3D Fixtures & Fittings Day 2

A day of research, research and more research!

We were however given a sheet with a range of sized figures. This was given to us to use to draw figures into our drawing of our structures, to make them look more realistic and professional. This gave us the opportunity to 'picture' our creations in a very realistic manner. This is very important in industry, as all architects have to do it!

I was further looking into not only the exterior of the building, but also the interior (as it plays a major role when designing anything new). I was creating my own floor plans, design framework etc. I also but everything floor into a flow diagram, just to make it easier for my viewers to understand. I looked into materials that I could use. (That are durable, high quality, but reasonably priced). I also looked at other existing creations that inspired me to come up with mine. I will be adding my two final pages of research that was used for my presentation.

3D - Fixtures & Fittings Day 1

Fixtures and fittings can be used in a variety of ways: functional, aesthetic, decorative, the positioning of the screws on a piece of furniture can be both a structural and visual consideration. The idea of research, sampling and 3d object is a criteria I hope to keep fulfilling in my every project. They maybe enlarged, overused, distorted, repeated in masse to beuone the prominent material from which the subject is made. Artists, designers and architects that I have looked into and have been inspired by are: Ronan Erwan Bouroullec, Richard Rogers, Shingeru Ban and Renzo Piano.

The first task was to, write as many functional properties that architecture consists of. This included form and function.

After writing down our 50 functions, we had to come up with new creations with materials we had bought in from home. These images demonstrate some of my ideas and new inventions of architectural buildings.

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Exploratory Stage Reflection!

Over the past six weeks on the 'Art, Design and Media Foundation Diploma' at Ravensbourne I have gone through multiple stages of the rotations. It started out with research week, then IT, academic writing week with the fabulous Tracy, which was then followed by the 3DD, Graphics, Lens Based Media and Fashion and Textiles rotations. I feel like it was only yesterday when I came in for our induction talk to the course. I have loved each aspect of this course, as it has really made me grow as a person and as a designer/artist. My abilities and skills have rapidly developed. I really believe that this was a good way to start out because it has given me a taste of all the different aspects within the Art, Design and Media Foundation Diploma. I have thoroughly enjoyed working through the different rotations, even though I was faced with many challenges. One example would have to be -getting in the habit of working in my sketchbook every single day to keep it up to date. I am now in the habit and enjoy working in it very much, since I can now focus on ideas I actually enjoy developing and coming up with in order to create a final outcome! This was a real advantage to me, as I was restricted in my sixth form.

Though all six weeks were incredible, my most favourite week had to be the 3DD rotation. I enjoyed every task and challenge I was faced with! Geoff's tutorials were highly detailed but got straight to the point. He was a great tutor for the 3DD rotation. 3DD works with 'Architecture', 'Interior Design', but also 'Product Design'. I must admit that the Fashion pathway was my second most favourite rotation. Though, I find it fascinating how both 3DD-Architecture and Fashion all compliment each other so well! This is great as I can incorporate my interest in Architecture and Fashion together!

Over the period of these six superb weeks, I have learnt a lot about the different aspects of each rotation. I would like to use my sketchbook a lot more over the duration of the 3DD pathway. I must admit that I have not saved all my ideas or sketches in my sketchbook, which is a shame as it does not clearly illustrate my progression or thought process throughout each rotation. I have made it a goal of mine to always have my sketchbook around with me at all times -or just carry a mini journal where I can sketch any design ideas that 'pop' up in my head! I am a visual person and a highly detailed perfectionist, if something does not meet my standards or 'click' for me I have to find a way to resolve the problem and make it better. Additionally, it has been made evident that I am a 'reflector', meaning I am a thoughtful and comprehensive person.

I enjoy working digitally on computers with different soft wares, but I am a more physical designer. I love drawing, sketching, painting etc. I feel like you can develop and take your ideas further by hand in a sketchbook, rather than using softwares which complete most of the basic work for you! I do struggle to demonstrate my thought process with 'messy' work, however, I am working on loosening up and making mistakes which can then be illustrated in my sketchbook.

Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed everyday of these six weeks of rotations. I am glad I now have a taste of what the rest of the pathways will include, as I believe it will influence my future work. In saying so, I can now relate back to an idea or design either myself or a classmate have come up with over the six rotational weeks! I am now anticipating on working on the projects in the 3DD pathway.

