Yogo, Research and Idea Development

Yogo clothing seems to be extremely popular at the moment, and so an expanding sector. 

When researching for this mood board I found companies like Lulu lemon and urban outfitters have both got an extensive range of stylish and quality wear.

I used these two companies and various magazines to pick clothing that inspires me.

Patterned leggings are now sold by pretty much every active wear company now. weather it is block colours, flowers or completely abstract shapes. 

I love the bold, sharp designs, but I feel these suit a performance sport like running more, were as flowers and organic shaped patterns fit better with yoga.

All the colours on this page are very inspirational to me, the strong contrast of black and red, the neutral pinks and the bold blues.....I cant wait to start working with them!   

"Running" mood board and design ideas

I think current trends are extremely inspiring at the moment there are so many interesting styles, colours and materials out there.   

I have found that reds and oranges seem to be an essential colour at the moment in active wear. I really like these vibrant original tones, compared to the usual dull black or girly pink that is used in womens sportswear.

The block, bold patterns that seem to cover many leggings at the moment are great! They have a kind of retro feel to them, but still mange to look sleak and modern. 

I have used this look in my design drawing and hope to go on and make some of these in the near future. 

Sports Photography - Golfing

This was my best shot from my photo shoot today. 

The golf club lined up with the ball, leading your eye into the center of the image is well composed. The ball is slightly blurred giving you that scene of movement.  

I faced Emma into the sun (that had just come out from behind the clouds) to highlight the face and rest of the figure. This worked really well as the shadows created have highlighted the clothing, figure and ball.

If I were to take this photograph again I would have improved the styling, as the weather was bad as we set off to the golf course Emma was wearing scene able wear. But if I choose a good day, I could have choose more colourful clothing to really enthusiast the 'golfing' theme. I also think this would give the image a more professional look.  

Exploring Form and Function

Using photography to explore form and function in sports clothing. 

I have learned that lighting is the key factor of studio photography. No matter how well composed your image is, if the lighting doesn't create the effect you want there is no point clicking the button.

These four photographs were very successful, although it took a lot of attempts to get there. 

I wanted to capture the movement, but still get a sharp image.

First I tried staging the movement, as this allowed a more crisp image but they did not look realistic. I found that after photographing beth actually running I caught the whole atmosphere of movement, and the areas that were slightly blued (like the moving jacket) only added to this effect.

Next time I would like to concentrate on the styling. I think in these images I have been successful in creating a 'hockey' or 'running' look, but in the future I want to make the out fit unique to really capture the viewer attention.

Surf kayaking - location photography

This photograph has been the most challenging to compose well, out of all my photo shoots so far.

I had originally wanted to capture Kim actually surfing a wave, but I now realise it is difficult to do so with out being in the sea your self.

I have learned that to be successful in location photography you have to be able to adapt your plans, there is no point in having just one outcome in your head, and not having the ability to see other opportunities out there. 

The composition for this photograph and my other best images were not planned, they actually look better because in a changing you are not able to place the kayak in the exact potion on a rolling wave, you just have to make the most of what you have!  

Collage Shoe

Today I did four drawings of different shoes, I tried to use materials that suits the type of shoe.

I think this college shoe on brown paper was the most successful drawing the block shapes with contrasting organic area creates an interesting image.

I learned to make sure the proportions was correct from the start of the process. An easy way of doing this is to do a quick sketch to map out the shoe, before sticking down other materials.  

The only panel on the shoe that I don't think completely fits is the water black colour. I should have watered down the colour more and painted more smoothly, instead of doing rough brush strokes. 

Or painted the black thick and even to give a smooth leather feel.   

Appliqué fashion illustrations

Pen drawings from life and free machine appliqué illustrations.

I loved the unusual effect you get when drawing with thread.

The illustration on the right was my first time using this method, and I think was the most successful one. This is probably due to the fact I had more time to complete it. I think the combination of red and orange thread that I used in this figure worked well together. 

