We completed our final designs and our context to go with it and show it applied to the bus interior. As a group we a pleased with our results and I am happy that we have our 10 final design conclusions.
 |
| Classic Stagecoach designs |
 |
| Gold Stagecoach Designs |
 |
| Eco Stagecoach Designs |
As we have had difficulties and problems with sampling for bus seating, I wanted to at least have something tactile to show. I really enjoy sublimation printing so, I laid down some disperse dyes on to brown paper in the Stagecoach colour scheme. After they had dried I cut them up and began to collage, creating non repeating designs, almost using this as a drawing tool. I used my photographs and previous drawings o the market to guide me with he shapes and lines. I used masking tape on the back to construct the collaged pieces, as well as pritt stick (which didn't work so well). I really tried to ensure that all the shapes fit together like the drawings and initial designs I have already created. I ensured there was not white space by overlapping them slightly at the back and taping them in place.
I heat pressed the paper designs onto cotton polyester, as the colours still come out vividly but the material has a better quality than polyester. The samples were very small, and much like mini drawings on fabric- which I quite like. These samples were no way trying to be final repeat designs for a bus seat as this was just not doable. I will attach these little samples into my book to show development of my drawings. Where I had used the pritt stick on some pieces, it has left markings on the fabric which has taught me not to use it again!!! oops!!!
I could maybe do this same process but on a larger scale, the only problem would be having to repeat them? I have used some of the small samples as inspiration for my final design conclusions. I wish we had some more time to create more designs and sampling but we simply do not.
 |
| Collaged designs on brown paper |
 |
| Small samples on cotton polyester. The markings around the shapes on some samples are from the pritt stick! I need to be more careful when choosing my materials that I work with. |
 |
| Bigger samples, the middle was constructed free hand under the heat press, I did not prep this before hand and this made me realise I must stick them together in a considered manner so that there were less white gaps. |
I'm currently finding it really difficult working in a group, it seems as if everything is taking so much longer than it should do and ideas and deadlines are not being met even though they have been agreed on. As we are large group, finding time for everybody to meet at the same for a decent amount of time is proving difficult. We have to have our design conclusions for every bus completed (with context) by Friday for our group presentation and it is hard to just communicate via WhatsApp. There have been some members in our group who have met the deadlines and communicated really well even if there were issues with meeting, which has been a positive aspect and proves that it can be done!
The sub group who are working on the Eco Bus have struggled to keep to the time constraints and the deadlines we set to ensure we could refine/develop the designs if needed. Over the whole project we haven't seen much of the Eco groups work as the theme of their drawing kept on changing and suggestions made the other group members weren't always taken into consideration. It would have been ideal if we meet up more often and review everybody's work as time went on; but members forgot their work continuously and we struggled to meet up frequently.
There hasn't been a clear leader of the group and this may be the problem. I have tried to give people roles when creating the presentation (so that the work load is spread over everyone) without taking over too much as I am not naturally a leader. I am just concerned that I will end up doing all of it when we are rushing to get it done on Thursday night!!! All I can do is get on with for my subgroup and complete the tasks I have been set and make it clear to other members that the work must be done swiftly.
Chloe and I have completed the 4 designs for the Classic bus and have worked on the context together using photoshop. This has been doable as we live together and can sit together and discuss what works well and what doesn't. There should be three of the group members working on the Classic bus but Chloe and I seem to be the only ones doing so which has been slightly difficult as we didn't want to leave members out but time is running out!!!
 |
| Stagecoach Classic Bus Finals Designs and Context |
Aviva Leigh runs workshops for mainly weaving and dyeing. She has a 3D weaving workshop scheduled in a couple of weeks time and invited me along to her home studio to help her sample and experiment! She wanted to experiment with willow and wire using a circle loom and basket weaving techniques to then create a 3D woven piece. I have never used a circle loom before and I was really glad I tried it out. It was a long process but worked well, instead of a rigid heddle or a table loom, you had to manually weave the weft in and out of the warp. As we were using wire in the warp, it was much trickier than just simply cotton or wool, as it was stiff and hard to get the weft underneath. In the weft we used recycled materials such as found string and cord from the beach which had a lovely worn quality to it.
We sat looking out onto the river drinking tea and chatting whilst weaving away, which was wonderful, she has so much knowledge and it really inspires me. The day went so fast and we didn't get all of the weaving done but I have bought the circle loom home to continue to play this week.
I would love to continue to use techniques similar to this in the future, I especially love the idea of using found materials from the beach and using basket weaving techniques.
Camira fabrics supply the fabrics for transport interiors such as Stagecoach UK. I ordered some samples to see moquette up close and personal to see if there was any way to replicate this kind of material in our sampling. As a group we also wanted to have a look at the pattern on the moquette.
Although some do look very garish and vibrant, the designs have been chosen and designed for the purpose of being on transport seating and must have reasoning behind the design. Some designs have small repeats which are easily replaced if they are damaged but we have noticed the pattern is lost as the repeat is so small. Looking at the designs on previous moquette seating had given us an insight to the market already and how we want our designs to look. We have been very focused on material, practicality and durability that we haven't thought too much about the design yet.
Seating material ranges:
Aura – Traditional wool moquette in contemporary style
Classic – Soft touch genuine leather
Dimension – Polyester flat weave fabric available to order only
Elements – Contemporary high wool content moquette
Folio – Textured and metallic effect vinyl
Fusion – The latest high wool content lightweight moquette
Quantum – Lightweight polyester moquette with textured yarn options
Vigor – Backed wool rich moquette
Vision – Contemporary lightly textured flat weave offering metallic highlights and contrasting fibre types, supplied with a backing
Vita – Leather look vinyl
The video below shows exactly what Camira does and explains the material choices in the underground seating.
To continue working as a group we decided to create group drawings. We split up into our sub groups (bus types) as this would keep the colour schemes distinguished. Louise, Chloe and I used a variety of mediums on A2 paper, drawing from the Norwich Market, using the lines, marks and colours to create drawings which we could further develop into designs. We swivelled round the paper every 5 minutes to create a better composition. We overlapped drawings, continued the lines and markings from each others, connecting them so they flowed.
Other members of the group used collage to create group drawings which I feel isn't as strong as it doesn't show complete collaboration.
 |
| A2 group drawing |