Urban Influences Evaluation

   I feel I’ve put a lot of effort into this collection and in turn it’s made me quite proud of the work I’ve produced. The concept Urban Influences pushed me to develop new and creative ideas as I enjoy looking at the places and people around me. Manchester is such an inspirational city; it’s always buzzing with the great atmosphere and the people and buildings that make up the city. Like any city, some areas are run down, however in some cases that urban run-down look creates a great base to pick up those creative ideas. I think my work reflects the mood and the atmosphere of a place really well through the colours and levels used. Looking at other artists and designers work as well as the city has really helped me push my ideas further. My work was highly based on my inspiration from Mary Katrantzou’s Autumn/Winter 2013 collection. Looking closely at her work and the mood her collection portrayed made me realise the look I was wanting create through my collection.

   The research I’ve collected throughout this term has helped greatly towards my work development; I’ve built up a good body of information, inspirational images, and designers that I will be able to refer to in the future. Additionally going out and collecting my own images through photography has meant I can use the images any way I want within my work; taking different aspects each time and developing a completely different motif or mood. Earlier on in the project, I felt my work was getting a bit repetitive and too similar, but as soon as I collected those photographs, my work turned a corner. My prints started to look more textured, they reflected the mood I wanted and also looked quite professional.

   I have definitely had a more professional approach to the way in which I have worked throughout this project. I have set myself tasks to do within a certain amount of time, evaluated my work as I’ve gone along so my work develops quickly and effectively and I’ve used my time very wisely; sharing my time between workshops, practical work and work experience research, cv development.  Being able to stretch myself, balancing everything at once has proven to me that this is what I truly want to do and I believe I will do it to the best of my abilities. Looking over the selection of work I’ve collected throughout the past couple of months, I’ve been able to see how I’ve developed as a practitioner and also how my work has improved as time has gone on. It’s quite exciting to see how much I’ve improved throughout this project; I’ve learnt so many things about the way I work best and many new techniques.

   Three months ago, if you had asked me if I was a morning person, I would laugh and reject the whole idea that I would ever be a morning person! Nevertheless, I think I actually work better in the mornings. Getting up early and presenting myself in a reasonable manner, travelling into university and arriving to the studio wakes me up greatly and not just that, I feel motivated to produce more work and I get so much done. I’ve pushed myself this term, setting myself goals and achieving them, therefore I’m quite proud of myself. Like I said before, I would never in a million years think I was a morning person, but I’ve motivated myself to strive and produce work at all times throughout the day! It's also become clear to me as to what order I work in. I tend to do research, respond to it and then collect my own images and respond to that. After collecting a range of drawing I then look at the shapes that have been created, and produce a pattern with them. This then goes onto developing my motifs within photoshop and so on. Although I used to think I found it easier to collect all my research when receiving the brief, when in fact I've realised I find it really beneficial continuing to research throughout whole time I'm producing work. Just because you have an idea, doesn't mean you should stop your mind from straying elsewhere, sometimes the best designs are produced through changing your path completely. 

Final exhibition of 'Urban Influences' 

   It was difficult to decide which pieces of work from the final collection I was to display, however in the end I decided to choose the boards that represented my overall collection effectively and my best samples. I'm really pleased with my board as I feel it sums up the project really well and hopefully shows the audience how much work and research has gone into it. I'm pleased I didn't use any hand printing techniques as I feel it wouldn't represent the mood and feel of the collection. I had more control with the digital side of designing as I could experiment with the intensity of colour and transparency so small details within the design could be seen. Nevertheless it doesn't mean I'm never going to go in the print room again, as I feel I have more to learn from those techniques, however for this collection, I'm pleased I stuck with digital design. It was a shame I couldn't use laser-cutting within my work due to time and communication issues, as I feel the collection would have benefited from it, nevertheless, I can always return to that idea and experiment another time.
   Overall, I'm really pleased with my collection; I've learnt a lot about myself and the way I work and also learnt new techniques and met new people. I feel this is what I needed to inspire me and push me even further to succeed in my aim to become a print designer.