Recycled Fashion Checklist

OK, so the deadline is Tuesday 7th January (when you return after Christmas) and this is the minimum you need to have in your sketchbooks:

• Observational drawing/s of your object.
• Photos of your Moodboard layouts.
• Copies of your presentation slides.
• 2 pages research into Martin Margiela.
• 4 pages research into 2 Fashion Illustrators.
• Your photos from the figure.
• 4 Illustrator responses based on your photos.
• 6 garment proposals (with notes, using the templates).
• 2 finished Illustrations based on your best designs - these should be developed independently and not dependent on templates.
• 4 pages research into 2 Fashion Photographers.
• Your finished garment/accessory.
• A thoughtfully styled location shoot of your garment - be ambitious, think about the photographers whose work you have studied. Arrange model, location, props, make up. Consider posture and camera angle carefully. Take plenty of shots (20+) you might use PhotoShop to enhance your best shots for inclusion in your sketchbook.
• Your word processed evaluation (see guidance notes below). 

Fashion Evaluation

In order to pass this project you must complete a word processed evaluation of 500-800 words, discussing the following ……

• What object and garment did you get to work with?
• How did the development of your Presentation help in understanding the possibilities offered by your object. What sources did you access in researching your object and garment?
• In what other ways did you respond to and investigate your object? (e.g. photography and drawing)
• Who were you collaborating with? How did you share tasks? Do you think you communicated effectively together? Did you find this collaboration helpful?
• Which designer/s did you look at? What appealed to you about their work?
• What did you learn from looking at the designer/s work? Did their work influence your own garment designs later in the project?
• What were your first ideas for your garment design? Did these bear much relation to your final solution?
• What was it that appealed to you about the fashion illustrators you chose to research and respond to?
• What did you learn from recreating the styles of the illustrators you looked at, and how did this help you to understand the techniques employed in fashion illustration?
• How did you go about creating your own fashion illustrations – what processes did you employ in developing your final images? Describe how you used photography to style them initially and what you did to get them to a high standard.
• Which Fashion Photographers did you research? What appealed to you about their work?
• Describe the process you went through to create your initial garment designs, and how you decided upon the one you chose to make.
• What elements of your original garment did you retain and what was added/taken away?
• What materials and techniques did you employ in the production of your final garment and what problems did you encounter along the way?
• Discuss your final photoshoot, how did you style your garment? Mention aspects such as make up, props, location, models, postures, lighting, composition.
• Do you feel your final garment will work well with your collaborators? Did you maintain good communication throughout the project?
• How do you think your piece will look on the catwalk and what will you need to do to style it properly in preparation for this?
• What do you regard as the most and least successful aspects of your project?
• How well did you manage your time and what you would do differently if you did this project again?

Project Update & Fashion Photographer Research

OK, so we should all be moving on to garment construction in the next couple of days. Make sure you have the resources you will need: a garment/accessory to recycle and as many multiples of your object as your garment requires. You may need other things such as additional fabrics, dyes, zips, clasps, velcro etc.
If you have an ambitious plan ensure you give yourself plenty of making time to resolve it properly.
Any finishing work to your illustration research/design development needs to be completed as private study now.
Thinking a little way ahead you should start giving some thought to your Photoshoot - you should be aiming for a professional approach with this that results in great imagery for your portfolio.
Consider who will model for you (or who will take photos if you are modelling your own garment), where you will base the shoot (what will complement the garment?), will you need props/make up?

In order for you to plan and execute effective final Photoshoots for your garments it will be helpful to make yourself aware of the work of some top Fashion photographers.
When looking at these Photographers work you should look for the following things and comment on them:

• Use of location/studio - how does this relate to enhance the garment?
• Use of make up.
• Use of props.
• Use of the model(s) consider things like body posture, what mood is the photographer trying to create?
• Use of lighting - natural/artificial? harsh/gentle?
• Composition/cropping - how is the figure placed within the image?
• Use of post production - has the image been manipulated via software such as PhotoShop to achieve the final result, how subtle/dramatic is this process?

You should look at 2 of the following photographers and provide a little background biographical information before analysing at least 3 images by each one in detail (2 pages per photographer, print out decent size reproductions of their work).

