Evaluation and my Final Bedding Collection

Below is my final collection. I have shown them in a visualisation so that I can show the duvet and the pillow design. I am happy with my collection as I feel I have refined them to their full potential, as well as including a reversable design. I think my final collection shows my starting point well and I have lots of variation, showing the different aspects I looked into whilst researching the theme. I think my final collection has quite a few graphic elements to it; this shows the way I always seem to incorporate a very illustrative feel.

 

(Reversible Duvet)

On reflection upon this project I feel that overall I have enjoyed aspects of this Brief. I really appreciated visiting the studio of Diane Harrison; it gave me a real insight into how working in a studio would be. I also learnt from this trip that is important to keep developing my Digital skills and learn to use as many design programs as I can before I try to make it into the industry. It has also reassured me that going into Interiors is the best choice for me. I did however expect a more of a collaboration aspect of Unit X.
 I enjoyed working within a group as I feel it was the best way of communicating lots of ideas. Although I definitely think there could have been more collaboration opportunities. I feel I could have benefitted from visiting more than one professional studio, as most of the project involved independant study which I dont think was any different to any other project.
I also found implications with printing on such a large format; it wasnt something I had done before and I would  have appreciated help within this area. I think I have learnt a lot from photoshop and Illustrator in previous projects but further workshops within Unit X would have been highly beneficial.
 I am glad I designed Bedware as it was something that I had not designed for before. I think that I answered the brief well, and researching other companies really helped towards the development of my work. I realised that designing for Bedware meant a lot more work; it wasnt just designing for the duvet but it also meant designing for the pillow which meant a different design. I also appreciate a new element to put within my portfolio. I think my patterns reflect my starting point well and I have tried to use different aspects within each design to show my variety of work but I still think I need to learn more about a repeat pattern. In future I need to work more with scale, and trying to ensure some patterns are simple at times. I also want to make sure I always explore different media and continue to develop my digital skills.
I have also learnt within Unit X how important it is for me to to ensure I get some work experience within the Digital Interior Print market over the summer. I have been applying to companies but I am yet to secure a position. I realise the importance of learning how to work within a company and experience is the best way for me to move forward within my practice. I will take the skills I learnt from working in a group within the first few stages of Unit X and apply this within my work experience.

Developing my prints towards a final collection.

After working predominately on photoshop over the last week or so I have designed quite a collection of work. I have been using all aspects of my drawings to create contemporary busy patterns. Below are the first few designs I created. I have decided to only use sections of these patterns as my final collection. I feel the other designs that I have are more suited together. I think even though I have six designs that have not made my collection it shows refinement within my work. I wanted to make sure my final collection reflected quality and not quantity. I definately have realised that working with bedding the best patterns often are the simplest. 

I have also been looking at more bedding companies to ensure my patterns are following the current market. Again I have seen a lot of simple repeats, these seem to work really well as a duvet print. This is common within Ikea, they may be designing for a very broad market but it shows that repeats are very adaptable to lots of customers. They also tend to offer the customers lots of colour options. I wouldnt like to design for the same market but I appreciate their variety of choice.

 

(Malin Rund,Ikea)

I also like the way Ikea show their bedding designs; it is very clear and you can see the whole design, I want to show my final design visualisations in a similar way.
Sanderson Bedding is definately in keeping with my own patterns; their work is very bold and simple which is what I am aiming for. I love their work and love how they make the bed the main focal point of the room. I like this characteristic which I hope portray in my final collection.

(Dandelion Clocks,Sanderson)

Further Inspiration and a more Contemporary Colour Palette

After deciding that my colour palette wasnt right I have looked at rock layers for inspiration. I still want to keep my original drawings of fossils and textures but I want to layer these elements together and incorporate brighter colours to make it more contemporary as I have noticed after looking at bedding within the current market that these colours are popular. 

Feeling restricted just using paint and pen/pencils I decided to start using Lino which gave me the 'organic' feel which originally drew me to the theme of Evolution. Greg from Diane Harrison also agreed that I should work with different medias and liked the idea of Lino when I saw him for a tutorial. Although he did agree that it was very time consuming! It helped seeing someone from the company who we were designing for as I find it really valuable getting his opinion on my work. It is also good to seek advice from him as he obviously understands the market being in that profession.

I think the Lino worked well as I created different effects I thought this would give me a good variety of work to work with within photoshop. I have also this week refined my colour palette(shown below) I want to make sure that even though I am adding lots of elements together I want to ensure my patterns look like a collection.

These (below)are the first prints I designed within photoshop,I felt that the designs were not really fitting with my previous textural work with fossils and the starting point of Evolution.  On reflection I knew this but my tutorial session only reinstated this realisation; they did not follow on from my initial work and so I have understood that this way of creating pattern does not work. I think the patterns have too much going on; I like the Lino but it does not need the drawing on top. I understand that in this case that simplifying my designs is the best way forward. I also want to use my chosen final colour palette in a more successful and controlled way.Both of these first patterns do not look like they belong together in a collection, something I need to work on.

