Week Fourteen

This entry is slightly more of a day entry then a week as I have got to send off my work so that it is printed in time. I am having my journal entries put into a book. I have been adding in the pages for a while now, it takes quite a long time to get it looking good but I am really pleased with it. It is sort of a project diary. Well, anyway, so far this very short week, as today is only Tuesday, I have finished another file. One of the files is to look at the next five years and plan where it is we would like to be at the end of it. Next year I will be in Nottingham. Well I think I will be! But I am pretty much set now on going there. I have been offered a place on their one-year top up course, which is called International Fashion Business. It looks a really interesting course. I like that at the end of it, past students have got all different jobs out of it. Some have become stylists, some work as retail managers, some are working in buying and merchandising roles and some have gone on to do postgraduate study. The plan we have written isn’t set in stone but it has got me thinking about where it is I would like to be. Five years seems such a long time, but I have been at Newcastle College now for four years and it has gone so fast. For the five-year plan I looked at doing an MA course at Nottingham after I have graduated with my full degree. If you stay on at Nottingham to do an MA, you can apply for some money to help with the costs. Without this I am not sure I could afford to do it unless I did it part time over two years and worked as well. After this I would like to go on and work for a company. This would be at a junior level. At the minute I am not sure what this would be doing. There are so many jobs that sound interesting, but until I have done the course, and learnt new things I am not sure where it is I want to be. Whatever it is I want to work my way up and become successful. The fashion industry is always changing, and so many of the jobs you need to work you way up, start from the bottom gaining experience to move forward. I think if you ever got board there would be room to switch and change. There is just over a week left now until the hand in day. I need to complete my practical work, which is to make some more dresses. I need to have another tutorial with a lecturer to see what is going with my garments at the exhibition else I am not sure how to complete my work. I have got a lot of different things I could include in the show so I want to make sure I choose the right things. I like my photographs of my samples, but I am not sure whether they go with the white paper of the dresses. I also need to sort out what rail it is I am having in the exhibition and find some good quality hangers. Hopefully it will be done on time!

Week Thirteen

This week I think I have fitted quite a lot into the time. I have managed to get two paper dresses made for the show. I don’t think they are brilliant, but I haven’t got much time at all, and so many things have changed with my exhibition plans, that if I have a show it will be a miracle. I thought I was going to make three dresses, but now I think I will have five, so I only need to make two more which shouldn’t take much time. They look a bit boring on their own, just being white paper, I am not sure whether to use some brown paper, or some other materials with them. I could print onto them but I am worried this would take up a lot of my time as the stencils I used before to sample, took a while to cut out. For some samples I made some stencils out of paper, cutting out shapes using a craft knife, and then used ink on the heat press and printed onto fabrics and papers. The paper samples came out better then the fabric as the colours stayed nice. Sometimes when you print, the inks change colour due to the fibres in the fabric. If I have enough time, and have got the dresses made to fall back on I could print up some paper and make about two more dresses and see how they look. Then I could choose the best ones out of all of them for the exhibition. I want to put some labels and tags onto the garments to make them look like they are on a shop rail. I made some out of wire mesh, photographs and papers and they look quite good. I need to add sum text onto them, maybe using some acetate and layering this up with the other materials. The tags look good but I am not sure yet how well they work with the dresses. With the dresses being all white, and the tags brown and copper colours, I am not sure if it looks right. Maybe once I make some more garments using different papers it will match in better. I have put the paper dresses on a clothes rail for the moment while they are being made to hopefully stop them getting ruined, I want them on a rail for the exhibition but the one I have got looks a bit flimsy. This has helped me to work out how many garments I need though, and what type of rail will work. I think that five garments will work best. Four of them are not enough, and six too much. Amy had a look at my rail with some of my images blown up from the photocopier behind, to try and work out what would work for the exhibition. I said to Amy how I want to have a shop window display feel to the show, and not just some paper dresses on a rail. She told me to mock up some ideas to see what we will need. I’m not sure what it is I need to turn it into a shop window display. I want it to look interesting, and have a fine art feel. A display that is about fashion, but not necessarily something you can wear or buy. I will have to do some research and draw up some more ideas and have another talk with the lecturers, but this has helped me to see how it’s looking. Last time I had an exhibition tutorial and Noel looked through my work, he wanted to see some of my illustrations blown up to see whether they worked large scale. I printed some off on A3 paper to stick them up and see how they looked. I stuck them up in two different ways to see how I could have them printed. With big gaps in-between, and some close together. I’m not sure whether I like them or not when they are blown up. My illustrations are small, but blown up I am worried you can see mistakes in them. Amy thinks they look good but I am not too sure. I have got some other images, photographs or drawings, so I think I need to see what else could work for the exhibition. This week I have also got my yellow and purple file completed. The yellow file is to look back through our old journals and see how much we have learnt over the course. I looked through some of my journals and have re-reflected on them, I noticed that I didn’t write much about things and could have explained more about a lot of things, so hopefully I do this now. I think that when I am writing the journals though I tend to do them quite quick and chatty and forget to say everything as I think everyone already knows what it is I have been doing. I forget that someone reading my journal may have just picked it up for the first time. My purple file is about setting up a fashion business. I decided to look into how I would go about doing this, and planned what type of things it is I would need to do. I looked into funding, training and planning. There are a lot more different things that you need to learn about to do with business. I didn’t realise how many different things there are to deal with then planning to start up. I have written the report to go with it and just need this to be checked over to check it is containing the right information. I am glad these two files are out of the way so that I have got time to do the others. I need to start the blue file, which is a five-year plan, and then add some more information to the green one, which is planning the exhibition. On Wednesday, I had an interview at Salford University for the third year of their Fashion course. This was a waste of time. They have only ever taken on one person into the third year and she was from Central St Martins (which means she was good!) I am not sure why they ask people for an interview if they don’t take people on in different years. They asked me if I would go into a lower year, and I said that I wouldn’t go below year two. But really in my head I new I wouldn’t even do this. I have been offered a place on a one-year course at Nottingham Trent, which looks really good so I wouldn’t do two years somewhere else. They were a bit rude about my work, and I wasn’t too pleased with their attitude, as they had asked me there for an interview when really there was no point. They said my portfolio was very unusual, and they said that they didn’t know what work was mine and what wasn’t. I am not sure what they meant about this but everything in my portfolio is my own work, I have got research of other people work in files and sketchbooks, but that is to go alongside my own to show what has influenced me. Nottingham seemed a lot more impressed with my work, so I think even if they had offered me third year I would have gone to Nottingham, as they seemed much nicer. They asked me about second year, but I don’t think I was giving out much of a good vibe, as by then I felt they didn’t want me so we just sort of agreed that I wouldn’t go there. It was probably a good thing that I went to the interview though, as it is experience. I felt as though they were criticising my work, but then they said how they would definitely have me on first year, but wasn’t sure about second just due to the fact that by second year you need to do either styling, or fashion and the woman said she wasn’t sure which I was. She said if in the second year you did both I would defiantly be able to do it. This is where I could have said a lot more and let them know what it is I am good at and why they should have me, but I just didn’t feel strongly enough that that’s where I wanted to go. Which is strange, as I have wanted to get into Salford for the last three years!