Steven Meisel

Corrine Day

Mario Testino



Ruven Afanador

Nick Knight

Perou

Tim Walker

Steven Klein

Been there, done that... thought you might like this though!

1:1 Reviews this Friday

This Friday (6th December) we will be having 1:1 progress review meetings to reflect on your work this term and set targets to help you move forwards. There will be no regular Art lessons on this day, although any lessons you have in other subjects will go ahead as usual.
Please bring your current sketchbook to your meeting.
I will see the following students during lessons on Thursday 5th:
Amy Lucas
Molly Christie
Emma Momber
the rest of you have appointments for Friday as detailed below:

Timetable for 1:1 Reviews  - Friday 6th December
Time	Student
8.50	Emma Hope
9.10	Freya Atkins
9.30	Katie Adlam
9.50	Georgia Plomer
10.10	Georgia Masters
Break
10.50	Jenny Brown
11.10	Katie Warren
11.30	Flo Clarke
11.50	Max Goodwyn
12.10	Jasmine Yarnell
12.30	Kieran Harrington
Lunch
1.20	Annie Adam
1.40	Lucy Abraham
2.00	Katie Watson
2.20	Holly Watson
2.40	Connor Whitney-Smith

Recycled Fashion Project - update

Jez Eaton - Brighton Trashion Show

Ok, so we are past the halfway point with the Fashion Project. This week the aim is to complete the design process and get final illustrations of your garments completed.
You also need to ensure that you have plenty of examples of your object and your existing garment for when we start to make our designs next week.
If you still need to get your garment try charity shops, car boot sales, unwanted family garments rather than buying something new.
Most of the recycled objects are readily available, but you may have to make an effort to collect them. Sometimes in the past students have used eBay to buy large quantities of things like clothes hangers cheaply.
So this week you should complete:

• At least 6 garment proposals using the templates, annotate these to explain how you would construct each intended design.
• Choose the best 2 of your proposals and present these ideas through some finished illustrations. These illustrations should be original and not based on templates, you should return to your photos of the figure and use these as a starting point. You might choose to use elements of the style of illustrators you studied, but try not to slavishly copy an existing Artist's work. Choose your media carefully, you might combine hand drawn techniques with digital finishing. These two final images should be professional pieces that are the culmination of your design and illustration process.

Illustrator Responses

OK, to ensure you are all crystal clear about what you should be doing over the next couple of days. What we want you to achieve is 4 beautiful responses to your 2 chosen illustrators using your own photos as the basis for these illustrations.
So you will need:

• A collection of images by your 2 illustrators - enough to get a really good feel for their style, technique and media.
• A range of photographs from the figure - try to get some good dynamic poses that have the feel of Fashion illustration/photography. If you are unsure what you are aiming for then flick through a few copies of Vogue and look at the fashion shoots and advertising images.
• The appropriate media to respond to your illustrators, identify what they use and do likewise. If their work is produced digitally then don't try replicating it by hand.

Once you have all these things you need to really focus on making some impressive responses that capture the feel of each Artist. Use the lightbox to start your drawings from your own photos off if it helps. You might want to use software to extend and stretch the figures in your photos and achieve something closer to the classic fashion illustration proportions (which are quite different to the real proportions of the human body).

Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

Raw photo file

Digital Illustration by Jocelyn Gravot

Digitally developed response to Jocelyn Gravot

Fashion Illustration Research

Before tomorrow you need to look at the work of 2 fashion illustrators, here are a few good links to explore:

http://www.dripbook.com/top/browse/illustration-portfolios/fashion/

http://www.illustrationweb.com/styles/fashion

http://www.illustrationdivision.com/

Anna Higgie

Try to choose illustrators that have contrasting approaches and use different media. For each selected illustrator print out 3/4 reproductions of their work at a reasonable size (A5ish).

You then need to provide some analysis of each illustrator. Find out what you can about them - where they trained, who they have worked for. Most importantly analyse the images you have chosen, identify what media have been used and discuss technique (expressive or controlled?), composition, use of colour. Give your personal opinion on the work, but ensure you give reasons for the views you express.

Present the work thoughtfully (2 A3 pages per illustrator), think about layout and text/titles etc.

