Repeat patterns

We had a repeat pattern workshop in uni, using the motifs that we produced a few weeks ago to make repeatable sections for screen printing. It is difficult to get a section that will easily repeat as the edges have to continue on to each other. For example the top edge would have to be a continuation of the bottom. The whole process is very confusing and requires more concentration that I possess. I found that it was easier for me to do a section in my sketchbook and then scan it and make it into a repeat in photoshop.

Motif workshop

This week we have been in a motif workshop. Developing our drawings and paintings into motifs to be used in design work. It is actually quite difficult to get your head around making successful motifs but it is also fun to experiment. I have put a few of my motifs together on photoshop to give you an idea of what I have been up to.

An introduction to Lophelia

I love Scotland, I have always spent a great deal of time visiting various islands, hills, beaches, woodlands, and national parks and nothing really compares. As far as I am concerned Scotland is the most beautiful country on earth. This beauty is something that I think needs to be preserved for future generations. But because of pollution, deforestation, farming and fishing our countryside and seas are under threat. Conservation work, which helps to preserve land animals and vegetation, is relatively widespread and talked about often, whereas conserving our Scottish seas is not so well known. I want to use the medium of textiles to raise awareness of these hidden threats to our Scottish costal life. Although there is legislation in place to protect these eco systems, it only covers certain species or areas, and it is not enough.

Many people are not aware we have vast coral reefs just off of our coasts. Because they are cold-water corals they can grow with no sunlight in really deep waters. The reefs provide food and shelter for many other creatures on the sea bead and are thought to be breeding grounds as well. These reefs are under huge threat from deep-sea bottom trawling, which is an extremely destructive form of fishing. It used huge, weighted nets, dragging them along the seabed, crushing anything in their path. This form of fishing can destroy entire reefs in seconds, reefs that have taken thousands of years to grow. Destroying these reefs has a trickle down effect, leaving fish, invertebrates and other creatures with no shelter, meaning they find it hard to survive. The loss of these smaller creatures then goes on to threaten the survival of larger ones, and so on. Bottom trawling also poses a threat to may endangered species, which are caught in the net. Scottish waters are unique, and provide habitats to many creatures who can’t survive anywhere else, and it is so important that these species don’t become extinct.

I implore you to sign the petition urging the European parliament to ban bottom trawling in our seas; http://petition.protectourheritage.org/

Coral has been my main focus in terms of conservation until this point but I am now exploring other species facing extinction. I have been visiting various aquariums and also the D’Arcy Thomson museum to draw some corals among other invertebrates. The drawings I have done are not all of Scottish sea life. I have been working in mainly monochrome, looking at making motifs and creating pattern. My next step will be to move in to the print room to see how I can translate this work onto fabric. I am not entirely sure what direction my work with fabric will take but I am looking forward to doing some experimentation with dyes, printing and hopefully bringing in some kind of structural element.

In terms of research I intend to look into propaganda textiles, such as the London square, which was a type of graphic scarf worn by women during world war two, they were a symbol of female emancipation and gave a means or powerful expression to ordinary people.

Drastic changes

When I started back at DJCAD for my fourth year at the beginning month I was finding it incredibly difficult to motivate myself to do anything at all for my dissertation. I have completely lost interest in my subject so I have to change it! I have decided instead to write a business plan for a magazine. It will be a fashion and lifestyle magazine that blends a bit of politics, current affairs and ethics into the mix.Watch this space.

The napkin project

The napkin project was created by Willis Newson, who are an arts consultancy specialising in arts and health, and the artist Deirdre Nelson. It called for volunteers to embroider napkins under the theme ‘home’. The napkins were gifted to a dementia care home to be used as a reminiscence tool, and a talking point. As well as encouraging conversation within the care home, the project opened up a dialogue with the public. I think getting people to come into care home to interact with the residents can be really valuable for both parties. 

 

 

Why?

People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe. – Simon Sinek

During my time at DJCAD the importance of passion as a driving force for design work has come up rather a lot. People are more likely to buy into a brand that they can see this passion in. For this reason it is important to have a really strong concept for my honours project. Something that resonates with me as as well as providing inspiration.

