Planning

Over the Christmas period, I developed graphic A2 screens to be printed on returning to the studio, which are more appropriate for the context of my work. Previous samples looked thrown together, so I’ve planned 6 final samples. I will screen print onto upholstery fabrics first, followed by flock, foil and digital embroidery using burmilana threads, being more selective about the colour choices and compositions on the fabrics. I’ll produce large scale embroidery designs to work with the A2 prints as previous designs were lost amongst the overpowering smaller print.

For the Michael Kidner brief, I have rekindled the idea of banners from the beginning of my self-initiated project. I want to work at large scale to produce bespoke banners that would be powerful within a gallery environment. My Photoshop work over Christmas has been concentrated on Michael’s use of colour combined with op art, then developed into large-scale designs to be pitched to the Kidner family. I will produce some fabric samples too, so they have something physical to look at.

Colour and Design Development

Preparing for the next crit, I realised my work wasn’t focussed. Moving forward, I will edit and select pieces that I would like to develop and leave the ones that aren't working behind.

Materials were also a problem, and since the crit I have purchased synthetic upholstery materials so I can combine processes which are more appropriate for my context.

The colours I used looked washed out on the fabrics I was using previously, so I have adapted my original colour palette, which I think will complement the fabrics. I don’t plan to use the 'fig' colour palette as a result of this as the one below is more suitable for current interior trends.

Developed Colour Palette

Sublimation of colours onto sourced upholstery fabrics

I prepared a background on the fabrics before working on them with print and embroidery using sublimation printing, flocking and foiling - which is commonly used within interior fabrics and I feel is more playful than what I have created previously. I like having a textured surface to print onto because of the different effects it creates on the fabric when layered up.

Recent work above - combining flock, foil, embroidery and screen print.

Compared to previous pin-ups of my work, I think my project is really starting to take shape. The fabric choices are far more sophisticated and relevant to my context. The combination of processes is better thought out and they complement each other; the colours are much more appropriate than the duller ones used previously. The simple designs that incorporate just flock and foil are effective on their own; however, the brighter screen-printed ones also are cohesive and relevant to my context.

To move forward, I will further edit and select successful elements of the samples and adapt these into new designs. I would screen print initially onto the fabrics rather than sublimation printing, as the colours would be richer.

Contextual References

Callagio Fabric - https://www.designersguild.com/uk/fabric/designers-guild/calaggio-turquoise-fabric/p7180

Flocking for an interior context - I will experiment with this to create more desirable interior fabric textures to combine with other processes.

Mareike Bohmer - Geometric designs inspired by the city. I have been influenced by the transparency and composition of her work - it made me think more carefully about placement on my samples.

Tamasyn Gambell - Interior context, similar colour scheme, geometric designs. She uses yellow as an accent colour - similar to my own work.

Screen Print and Development

After carrying out more detailed visual research and drawing, I began to think about translating them into screens. The technician advised that newsprint paper and a scalpel to cut stencils out would be a quick way to test the designs out on fabric. I found this to be quicker and easier, until I tried to screen print with the stencils. The paper could only be used once before it ripped. On reflection, I would only use newsprint again if I was screen printing a small design, not on large designs which I would expose a screen for.

Neutral Painting Linen

Black Brushed Cotton

White PVC

Out of the samples above, I believe the PVC as a background is a little stark for an interiors context. However, I would consider using it for a live brief such as Michael Kidner as it would be more effective for installation and gallery work.

My designs look better integrated onto a neutral or coloured background and the effect created when the printing inks are layered over one another, particularly on the black fabric reinforces the geometric and transparent element I wanted to capture. The colours however, are still not as vibrant as I had hoped, so I will develop my colour palette further to achieve this.

Colour

Debenhams Autumn/Winter 2015

After the latest crit, I developed my colour palette by photographing fruits which have a purple skin, such as figs and passion fruits as this colour is prominent within current interior fabrics. Some of my recent samples looked a little 'washed out' on a white background so I will source fabrics more thoughtfully.

Fig Colour Palette

Passion Fruit Colour Palette

After experimenting with these colour palettes within my samples this week, my favourite is the fig as it incorporates purple alongside an 'accent' colour which is a medium yellow. I plan to carry on sampling for my self-initiated project to be directed towards an interiors context. I would like to mix screen print and digital embroidery for my next samples and play with material and colour compositions.

2 Tutor Crit

Preparing for the 2-tutor critique was a little daunting. I prepared two boards for the Bradford Textiles brief which were different in style (see below). I felt quite limited with scale throughout these initial four weeks, as I was focussed on producing a sample board for submission. In future, I need to think more carefully about the scale of my sampling and 'go for it' for the next project. I'm excited to try something that I haven't done in the past and see what the results will look like.

