Todays tutorial with Will was super helpful! The ideas from yesterdays session have already developed and I think my context is finally sorted! Will gave my ideas to apply my designs to a Hostel context and designs for flooring. Which has made me think further about how I could sample! I plan to experiment widely with materials and material manipulation with colour and collage and then I plan to scan these in and digitally manipulate them applying them to some type of flooring? He gave me the idea of the parquet flooring which gives me an idea on how it will look- a structured textured patchwork floor! I need to research into the types of materials that would be suitable for a Hostel; thinking about durability, cleaning, longevity and design. I will be designing for St Christopher's Inn hostel, imagining that there is one in Norwich. I found that in the collab projects in year 2, setting myself a clear precise brief helped me so much, doing this will keep me on the right tracks and enable me to research fully into the context and materials. I need to email St Christoper's Inn and ask them some questions about material and design. I also need to speak to flooring companies.

I was thinking about also designing for the walls as well as the floors, maybe evening combining them so that the design doesn't stop at the floor and carries up on the wall? I need to find a material that is suitable for both. I also need to check how many final designs I need as this will change how I design things.

I have used the my first fabric collages (sublimation) to help me visuals the floor and wall concept, folding the fabric in half at a right angle, to make it look like a room. I find this an easy way to think about scale and design.

Will also suggested looking at Kinship on WGSN which looks at global and cultural patterns combined, he specifically said too look at the video! He advised to photography my collages of materials and drawings on different surfaces like old tile floors and use found, inappropriate objects to inform the photographs. He suggested to even recreate traditional flooring, like I said before- looking into parquet flooring and researching into different flooring designs. I like the idea I had of applying the floor to the wall so that the floor doesn't stop- I need to see how practical this will be in the hostel though!


[insert scan of pink sheet]

Today was really useful to see others' work and see the different stages people were at. I described my troubles with sampling and context and felt like I was helped and given so many new ideas. I could combine weave and print (as I had already thought) but not necessarily just weave with yarn? I could use rubco yarn and search for more yarns that melt or do interesting things? Nick suggested to use wires and cables as well as other found yarn-like materials. Working with found wood was also suggested to me which I feel like I will take on board. This reminded me of a book I read in the library in the first week of this project about a lady who made "scrap quilts" out of colourful shapes of wood. This has made me think about creating collages and compositions of materials and drawings and photographing them in different ways.
I am still thinking about something in Airbnb for my context but not much was said about that- this is something I can speak to Will about tomorrow? I just want my context to be sort of public which links to travel and hospitality.

Knowing I had to move my work further from my drawings, I began scanning in my paper weaves and collages. I edited them slightly on photoshop then spoke to Neil about sublimation printing so I could quickly lay down my loose colour palette onto fabric and start manipulating. After printing my imagery, textures and colour out, I started carefully cutting and tearing using my drawings to guide me. I explored different polyester fabrics, some worked better and others made the colour more muted. This was due to the cotton content in the fabric. I am looking for fairly bright, true colours so I need to be mindful of what fabrics I choose to use. As I was just testing out this process today, I was using off-cuts of fabric but I will continue this on Monday and will buy the polyester jersey fabric, which worked well today. I really like the quality of my samples today, it has made me think further how I could develop this. I could further use weave/ structured elements by weaving fabrics yarns or papers, as I think my drawings look like they could relate well to weave. This actually was my planned sampling method- but I don't mind if things don't go as planned. I like how this process has just worked for me, just from a few small ideas from Jill's workshop on Wednesday.

I have a good collection of drawings and ideas/research now but just unsure how to sample- is this partly because I am still not certain on my context?
Jills workshop today has helped me translate some drawing into print, it has helped me refine the shape and line in my work. Today has enabled me to think how I could further develop these mini samples i have quickly created from my drawings. I essentially see this samples as more drawings as I collaged the sublimation papers together and then transferred them onto fabric- I really like the results but I feel as if they need more texture to them.

 I could sublimation print with some of my scanned drawings, colours or designs on photoshop and combine collage techniques with these- also could try different materials to sublimate onto? Could melt materials with sublimation print?
I could also use weaving as a base for sublimation? I could weave polyester fabrics then print on top?- would I have to re warp my rigid heddle loom (currently has cotton warp)? what would happened if I had two different fibres in weaves?
I could weave with indigo warp and use log cabin technique to relate block colours and collage drawings?

I have a  lot of things to think about, I need to continue drawing and decide on my context in detail to then help me with my sampling options.