Week Twelve

I had an exhibition tutorial with Amy and Noel to discusse what I could do for the final show. I asked them to see me as soon as they could, as there was not time for everyone to be seen in one day. I have been working on some garments, which I wanted to be hung up for the show. I thought that if I stiffened them and hung them from the shoulder they would fall and make an interesting shape rather then just having a dress on a mannequin. I needed to get their advice as soon as I could so that I could finish the garments depending on what was happening for the show. If I needed them to be modelled I would need a zip. If they weren’t being hung they wouldn’t need stiffening. I showed Noel through my work that I had with me and he suggested a lot of different things. He asked why I hadn’t made my garments out of metal, but with my making skills and time limit it just wasn’t possible. He suggested that I made them using something other then fabric such as using lino flooring. I wasn’t too keen on this idea. Although I like looking at different materials and find them interesting, I don’t really enjoy working with them. Samples are my limit with anything other then fabric! Going away from looking at what I could do from my garments for a bit, Noel loved some of my illustrations and illustrator technical drawings. I did some small illustrations in a line in my portfolio and didn’t think much of them. I am not very confident about my drawing skills. As a series I think they work well. But I am not sure about having one or two on their own. I am going to blow some of them up and see what they would look like in my exhibition. They may look better then I expect when they are enlarged. I will try the photocopier and I can try the smart board and a laptop to project the images. I can photograph this on the smart board to use in my file. Noel also suggested that they go on a slide show like a fashion show. I could have this somewhere away from my garments so that I have got my exhibition spread around. My illustrator images are some technical drawings that I did to go in my portfolio. I did them to show how my shapes from samples could turn into a garment. On a sheet repeated, or laid out together, they look good as a set. Almost like wallpaper. This could also work well behind my garments as a backdrop. I don’t think anyone else would have this so it would look different. I have got a lot of different aspects to my work and it is hard to choose one, because then I feel like I’m not showing everything I have done. I did some mood board type sheets that I sent off to Northern Design Competition, because Noel hasn’t been in a lot he wasn’t up to date with my work so I showed him what I had done and he thought that maybe I could do some kind of mood board as my back drop. Something else we discussed was to do a photo shoot with my garments once they are complete. I have got some research on a shop window display, which is very similar to my work. It has some twisted shapes running around the mannequins. This could be re created using Photoshop and it could become part of my photo shoot. It would be hard to make full scale to be in the actual shoot but I could make a small set up and photograph it and then mock it up creating new images. I could also project shapes onto the garments creating interesting patterns, this could be mocked up on Photoshop. There are a lot of different ideas that we spoke about but what I need to do first of all is to complete the garments that I have started, and then photograph them. I can then see what these are like and decide what to use. I am also going to blow up my illustrations to see how these turn out. I have got the work. It is just deciding what is going to be in the show. I went home and started to finish my garments. I needed to iron in some interfacing, add zips and then stitch the hems into place. This would or should have worked fine. But the iron I had decided to keep leaking out water, which stained one of my dresses! I thought that when the water dried it wouldn’t show up on the fabric but it stained. So I don’t want to use these now for the show, I feel as though they are nowhere near good enough. I felt really disheartened, and confused about what I was going to end up with for my show. On Wednesday I had talk with Andrea about what I could do. She said that she thought the fabric cheapened the designs in a way, and I should use something different like wire or paper. I showed her my work, and she said the illustrator work which I did over Easter is the strongest work I have done in a long time. I have done shop designs, and a file on a business I would like as well as a file on how the garments should be made. After looking at what I had done, we both thought it would be a good idea to make a series of paper garments on a shop rail, like a shop window display. A visual look. One paper garment wouldn’t look good enough but a series shows art rather then a dress. I could have tags and labels hanging from them with my shop name on, and these can be made using papers and wire mesh like some samples which I have stapled into my sketchbook. If I have time I can print up some papers using stencils like I did some sampling off to add detail to the dresses. Small sections on each dress with flashes of pattern and colour could make them more interesting. I hope I have got enough time to get this all made. I will also need to find some clothes hangers. They need to be good quality expensive looking hangers. Not plastic ones. I will also need to find a clothes rail from somewhere. I could do with borrowing one from a shop because they are expensive to buy. Lots of work to get done!

Week Eleven

Over Easter I had been designing on illustrator and have come up with some good designs which I am really pleased with. I haven’t used illustrator before so I think that I have done well to get the designs looking so professional. I showed the lecturers what I had done over the holidays and asked if they thought it would be possible to make one. I had tried over the holidays using fabric and card to see how it would work but had no luck. The card didn’t bend in the places it needed to and ended up looking old. I haven’t got time to do a lot of experimenting, what I need to end up with needs to be the first thing I try. There are only five weeks left till the deadline and I still have a lot of written work that needs to be done. I sat down with Janet and went through some possible methods that I could use to create the garments. We went through all different types of materials such as foam, card, paper, stiffened fabrics and even what I used to begin with, metals. Foam would be a good material but because I haven’t got time to get to grips with it testing out different ways, I don’t feel confident about using it. I have tried card and it was too think, and creased in the wrong places, paper would be better as it is smoother, and can bend and curve. I don’t want to use metal mesh and wires like my sample, as I am worried that it wouldn’t look good enough. I am not very good at using those types of materials and prefer to use fabrics. I like to do my samples in different things as I like structure and form, but I would find it hard to make a whole collection. I showed Janet some designs that were by Calvin Klein, spring/summer 2009. This collection contained garments, which were structural in shape, but they hadn’t been stiffened to stay the way they were cut. The folds fell down loosely draping. With the talk with Janet I decided this was the way to go. It would be much simpler then having to test out different materials. It is a material I am familiar with, I have my designs, and can come up with something interesting. I went to the fabric shop that afternoon and got some cheep cream fabric to use to mock up a garment. I thought it would be good to pin together a dress, and then use the shapes from this as my pattern when I am using the actual material for the garment. This would save me making mistakes using expensive fabrics. While I was at the fabric shop I also got some samples of fabrics that I could use, and some samples of interfacing so that I could test out what worked for if any sections of the dress needed stiffening. I spent the rest of the week making two garments. I did test ones using cream fabric and then I went back to the fabric shop to get some nicer material, and then used this to make the garments. I stitched the sections that I could, and left one side open, for if I needed to iron any interfacing inside. I would like to have the garments hanging up at the show from the shoulder, so that they fall to create an interesting shape and they create a more sculptural piece rather then a dress on a mannequin.

