Finishing Modip Group Project....

Last night's group meeting went really well and I'm really happy with the final outcome of this project. In particular that we have managed to create a lifestyle brand from such a random object and, what I feel, is a coherent and well executed project.

We brought all our individual work together and have ensured that we have thoroughly documented our thought processes, research and work on our blog (http://modipgroupproject.blogspot.com). As planned we also produced our final piece of work, a result of all our research and mood boards, an advert to promote the modern stair carpet clips. We had already given the advert some thought in our previous meeting which helped however yesterday we went about putting it together using Adobe Photoshop. I'm really pleased with the advert which I have posted below.

Hiccup!

Well, it's been a while! A couple of weeks ago my trend book project was in full swing and, despite the heavy work load, I was really enjoying it! Then, for personal reason's (the hiccup!), my priorities changed and the trend book (well, uni all together really!) had to take a back seat. Thankfully, uni have been very understanding and yesterday my course leader and I decided the date of my new deadline when I will submit my work for the Specialist Practice Realisation unit, my trend book and research folder.

Whereas before the 'hiccup' my thoughts were quite formulated regarding the trend book, they are now scattered all over the place and I hope with time I will be able to bring these thoughts and idea's back together and pick up where I left off. I'm looking forward to that time and have to say I'll really miss the feeling of being in a group who are all as stressed as each other rather than doing it alone.

My 'hiccup' has unfortunately also caused disruption to our group project which is part of PPRD 2 - I suppose this is one of the disadvantages of working as a group. Again, thankfully both uni and my group have been very understanding. Our work needs to be submitted tomorrow but our presentation has been postponed until next term when we'll have far more time to work at it together. I had already started my designated part of the project and have been working on it on and off since. We have arranged to have a group meeting this evening to bring our work together and make any last minute additions/adjustments.

Visual Merchandising for my Trendbook...

Over the weekend I have been working on both Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop to produce my Visual Merchandising pages for my trend book. I am really pleased with the pieces I have created using a combination of skills in Illustrator and Photoshop. I feel each piece represents it's trend well and will hopefully look good in the trend book. Below is the VM piece for both my ethnic theme, Asian Spice and the street trend, 'Boho Biker'.

Illustrator...

We had a day on the computer's today, Adobe Illustrator in particular, and I'm so pleased with what I've produced!
I was reminded of all sorts of tools and techniques in the program and as we have to produce a double page spread of illustrations for each trend in our trendbook, it's very important that I can produce polished, technical drawing to convey the garments in my trend successfully. I downloaded the free trial today so hopefully the more practise the better my drawings will become!!
Below is a leather jacket I drew with a winter Boho floral print. For a first attempt, I'm really pleased with it!

Trendbook...

3 weeks and a lil bit remaining!! Eeek.There's still quite a lot to do but I'm really trying focus and remain positive and reassure myself that once my research is complete - which is coming along nicely - putting it into the trendbook itself shouldn't be too difficult and time consuming...hopefully! It's just there are just a few other bits to do as well!

We had a lesson with Sarah Charles yesterday where we were able to talk about our projects and see at what stage everyone was. It was really helpful. We were reminded about evidencing our work and thought processes and discussed different ways to go about it. I'm quite used to talking about my work throughout my research and why I've done what I've done etc however I did take the opportunity to check with Sarah I hadn't been rambling on too much! - she assured me I wasn't :-)

Group Project Meeting 2.

When I began to research Art Deco fashion a few days ago I found myself a bit confused how the subject related and accomplished the brief we had been given. Even though the subject had made sense in the previous meeting and seemed to link on from the other angles we were researching I felt unsure that it was answering the brief to 'promote a lifestyle brand'.
We had our second meeting yesterday where I brought up my query and the rest of the group empathised with my concerns.
As I do with most of the projects we're given I went back to the brief and we highlighted the key words, 'Identify a Market', 'Promote/Advertise' and 'Create a unique lifestyle brand'. This way I feel we can ensure the work and research we do is relevant to the brief.
During the meeting we made choices on which area's are most relevant and which to research the most. Our lifestyle brand is all about people who need to have the latest 'thing' and who have 'trophy homes' etc. We are going to look at this customer from then (the lady who has the carpet clips) and the same customer now.
We are also going to bring the carpet clips up to date by creating different designs/styles of carpet clips for the modern day.

BNTM Live Event.

I also just wanted to make a note of the fashion show I went to at the weekend which was very good fun - like Clothes Show Live but on a smaller scale. I really enjoyed the show was most captivated by the amazing dancing!! As well of the clothes ofcourse!

I even picked up the courage to put into practice the trend spotting/style scouting we had tried with Anya! Everyone I asked were very happy to help me and seemed very flattered :-)

Don't Panic!

We had a hefty lesson of PPRD today consisting of presentations and finding out what work we will need to complete for our PPRD assessment. Eeeek - for someone thinking I already had a lot to do - it just got more! One plus is that the PPRD deadline isn't unitl March. Phew.

The presentations were overall very interesting. We each talked about our work placements and what we'd learnt as well as how we are finding the course and 'where we are'. It was good to hear how everyone is finding the course and the journey they are taking. At the end of the day there is no wrong or right and everyone is taking a personal different journey. I wish I'd prepared more for the presentation as several people had the support of a visual aid and I think this would have helped to make my presentation more composed and interesting.