I popped over to the Forum to see Aviva briefly and had a chat about how my work was going, I was unsure where to go, weave, print, stitch? or all of them? Speaking to her made me realise I wasn't sure on my direction just yet, I haven't tried to explain it properly to anyone, its all jumbled in my head and doesn't make complete sense just yet. I went home and made various mind maps, trying to unpick my ideas and explore what it is that really interests me and how I am going to ask my self the question/learning agreement.
I read through the PDP building a project presentation from Les, and some of the questions helped me think about my project further. I have made a list of those questions and printed them out so I can use them as prompts for when I am struggling with reflecting or questioning my ideas. I prepared my studio space and stuck up inspiration images as I plan to use the studio as much as possible this year. I then went exploring Norwich with my camera handy. I walked around anglia square and ended up near the back of the car park, I was pretty high and ended up in a fab spot for photographs. I varied the shots, looking at the lines, grids and colour of buildings, walls and other unnoticed, unappreciated objects in te urban environment.
I had a play on photoshop, enhancing the colour and straightening them up and found my self loving the results. I just need to continue to draw from these and keep exploring the city with my sketchbook to make mark as drawing is the essential starting point! Hopefully this will help me decide on my sampling. Maybe its good not to know try intentions just yet?

Writing isn't my strongest trait but I luckily am extremely interested in the topic I have chosen to explore. The session with Jill on Tuesday was handy, especially now being grouped with two other students writing their report on a similar topic, we shared ideas and created a whatsapp group to discuss more ideas when we aren't together. We have emailed Sebastian Owen about Brainchild and further meetings we can have with him as I have heard he is so willing to help! Tuesday was a wake up call and made me realise I need to get my self organised as I cannot afford to fall behind. 

Meeting up with my other 3 friends on the course has helped me further extend my initial ideas form yesterday session. We discussed our ideas individually and gave feedback to one another. I explained how I wanted my design to be in a functional context and have a purpose. I showed my mini mood board of colourful buildings and it was suggested that I explored the theory of colour, thinking about mood in relation to colour. We discussed hostels, hospitals, children's bedrooms, sensory rooms and hospices. I like the thought of applying my work to a public area that can affect a variety of different people.

I have been thinking about what I want to make/do/design/draw in third year all summer. I have been to London, visiting the exhibitions and museums with my housemate who studies fashion. We particularly gained lots of inspiration from the Missoni exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum, studying the colour combinations and history. I have also begun exploring abandoned areas and urban architecture, photographing colour and shape as well as recording using drawing line over collaged backgrounds. I want to further work on this using recycled papers and materials. 

Today we presented our boxes to the rest of our peers. When completing the box yesterday, we inserted the mask into the back of the box, and suspended our samples in front, layering the colours and textures of the materials. This means that our box is interactive, enabling our peers to look through the mask, seeing the layered hanging samples. This links well with the idea of identity, covering the face and eyes, removing identity. We also created a shelf for the side of the box, for the larger sampling which wasn't transparent enough for the suspending. We thought of the idea of having a "create your own skin kit", making it even more interactive, for our peers to actually pick out the sampling they preferred the most. We named our skin after combining the names of our group members together. We researched in to the layers of skin we have, realising they have names, like the epidermis etc. So we named it Nimaloje.
I was worried that our concept wasn't being put across well, maybe we should have had more text, explaining the story of the future events, which influenced our materials and designs. We transferred parts of our moodboard on to parts of our box to try to tell the story as much a we could.

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I have just got back from a long day meeting my Stagecoach group then spending time with my Fashion collab group to produce samples in the print room. I popped to the shops on my lunch break earlier to source and gather materials to to use in the print room this afternoon/evening. We agreed that I would take all the photographs on my DSLR camera to document our process and then I would share these with the rest of the group later on this evening.

We initially experimented with a mesh bought from Anglia Fashion Fabrics and fused it with an anti-slip material which melted together under the heat press to create a more skin like fabric. We experimented with melting and fusing in various ways, adding clear PVC, melting two fabrics together then going back in again and trapping them in PVC etc. We liked the idea of covering the hand, face, mouth and eyes for our concept so we thought we could try out best to make a hand covering or glove out of the fabrics we were creating. Unfortunately the fabric wasn't stretchy enough and we had trouble turning the glove inside out to the right way after sewing it together. Nina then started using the dye kitchen wondering if she could dye some of the latex gloves. She had an array of skin tones bubbling away and we all spontaneously dipped materials in, like the anti-slip material, tights, PVC, the mesh from Anglia and some textured wallpaper. We continued to combine process and managed to build up a good selection of material tests and samples which I photographed, layering and changing composition.

Initial melting of the two fabrics

Experiemtning with the idea of identity in the future, covering the mouth and encasing the mask in nude tights

A peachy coloured plastic poncho that we used to replicate our concept for the future

Sampling with the antislip fabric and PVC

Dyeing the anti-slip fabric

Dyeing the latex gloves

Dyeing vinyl fabric- too orange maybe?

Our work space! Taking over the table!!!

Dyed latex glove

A selection of my favourite samples

Layering similar samples

Layering and playing with composition

I had bought some white silicone in a tube from pound land earlier on so i played around with it, applying it on to PVC and onto fabrics. It dried fairly quickly and did exactly what we hoped!!! It created a skin type texture and quality so I planned to go home and add some gouache to add colour and then continue to apply this to materials.

Experimenting with the silicone

Applying silicone to tights, plastic and PVC. I made texture using the mesh and anti slip fabrics by pushing it through the holes with a spatula.