Easter Week Two

On Monday of this week I went to Staffordshire University’s library to look if they had any trend magazines as I had heard someone say before that they thought they had Textile View magazine. They had Textile View and View2, which both contain up to date trend information including colours, garment shapes, and fabrics. They had lodes of relevant information that goes with my project. I looked through the latest issue, and some of the past issues. I know that these are technically out of date when it comes to trends, but they have some good information to go with my work. I got quite a lot of images of technical drawings to help me do some more of my own. I have done some on illustrator, and I am really pleased with them. I think for my first attempt they have turned out well. Last week I ordered a book on illustrations which contains information on ways you can do them, such as using Photoshop, Illustrator, or by even using inks and stitch. This got be thinking that it is about time I did some illustrations of my own. I used my designs that I did on the mannequin, and my own drawings to layer them up on Photoshop to make new interesting images. The mixture of lines works really well. I am still not sure that these are going to be good enough to have blown up for my final show. I don’t want to draw an image from scratch and have it blown up, as it will show up any mistakes. I am not a confident drawer so I don’t think this would be the best idea. I think that using illustrator and Photoshop to make more of a graphic image will be the best thing. They look more polished. This week I have also stitched into some of my photographs that I had left over of my wire samples. I thought that this would make them have a bit more texture, and change them into something new. I think they look good. The stitch adds to the image. I have also stitched some small pieces of wire mesh onto them to show that they are made from. I need to mount them up for my portfolio. I thought that I could stitch into the illustrations that I did on Photoshop. This may make them a bit more unusual. I’m not sure whether it will work or not but I can give it a go. There are a lot of things I want to try out and have in my portfolio but I don’t think any are right for the exhibition and I am getting a bit worried that I’m not going have anything to show at the end of it. Because I cant make the garments I have designed in the time that I have, I have done a file on how they could be made. If I were a fashion designer in industry, I would have a whole team. Someone would pattern cut and someone would make it for me. I have looked into manufacturing processes and different materials that I could use. There are a lot of new technologies around so I have included some information on the new types of materials around today which fashion designers are experimenting with. This still leaves me with nothing for the exhibition! If it was any other project I think I would have enough work by now and would be able to concentrate on my written work. I will have to ask the lecturers to look through my work when I’m back at college and see if I have already got something to work with. Hopefully I have got something. If not I’m not sure what I am going to use.

Easter Holidays Week One

I think that this week I have done more then I usually do at college. I have got lodes done, and probably confused myself more with different ideas. I started the week off by entering the Northern Design Competition. There are different categories and winners are chosen from each and then overall. It sounded really good and my work that I already have could be submitted so I decided to enter. To enter you had to send four sheets and a written explanation of the project. I used Photoshop to make the sheets. It was quite hard to decide what to put on them as I have got so much work with carrying on the project. I have got years worth of work to put in four sheets. I broke it down into four sections. Research, samples, development and outcome. I am going to print the sheets off for my portfolio as I think that it will be good to show at my other interviews that I have entered a competition and did some extra work to send. It took a long time to sort the sheets out and get them looking right. Because I haven’t made the final garment I had to do some mock ups of them. I had some images of Sarah from an old project where she is wearing one of my old garments, so I used these and photoshopd my new ideas onto them. They worked well seen, as I haven’t actually finished any designs yet! So these can also be used in my portfolio and be used for my project. Because the sheets worked well I did some more which are just simple mood/colour boards, which I can use within my folio or sketchbook.

For a lot of my work I have been using shapes which are out of my photographs of my wire samples. I have photoshopd them and mixed them together to create more shapes out of what I had. I have drew the original samples and done a couple of paintings. So I decided I needed to draw the new shapes as these have been developed more. So I did a few line drawings. Nothing fancy. I tried to look at them more and think about the figure and think about how they could be used for a garment. I scanned these into photoshop and played around with them on the images of the mannequin which I have been using. I played around with scale, and mixed them together, rotated and flipped them to create some garment shapes. I am really pleased with them and they look sculptural and modern. They could be made into some gorgeous unique dresses, something that you would see on the couture catwalks. The only thing is, imp not sure I would be able to make them or even have the time. They would need to be made from stiffened fabrics. I have done this before and it is hard to get the fabric as hard as what would be needed to make these kinds of garments. If I used wire mesh or card in between the fabric layers, I don’t know how I would sew it together. Something i'll have to think about!

I wanted to use illustrator because I no that a lot of courses that are fashion expect you to know how to do it. Which means industry will want you to know as well. I wanted to do some technical drawings to go in my portfolio to take to the Salford interview that I have in may, I remember seeing a lot of their students having them in their portfolios at graduate fashion week. I had a go of it not having a clue how it works and I think I did quite well. I have done a few simple line drawings of some of the dresses off the mannequin that I did using Photoshop. I have ordered two books which explain illustrator and how to do technical drawings so when these get delivered they will help me to do some more.

Over the next two weeks while im off for the Easter holidays I want to make some more samples with the wire mesh which I ordered, and photograph them. I need to make sure I develop them from the last ones. I also want to get some more sheets done ready for any interviews. I want to include the technical drawings and designs, and I also want to do some stitching into photographs. I have got a lot which I haven’t got anything to do with, so I am going to machine stitch into them to make them a bit different and more interesting. I am really pleased with how much work I have got done over the last few weeks, and my skills on Photoshop and illustrator have defiantly improved. I didn’t want to make a dress for the exhibition due to using difficult materials. I didn’t think I had the skills to make a metal dress. But now that I have done some designs I can imagine them made with black fabric. I would like to make one, but im not sure how. I don’t want to spend a lot of time making one and not getting anything else finished for the show, and then it ending up not being very good due to it being to technical. I have seen some on the catwalk with are similar, Dior and Hussein Chalayan have used stiffened shapes, but they have a lot of time, money and skill to develop the garments, I have got a few weeks and no help. I will have to do some research and see what I can come up with.