The main points I took away from the lesson is to be prepared (which I usually am so this lesson has taught me to never stray from my usual!), to remain open minded, not be naive to the industry but believe in myself. One of my classmates made the comment 'we won't find the job, the job will find us' and to a large extent I believe this. Going forward I will stay true to myself and become the best version of myself I can be by putting my all into everything I do however I feel sometimes things come down to 'the right place at the right time' and in this sense 'the job will find me'......hopefully!

PPRD Group Project.

Feeling much better about our group project now after our meeting this evening. We have brainstormed our idea's in relation to the product and the lifestyle we're going to promote and have designated different parts of the project to each person. I'm researching how our product and theme (art deco as this is the period our stair/carpet clips are from) influenced fashion and vice versa. We've agreed the best way to keep the project 'alive' and not forgotten about is to meet regularly.

Trend Book Research and Development.

I'm really getting into this project now, having the internet and a printer at home is a great help as well as the number of lesson's we've had with different tutors who have been able to answer our wide range of questions and clear any queries. One of the main points I really feel I need to keep in mind is that I am not designing from my research - which has been the outcome of my previous projects. This trend book needs to provide inspiration for a designer to create a collection from therefore needs to include colour palettes, textures, shapes as well as the general feel of the trend.

I spent the majority of my weekend documenting the initial stages of the project in my sketch book (my research folder). I created pages to show my initial idea's of subjects to base each trend on and went on to explain my favourite idea's and how I consider them to be fashion forecasting. I now need to continue researching my chosen themes and develop my trend idea's.

Trend Research with Anya.

In today's lesson with Anya we looked at how to research our trends and how different trends come about. We spoke about the different age target groups and how particular events affect these groups and their demand. For example, the 'baby boomers' are about to hit retirement age giving them time and money to spend on fashion! Interesting stuff!

We looked more at our street trend and how to research this trend - one way being to go out on the street and approach people to photogragh and find out more about their particular trend - and that's the exact thing we did in the last part of the day!! Kinda scary stuff and to be honest something I'd rather do alone when nobody around me know's me :-)

InDesign...

Today we spent more time on the In Design program in the Mac suite. The program is new to us all and as it's the program we’ll be producing our trend book on it's quite vital we get to grips with at least the basics. Many of the processes used within the program are similar to those on the other Adobe programs such as Illustrator and Photoshop so hopefully it's fairly easy to suss!

Jamie also spent time talking us through copyright. As far as I understand it...using another person's work (whatever the format), without their permission, is counter to copyright rules. He explained the different opinions people have regarding copyright. Some people feel copyright is a good way of protecting their work however other's feel it stifles creativity. To be honest I understand both sides of view. For this project I think I will err on the side caution, referencing as much as I can but bearing in mind the fact I've been using material from the internet and books for most of my education and have never had a problem - here's hoping that doesn't change.

Promoting with Karen.

This was my first lesson with Karen for this project as I was away last week so the lesson was extremely helpful and a good chance to test my trend ideas out on her and get her opinions - which thankfully she approved of!! And with this I feel happier to get stuck into the research for my ideas.

My trend idea's being:

Ethical = 'Vintage Glam'

Ethnic = Contemporary Indian or Thai fashion

Street - A/W Boho mixed with a bit of 'Biker Chic' maybe!!??

During the afternoon we had a play around with styling. I have to say it was kind of random because it was an excerise I carry out most mornings getting myself dressed, putting an outfit together! All good fun though! The photo's displayed show a couple of outfits we produced.

PPRD 2!

PPRD 2! We spent the first half of the lesson covering all sorts including talk about our second year fashion show which is pretty exciting. We have a 'Fashion Show Commitee' who we can feed all sorts of idea's too including our fundraising ideas - there's a lot of it to be done! The options and decisions to be made for the show are endless which is great and means we can make it anything we want - funds permitting obviously!

During the second half of the lesson we were given our team project! I’m still slightly unsure of the details of this project (I need to study the brief!) but from what I’ve gathered we need to produce research and a presentation showing how a product from the Modip museum ties in with a lifestyle and target market. My group were given a very strange, very confusing object, (shown below) so we ventured over to the library only to find out they're carpet clips!?! Could make for an interesting challenge and project :-)

Our first Friday with Anya.

Today we met our new tutor Anya who is covering all sorts of different subjects relating to fashion promotion that will help us within this unit.

I found it very interesting to hear all about her previous jobs and her own take on the fashion industry (I find everybody's is slightly different but equally interesting!). She talked with us about trends on the high street and showed us industry trend books and sheets which helped when considering our trendbook layouts and presentation as well as the kind of imagery we can use.

In the afternoon we got the chance to go into the high street stores themsleves and see how the trend books relate to what’s actually on the shelf. It was very interesting to see the difference in the initial trendbook and the reality in store. We also studied the layouts and presentation of the shops and where the clothes are made etc.

Summer Projects...

Today's lesson was half a day with Sarah Charles to show our summer projects on 'Drapery'. I really enjoyed seeing how everyone had interpreted the brief and it was extremely helpful to hear Sarah’s opinions on the different presentation techniques etc. I thought about how her points apply to me and my work, bringing to my attention areas I can improve on. Below is my summer project...

The lesson was also a chance to talk with her about our trend book brief which is becoming more and more clear to me now. I’m quite excited about starting my research and producing my very own trend predictions although I'm a bit concerned that the time schedule seems a wee bit of a squeeze eeek.