How I designed my Blog backgound from Visual Studies

Using a OHP and a few objects I drew BIG on paper tacked to the wall.....


Gets messy with runny inks....

With this technique you get an enlarged chunky bold shape of the object....

One of the many photographs of my own that I worked with.....

The bits and bobs I put on the OHP to draw....you really should try this at home its is tonnes of fun and gets you some really interesting shapes and patterns...

My CAD design

The softened version edited with a reflecting pattern to run the length of my blog.

Smart Materials Project......The Cyber Survivor Generation

This is my theme board for this project below is my self written brief which was for a smart materials project in my second year of uni.

 Brief

The future, 2029 – the world has changed, shifted into another age for mankind. Earth and its inhabitants have gone through a chain of major events which all began with a mega event.

This event was out of man’s control. It began with the shifting magnetic poles of the Earth’s interior; which just so happened to occur around the Sun’s most aggressive solar maximum. This lasts approximately six months and occurs every 12-13 years periodically. It means the side of the sun facing earth has increased sunspots and regularly burst out solar storms also known as coronal mass ejections, thus sending incalculable amounts of charged particles right towards Earth.

This occurred in the years 2012 to 2013, at this time Earth’s magnetic field which normally forms a protective barrier against the constant bombardment of solar storms was only at 50%, which meant everything that was could not be. The storms destroyed 2800 of the orbiting satellites leaving just under 200 untouched, all belonging to lesser powerful nations. Electronic equipment everywhere was rendered powerless. Within day’s mass panic, riots and looting broke out. Governments could not control the surge of people, desperate, unable to cope.

Eventually disease and famine took over. Human activity began to cease, day by day people were dying due to their inability to take care of themselves in a world which had no civil order. By 2016 80% of the world’s population had diminished and 60% of land animal species were wiped out. The few remaining survivors were strong and independent; it was their odyssey which began the rebuild of a new and profound society - the world we live in today.

Our society has taken on a new and enlightening form. With the stronghold of previous governments nothing more than a memory, the suppressed conformist remaining cultures came into their own; they were free to build their own world piece by piece, place by place. Creativity as mankind’s destiny, the separating characteristic of humans to animals.

At that point resources were no longer in supply and technology was left to those with a will to survive and an industrious mind. Man began to rummage through the wastelands, salvage the remaining pieces and artifacts from the previous world which was 99% man-made materials. Between the few groups of people left, man swore never to exploit and take for granted our Earth again and to recycle everything that was once a commodity waiting to be thrown away.

Some smart people found a way of turning the scrap heap into clever, sophisticated body wear to protect themselves and others from the danger and darkness.

This new found freedom meant the individual could flourish…..subcultures suppressed were now free to live in peace and prosper.

Some predicted the shift as an apocalypse; others who were more aware and prepared embraced the shift and evolved with the passage of the events.

And………..That is what my project is about!!!!

Research on other designers is always a good place to begin.... 

 

 Lets play with some materials......

 

 

Lets find a trend.....

 

Gather ideas...thoughts...summarize...

                                                                          
                                       Design.....

Muraspec....Digital Wall Covering Design

So the task was to design a digital wall covering for an educational public space...I thought a Zumba/Salsa studio would be original and fun. My inspiration came from the dancing and how it is a platform for communication between people. Alot of focus was around the hot exciting feelings generated by such dancing. 

I really love Georgia O'Keefee and had a go at copying one of her paintings (left) purely for the colour scheme of my Hot Dance inspired project. 

This was actually a project from my first year of my degree, below are pics of my sketch book pages (some of). Starting with a few drawings and then a few mixed media and embroidery collages.

A few bits of Jewellery...

 

Splashes of colour...

This bracelet is made from overlapping man made stone beads also known as lentil beads. It reminds

me of a shooting star....

Mod Tribal Style....

These are so fun to make, you simply use waxed cotton, no findings what so ever apart from the ear hooks....simple knots and a keen eye as to lengths and a bit of daring is all you need. The beads are frosted vintage Lucite. I love them, they look like tasty bon bons....

Sunset Tribal.....

These are my fave...so shiny yet so matte the metal looks as if its flowing like water. Tibetan silver combined with red coral and red connecting (jump) rings. Top bonus....these are not heavy earrings and will not rip your ear lobe like most of the earrings in the high street.

First ever pair of trousers...

OK so who needs a pattern or a teacher???? Anybody who can sew on a machine could make these.

I used 1 meter of knitted pattern jersey, 0.2 meter of plain black knitted jersey and a meter of 40mm wide elastic. Used a pair of tailored trousers to draw round and added a little extra for seams.

Stitched all seams with the fabric the wrong way round then added the 5 inch wide waist band (with extra for adding the elastic) add the elastic sew the hems and job is a good one! Had to make a few alterations once I tried them on as the bottom was a bit big but that is easy you just take the seam further in. 

The fabric cost me £1.50 (got it on sale in the market) and the elastic was 70p so now I have a wicked pair of comfy stretchy smart trousers to wear for a mere £2.20 and approx 2.5 hours work.....

Sponsored Flooring Design...EGE Carpets

The basis of this project was to choose a market area from the 6 EGE gave me, I wanted to do a design for a swish cabaret club with an exotic twist....

My final designs were for V.I.P. lounge, bar area and main club area.  I did some research on glow in the dark pigments that can be used for digitally printed carpets. The club itself was an imaginary one, one I made up myself as this was after all a university project so I could be as crazy as I liked...oh the fun!

I found my inspiration from bio-luminescence and exotic leafy plants. So my first port of call was to begin drawing. The photo above is the Market Board I designed for the project. You can see the type of club I was aiming for. Below are some of my drawings and screen prints.

Vivid flowing symmetrical imagery is ideal for the flooring of this club....in areas such as the V.I.P. lounge, walk ways to the bar and stairs these designs are big and bold. The high-lighted inner or outer sections of the design have UV glow properties to coordinate with the lighting.

Guests will really feel like they are in an underworld of illumination....dazzling entertainment in a glowing yet dark environment.

Then I moved on to silk screen printing, transfer printing and laser cutting my drawings into the image below which was quite tricky to man-oeuvre as the thin cut sections kept getting tangled together and they were so delicate they could tear easily...needless to say I had fun and games trying to get these articles into my folder and then on the 30 mile journey home...yes I commute 30 miles 2 ways each day!

Colour Study....Surface Design

This is an altered version of a ink drawing I did in my first year. We were doing a module on colour. My original drawing was in pink and purple shades with some black and neon pink. Basically I played around with the hue and then inverted the colours. This was my favourite out of about 12 variations.

I really enjoyed visual studies because It gave me a chance to move away from specific theme orientated work and allowed me the chance to just get lost in mixed media for the hell of it. Sometimes it is great to just create a drawing right from your imagination and watch the ink flow with no rules or limitations of how and where everything should go. Only focusing on how you want to the colours to blend or contrast with each other.

The pinkish one is the original drawing.