Week Ten

I had an interview for Nottingham Trent University this week so I spent a lot of time preparing for this. On Monday and Tuesday I was getting work ready and finishing off organising my portfolio ready for the interview on Wednesday. I decided to take my current project even though it isn’t finished as it shows how I have developed from the last one where I used the same theme of architecture. I put old projects in the back of my portfolio in case they wanted to see some more work, and also took along my current sketchbook, as I have had some good feedback from one of the lecturers at Staffordshire University about it. And I also took with me, a folder on my future progression, and some written essays. I was really nervous for my interview, as it is the first that I have had and I know how hard it is to get into Nottingham Trent as they have really high standards. The course is a one-year top up called international fashion business, which looks really interesting. This worried me a bit about what they would want to know. Would they want to see any work? Or is it more about the written side. I went to Nottingham with Sarah, Vicki and Lacey as they also had interviews on the same day. This didn’t help really having other people there as it just made me worry about whether they were better then me, or were they more prepared then me. I was the last one to be interviewed so I had a lot of waiting around to do. After each of the girls had had their interview they came out and said what happened, each one seemed to get asked harder questions. I thought I was going to be really caught out and get asked something unexpected. When I went in for my interview I was surprisingly relaxed and chatted away to the two ladies interviewing me. We spoke about different things in fashion, and different shops, and even about ethical issues. Everything they asked I answered well, but I chatted away onto something else as I wanted to tell them as much as I could, but I think this may have done more harm then good as I didn’t watch my English very well! I spoke as though I new them. They were laughing along with me and it was really good, I didn’t feel as though I had been asked anything, which caught me out. I think that if I don’t get in it isn’t because they didn’t like me or that my work wasn’t right, as they said some good things about my work, I think it would just be down to whether they think that course is right for me. Wednesday night and Thursday I worked on my black file to get it all finished off before the Easter break so that it was out of the way. I want to get as much work done as I can throughout the holidays. I would like to make some more samples and photograph them. I have ordered some more mesh from the mesh company that should come sometime next week. I sent an email to them asking whether I could get some cut in different sizes. They were really helpful, and gave me a really good deal. I got some sheets free, some with money off, and it worked out less then half price even though I was asking them to cut it me specially. I would also like to get some more file work out of the way over the holidays, I need to start my yellow one and finish the purple. I need to do some fashion illustrations to see if they can be used for the exhibition or not. I want them to be a really high standard so I don’t want to rush them. I think it’s best if I make the new samples first and take photographs as these can then be used within them. To show that I have developed them throughout the project and not just stayed the same. I have done a lot of work on Photoshop so I can always do some illustrations on here or even by hand. I will probably do both. I am a bit worried about what I will end up with for my show. I know that some of the other girls are doing more then one dress. Because mines more complicated I don’t even think I can make one. And i am not sure that I could even get it made for me with it being so technical. It would be really complicated and expensive. I might try and think of a way of doing something over the holidays.

Week Nine

I am really pleased with myself this week! I have done so much work! I felt as though I was never going to get anything done, and this week I have got back on track and back into my work. I started off by scanning in some figure templates which I then used to layer up my own sample photographs. I used Photoshop to cut out the shapes from the photographs and made some simple and quick ideas of where they could fit onto the figure. It was a good way to start thinking about where the shapes could be used within a garment. They didn’t look very interesting or exciting though, and the figures weren’t my own drawings. So once I had done this and though about the shapes more, I took some photographs of a mannequin, and then used these to layer up with the images of my samples. Even though they hadn’t been drawn by me, and they were still photographs, the photographs were still my work so it seemed to work a bit better. The shape of the mannequin is a bit more simple then that of a figure with a head and arms and it doesn’t distract from the shapes of the samples. I did quite a lot of different ideas, placing shapes in different parts of the body. As well as placing on the body, I mixed some shapes together from different images to make some hanging shapes. On Photoshop I cut out shapes from my photographs and layered them together, and changed the lighting affects and made some of them slightly see-through, to come up with a kind of sculptural form which would look good as a hanging piece. I made some shapes which would work well both hanging, and on the figure. I placed the images on the mannequin images and I also photoshoped the shapes into images of architectural spaces as hanging pieces. I am really pleased of how they have turned out. It really got my ideas flowing. The shapes worked well on Photoshop but they somehow seem a bit, fake. So as well as the photoshoped images I decided to hand make some of the same type of shape ideas as I had done on the computer. I got the photographs printed of the mannequin, and then cut out the shapes from the sample images and layered them up the same as I had done on Photoshop. I think they look good made out of photographs, I think I am going to stitch into the images to give them a different more handmade look. I have started to do some drawings from the shapes. I have layered up some photocopies of my wire samples and then extended the shapes with drawing, and then used paints to work into it. It looks great. Like I have painted the whole thing. I wouldn’t be able to draw or paint the shapes perfectly from scratch so using some photocopies is type of cheating that works really well! It looks good as it mixes in different materials into one image. On Wednesday I went with Briony and Lucy to Staffordshire University for an open day and met with Rowena to talk about the top up course which I have applied for as I wanted a bit more information about what is actually involved. She explained through the blocks of the course, the projects and modules which is involves. It sounded better then I thought. I know that it isn’t a fashion course. It wouldn’t be like going to Salford and making lots of garments which would go on a fancy catwalk. But it is an option where I can write my own briefs and make the modules into fashion. The university have just employed a fashion specialist to help with the course, and she came into college on the Thursday to meet us and talk about the course. She spoke about how we could make it into a fashion outcome. She was really lovely and very enthusiastic. She was full of energy. She made the course sound exciting and was full of ideas about what people could do. She had a look through my portfolio, and she gave me some really good feedback. I was relieved that someone seemed happy with my work and I seemed to have a lot of things in common with her about different designer’s work that I like. She looked at one page of my folio and asked if I look at Hussein Chalayans work! He is my all time favourite fashion designer! Collette was another lady from Staffordshire University who is also involved with the course but she isn’t a specialist in fashion. She also looked through my portfolio and was really nice about my work, she loved my sketchbook and made some good comments which has made me feel more relieved for when I have got to take them to interviews. Sam suggested that I look into flower shapes, as she said my work seems very organic with the shapes. So all Thursday afternoon I looked into different plant shapes and found that the carnivorous plants and calla lilies have something very similar about them to my work. The curves and shapes work really well for research. Some of the carnivorous plants also seem to hang down like a sculptural form. Dried up old leaves also reminded me of my own work. The shapes are very similar. I don’t want to go into looking at just flowers, but they are quite architectural in the way in which they are made up. The colours are good within them as well. Sam suggested going to the botanical gardens in Birmingham so I am going look into going there in the Easter holidays to collect some more primary research. One thing she said I needed to do was collect some more images myself for research rather than just books, the images I have taken myself she said I must label them more and make them more obvious that they are mine so that people don’t miss my work. Later in the afternoon on Thursday I had a tutorial with Amy about the exhibition. This was to talk through my work and get an idea of where to go next so that I am ready for the exhibition. Also I want something sculptural and hanging. I don’t want to make a big metal sculpture as I’m not a 3D maker, and it wouldn’t look very good. I don’t want to spend a lot of money making something that turns out to look rubbish. I want it to look really sleek and professional. So rather than making it, I have got to cost up how I would get someone else to do it for me. And then for the show I can have some images of it mocked up. I am going to do some illustrations next using my images, and then if they turn out good enough I can get them blown up on large banners and get them blown up and hang them for the exhibition. I could also mock up some images of them hanging somewhere. I could take the images of the place myself so it is my work and then mock up the piece hanging. This would need to be done really well though so that it looks professional. For the illustrations I want to go in the photography studio and get someone to model for me. I want them to do a lot of different poses, and all they need to wear is underwear, or shorts and small t-shirt, as I will Photoshop an outfit onto them and collage, and work back into the figure using different materials. I think it will look really good to lighten the figure image more than the shapes of the garment so that the garment stands out more. So I need to get booking into the photography studio soon as possible and I am also going to make a couple more wire mesh samples, but make them a bit bigger and a bit better and photograph them again. Lots to do!! But bin a great week!

