Studio Shoots, Project Requirements and Evaluation Guidance

Phoebe Reynolds

Studio shoots for your garments are arranged for the second day back (Thursday 5th January 2017) - we have two 2nd Year photographers working with you, and studios 1 & 2 in the Photography department are both booked from 2.00pm until 4.00pm - this should allow time to get collection and individual shots for everyone. Make sure you have your garment, model, plus any make up or other clothing you need to set your piece off effectively.
We will distribute edited shots from the shoots for use in your folios as soon as possible, but we won't expect to see these as part of your project submission.

The deadline for your Fashion work is Monday 9^th January @ 4.30pm and this is the minimum you need to have in your sketchbooks:

Initial Research and Presentation:

• Observational drawing/s of your object.
•  At least 2 busy pages of visual research into your garment, different versions/styles/shapes, try to find inventive Haute Couture versions.
• Minimum 2 pages of visual research into your object - different versions, different uses, unusual applications of your object, if you can find examples of it in Fashion then include these.
• 2 pages where you find examples of Collections. Most designers/design houses release themed collections seasonally, look for examples of collections that are inventive, exuberant and perhaps use elements of recycling – for example the work of Martin Margiela.
• Copies of your presentation slides.
• Any notes relevant to your presentation.

Illustration and Design Development:

• 4 pages research into 2 Fashion Illustrators.
• Your photos from the figure (the ones you used as a basis for your Fashion Illustrator responses).
• 4 Well finished Illustrator responses based on your photos.
• 6 garment proposals (with notes, using the templates).
• A finished Illustration based on your best design - this should be developed     independently and not based on an existing template. This might include sample pieces, annotations and colour swatches alongside.

Final Garment, Photography and Evaluation.

• 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). 

RECYCLED FASHION EVALUATION GUIDANCE

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 designers/collections 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 photoshoots, 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?
• 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?

Fashion Project Update and Photographer Research

Garment Completion and Sketchbook Content
OK, so you should all be well underway with garment construction by now. Make sure you have the resources you need: as many multiples of your object as your garment requires and potentially a base garment to reconstruct/work over. You may need other things such as additional fabrics, dyes, zips, clasps, velcro etc.
This weekend is a good opportunity to shop for any bits that you are currently short of. If you have an ambitious plan it is essential to work in a focussed way to resolve it properly.
Any finishing work to your illustration research/ responses/design development needs to be completed as self-directed study now. 
From now until when the project is submitted (Monday 9th January) the things that need to be added to sketchbooks are:

• Some photographic documentation of stages of your making process, with annotation/explanation.
• Contact sheets and larger prints of the best images from a location shoot.
• 4 pages of research into 2 Fashion Photographers (see information below for guidance).
• Word-processed Project Evaluation - guidance for this will be issued.

Studio Photography (after Christmas)

We will also arrange a studio shoot for your garments in the short week we have when we return after Christmas, we will get some of the second year students specialising in Photography to work with you to get the best imagery from this session. This will be an opportunity to record your garment alongside the other creations in your collection. 

Location Photography (over Christmas break)

Thinking a little way ahead you should start giving some thought to your location Photoshoot - this should be completed over the Christmas break, but your planning should start now. 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? Taking a professional approach may mean doing things like researching the weather (if you are looking at a shoot outdoors) and working around when it looks likely to offer you the best light/conditions.

Fashion Photographer Research
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

Fashion Illustration & Preparing for Making.

You need to finish your illustration work through the remainder of this week, so that you can move onto garment construction next week.
Ideally you should finish the tasks outlined below before next Monday (5th December) so that you can have 2 full weeks before Christmas to make your piece. At the very latest the illustration and design work must be complete by the end of Tuesday 6th December so EVERYONE is onto making by Wednesday.

• 4 pages of research into 2 Fashion illustrators, include a range of their work and your analysis of their technique.
• A range of your photographs of the figure in "fashion" poses, printed out and included in your sketchbook.
• 4 illustrator responses developed from your own photos (2 in the style of each illustrator you researched).
• 6-8 quickly sketched design proposals for your garment/accessory, you could use a template for these. Annotate alongside to explain your ideas and techniques you intend to use. These ideas can be variations on a theme, each one does not need to be radically different.

• A well finished illustration of your selected design (the one you intend to make) - you might choose to do this in the style of one of the illustrators you researched or develop a more independent illustrative approach of your own.

You also need to think ahead and gather everything you need for your making, make a list of your requirements and order online (eBay www.ebay.co.uk/ is your friend here) or find other ways of obtaining your resources - suppliers such as Fabricland in Basingstoke www.fabricland.co.uk/fabric-stores/fabric-land-basingstoke may prove valuable.
Things you might require include:
Cotton thread, zips, velcro, fabric, dyes, iron-on transfer paper, multiples of your object (clothes pegs, rubber bands etc.). 
There may be other practical preparations you need to make as well such as exposing screens for printing.