 Tomorrow you will be doing some quick drawings of the figure and taking photos to develop your illustrator responses from. We will be needing people to pose for both drawings and photos, look at Fashion advertising/ location shoots to give you ideas about dynamic posture.

 From the photos you take you will be selecting 2 of the best and producing 4 of your own illustrations (2 in the style of each of your selected illustrators) from the poses found in your chosen photos.

 Following on from this we will be developing some original illustrations of our own next week and using these as a vehicle to develop and present your design proposals.

 TOMORROW:

BRING CAMERAS and DRAWING MATERIALS (pencils, erasers).

Preparing for Presentations/Presentation Schedule

You have a busy couple of days ahead as we need to ensure all your presentations are given on Thursday so we can all move on to the Fashion Illustration work together from Friday.
Having just tried to start a Prezi with Freya it is clear that the Art department computers do not have the capacity to run the new version of the programme :-(
...for it to work properly the computers need to be running Google Chrome as their browser, and they don't have the capability.
So, Plan B: Powerpoint. Try to make your Powerpoints as creative as possible, whilst avoiding using templates/fonts that don't suit your creative subject matter. Using a blank presentation is a good bet. You will need to take a series of "zoomed in" photos of sections of each moodboard to properly explain your points.
These are the practical steps that need completing:

• All 5 Moodboards finished.
• Good photos taken of each Moodboard.
• Photos tweaked (see post below) using PhotoShop so they look effective as Presentation slides.
• Transfer your Moodboard photos (and zoom in details) to Powerpoint slides.

A suggested format for your presentation is

1. Title slide "An object worth desiring" and your names.
2. Your introductory Mood Board.
3. 2 or 3 zoom in slides of key aspects of your first moodboard.
4. Your second moodboard (research into your object).
5. 2 or 3 zoom in slides of key aspects of your second moodboard.
6. Your third moodboard (your garments).
7. 2 or 3 zoom in slides of key aspects of your third moodboard.
8. Your fourth moodboard (collections).
9. 2 or 3 zoom in slides of key aspects of this moodboard.
10. Your final moodboard (initial design ideas/material experiments)
11. 2 or 3 zoom in slides of key aspects of your final moodboard.

• Produce a set of 5 cue cards that bullet point vital information for each main slide - use these as a memory aid during your presentation, but be prepared to expand and ad lib rather than just reading off a card, as this tends to lead to dull delivery.
• Work with your partner to practice the suitability of your timing and content - you should be aiming for a presentation time of 8 - 10 minutes.

See the exercise as an opportunity to "sell" your ideas and explain how your research has informed your initial garment ideas/object experiments.

Self promotion is an essential skill in many Art/Design careers, own the floor and start as you mean to go on!

Schedule for presentations on Thursday is as follows:

Time	Students	Object
11.30	Annie Adam, Freya Atkins, Katie Warren, Hannah (special guest)	Rubber Gloves
11.40	Flo Clarke, Amy Lucas	Plastic Cups
11.50	Georgia Masters/Jasmine Yarnell	Clothes Pegs
12.00	Georgia Plomer/Max Goodwyn	Plastic Bottles
12.10	Emma Momber, Emma Hope	Cutlery
TUTOR TIME & LUNCH BREAK
2.00	Katie Adlam/Kieran Harrington	Coat Hangers
2.10	Molly Christie/Katie Watson	CDs
2.20	Lucy Abraham/Jenny Brown	Envelopes
2.30	Holly Watson/Connor Whitney-Smith	Cardboard Tubes

 

Preparing Photos of your Moodboards for Prezi

When you record your Mood boards for use in your presentation there are a few steps you can take to make sure that they look good.
The first of those are in taking the photographs - make sure they are well lit and that you position your camera above the centre of the image to avoid getting a taper distortion, take several photos to ensure you get images with a good sharp focus.

An example of "taper distortion"

 Once you have got decent photographs it is usually possible to enhance them in PhotoShop before you upload them to Prezi. Here is a raw photographic image followed by an edit of the same photo.