Life Drawing :)

A great way to let loose and enjoy drawing is attending life drawing classes. We had a whole day of life drawing, which was great! I always enjoy life drawing as they encourage expression and freedom in our work. I was faced with different challenging tasks, some of which included: drawing with the opposite hand, drawing with both hands, not being able to take the pencil off the paper, drawing with your eyes shut. The outcomes of these restrictions allowed us to see how we could improve or develop our regular sketching styles, by encouraging focus as well as taking risks.

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closed eyes

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use of my opposite hand (left hand)

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drawing Roderick whilst constantly walking in the centre of the room

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passed around 6 times for everyone to add their own unique feature

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 Overall, life drawing is designed to help you draw what you see (the figure) quickly and accurately. The goal is  to create a finished, interesting drawing of the human figures. I always enjoy life drawing and will continue growing and learning from it.

Important tips Life drawing helps you with:

Look at the figure
Plan your composition
Quickly sketch the entire figure (or whatever you see)
Draw fast
Practise good line economy
Do not erase
Add shadows and highlights
Draw the whole pose
Ground your figure
See the progress of your drawing skills, techniques etc.

Fashion - Day 3

Today I undertook probably the most challenging and new task yet! I have never made any piece of clothing and especially not out of paper! After many ideas and calculations I concluded in making a top as my piece of garment -as it was physically impossible to make a dress in the time we were set. After creating a set of unique designs yesterday, I began to move forward with a more of an intriguing design. After creating a rough set of drawings to demonstrate what my design would look like, I quickly moved into the development stage!

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I was cautious when thinking about the removal of the top, both on and off the mannequin but also on and off the actual model. I therefore made an appropriate decision in including string to each side -in order to secure the top of the body when worn!

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The additional colour was then purposely added to the garment in order to make it more visually attractive and more engaging -otherwise it would have been dull and uninteresting to wear and look at!

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Once the garment was completed, I tried it on myself seeing as it was my garment and it fit me well. This allowed me to see how it would fit onto a real boy, in which came out successful which I was very pleased about.We then had to model our garments in different settings throughout Ravensbourne. I must admit it was challenging to capture the top in high detail when it was placed on myself. I feel like you had to zoom in, just to view it. This could illustrate the difficulties and challenges fashion designers and fashion photographers are faced with.

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Overall, I feel the top as a garment piece was a great success as it combined various techniques, shapes and patterns, which I have been exposed to throughout these six weeks of rotations. Though, I could have made it out of other materials, I would have swapped the brown paper for something else and would have added a bolder hint of colour!

Fashion - Day 2

Following the success of yesterdays workshop, I decided to make sure my new garments would become visually engaging. I made a pact for me to champion ideas that worked architecturally to break up the figure and create a unique piece that challenges conventions and ideas. 

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We began our second workshop by using cut-outs of fashion photography to make a collage. This really challenges your ability to think to think outside the box. I used various textures of papers, taking ideas from my samples from yesterday, to create garments that broke up the figure and worked in negative space rather than solely on the silhouette. This was an important turning point, as I now realise you have to create a piece that is visually engaging.

Again sorry for the un-rotated images, but unfortunately I have been having some trouble getting them the right way round! Apologise!

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 Once I had completed all my collages, I then photocopied one of my most interesting collages, as it had a set of intriguing folds. I then increased the size of the photo to 400%. This highlighted the unusual and eye-catching parts of the collage -creating a highly textured and unexpected print. Once viewing this new pattern,

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 I began thinking about how I could create garments to a specific pattern just like this. This then led me to create a rough set of nine cut-outs of garments, to demonstrate how I could use them and how they would visually look. I did not have enough paper to cut out another three garments, but I will try and maybe photocopy another collage to create another collection/design/pattern. Although, this appeared to be a challenging task it was valuable as it gave me insight on how to create an interesting pattern and then use it on other designs.

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As I would be making a garment of my choice the following day, I decided to focus on both hat design and top design. Though I then decided to make a garment (top) as my final piece/outcome. Although these sketches and ideas are quite basic line drawings, I tried to use a combination of drawing, painting and collage to come up with interesting results. I also tried to make sure they were visually engaging, rather than creating something that was expected or has been made before! Finally, I began preparations for my own top/hat design, I found it highly important to document my steps of progress along the way.