Week Eight

I am a bit disappointed this week. I have been ill and have been signed off work for two weeks as I have got a trapped nerve in my neck and am finding it hard to do much. I wanted to get quite a lot of my project done this week and just haven’t been able to. I wanted to do another photo shoot this week with the wedding dresses, and I wanted to photograph my samples in the studio. I still need to do this and am going have to book in. I wasn’t sure where to go with my project after doing my samples, so I spoke to Lorna and Janet to see what they thought. They suggested looking through my photographs and seeing how they could fit onto the figure. I am not very good at drawing the figure so I think I am going to use Photoshop to layer the body with the images of my samples. I can cut out the sections I need and layer them up to create some kind of garment. This will show what I am thinking of doing, even if they are not of a high enough standard to use for illustrations. I can put them in my sketch book for ideas. This may help me to think of where to go next. I wouldn’t mind not even having a final garment for the show. I would like some photography if it is good enough. Or even a sculptural piece which I can show could be used as a garment but in the show it is just shown with some photographs. I will just have to see how things develop. I am not that confident at using the materials I have chosen. The different wires and meshes. They are not something I am used to. I am glad that I am experimenting but I am finding it difficult to show what I would like, and to think of how I could transform them into a wearable piece. As I am not used to working with the materials I don’t think I would be able to make something suitable for someone to wear, as it would either fall apart, or even hurt them. Luckily it won’t be needed for a catwalk. Once I have done some Photoshop images of my ideas using my photographs, I think I need to upscale them. I could use the mannequins and papers and cardboard, to show them almost in “real life” or “real scale” I could then use these to help work out whether my ideas are going to work on the figure or whether I’m best sticking to photographs and a sculptural piece. In my samples I have used papers, plastics, wire and metal mesh. So in the Marquette’s on the mannequin I can use different papers and card for the different materials, if I get something of similar properties, I will be able to work out which work best. I cannot buy the mesh and wire before I know what will work as it is too expensive to waste on testing and sampling ideas. The mesh I used for my small samples was £4.99 for an A4 sheet. You can get them in A3 sizes, or you can order other amounts if you ring up and speak about what you need. But it would cost a lot to make something at the scale to fit the body so I need to be sure it will work before I order anything. Something which I have got done this week is my portfolio ready for interview. I sat with Andréa and went through my work from this course and the BTEC to see what was suitable to take. I have re scaled some work down to fit into my A2 portfolio as there wasn’t much point in carrying an A1 for just a few sheets work. Also with my bad neck I wouldn’t be able to! I have also found work from my final major project on the BTEC course and mounted it up, as when I did the project I didn’t have anything on sheets it was all loose, or up on the wall for the show. This is the best work I have done, and something which I am most proud of so I wanted to show what I had done. I think I might redo the shoot from the project. The images I have I do like, so I would do them the same. They are on just a black background and the model has geisha make up to match the Japanese theme of the project. The only problem with the images is that on the ones I have, you can see some of the background as I used fabric not paper. And some of the makeup isn’t perfect either. But I think that if I was to use the photography studio they could look really amazing. When we do the fashion shoot for the wedding dresses I will try to do that at the same time so that I have help off other people and they should come out really professional. I have ordered some photo books this week. They are done online, you upload the images you want to include in the book, and they get printed up and sent back. I have done two with my samples in from the project to go with my work. And I have then done two of the wedding dress glam rock project to show that we did the show. With it being a quick project that we did and wasn’t something included with my own work, I hadn’t got any sheets to show the time I had spent on the dress, so I thought that if I don’t get time to mount anything up, I can take these books to interviews and talk through what I did. They should also look very neat and professional.

