Final culture project

For my final illustrations I wanted to draw my designs but instead of using pens like previous work, I wanted to experiment with pencils. I wanted to draw a piece that had a soft finish and pencils were the best medium to achieve this result. I wanted this because I think pencil drawn fashion illustrations have the nicest appearance. Although some prefer the neater, digital versions, I think this allows for most detail and becomes more personal. Most designers use software like Photo shop to finalize their designs so I wanted to do something less professional. At the start of this project I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to come up with an interesting combination of cultures and would only think of obvious ideas. But this has helped me realize that sometimes things do not need to be perfect in order to achieve something you're happy with and can show your skills. I never would have thought about mixing Japanese culture with American consumerism, so not only am I happy with the skills I've developed in the project but am pleased that I will now experiment with odd styles and try as many different ideas as I possibly can.

Figure 1

Figure 1 Authors own 2014

Final collections

                      

I have finally decided on my final collection and am very pleased with the result. Although I was weary about focusing on prints I'm glad I did as I'm now more comfortable working outside my comfort zone. I chose to use brush pens and markers to complete my sketches as I wanted the colours to appear really bold as this would then draw attention to the patterns. These are not my final illustrations but this has helped me realise what I have for my final pieces and what I should create in order to present them. Since my previous designs I have changed the McDonald's dress so that the skirt is white. I did this to balance the lighter side of the colour scheme as only a small amount of white is used on the dresses and I feel that there needs to be a break in the dark tones. I think this project has helped me develop my drawing skills, I used to use subtle colours and little prints but now I am confident when creating bold designs.

     

Figure 1 and 2

Figure 1 Authors own 2014

Figure 2 Authors own 2014

Photo shop

After designing my draft collection and deciding I didn't like the finish of the pens I then tried using Photo shop to see what I want to create for my final illustrations. I found this an educational but challenging experience as although I obtain Photo shop skills, this was very different to what I have done before. Using the colour scheme I already chose and the patterns made in Photo shop before I started to create the digital designs. I simple cut around the shapes I wanted and filled them with blocked colours and patterns. I had trouble during the process as my scans wouldn't transform to layers and each part wasn't detected, which means I had to (using the paint tool) fill in the body. I decided I didn't want to draw an outline round the body as I found the result without it added a cartoon effect. This allows the designs to not appear that serious and this works with the style as it has a vintage/pin up feel. I really like the final result and have gained a lot of skills I don't think this has the detail I want for a set of final illustrations. I would like to carry on drawing as I feel this will stand out more.

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Figure 2 and 3

Figure 1 Authors own 2014

Figure 2 Authors own 2014

Figure 3 Authors own 2014

Initial designs

To gain an idea of what the dresses might look like in a complete collection I drew rough designs. They aren't brilliant drawings but I only wanted to see how they would appear together to work out if they went well or appeared mismatched. As a result, I think they work and would like to continue with these and developing them in a more presentable way. I am not going to use felt tip pens anymore as the colours aren't exact to what I imagined them to be and they so not have a nice finish and therefore make the drawings almost disorganised. I want to work on the blues as well as I find them too dark for the other dresses. I'm finding this project is enabling me to explore different styles of design and this will help me for the final project. 

Figure 1 and 2

Figure 1 Authors own 2014
Figure 2 Authors own 2014

Digital pattern design

Two of the designs I have made focus on the two cultures I am looking at. Using Photo shop I have tried to design two patterns that are subtle but unique. Using the black and the blue allowed for there to be a simple background and this provided me the chance to be bold with the prints. Out of the two prints I designed I prefer figure 2. To achieve this I used the blossom photo I took and cut out a flower and cut and pasted it onto my first layer. I then decreased the saturation so that it became more white and increased the transparency to give the idea that the flowers have blended into one. I then pasted it onto a solid black background and decided to repeat the pattern. After this I opened the Coca Cola logo and using the magic wand, cut out the background so it could be pasted onto any layer. I pasted it onto the original design and repeated it again. Although I am not a print designer, I enjoyed doing this as it allowed me to develop my ideas for prints and my Photo shop abilities. I think they will both work well on my dresses as they are what I was hoping for.

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Figure 2

Figure 1 Authors own 2014

Figure 2 Authors own 2014

Pattern design

I've decided to produce some initial thoughts when thinking about patterns and colours. I've done this to see what colours may or may not work with certain shaping and styles. My initial thoughts included florals, stripes, gingham, fans and leaves and sketched them in order to get a brief idea of what the patterns might look like. I decided to do some research into Japanese patterns and found the following images. After, I decided to copy the photos but change the colours. I wanted to copy them in the colours blue, yellow and pink because these are the colours I want to focus on them especially. This has helped me understand the colour scheme I want to use as now I know what is too bold or bright and what colours go with what. I would prefer to use yellow as a background but will explore different options. 

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Figure 10 and 11

Figure 12

This is a photo of blossoms I took, I am thinking about using some sections in photo shop and exploring different prints. I want to keep the flowers white as I think this adds a classic aspect according Japanese design.

Figure 13

I thought I'd draw some quick designs just to see whether I should just use patterns I create or carry on taking inspiration from traditional patterns. I definitely want to use both the pencil and full skirt 50's style for my dress structures but include tiny elements of the Geisha style such as draping (I'm going to have the hair and make up inspired by the style). As the pattern will be highly inspired by Japanese surroundings, I think this will be enough inclusion to realise that there are two culture influences. I'm going to explore some more ideas and continue not only developing the project but my opinion on print design. 

Figure 14

Figure 1 Authors own 2014

Figure 2-11 Unknown source (book)

Figure 12 Authors own 2014

Figure 13 Authors own 2014

Figure 14 Authors own 2014

Patterns and further flats

After looking at different shapes I decided to do the same process with patterns as even though I'm not at the stage of finalizing the prints, I have a lot of knowledge on classic patterns and want to begin trying out what works best. Although they might look basic and completely focused on floral, I want to start with simple patterns and develop it as I want to know what I can work with when It comes to merging the two cultures.

Figure 1

Another set of designs I did focus more on the way the pattern fits into the shape. Figure 3 is an image of some more prints I sketched but put more detail into colouring as I want to develop the whole outfit. If I continued to only thinking about the print and not the background, this may have caused problems in future development as they might not have coordinated nicely. Sometimes this is a positive thing to include in fashion design but for my theme I want people to recognise the inspirations so will need to be particular in my choice. I like the use of black as it allows for the patterns to really stand out. I'm going to stick with the use of yellow, blue and red as I find these are bold but are not fancy; they are original colours that work well with both traditional and consumer lifestyles. For example, a lot of Japanese art contains this colour scheme and in brands like McDonalds and other food chains they are also apparent.

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Figure 3

Figure 1 Authors own 2014

Figure 2 Wanczura, D. Hokusai Katsushika - 1760-1849 [Online].Available at: http://www.artelino. com/articles/hokusai.asp

Figure 3 Authors own 2014