1. Briefly describe the final outcome of your project and the progress you have made, and if applicable how it differs from your original Project Proposal:
The outcome of this project was an eight piece collection, a coat and skirt and a photoshoot. I think I have progressed from my initial proposal and explored a range of ideas. I ended up changing some of the ideas I had planned to explore in my project proposal and going down a more visual route of exploring rich and poor rather than the more emotional and conceptual ideas I had originally thought of, such as looking at treatment of both and the emotional strains of wealth, as I didn't think this overly suited my style of working. I ended up looking into the realities of the different sides of society: the struggle of keeping warm on the streets, the conditions of living, rubbish on the streets compared to glamorous and obscene interiors. I also used detailing found in typical rich and poor clothing which I had set out to do in my proposal.
2. What methods have you used to show how your learning has effected your project eg FMP Blog/ FMP Plan/ sketchbooks etc, and how has this helped with development of your work:
Throughout the project I found my blog very helpful in developing my work as I got into the routine of writing it on my journey home from college meaning that I was always reflecting on what I had done that day. This meant I could see more easily what was and wasn't working as I went through the project which guided me through my ideas and into developing what was successful and improving what wasn’t. It also meant if I was stuck I could write down what wasn't working and discuss this which I found helped me to find a new direction or idea to move forward. I also used my sketchbook to develop the project as having all my work in one place meant I could work through ideas visually and I could see what ideas were working and what I could keep developing. My sketchbook and the visual record of my working meant I could continually analyse my drawings and work to see if silhouettes and shapes had potential and whether my work was diverse enough as I do have a tendency to continually design similar silhouettes. The sketchbook meant I could see this and could try out new ideas with different silhouettes which then made my outcome much more exciting as I had contrasting shapes such as the duvet with a structured skirt rather than just a duvet coat which I had been originally doing.
3. List the targets met (from the original FMP Plan and any that were added later):
-Explore the different sides of society- rich and poor
-Use a range of primary and secondary research
-Interview/ Survey a range of people for opinions on wealth
-Try and use a range of designing techniques- standwork, collage, quick sketching etc
-Create a 3D outcome
-Create a final collection
-Write on my blog at least twice a week
4. Reflecting on your overall final major project, please discuss any developments which have contributed to the final outcome:
I think my development in print and colour has contributed to my final outcome and made it stronger. Throughout the project I experimented with print and doing this meant I improved a lot and managed to create prints with lots of detail and layering while also learning the technical skills of it such as eliminating trap lines to create a smooth repeat. I didn't know how to do this at the beginning of the project and it made my prints look more professional. I also tried hard improving my use of colour in the project and although I didn’t use particularly vibrant colours I tried hard to establish a colour scheme of blues, greys etc which I could use in different ways and also which complimented the prints well which I think made my final collection stronger.
I also tried to improve my draping on the stand in the project using both duvet and fleece to create silhouettes and shapes which I probably wouldn’t have as easily designed on paper. This led to me creating a final piece using the draping technique, which I hadn't used since the first project, that was completely creating by draping a duvet on stand and which I think wouldn’t have turned out as well if it was pattern cut as would have lost a lot of volume.
5. Please state what advice you received from others during your FMP, and discuss what you found particularly useful: you should refer to group reviews, one-to-one tutorials and feedback from evaluation groups
I found the one to one and group tutorials we had very helpful throughout the project. I found them particularly helpful if I was stuck on my ideas or was doubting myself. Talking through my project one to one with a tutor helped me to see what was working the best as it was an observational perspective of my work rather than my own view so helped me to gain a clear look of what I could do next to move the project on. With group tutorials it was also helpful to gain perspectives from others as well as see what they were doing as it showed different techniques of working that I maybe didn't use, as well as gaining feedback on what others thought of my project and what I could add to it. Main suggestions were things like needing to add primary research or colour so my ideas were clearer. Talking one to one with tutors also helped with improving techniques as well as ideas as they told me whether my sketchbook was working and when I needed to add in more reference and colours to make sure it was continually interesting as well as technicalities with print and how to fix issues like trap lines. Opinions on my work from professionals from industry like our tutors helped to see how I could improve as a designer generally, like ensuring using technical drawings as well as fabrication, as well as just improving the project.
6. Key points to take away – things to change about my approach (give at least 2) eg improve time management, what skills you have developed and how this will affect your future course/career and things to continue doing and to build on (give at least 2). What are you going to do next year?
There are a few things I have learnt from this project. I need to make sure I don't just draw in future projects, I need to make sure I include colour and reference and stand work in with my drawing as it is much more interesting to look at and also helps ideas develop more successfully as encourages different techniques and silhouettes. Doing this continually as I am working rather than going back and adding it in will make it more useful to me in terms of working and hopefully push me further. Another key thing I must take away is that I need to continue to make sure I push my shapes and silhouettes as I still tend to repeat ideas and shapes in my sketchbook as I have found I do throughout the year but I must make sure I push ideas and create alternative silhouettes. I managed to do this by the end of the project after some guidance from a tutor to add in contrasting ideas as this definitely helped with my final collection and making it more exciting. Possibly pushing my ideas to be more abstract or contrasting could help me do this as would give me more knowledge of a broader range of ideas which I could use throughout my work. I think skills I have improved are print and this is something I shall try and use more next year on my fashion design course.
Next year I would like to continue to develop my use of colour as it greatly improves a project and sets the mood, I began to improve on this in the project but I can definitely improve it more next year. Adding in colour right from the beginning stage of a project rather than later on will help with this in future projects. Fabrication and my understanding of fabrics is something I also want to improve on in future projects as will improve my work as a designer and knowledge of what fabrics to use for different projects and garments. Finally although I did not do much pattern cutting in this project, I think what I did do was a development of my skills and definitely something I can continue to develop in future projects. I think experimenting with silhouettes using toiles is a technique I could use more to experiment in 3D ways and this will continue to develop my use of shape and pattern cutting improving my work. Finally illustrations is something I didn't get to add in to this project and I think learning more about illustrating and practicing more would help my confidence with drawing in the illustrative style and could add more exciting outcomes to projects. Illustration is also a whole different way of portraying the mood and story of a project as well as ‘my woman’ who I am aiming my work at.
From this project I can see my strengths (quick sketches, print, photoshop) and weaknesses (colour, fabrication, diversifying ideas) and I can learn from these in my degree next year and knowing them could help in my learning to push me to really explore ideas and improve further on techniques.