Now that I am home, I will continue to play around with PVA glue and UHU all purpose glue to create a transparent resin like material. I want to trap in colour and trap texture in to further replicate our concept of a second skin.

I have been unsure about my ability to write a business plan and explore problems about a business in  my research report. I am finding it hard to think about viable ideas and not too many that my report is jumbled and not coherent.
I will continue to add to my proposal and keep hunting for references by searching through books. I have been really enjoying reading, The Art of Shouting Quietly but Pete Mosley, who I met at the Castle Museum last year at a small creative business lecture.

Due to the time constraints and the unusual theme of our Fashion Collaboration Project I have been having difficulty with drawing. Searching through pinterest and referring to our group moodboard I have experimenting with imprints of materials. I have used printing inks to create a peachy nude tone, rolling them onto lino to making interesting mono prints. I varied the thickness of the inks in some areas to get an uneven texture, scraping the ink off and laying it back down again, smearing it in different directions. Texture is a vital part in our project as there isn't much pattern, this is why "drawing" was initially difficult. I have experienced with transparent materials such as tracing paper, acetate, cellophane, brown tape and melted bubble wrap, layering these with skin colours to replicate our idea.

I have also used our concept of losing identity in 2036 by editing images of peoples faces on photoshop. Smudging and blurring their faces out and pixilating their eyes and mouth. I have layered faces up so different faces with different skin tones are merging together, I managed to do this quite simply by playing around with the lasso tool and the opacity. Playing around with the brushes on photoshop has also allowed to me paint over their eyes and mouth, showing our idea of having to cover eyes and mouth for security and identity reasons. I really like how the paint stroke on the eyes are slightly translucent which is exactly our idea, be able to see through the second skin but not entirely so eye recognition will not work.




I have also used photography as a drawing tool, using the sunlight to cast shadows onto my skin. I used a variety of materials with holes and negative space in, such as, mesh and anti slip material. This  backs up our idea of embedding a brand into the second skin to gain back identity in 2036. I created pattern on my skin and also pushed shapes into my skin leaving an imprint, also demonstrating this idea.






I have really enjoyed replicating our idea for 2036 as I love the concept and ideas behind textiles and design. It feels like my work has a purpose and it explains an idea without using words. I love using photography as  drawing tool, next I will combine the photographs I took of the patterns in my skin with mono printing and other materials .I might even try to print y images out onto acetate and layer them manually instead of using photoshop?



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Our group has been slightly behind at fully deciding on a theme four our Fashion and textiles collaboration project. I have been unwell since Monday evening so I feel like I've missed out on this week completely!!! We met up on Thursday briefly to discuss everybody's research and their favourite ideas. Luckily, our group members are very pro-active and had so many ideas which was brilliant!! Combining ideas of spray on fabric, seamless garments, technology and communication and a "second skin" trend from WGSN we had a loose idea of our theme or "story" for 2036!

Jess talked about how technology and privacy will become corrupt in 20 years as there are already more and more extreme password protection technologies by brand such as Apple and Microsoft, such a finger print and face recognition.
Louise talked about covering of the face and hands like the future trends in WGSN.
Nina showed visuals of imprints into the skin made by zips etc, which we all thought was an interesting idea.
I initially found spray on cloth in a book called Material Matters which, linked well to everybody's ideas!!!
We agreed to look into latex and neutral colours, and further investigate in to a range of skin tones, creating a "second skin".

After having a tutorial with Jill, she said we needed to refine our idea further and it wasn't clear to her exactly what we aimed to do. She said to create  story of what happened in 2036 which made the fashion change, which is a great idea. We sat down afterwards for a while, taking it in turns to explain what idea we liked the best, we managed to combine all of our ideas and made up our story.

In 2036, internet security will corrupt and al personal data will be public, eye, smile and finger print recognition will be everywhere meaning that there is no escape of personal invasion. Every body is rebelling, realising that the internet, and technology is taking over, meaning humans aren't safe anymore. Health risks are high as many infections can no longer be treated with antibiotics and everybody's immune systems are at an all time low. For protection against data invasion and germs and infections, an extra "skin" is worn made from a frosted, translucent (latex like) material which acts as a barrier against fraud data theft and bad bacteria. Everybody looks the same, and person identity is lost as the face is covered, people begin to customise their extra skin embedding objects, creating imprints and manipulating it to be able distinguish one another.

Being able to replicate and demonstrate this idea will be a challenged, especially in less than a week!!! We have began to source materials and have booked into the print room on Monday to experiment with translucent binders and clear foil.

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I had a great opportunity to attend the private view open studios, at the forum yesterday, as Aviva offered to add me as her guest! Hooray! It was so great to see all the wonderful talented artists in and around Norfolk. It was so inspiring to see how their artwork was priced and how it was displayed/presented. I stood back and spectated for a while, taking a real notice on who's art work was looked at and complimented the most. I thought about the positive aspects of the pieces and what was good about them and how I could apply this to my work. I would love to feature in the open studios one day and I am so pleased that I had the opportunity to see what it is all about!