Session 1: Dimensional Constructions

For our first session of Part 2 of ITFS, we began looking at creating 3D shapes on the floor using found objects within our homes. I think this task was quite innovative in terms of coming up with basic design shapes and silhouettes and inventive in our use of materials. As I’m not a design student, I also quite enjoyed the session, as I was able to experiment with a variety of tools to create some really nice outcomes.

For my materials, I used sheets, pillow cases, a tea towel, flowers, branches and a plastic bag. I really love the decorative element the flowers brought into the designs and also liked the texture introduced by the waffle print of my tea towel. I was also fascinated by the mirroring technique and how it brought out asymmetrical ideas into a realistic garment form.

We began by just constructing different shapes using our materials. We were asked to create 3, but I chose to do 4 as I had more time to spare and wanted a little more variety in my options.

These are the mirrored outcomes for these.

Initially, I found it difficult to fold the materials in different ways, as I was unsure of particular folding techniques and played around quite aimlessly with it for some time. Ultimately, I feel this was part of being experimentational with the task and about creating happy accidents.

For the second activity, we had to focus more on creating jacket shapes. When taking these photos, I also used a ring light to create more intense lighting that cast a slightly different shadow. I’m not sure if this particularly came through with the final outcomes though. I also found it harder to create jacket shapes as I was unsure if the mirroring would result in a shape that resembled a jacket. To compensate for this, I tried to add details like sleeves and pockets.

These are the mirrored outcomes.

If I were to redo this task, I would like to be more diligent with how I take my images as some were cut off at the edges when mirrored, create a further variety of shapes and also try and produce some more interesting lighting and shadows.

After this, we had to add muses to one of our images. I chose to use the same muses as my previous collection and I feel I will probably stick to these same ones as I really like how they turned out. Due to the time constraint the editing of this was quite rushed and will obviously be further worked on during my SDS.

The ability to comment on the works of my peers and vice versa was an element of this class that I really enjoyed, as it made the session more interactive and engaging, and gave us all the opportunity to view each other’s works, which were amazing!

For the SDS from this session, I plan to conduct each part of it in small chunks, starting with the drawings of our muses onto the images we’ve mirrored. I think doing this in small steps will allow me to work better creatively and not burn out which I would if I were to attempt to do everything in one day. I am also going to work digitally for the tie being on my tablet, as I feel it will be easier to use a stylus pen to draw over my images. I will focus on intentionally developing my designs and focus on silhouettes and shape, as well as details and continue to try and link my artist x brand ideas to my designs.

I think to aid in this, I will physically write out a list of links I can see within the mirrored garment images I have created and my previous collection, as well as my artist x brand collaboration. This should hopefully mean I don’t stray too far from inspiration and my collections will compliment each other nicely.