Following on from how much I enjoyed drawing little sea creatures that live on the ocean floor I decided to do more research into this kind of marine life. I found out that there are actually vast coral reefs deep in Scottish oceans. They are called ‘Lophelia Pertusa’ and can grow with very little sunlight in the deep deep sea. These reefs are the only ones in their family and are far paler in colour than those found in warmer oceans. ‘Lophelia’ corals provide a unique habitat for hundreds of different species of invertebrates, fish, algae, seaweed, and so, some of which are endangered. They are only found in Scottish and Norwegian waters and many of these species would not be able to live anywhere else.

I felt it would be fitting to include a message about preservation in my project, having always been both interested and active in ecological conservation. How exactly I will achieve this is what I will have to work on over the next year.

Aquaria

In order to start producing a body of drawing I visited the aquarium in Loch Lomond. I spent about 5 hours there and it was reall quite tranquil and very enjoyable. I had a fantastic time and managed to fill half a sketch book.

A few weeks later I visited another aquarium, this time in Bristol and had a similarly pleasant day.

On both days I had been more drawn to ocean floor creatures. Things such as urchins, anemones, corals, and so on. I liked the way that the anemones moved with the flow of the water and all the small details I could pick out. Going forward I will do some research into what other species live in the same habitats as the ones I was drawing and take my project on from there.

Playlist for life

While in the IRISS office yesterday, which I posted about earlier, I also had the chance to hear about a really inspiring project called ‘Playlist for life’ which is a music therapy tool for people with dementia. The idea is to create a tailored playlist with songs that bring up memories helping families to reconnect. They have a really touching video on their site which shows one couples story;

IRISS

I popped into the Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services (IRISS) yesterday morning to have a chat with a few of the staff about the work they had been doing on dementia. I had thought, incorrectly, that IRISS was centered around research in the mental health field, which, apparently is a common mistake. What they actually do is gather information and evidence that is pre-existing and use it to develop tools and techniques to improve the care system. Their work carries through to promoting the use of these outcomes in care communities.

The main focus of our discussion was the ‘Creative Quarter‘ project, which is all about encouraging practitioners to think differently about their approach to care, using creativity to promote better outcomes. The project has three strands; one strand is trying to understand the use of the arts in social services, another is trying to support people to develop new ideas and new enterprises, locally in communities, and the third is trying to improve creative practice; helping practitioners to work together and also use a variety of different methods in their practice to try and improve quality of life. They ran a number of workshops and event to try and expose people to the different methodologies.

IRISS works with all areas of mental health and social care and their work with creativity carried throughout. I think it’s really interesting that creativity can have such a positive effect on people’s wellbeing, particularly since many people think that they lack creativity.

Another thing which we talked about was the importance of changing a person with dementia’s routine. In particular  one story about a couple stood out to me. After receiving his diagnoses, a man and his wife found that all the fun had gone out of their life, they had planned a visit to the Dementia center in Stirling (DSDC) to find out exactly what to expect. They found that they really enjoyed going out on that day trip, visiting somewhere new and had had a lot of fun. This is something that has come up again and again, changing routines and breaking the cycle of monotony to really stimulate the brain and improve quality of life.

There is loads of information on both the IRISS and Creative Quarter websites so I will be revisiting both in future posts.

Foreign bear studio

Interview number three on the dissertation research mission was with Phil and Genevieve McMahon. The brains behind Foreign bear studio, an up and coming spatial design company based in London’s Hackney. This interview was about finding out more about creative start-ups and what it takes to get one going. Here’s what we talked about:

How did you decide to start Foreign bear studio?

It was after moving into our first flat, that was our first opportunity for design. It gave us the freedom to do exactly what we wanted.  That sparked something that we wanted to do. We had gotten good feedback as well. It was a very organic decision that developed on its own. It took a while

What did it take to get it off the ground?

A lot of boring formal work, we worked with company’s house to get things going.  There was a lot to be done with accounts and other behind the scenes stuff. You have to learn as you go. Phil did a business course so he learned bits and bobs doing that but you just have to jump in at the deep end.

The team we worked with was a big thing, understanding what they expected from us and what we needed from them. We spent a lot of time figuring out who we could work with to get the finish we wanted. Our expectations of the finished product are a bit higher than what would normally be asked of. We had to figure things out like the schedule of work, when to order certain materials to be installed so that the workmen weren’t waiting about with nothing to do. Things have to be put in in a particular order and it really important to get it all done on time so people are always busy. We learned we had to make decisions quickly as well.

There are new problems which arise with every project, you can think that you’re on track and then something comes along which you weren’t expecting so you are constantly having to adapt.