Day & Night Of The Show

On the Thursday of the fashion show, I was the taxi driver so I went to pick everyone up from all over the place and eventually got us there at the Bethel City Church. We had to do fittings to check that everything was ok with the dresses, and to style the models to check that things such as their shoes matched with the garments. So this was the first thing that we did once we arrived so that we had as much time as possible if any changes needed to be made. Luckily everyone’s was fine and fitted ok. I met my model, Abby, and got her to try my dress on. It fitted perfect. I had been worried that it wouldn’t fit right as I had tried it on myself to try and work out what size it was; I said I think it’s a big size 10. And I was told that my model said she was a 10 but the girls that had seen her said they thought more like a 12s. Sarah and Vanessa had also tried my dress on at the photo shoot. Sarah is a size 8s and it was bit big on her, and Vanessa a 12 and it wouldn’t zip up. So my model needed to be a 10 and no bigger. It couldn’t have fitted her any better. I couldn’t have changed anything on it. Perfect. I was so relieved. I didn’t have to make any changes what so ever. The model was also relieved that it fit her; it was as though she had had 20 fittings during it being made. She also had got jewellery which matched the colours exactly right. I’m glad it fit her as she was a bit difficult to work with. I had been warned she was a bit of a diva. She was nice, but you wouldn’t have wanted to disagree with her. She wouldn’t show me what shoes she had with her, so I just had to hope that they matched the dress ok. She said they were just black strappy things so they sounded right. But what she said seemed to go. Where as the other models that were wearing the other girls dresses, were trying all different options on to let them decide what they wanted. Once the fitting was done there wasn’t much to do and everyone was saying they wanted to go for dinner and as I was driving them around I had to take them. So I told the other girls where we were going and I said we would ring before we came back in case they needed anything. We rang after dinner and they said we weren’t needed and that there was nothing to do. I didn’t think there was that much to do as there were so many people there on the day, but they were still there, so there must have been something to do else they would have gone home. So anyway we all went home, and I texted again to check whether I was needed to help at the church. I wanted to help out for some experience, but again they said no and said they was about to go home. It seemed as though for some reason we was not wanted. The other girls wanted to be in control. So instead of arguing about it I thought I would just get ready and go back earlier then I was going to, so that I could help out. I arranged to go back with Sarah and Vicki as they were going back earlier then the other girls. But they took longer! They were an hour later then the other girls. Just my luck. I was really annoyed that I had spent most of my day waiting around for people and not been able to do what I wanted to do and to help out at the event. Luckily there was a lot to do on the night. We stayed behind the scenes and helped the models to get changed in between outfits. Lacey was in charge of the dress which was going to be worn by Nicky Graham from Big Brother. She was the celebrity who was helping to host the show and model the final dress. Lacey had spent hours making the dress and on the day she had waited around all day for Nicky to arrive to do her fitting. Hers was the one dress which wouldn’t fit easily and would take ages to make any changes but Nicky didn’t turn up until 5 o’clock which meant there wasn’t much time to change it anyway. It fitted, but not perfect, it was a bit big at the top but she said it was fine anyway. Half an hour before the show was going to start, she didn’t want to do the modelling any more. Lacey was really upset and everyone was gutted for her. Nicky thought she was more famous then she was by the sound of it and had let everyone down. The dress was only a size 6 and was tiny. People kept trying it on to see if we could get anyone else to model it else it wouldn’t be able to get shown. No one could fit in it. Lacey was the only one it fitted but she was too upset to do a catwalk show. All of a sudden someone dragged one of the hair and make-up girls down the stairs shouting “she’s a sixxxx try it onnn” the poor girl had been dragged from what she was doing to become a model for the night. It fitted her and she was really nice and said that she would do it. She could have said no, and then no one would have been able to wear it. Once Lacey dress was sorted it was back to helping all of the other models. Once the show started, it was mental. So busy. The show went so fast. Felt as though as soon they had got one outfit on they had to change again. My model was such hard work. Lacey helped me with one change as she was too demanding. I think my model thought she was more famous then that Nicky did. Once all of the outfits had been on, the wedding dresses were the last ones on the show. So as soon as we helped them into the outfits we ran out to the front of the stage to see the final part of the show which was our own dresses. It was brilliant!! They all looked so good. Couldn’t have been any better. In the time we had they had turned out really good and I was proud of us all. It would have been even better if we could have done it for our own project work for the exhibition. It would be good if I could do another show for the exhibition, or if we could get hold of the video that was being recorded at the event and show that. I think it could also look good if someone from the graphics or film course filmed the photoshoot, behind the scenes kind of video which you see on the television. I think it could work really well at the exhibition to show the other things that we get to do.

Images Of My Glam Rock Dress

Glam Rock PhotoShoot

We have all finished making our dresses now for the fashion show which is on the 4^th March in Stoke. We were asked to customise wedding dresses into the glam rock theme. Everyone chose a colour scheme to work with so that they are all different. We were given a wedding dress and £10 for any materials needed. We got at college early ready to start the shoot. Sarah, Vanessa, Vicki and Lacey were the models as all of the dresses are really small fitting, and they are the smallest in the group. First thing was hair and make-up. With the theme being rock we messed up the models hair, using hairspray and back-combing it to stay in place. For the make-up we used black eye shadow and mascara to darken the eyes. If the make-up was too subtle it wouldn’t show up much on the photographs. I was in charge of styling the shoot, and I also decided to take some behind the scenes images. So I was on standby throughout with my safety pins and camera. We had 12 dresses to get through on the shoot so we had to work quite fast. Kev, a lecturer who teaches photography helped to set up the room. A photographer came from another course, and an assistant photographer was also there, so two cameras were being used throughout to get the most images in the time we had. We were also given two boys in suits! The models got into the first of the dresses to start the shoot. After a few test images we were on the way. They looked great. We had some accessories to use to make the dresses look more styled. Stockings and hold ups worked really well, and we had different jewellery, hats and hair accessories to work with as well. I had to pin some dresses into place with them being all different sizes. We had to pin bras into place so that they were hidden, and pin things shut so that they stayed up. I quickly got the needle and thread out to make the straps on the dress that I had made more secure as the bottom half of the dress was very heavy and weighed it down. Towards the end of the shoot, some people started to get a bit selfish and wanted to wear their own dresses more than the others that people had made. I think that it could have worked better if each dress had a time slot. Because when the photographs come out I think that some dresses will have a lot more photographs then others because they were warn more. As I was playing the role of the stylist I tried to suggest which dresses to use, but I felt as though I wasn’t being listened too. My dress was only warn for about 5 minutes where as some where warn for about an hour. Vanessa didn’t mind trying other dresses on but we were struggling to fit in them with t he sizes being so small. Some said size 12, but they were more like an 8s. So I had to get Briony to come down to the studio and model here own, as no one else would wear it. Because she wasn’t really expecting to have to model she didn’t have many photographs done either, so there won’t be many of her dress. I think that the shoot did work well and there will be some good images, but I think it could have worked better if there weren’t so many people fighting for the limelight. I think we should have done the photo shoot using the models that are being used for the actually fashion show. Then there would have been one model per dress. Other then this I think each dress should have been given the same amount of time. Maybe a bit more planning was needed. But the whole project has been a bit rushed and has had to be completed within less than a week so I think that everyone has done really well.

