photographing my designs

Here are some images of my screen printed square scarves. I am very happy with the outcome of these scarves and believe they would be suited to a wide female audience and my target clients of departments stores, most specifically Libertys. I am also satisfied with the gold foiled logo on these scarves and how they are photographed with a rock-style trendy biker jacket, to bring a cool and quirky edge to the soft and bright silk scarves.

Photographing my work has given me more of an insight to how I could present them in the graduate exhibition and I believe they look most impressive when they are open and flat so the designs can be seen. However, I feel they do also work well together hanging from their corner, so I may continue my idea of having some open and some hanging from hooks.

creating a screen

I have planned all of my screens using photoshop to create the design and ensure I have chosen the best suited colour way. For my second repeat length, I printed out my photoshop design in the exact same scale and then traced over this onto drafting film to capture more detail by hand. I could also cut through this printed design to ensure it repeats. I also printed out lots of individual photocopies of my own drawn flowers and arranged them as the borders before tracing onto drafting film.

I chose to use borders on the sides of my lengths to imply they are finished, and are not just a cut off a repeat, therefore could also be scarves if the scales are altered slightly.

large scale screen print

I have created a very contrasting large scale finch print for a bold and eye-catching print in my collection. I am very happy with this print and believe it is original and the colours work well.

This piece sits alongside my other large scale owl print which I also created by colour reducing and screen printing with bold colours.

small scale bird print

I have experimented with a variety of scales in my screen prints and here, the images show I created two repeat bird prints with screen printing methods.
I like to use soft blue tones with bright pops of red or orange and believe they contrast really well in these two and three layer prints. I have learnt from these prints that by hand-printing, I am more likely to have mistakes and therefore am more inclined to digitally print these smaller scale prints in a large 1 metre squared scale.

exhibition plan

I have been designing for the past few weeks with my final exhibition in mind. By this, I have tried to create screen prints which are for a scarf context but are also decorative and detailed enough to be seen open as a square in the exhibition or for a possible wall hanging context.  I have also tried to keep a focussed colour palette in mind so that my work appears like a complete collection together.

The image above is my plan for the exhibition. It features between four to six of my square scarves which will hang from white painted branches. I will also include two screen printed lengths to show that I can print in repeat. Plus, I will also include my gold logo, foiled onto the wall to show that I have created a complete product for my final project.

screen printing a 2.5 metre length

I combined some of my drawings on photoshop to create a repeat sized at 70 by 75cm which I repeated three times with 4 layers of colour and discharged out highlights of the birds. I plan to create two lengths for assessment because they will show my skills of repeat and screen printing on a large scale. I will use borders along the edges so that they have a feeling of being "finished" rather than just a cut of a repeat. Plus, they could also be worn as a scarf, or used as a repeat for other contexts. I also would like to display two lengths in my degree show to sit alongside my scarf designs.

I am satisfied with the level of detail in this print and have captured the birds in a clear and colourful way. I am also happy with the floral border as this gives added interest and texture, therefore I will continue a border onto my final length and in my next scarf designs.

I now plan to design another length which will sit alongside this one well. I plan to use a design I posted previously but alter it so that it has an interesting and detailed border along each side of the length to give the appearance of a finished piece of fabric, which could also be used as a scarf.

gold foiling logo

I have created a logo for the boxes which my scarves can be presented in. This logo will feature on the box as well as on stickers underneath the box and possibly be a logo for display on my business cards and degree show. I have also used gold foiling to print the logo onto my scarves to make my work a complete product. I am very happy with the logo and feel it is a way for me to stamp my own approval on the scarves and gives an element of trust of quality.

screen printing

These screen printed scarves were inspired by creating more of a pattern with the floral or branches and gives more interest to a smaller scale bird print.

My favourite here is the second print with florals because I feel there is less white space and more texture. However, because this screen was smaller, and 5 layers of colour, it took a few more hours to complete. This print was on a silk crepe which has a good weight for a summer scarf and some texture. I also did this print on a blue dyed wool, where I used pigment and then discharged over the top of the motifs, (below). However, I prefer the white crepe print because it is brighter, a clearer print and more summery.

screen printing large scale birds

I am very satisfied with the scarves I have designed using my own watercolour drawings, colour reduced on photoshop and then screen printed. I wanted to try a variety of scales of birds on my scarf designs and here I experimented with two large owls on a scarf as well as a giant hawfinch. I have chosen to keep to my colour palette which I am very happy with because I think the colours are appealing to a wide audience, are on trend and also express a very "British" feeling.

I have tried to add textures into these prints by layering colours in dotted areas, which I believe works successfully and contrasts the large blocked areas of strong colour. I am pleased I have kept these prints as clean and professional as I can so they are suitable to sell and also give a sophisticated appearance in my portfolio. (LO12)

repeat length

Here is the image of my first repeat length which I hope to screen print at a size of 75cm by 200cm on a heavy silk. I have taken my drawings and combined them on Adobe photoshop to create this pattern which focuses on British birds. I have created this print with a variety of fashion contexts in mind so that my designs aren't just limited to scarves.

I have tried to reduce my drawings to a maximum of 5 colours so that it will be suitable for screen printing. I have included a variety of birds so that the imagery is more interesting and has different areas of focus and detail.

photoshop repeats, Digital pattern/print ideas

I have created some simple bird repeats which are more commercially appealing and will be cheaper to screen print because they can be put onto a smaller screen and repeated. I have put together my drawings on photoshop and then colour reduced them for screen printing. Using photoshop for this allows me to look at different colourways very easily and also alter how many layers I have, reducing the colours to as few as possible to make the printing cheaper, but still with tonal and detailed qualities.

Year 5 and 6 Fashion Workshop

I created a presentation titled "fashion can be made out of anything" with short slides displaying wacky and inventive fashion garments created with everyday objects from food to newspapers.

The children remained focussed through the quick presentation and it gave them ideas to create their own designs. We cut out t-shirt, skirts, dresses and trouser silhouettes and took into the classroom lots of everyday objects for them to stick onto the cardboard silhouettes. They also have a fashion show at the end of term which many of the children told me the workshop had given them ideas for.

These images show some of the children's work. Each piece was very inventive and unique.