Diane Harrison Studio Visit and Contextual Influences

After visiting the Diane Harrison Studio I was more inspired to do work! I instantly realised that their patterns were very illustrative and colourful. 

I realised after the visit that my colour palette from my fossil work, (particularly from my pictures from the Manchester Museum) were too dull for the brief of Diane Harrison. I needed to look for other sources for a brighter colour palette, so I went back to my Pinterest mood board for inspiration.
Ensuring that my prints remained contemporary and especially looking at patterns in repeat I was drawn to the bright bold prints of Marimekko. I have always admired their work but they have a lot of relevance within this project as one of the requirements for the brief was a pattern in repeat.

(Iltavilli Wallpaper Marimekko)

I decided that I would design my patterns for bedware I chose this as I have not designed for bedware before and so I wanted a new challenge. Especially as going to the Diane Harrison Studio I realised how much I craved a career within digital print. I want my knowledge of making patterns for all aspects of interiors to be broad, I was really influenced by the beautiful patterns within Diane Harrison.
I looked at Harlequin Bedlinen; just like Diane Harrison their Bedding is very contemporary and pretty. I was drawn to their bright colours and use of colourful repeat. As the brief states I need to make my own patterns mostly in repeat so looking at their bedlinen is a good source of inspiration. I also like how their bedlinen makes a statement within a room, I hope my patterns will do the same.

 (Harlequin Bedding)

Inspiration

I visited the Manchester Museum for inspiration this week, there were lots of starting points that I could consider for my theme but I was really drawns to fossils and rock. I found lots of textured fossils and surfaces to draw from. I was particularly drawn to the patterns and textural elements of my pictures and the very classic shapes of the fossils.

I think one thing I have noticed after picking this theme is that if I stick to the realistic colours of fossils my colour palette could be just too dull. I want my designs to be bright, so this is something I need to consider. 
 It has become apparent that texture (particularly from the fossils) has become very important to my work. I came across a fashion collection 'Fossil Warriors' by Alice Palmer which I thought was really inspiring and relevant to my theme of Evolution. The collection was inspired by the textures of prehistoric anthropod shells.

http://www.pleatfarm.com/2011/02/14/alice-palmer-ss-2011-fossil-warriors/

 I want to capture the same textural qualities within my own work which I have noticed within my first few drawings;

I have also been looking at other artists for inspiration as I think it is important to have lots of influences before making my patterns.I came across the work of Katherine Lloyd, she makes features for interiors and gardens with a very 'earthy and organic' feel, something that I would like to reflect within my own work.She also concentrates on swirls which I think is a big part in my work.

When I transfer my drawings to pattern designs I want the elements of my drawings to be clear. I have always worked in the way that my digital prints end up looking quite illustrative. I like to show that all my patterns will start from my drawings. Just like the company Publisher Textiles. I have been very influenced by their work as they have drawn elements within their own work, creating unique custom made patterns. They use very traditional methods of hand screen printing, I do not wish to use hand screen printing but I definately want to create the effect of an illustrative pattern by using my drawings. I also want to start working with Lino to try and create a 'hand made' feel to my work and also to use a variation of media.

(Publisher Textiles)

First Stages and working within a Group

Unit X College 2-Diane Harrison Live Brief

I have chosen this brief as I was instantly drawn to the interior aspect; In future I see my career being within interior print design and so I am determined to use this project to add to my portfolio.

We have been split into small groups and the theme for our group is 

Eccentricity
http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/expressive-eccentricity

We researched lots of visual representations of this theme, we had a brainstorm which I think gave lots of ideas. I think the final outcome was very bright and demonstrated our starting point well, I feel that I had learnt alot about the theme, as we considered most aspects of Eccentricity.Working in a group I think is a good skill to have as it made me understand that collaboration will always be apparent within the world of art.
 Working as part of a group I realised how diverse approaches to a theme can be, people work in very different ways and collaboration is effective and important to develop a theme to its full potential. I feel that we all brought different artistic ideas together, that I would have not neccessarily considered brainstorming on my own. I will use this useful tool of collaborating within my future practice. I also understood the imporatance of being punctual and using time effectively; we had to make sure that all our work was brought together on time for the presentation.

 Despite initially being excited about Eccentricity I felt restricted within the theme.I think it was because I struggled to think about what I could initially draw. I was really inspired listening to the other groups presentations about their topics they had researched. This resulted in me deciding to change my theme to Evolution. I was excited by the organic feel to this theme, I liked the diversity of this starting point. I also wanted to make sure that I had lots of visual resources around me to work and draw from; reflecting on my last project I found it difficult not to have photographs to draw from from my own research. I wanted to make sure I had a stable theme which  would mean I could be influenced by a gallery or musuem; I instantly thought about the Manchester Museum, which would give me plenty of visual research to work with. 

To get my ideas rolling I ve signed up to Pinterest., this helps to create a digital mood board to give my theme a really strong starting point. I ve started my mood board for Evolution...

http://pinterest.com/sophieschwarz4/evolution/

I chose these designs as my final collection.