 

To achieve this I did the following:

• Rotated the original image.
• Cropped the image to remove unwanted areas.
• Adjusted brightness and contrast to give the image more on-screen "zip".
• Used the "sharpen more" filter to add crispness to the image.
• Created a new layer, made a rectangular selection and filled this with a pale blue colour, then applied the multiply Layer style to this blue box.
• Using the text tool added notes (in a font downloaded from www.dafont.com). I then used the move tool to place the text over the blue area.
• Finally from the Layer Menu I added a drop shadow to my text from the Layer Style options.

HHaving done all this I then saved the final image as a jpeg (option available from the dropdown menu when you save in Photoshop). Using jpegs in Prezi works fine, if you upload .psd PhotoShop documents or high resolution digital photos you may find they slow your presentation down and stop it functioning properly.

Stuff that should be going into your Sketchbooks

Obviously the initial stages of this project involve lots of work outside the sketchbook, with your moodboards and Prezi being the main activities. You should record these in your sketchbook too. The first pages of your sketchbook should include the following:

• Observational drawing/s from your object.
• Photographs of your moodboard layouts (including alternate arrangements - take time to light these well, make sure you get sharp focus and consider tweaking in PhotoShop to ensure you do full justice to your work).
• Screenshots of your Prezi slides.
• 2 pages of research into the work of Martin Margiela - some of his Maison Martin Margiela collections were what originally inspired this project and he has explored using recycled materials in many of his garments. Your research should include brief biographical information about MM, find several examples of garments from his collections and analyse some in detail, discuss technical aspects of construction and the aesthetic impression the garment creates. Offer personal opinions on the work, but ensure that you justify them fully, explain how looking at MM might inspire or influence your own work/ideas in this project.

This Martin Margiela collection includes a long bomber jacket made from an old gown, a coat made from an windsurfing sail and a vest made from vintage baseball gloves.

Moodboards for Prezi

Prezi/Moodboard Requirements
AN OBJECT WORTH DESIRING PREZI CHECKLIST
SLIDE 1 – Introduction – your object, your garment, yourselves.
SLIDE 2 – Initial findings – what your object is traditionally used for, how it has been used in a fashion context, if at all.
SLIDE 3 – Your garments – 3 examples of each from current collections – use sites such as style.com fort inspiration and an image of your own found ones – either being worn, on the hanger or on a mannequin, + A simple statement about where yours came from.
SLIDE 4 – An example of what a collection is - this can be a statement – almost a dictionary definition if you like, or a visual that you can talk about.
SLIDE 5 – Some ideas as to how you intend to progress from here, i.e. how you will manipulate, deconstruct or multiply your object – remember that this can be on a lateral as well as a literal level too……

New Project - First Tasks

A few reminders, for tomorrow (Tuesday) you will need:

• Money for an A3 sketchbook. Ringbound £7 (order online), or Stapled £2 (order online or pay cash).
• Drawing materials (pencils, eraser, biro & fineliners if you have them).
• A version (or multiples) of your object to work from. 
• A camera/cameraphone.

Don't forget:

Before Wednesday you need to collect lots of material for moodboards, talk to your partner/s and decide what each of you will source. You will need things like:

• Titles/Buzzwords (on acetate?)
• Dictionary Definitions.
• Photos from online sources of your object in standard use and also in fashion and other alternative applications.
• Photos of yourselves.

For reference here is a list of what everyone drew from the "hat"

Student	Object	Garment
Freya	Rubber Gloves	Skirt
Annie	Rubber Gloves	Jacket
Georgia M	Clothes Pegs	Dress
Jasmine	Clothes Pegs	Skirt
Katie Warren	Rubber Gloves	Dress
Jenny	Envelopes	Hat
Lucy	Envelopes	Shoes
Georgia P	Plastic Bottles	Shoes
Max	Plastic Bottles	Hat
Flo	Plastic Cups	Bag
Amy	Plastic Cups	Shirt
Katie A	Coat Hangers	Dress
Kieran	Coat Hangers	Skirt
Molly	CDs	Jewellery
Katie Watson	CDs	Trousers
Emma M	Cutlery	Skirt
Emma H	Cutlery	Dress
Holly	Cardboard Tubes	Trousers
Connor	Cardboard Tubes	Jacket