From the crit, I plan to continue with this project for my self-initiated brief, but focus more on the scale of my samples by using screen print techniques onto large scale fabrics. This will enable me to widen my creative knowledge and would also demonstrate a more 'bespoke' feel - the original idea behind the large scale sampling. To reflect the scale I want to achieve, I created A2 drawings using collaging techniques to be translated into screens. I will leave the idea of a large scale banner to a live brief, and concentrate on fabric samples for an interior context. 

The two collages above were most successful as they depict my concept more closely. I also think the placement of the detailed pen drawing is better considered than some of my other drawings.

Sampling

Over the last couple of weeks I have developed Photoshop designs from my initial drawings of collaged 'banners' to be digitally printed. However, the outcomes of these prints were not what I wanted; the colours were too dark and the fabric choices were not right for the effect I wanted to achieve. The sublimation printer can only print onto synthetic fabrics, but I thought I would be able to achieve a closer effect to paper using this technique with the selection of fabrics on offer to me. I was also advised by the embroidery technicians that I wouldn't be able to stitch onto paper using the multi-head embroidery machine as it would tear easily, so I began experimenting with Paper Nylon and Poly Taffeta - both thin fabrics with an appearance similar to paper.

Poly Taffeta

Paper Nylon The sublimation ink absorbed better into the Poly Taffeta than the Paper Nylon – it felt to have a covering on the surface. I do think both types of fabric were effective when it came to digitally embroidering onto them; however I prefer how the thread looks on the Nylon as it appears three-dimensional.

Sizing was restricted to A4 and A3. On reflection, I would have liked to produce a larger scale sample using the sublimation printing method, similar to the paper roll I experimented with in week one of the project, which is a development I could make in future.

When it came to designing the digital embroidery, I hadn't considered the size of the sash frame which meant rescaling the designs several times. It was also difficult to line my designs up exactly with the prints, and in future I will create a reference point on the fabric if I’m stitching directly over a particular shape. Furthermore, because the sash frame extends further than the machine front, it can get stuck on the sides, which causes the design to move over the fabric. Although this was unintentional on the mustard colour sample (above), I love how the stitching adds depth to my design, and reinforces the transparency I wanted to achieve from the beginning of the project on Photoshop.

Similarly, the embroidery design below, (stitched over an original drawing), reinforces the water marks on the fabric and adds depth and texture to the flat printed design. I intend to explore this further at a later stage in the project.

I will submit an A3 sample for the Bradford Brief as I feel a larger scale sample would be inappropriate to illustrate on the boards. I plan to continue creating samples for an interior context, alongside experimenting with scale in the live brief element of the project.

Design Development

By concentrating time on developing Photoshop skills, I feel to have developed as a designer on the software, which has been rewarding. Initially, I was slightly bewildered as to how I could manipulate the images of my drawings into suitable designs for a 'bespoke banner' style wallpaper - as discussed in a previous tutorial.

After playing with the image size and scale on Photoshop, I encountered a few problems when attempting to print from the wide format printers as I was unsure of the sizing restrictions.

I want to push my abilities this year and I am really proud of the outcome; the scale, colours and concept. However, moving forward, I will sample on a smaller scale as it would be too expensive to print at such a large scale all the way through the project. For the Bradford Brief, I would need to submit something smaller, but that could have the potential to be a large scale sample.

I plan to sample onto digitally-printed fabric rather than paper to get an idea for suitable multi-head embroidery designs.

The last week has been challenging, in that the Photoshop edits took longer than expected to create and the wide format printer was a new piece of equipment for me. Next week, I will endeavour to work quicker and not be afraid to try new things: I worry too much about samples being 'perfect' first time.

Starting Level 6

Over the summer period, I felt apprehensive about how I would cope with the pressures of my final year on the Textiles in Practice course. However, I didn’t feel that an idea I had in the last Unit X project had been developed to its full potential. This included using geometric compositions from the entrance of a Bruntwood building to redesign the reception area.

57 Spring Gardens entrance - triangular peak - Geometric.

My initial drawings were developed from Pinterest research with current interior design trends in mind. I visited store websites such as John Lewis and Next – where my work would sit within industry. During the previous Unit X project, my group saw a trend in businesses using an 'accent' colour within their spaces, which I plan to use. I have also recycled Photoshop designs into drawings for the first project (below).

After receiving the Bradford Textiles brief, I felt it would allow me to experiment with scale, and during my first tutorial it became clear how I could develop my visual research into something appropriate to the brief. I came away from last weeks' tutorial and looked at CUSTHOM, a company that specialise in embroidered wallpapers.

This is the kind of scale I want to try out through the initial four weeks as I feel it will push me out of my comfort zone – I hope to combine wide format paper prints with embroidery.