What are the benefits of living in London?

Great access to what is contemporary in design. There are constant trade shows, showrooms,  antique shops, and exhibitions which are all easily accessible. The city is immersed in design, it’s the whole international scene, but right on your doorstep.  There is a lot you feed into and take influence from. You can take part in things too, exhibiting and so on. London has a unique energy.

What are the disadvantages? (I got two simultaneous answers for this one: ‘competition’ ’expensive’)

There are so many people coming to London to make it. It’s hard to get noticed and to keep your head above water. It’s not enough to just get noticed once you have to keep coming back with more work, getting more people to take note of what you are doing. We did talk about moving but we would have to give it up.

The expense is an issue too, everything in London costs more, but then you are able to charge more as well.

Do you have an accountant, solicitor, or PR manager whom you work with?

We work with an architect and a solicitor; we use them for each project. The council plays a big part, getting planning permission, and there are conservation areas to contend with too.  Any structural work done in a building has to be inspected by a building control officer to make sure it’s all up to code.

What kind of relationship do you have with the people you work with?

It’s important to keep it professional and to have boundaries. Having good relationships is really important for a business. It took us a while to get together a trustworthy team who we knew would give us the results we wanted.

We found that it was important to make daily site visits to make sure everything was going in, as we wanted.  If you are around a lot you can catch mistakes almost before they happen. You might find a joist that’s a centimeter off and it’s vital you move it early on to avoid having to rip things out later.

How do you gauge pricing?

It’s very difficult to do pricing, and it differs depending on the job. We have friend who work in the industry so we can draw up proposals and they check the pricing for us, and then we do the same for them. If we were doing a consulting job it would be priced by the hour, whereas if you were to be doing a lot of drawing you would do it per sketch. A budget for a house is different again; we actually have a detailed spreadsheet made up. It took us a while to collate enough data from our projects. Once the information had built up you could use it to make a rough estimate of what a kitchen or a bathroom would cost and use that as a starting point. You are always going to be a bit off with budget that comes with the territory.

It is different again if we are working for a client, we then have to factor in our time. That is probably something we should be doing for every project but it hasn’t happened yet.

What about dry spells?

You are trying all the time to get the next bit of work. We just finished up a project on Friday we are now trying to get a plot in London. We have put a packet of drawing and proposals together for the council. You are always thinking about what’s next, even when you are working on something. There will sometimes be a lapse in between but you can use that to catch up on other things. Coming up to the end of a project you don’t have time to think. You are constantly on the go and getting things done so other things start to mount up. There are letters to send and bills to pay, other boring stuff like that that you fall behind on.

Do you have a specific schedule that you work to?

Phil does the paperwork but that can be difficult when you are on site all the time. There are outgoings and in-comings as well as various applications for the council; you have to insure you have these things. It can sometimes be a struggle to keep on top of it. Things can happen, problems arise, which pull you out of the office. It would make sense to take care of the paper work on say a Wednesday but it doesn’t always work out.

Do you make mood boards?

Yes, it’s good to have everything to do with a project in one place. It sinks into your subconscious. We had a picture with a staircase in it up on the wall ages ago and it resurfaced recently and I realised how similar it looked to a recent project we did. The staircase had been inspired by this forgotten image. As a designer it’s really important to be surrounded with visuals.

 

Do you have a set group of people you always work with?

We mentioned the build team earlier but aside from that we tend to always use the same suppliers for each project. Every job brings something new though, for this one we designed a bespoke marble sink so we needed a new supplier for that. We don’t usually ever meet our suppliers in person but get to know them quite well from long conversations on the phone and via email. We are quite independent of everyone and just touch in and out of people’s worlds. Our suppliers live all across England. The sense of completion at the end of a project doesn’t spread out to everyone.

 

I think the main points to take away from this interview were the importance of selecting the right people to work with, who you know will produce the quality of work that you want, getting everything done in the right order, and getting supplies ordered on time, also the importance of adaptability, being able to evolve and change how you work to cater for new and unexpected problems which may occur. Another thing, which I think is vital, is surrounding yourself with inspiration, be it mood boards or local museums, most of what an artist or designer produces is heavily influenced by the world around them.

It was really interesting to see the inside of the foreign bear studio, after having seen photos of it. The studio and their work have been featured in quite a few magazines and are really making a name for themselves.