my work develops so I will post this at a later date when I am certain of what my Palette is.

Starting Unit X: Learning about Digetex.

Concept

For Unit X, we have been set a brief by Digetex, a bespoke digital print company based in Trafford Park. The brief looks amazing: we have to pick from a list of trends and produce lots of work with mixed media, drawings and colour and I can't wait to get stuck in. I am looking forward to responding to a professional brief and working within a professional context. I want to embrace the challenge of adapting my work to an external context to produce a collection suitable for the client. From the list of trends that we were provided with, I intend to mix a few key themes together as shown below, along with a concept board that I created:

• Watercolour
• Floral Studies
• Fine Line
• Felt Tip

Concept Board

Digetex Visit:

Visiting and meeting the client was a vital part of this brief for me, as it really inspired me, and helped me to establish my context. It enabled me to get to grips with and understand the company we are designing for in more depth. We got to see how the design process works, as well as the production of their wallpapers and fabrics as they have a factory on site. We also saw their showroom which was full of wallpapers, fabrics, cushions, blinds, trend boards and also antique prints! The fact that Digetex has such a great relationship with technology, but also embrace the history of design, and still love getting inspiration from antique prints was refreshing. 

As well as meeting the Creative Director, Debbie McKeegan we got to meet the design team and their studio which was full of trend mood boards. They gave us lots of tips about designing as well, such as scanning in work at a high resolution, working from other peoples designs, and giving us information about graphics tablets. It was also great to hear that they still love seeing drawings, and traditional working methods. Even though they work with photoshop a lot, this hand drawn quality still isn't lost, and they have the perfect balance between old and new methods and designs. I also listened very carefully to what Debbie wanted to see in our final collection, which was a mix of processes, and she emphasised the importance of hand drawn and digital mixtures to produce an interesting collection.

Digetex are classed as converters, and are the middle people that put a design or idea into end use. They work with a range of Clients, from designers like Matthew Williamson, to anyone who wants their own fabric samples printed. They print and finish all of their fabrics in house, and also have a sewing team who can hem banners and fit eyelets for peoples orders. We also learnt more about their product range and their large customer base including one off purchasers and contract clients such as Hotels. As their company is so expansive, they have divided it into four main sections: Home, Contract, Graphics and Online (more is explained later in this post, on our presentation board). For me, the most interesting part of their business is Digetex Home, as they sell designer wallpapers, roller blinds, cushions and homeware. They also won Best Wallpaper Collection at the Northern Design awards, which is a staggering achievement! 

Below are some examples of their products that I think might be especially relevant for this project, as I am going to be looking at water-colour and florals as two aspects. On their website there is also a much bigger range of products that have inspired me, and this allowed me to see what their collections look like (http://www.digetexhome.co.uk)

Orange Poppy Roller Blind by Digetex Home

Rainbow Stripe Wall Mural by Digetex Home

Oriental Floral Cushion by Digetex Home

This visit really showed me what Digetex are all about and now I feel able to start my visual research and find my context because of this.

Context

After looking into what my concept is going to be, I needed to think about my context, and who and what I am designing for. As I am designing with Digetex in mind, I looked at their website and the products they sell. The visit that we went on also helped me to define their style and product range. Their wallpapers, blinds, cushions, and wall murals feature a lot of placement designs and not many in repeat. As I have designed for wall papers and murals before, and I haven't yet done a fabric based project, I have decided to design for cushions to learn more about another aspect of the design world and embrace new challenges. Below is a context board, showing how my theme might be conveyed onto cushions. At the top there are current examples of cushions that Digetex have on their website, to give an impression of their style.

Context Board

First Group Task

Our first task for this project was to work as a team to create boards and a presentation on what we had learnt about Digetex as a company, which was a valuable experience. With all of the information from the visit and their website, we had lots to talk about. Therefore our first task was to divide up the information into the 4 key areas of the business as mentioned above (one area per person), so we created a simple poster as a basis to talk about at our presentation. As well as the content of the presentation, we all contributed with our different photoshop knowledge to put together the poster, and taught each other tips, tricks and shortcuts to make our lives easier in the future too! We discussed the layout as a team and worked out which layout was the neatest, most concise, and got our point across the best!

This talk allowed me to use and develop my teamwork skills. We used our different strengths and weaknesses to work out who would be best at doing each job, and produced this presentation board with the information we have gathered over the past week. It also helped me to realise how important organisation is when you don't just have to think about yourself. An example of this would be that in the first lecture, we made sure we all had each others phone numbers, and organised our first meeting in advance, to ensure that everyone had a clear idea of what we were doing.

Images courtesy of www.digetexhome.co.uk

This collaboration with other students has taught me how I work best in a team, and allowed me to develop certain skills (such as leadership and listening) which I can use and build on in future teamwork exercises. An example of this would be that I am not a natural leader, but this exercise with just 4 people allowed me to practice and enhance my leadership skills so that if I needed to lead in the future, I would be more comfortable doing it. 

With all of this information on Digetex and my context and concept sorted, I can't wait to get started with my visual research and start exploring the different trends that I have chosen.