Glam Rock Fashion Show (week seven)

We were asked at very late notice to help out with a charity fashion show which someone was organizing as part of their university course, kind of like how we have had to organize events for our modules. The fashion show was all ready and organized, location and models were all sorted, clothes were ready, and they had even planned to have a celebrity at the event. Nicky Graham from Big Brother had been booked for the event to help host and model at the show. The man who was organizing the event got in touch with Lorna just a week before the show to ask if we could customise some wedding dresses, which he wanted in the glam rock theme, and then he wanted people to help with the styling on the night. When Lorna asked us about whether we wanted to help at the event I was a bit worried. We have got a lot of project work to do, and I already felt behind and as though I was struggling with all the files we need to get done as well as the practical work for the exhibition. But it sounded fun and exciting and would be something good to talk about at any interviews. I half wanted to do it and half got talked into it! It turned out that I didn’t even have a week; I ended up with two days to do the dress. By the time I was given a dress, and with working weekends, I had Monday and Tuesday to get the dress completed as there was going to be a photo shoot on the Wednesday morning, and the show was on the Thursday. When I went in college on the Monday and got given my dress, I nearly had a heart attack. I think I was left with the worst, most hardest dress to change in the entire world!! People agreed! So it must have been bad. There was sooo much material and it was covered in sequins and beads, which just didn’t go with the glam rock theme. It was very girly. I hadn’t got a clue how I could change it in time to fit in with the theme. I decided to use pinks and light purples, as everyone else had chosen there colours and that was a colour theme that no one else had chosen and it was colours which I liked. I started to have a play around. I took off the flowers first with an unpicker and some help from Lucy and Amy else I would have been there for hours. I thought straight away that I could re make a bigger flower which would be funkier and I thought that I could use some inks and other materials to change it and make it less weddingy. I then started to play around with the length of the dress, I pinned up the front and left the back long, this looked quite nice and I thought that this is how I would have it, but as I started to try and work out what to do with the rest, it still seemed too girly and there was still too many sequins on show. I then started to play around with pinning more of the fabric up at the back and sides to make it more rouched. This looked really good but was still very cream. Well I say cream it was more of a pinky horrible cream colour. Vanessa was using black netting on her dress, so I borrowed her fabric for a bit, and had a play around to see how I could use something similar to cover up the sequins. Everyone agreed that this would be a good idea to get some netting in a darker colour to cover the dress, this worked well with the glam rock theme. Sarah and Vicki had to go Hanley to get some more materials so I asked them to bring me some back. In the mean time I started to play around with the flowers which I had cut off the dress. Lucy helped me to dye them using fabric inks. I used burgundy and red fabric inks and a bright pink ink which I had brought in with me. I then stitched the large petals together to make a new big flower. I then had this to play around with as well as the dress so I could get more of an idea of what to do next. Once Sarah and Vicki where back with my black netting fabric I started to play around with where to put it. I covered the front of the dress to hide the sequins, I also twisted it over one shoulder to create a strap as the straps on the dress weren’t very good. They were way to thin for the dress and didn’t work with the theme. This was working really well. I then had to decide what to do with the rest of the dress. I carried on playing around with the length. I rouched up all of the dress and pinned and stitched it into place which took ages. But then I had all different coloured pink bits of fabric, and some pink netting. So I was working out how to use these. I pinned different pieces under the dress so that they were trailing behind. By now it was 8 o’clock at night so I had to go home and have a think about what I could do as I needed to get it done by the end of the next day. On Tuesday I did some more playing around with what to do underneath the dress. I didn’t know whether to make a trail for the dress. Or whether to have just the pink netting under the dress. I also needed to make another strap as I had only got one so far. I didn’t want both to be the same as this would be a bit boring and not very interesting. My flowers weren’t very rock chick either. So I got my rock chick head on and started to try and darken the dress up a bit! I stitched the black netting onto the dress. I had only put it on the front but I then added it to the back as well and used bits of scrap on the flower to make it match and more dark. I used some quite dark pink ribbon rouched up with the black netting on the flower, and I used some beads, dark purples and blues, in the centre of the large flower to add some detail the dark colours worked with the pinks of the flower and the netting and ribbon made it more textural. As I had used some ribbon within the flower, I thought about where else I could use it. I had some of the same colour used within the flower left, so I decided to use this for the other strap. But it seemed a bit too thin. It just didn’t balance right with the other side. It needed something else with it. I had some sequined type of thick ribbon, which was actually an old belt. So I used this underneath the ribbon and it looked really good. I thought it was just right. It added a different texture, but it was still quite bridal. I then used a smaller flower on the front of the dress, and rapped a dark purple ribbon around it to make it more interesting. So I decided to use the small flower on the front, and the large beaded flower that I had made on the back of the dress. So that was it. The dress had been decided. I was worn out. So I thought, quick! Sew it before I change my mind. I spent hours stitching everything into place and trying to find the pins to take them out! I had pinned everything everywhere to keep it into place and then it took ages to find them all so that the model wouldn’t get cuts all over her! I was quite impressed with myself once I had finished making the dress. I had worked really hard and had completely changed it within two days. It looked young and funky and worked with the theme. I think if it wasn’t for the black netting it would have been too feminine with the flowers and ribbons, but the black balanced it out and made it all work together. So my dress was ready now for the photo shoot and for the event. Hopefully everything would fit! And would look good on the catwalk!

Week Six

I had made my samples over half term using different papers wires and metal mesh. I think they worked well but they had some problems with them. The glue on them isn’t perfect, as the glue gun was quite hard to control. I got the photographs developed and there are some really good images and some not so good. I need to book into the photography studio soon and take some more which look more professional to see if I can hide the glue more. I also want to do some hanging images as the shapes that I made should work well hung up in the studio with shadows behind them. I used my photographs to draw from rather then drawing from the actual sample. I find it easier working from a flat image rather then a 3D sculpture. And because the photographs are my own work, I feel as though im moving forward in stages, and using each step to help the next. I did some simple quick drawings using different pencils and pens. I wanted them to look like rough sketches and like I hadn’t thought too much about them. I find it hard to do ‘messy’ work. I cant draw or paint in a quick way. I seem to have to make everything perfect with neat edges and straight lines. So I made my self use my left hand to do some more quite drawings. These look really good. I prefer them to the right handed ones I drew. There isn’t much difference in them but they look more free and flowing. More interesting. Less perfect. I had researched the architect Frank Gehry,

who’s work is gorgeous. I think its really interesting and not like any one else’s. You can tell who has designed it and his work becomes instantly recognisable. I looked for some examples of his drawings, or designs. And they are quite similar to the drawings that I had been trying to do. He seems to use black marker pen and draws quick line drawings which consist of messy squiggles. I want to try and find some more examples of his drawings or some other architects designs rather then looking into fashion designers illustrations. I think this will help to link in the architecture theme within my drawings and could give me some more ideas.