They also contrast well with the grays in the background. I had used excessive material to lay over the top of the figure, and as a method of keeping keeping it down I sewed a blanket of thread over the top of it. This has made it look like the figure is standing in a field of grass. Although I had not intended on putting a horizon in the image (about a third of the way up), it adds perspective into the piece, really making the figure stand out. 

I added a horizon into my second piece (as it had worked well in my first), by using contrasting materials. I really liked the creases that were sewn into the clothing in the orange thread. In the dress of the second illustration there is plenty of opportunity to add this detail, so I made full use of it.    

Life Drawing

Using charcoal and graphite. 

A tutor from Plymouth University come over to our college today, to do a morning of life drawing. 

We did a series of quick sketches concentrating on proportion and keeping the figure three dimensional.

I have a bad habit of drawing the figure outlines making a very flat image, this helped me to think about drawing lined across the page rather than just up and down. 

Also before partaking in this mornings class I would often start drawing the head first, then would regularly have to come back and re scale it as it would be out of proportion to the rest of the body. He taught us to always draw the torso first, this not only helps with proportion but also weighting of the body, to show the body leaning or slouching.   

Texture Prints in Resin

Material textured prints in resin, to develop innovative textiles.

fabrics

fibres

resin

stitch 

I covered the tissue paper panel with resin after arranging and sewing the prints onto it.

Originally I did this to capture the prints inside of the clear glass like material. Although as it started to dry it went rigid like plastic, forming a stiff pannel sheet. This turned out to look very professional when displaying my work. 

I only covered this piece with resin, as this is were I had sewn the prints onto. Although in hinds sight I would have defiantly covered the back as well as this would have help keep the materials in better condition and made it stronger.     

Interconnected cells storing memories, lives and moments.

With a great interest in finding new material, I am constantly exploring new possibilities.

Transferring images and words on to latex has been one of the most exciting discoveries of the year so fare :)

I am really happy how well this project turned out, although with more time there is still much more that I could have done. 

As these cells were the first and only that I made, I learnt much but I did not have time to change any of these improvements. 

The images that are being transferred onto the material needs to be highly contrasting, to see the image clearly. So black and white lettering seemed to work the best.  

It is important to make the material the right thickness, if it is too thick it starts to look like plastic and too thin it just breaks when putting the panels together.

The ink only transfers form newspaper, I found when trying to transfer my own photographs with ink would simply just not stick to the latex.   

  

These ceramic tiles were very successful, and had many matching tones with the cell structures. Although i didn't make the tiles to go with these images, I found they did.   

If I had known i was going to put my ceramic tiles with my cells for my portfolio. I would have made the markings that I pressed into the clay more relevant to my 'memories' project.  

Memories - collage torso

I made this collage torso in response to a brief 'memories'. 

I really enjoyed using this process, but I think to develop this technique I could expand on the materials I used (newpaper, magazines, charcoal, white paint and graphite). 

I could bring in my own photographs and tickets/receipts ect. This could make it more personal to me, as well as using newspaper articles.

I should have/ could also photograph the torso on somebody or hang it up in a relevant environment.  

Experimental Photography

Today we looked at four different techniques in the dark room. 

Double exposure printing

Portraits 

The Sabattie effect

Sandwich printing

During Double exposure printing I found that layering textures on top of a portrait worked well. As it turned a recognisable image into something abstract. I need to have thought more carefully about my photographs, as today we were just using pre taken photographs and matching them together. In the future, I should go out and take specific photographs that i know will go well together. 

While taking Portraits I realised that choosing a person with an interesting character was actually more important than the composition of the photograph. As I had chosen to photograph shop keepers, a few of them had been very posy, but those who seemed to be more uncomfortable having their photograph taken worked well, as this expression was clear.  

The Sabattie effect is a very interesting process. This one, took me longer to get the hang of it. Images with more detail, I found worked better. As photographs with large areas of negative space would produce ver dark, dull images. 

High contrast images worked really well with Sandwich printing. Lots of fine detail, show up well in these photographs and produce a more interesting image. In preparation for next time I use this technique, I will take photographs of nature, as the small repeated shapes of grass and and the fine detail of veins in leaves; I am sure will make some very interesting images.