Half Term

I have been struggling to come up with any ideas of where to go next. I knew that I wanted something sculptural. But I spoke to a lecturer and was told to look at my research and come up with shapes, which I did but kept ending up with flat surfaces, which I then used to print with. These worked quite well, but they weren’t where I wanted to be heading. I was getting myself confused so I spoke to Janet about where I could go with my project over the holidays. I showed her what I had done so far and told her why I was feeling confused about what I wanted to do. She told me to do it my way. Janet remembered that I wanted to do some kind of hanging piece, and she said that she could see from my research how I was thinking. So over half term I have made some small samples how I thought about doing them in the first place. I want to create something quite sculptural but also flowing at the same time. I like the use of curved edges, so I did some more research to find some architecture to influence me. I can across an architect called Frank Gehry. He has designed buildings all over the world, and now even designs jewellery pieces for Tiffany’s. His work is instantly recognisable with his use of curved metal surfaces. After looking at his work I knew where to go with my sampling. I knew that I wanted to use different types of metals and wires, mixed in with using different textures of papers. I looked online for some ideas of what materials I could use and came across a company called the mesh company which sells all different types of mesh; from really thick to mesh so fine that it becomes fabric. They sell their products in sheets of A4 or A3 sizes, and if you wanted any bigger sizes they can sort them out for you. Perfect. I ordered six different types of metal meshes, which included copper woven wire mesh, phosphor bronze, aluminium and stainless steel. They came in a few days and I got started on my sampling. I cut out different shapes from the mesh, and used different papers and plastics to contrast with the metal. I used wire on the edges of some paper, which I stuck down with a glue gun to help strengthen the papers. The samples worked really well and I was pleased with the results. They do look a bit messy around the edges due to the glue gun not being that easy to control. But I think this just takes some practice. I think that they worked well the scale that I made them, but I also think that they could work if I was to make them bigger. I emailed the mesh company and asked about a price list so that I could see how much the materials would cost for me to make bigger sculptures. A man emailed me back saying they haven’t really got a price list but he gave me an idea of prices and said they do it cheaper for a student which is great. If I made the samples again, I am not sure how I would change them. They could be made better. But I think it would be jus practice and getting used to handling different materials. I am used to using fabric and a sewing machine not wire cutters and a glue gun! I took some photographs, as I thought that I could use these to draw from and to get some more ideas. They came out well but you can see the glue on some of them so I am going to take some more in the photography studio to see if they are a bit more professional. The ones I took can be used for my sketchbook and to use for drawings and illustrations. I can photocopy from them and cut them up to use within my designs.

Week Five

Purple file

This week I have started to put together my purple file, which is where we have to look at a problem, and look into things which are needed to help solve it. For mine I am going to look at opening a fashion business. In the file we need to look at strategic planning, which would be to look at business plans. We also need to look into funding, so I can research into different grants and funding options. And the last thing I need to research into is training, so I am going to research into different courses that you can do to help set up a fashion business. To cover the modules we have got to look into all of these areas and then concentrate on one of them to write a written response. I am going to look in a book called how to set up a fashion label, it is a really good book which talks about all different aspects of running your own business. I have also ordered another fashion business book from Amazon so hopefully there will be a lot of information I can look into. As well as looking into the business bits such as money and planning, I can look into which shop I would like, and where I would like it to be. The exciting things such as how you want it to look inside will make the file seem more interesting. There is a really good program on the computer called mock shop which is what visual merchandisers use to plan the layout of different shops. It would be really good to do something like this for the file. But I think the program is way out of my price range. There is no price on the website. I could use Photoshop to do some kind of mock up instead. I can also make some promotional material for my shop such as labels and bags. I think that if I do this file well, I will be able to take it to Nottingham Trent university if I get an interview as it is the type of thing that they would be looking for. They do projects on this type of thing, and when I looked through some work at the open day, they had planned something such as a range of jeans. They had then shown where they would go in a shop, and how they would promote them.

De Montfort

I applied for a retail buying course at De Montfort University after seeing the work at graduate fashion week. I have had a date through for an interview, but I haven’t ever been to the university so I wasn’t sure whether I would like it there or not. And at the interview if they asked me why I wanted to go there, I wouldn’t know what to say. So I went to the open day to look around and look more at the course. The course sounded good, if you was started from year one. But for me, I think I would struggle to fit in. They look at things such as the technical testing of fabrics and garments, and I wouldn’t know anything about this. There were quite a lot of things in the first year that I wouldn’t know never mind the second year. I spoke to the woman who was talking through the course, and told her I wanted to go into the third year, she said that they sometimes let people into the second year, or very rarely into the third year. She wrote down the things I would need to show that I knew to get accepted into the second year, and I don’t know enough of it. I think I would have to do the whole course from the beginning. I wasn’t much for the university either. When I went to other open days I got a better feeling. I don’t think I will be going for my interview as I wouldn’t want to go there and I don’t think I have much chance at all of getting in.

I have been struggling with my work lately and have been looking at my research to come up with shape within them which I cut out of paper. I showed the photographs on week fours blog. These did work, but I got stuck with what to do next as I wouldn’t be able to cut them out of fabric without having a laser cutter. The cut out shapes that I did remained me of stencils so I thought, well why not do some printing? Maybe I will come up with some ideas I thought. So I made some more stencils of the shapes that I had before, the circles and triangles, and a couple of new ones and off I went to the heat press. I used black and brown ink as these were the closest colours to my project, everything else was really bright. The inks didn’t come out very strong though. Some of the black prints looked almost green. The colours did still match my work though so it wasn’t a disaster. I used different papers, fabrics, and a faux leather to test out which worked best, the prints were ok, but nothing special. The faux leather worked well, as did the papers. The leather that i had was blue so i used the wrong side of it which was white. It was very plasticy, and the dye came out darker on this then on the paper and fabrics. The problem with doing printing is it is really flat. What can I do next with them? I wanted to make something more sculptural. I could go back to these after I have come up with some sculptural shapes and use the printing within them. But at the moment I do not want to carry on with the printing. I need to look more at my research and go back to my brief to come up with some ideas for how to make some sculptural samples.