Locating - The Start

The new 'Locating' project has began, & I have decided to take part in the Dashing Tweeds brief. Even though it has only just started I'm really excited to get work. Usually I base my work on interiors, however I have always loved fashion. This project, depending on how well it turns out, might just sway my career thoughts towards fashion.

Menswear isn't something that I have ever really thought about. And I think for many years it's been seriously neglected. Dashing Tweeds is an exciting brand, it brings fun & eccentricity into menswear & I can't wait to get properly started on the project.

Weaving Away The Days

One of the things I love most about a full day in the Weave Workshop is how once it gets to 4.30 & it's time to leave, I really do feel like I've done a hard days graft. Mentally & physically, it's quite challenging to think so much about structures & numbers, staring at tiny details, all the while peddling like your life depends on it & passing the shuttle from left to right & back again, all for around 6 hours a day. But this isn't a complaint, it's because of all this that I feel such a sense of accomplishment when I finish another sample. It's the technical side of things that I really enjoy, I like finding out how things work & how to fix something when it seems like it's gone wrong.

The past couple of weeks I've just been weaving. Quite a lot. At the beginning of this unit the idea of 'Thinking by Making' was brought up, and I loved this because it suited my way of working. So I've just been trying my best to produce samples I can be happy with, experimenting with different structures, figuring  out my weft colours & using my actual samples as inspiration for drawing.

Development.

I've been thinking about how I can translate different elements from my photographs into my drawing work, work that will hopefully then be able to translate into my weaving.

This can be quite challenging sometimes & something I previously could have done better; this time round I'm determined to step outside my comfort zone & try more abstract ways of drawing, painting & mark making.

Using different artists & designers for inspiration, I found that I really liked the weave work of Jan Garside, and the abstract nature of Twombley's paintings was exactly what I was looking for.

From this I just decided to try as many things as I could such as stretching paper, using things like plastic cutlery to paint with, masking parts of images off, embroidery, dyeing & painting fabric. 

Setting up in the Weave Workshop.

For my workshop I have chosen Weave again & I'm so happy that I managed to get a place. It's not something that you can do once & get the hang of, it's definitely something that you have to do over & over again to become good at it, which is what I intend to do.

This time I am finally getting to go an electric floor loom rather than a table top like the two previous times. This is both exciting & scary. I really have no idea whether I'm going to be able to get the hang of a more complicated machine, however this time round I have tried to make the warping process more simple, choosing to use one warp rather than two.

I have though, decided to make my warp all in wool as I plan to attempt to shrink my samples to add movement at the end of the weaving process. I have also block threaded my warp so that I can create 3 different patterns next to each other & then the selvedge is also seperate. My warp has been threaded into half inch blocks which did take a while to thread as the whole thing is 14 inches.

Alongside threading up the machine & preparing to weave, I have also been drawing up structures on graph paper. The last couple of times I have woven, I have found that it really helps me to write the shaft numbers down too, next to the drawn out structures, seeing the actual numbers seems to help me apply the structures a lot quicker.

The Maratime Museum

As I'm giving my project a nautical theme, it was suggested that I take a trip to The Maratime Musuem in my hometown of Liverpool. Having not been for a number of years it was something to really look forward to.

There was a Titanic exhibition on that I found really moving, it was all about the passengers onboard rather than the incident itself; so who they were travelling with, where they were going & why, what class they were travelling in & then of course whether or not they survived. The idea was that you picked up a card on your way in with a photograph of a passenger on, with their name & details, then you followed their story through the exhibition until the end. 

I also looked at the old paintings of the ships & docks, loving the painterly quality & the blends of colour. A lot of them where very dramatic & stormy, something which I wouldn't mind trying to bring into my own work.

Outside I found that the sun on the water was creating some calm, light ripple patterns on the water, a total contrast to what I just seen in the paintings in the museum.

The Beginning of Intentions

Recently I've been getting on with work for the new 'Intentions' unit. This unit is going to be a lot more focused towards context & what we actually want to do after graduation, which is slightly nerve-wracking, however I do feel that the last year really to help to point me in the right direction. 

Now I feel like interiors should definitely be my context & I'm beginning to notice a style of my own appearing when it comes to colour choices & combinations. In the coming workshop signup, I'm hoping to be able to get back into the weave workshop & hopefully stay there so that I can really build up my skills & better myself within that area.

The visit that I made to the Tall Ships event over summer has been what has kickstarted this project for me. I've been contemplating the idea of story telling & showing a journey through my work. 

For now though I have just been drawing from the images & creating little paintings inspired by the sea.

Hopefully once I know what workshop I will be doing, the drawing & painting should gain a little more direction & then will be able to translate more easily into my work.

The Tall Ships

As a lover of all things nautical, I was really happy that the tall ships would be visiting Liverpool again. 

Unfortunately I was not able to make the full event but managed to see as much as I could before the weekend.

The crowds & the lively atmosphere was a surprise with it being so early in the morning.

Having the opportunity to go aboard the boats was really interesting, as was meeting the people in charge & I loved the different colours & textures that could found.

A small summary.

So I thought it would be a good idea just to sum up Unit X & my end points.

To start with I found the whole concept really confusing, the thought of the final pieces being purely digital scared me a little & if I'm honest I wasn't happy with the thought of not actually making anything physical. 

Once I figured out that the project could be whatever I wanted it to be, things got easier. I wish that I could have realised earlier on in the project what it was I wanted to create as the first few weeks were quite panicked. Realising that I wanted to make a public seating area was the turning point, as soon as I figured that out I felt as though the wheels could finally start moving.

If the seating area were to be real, the floor would be made of something reflective such as plastic or vinyl etc. The walls would be draped with a sheer, thin polyester or even muslin, enabling the colour projections to look less flat & more dream-like. 

I've mentioned before that I've struggled to show my personality through my work so far on the course, however this time I really think I have. I've always had an interest in children's interiors & a tutor described my idea as almost a play area for 'big kids' and I loved that comparison. 

Final Image

For my 'strong image' I decided to use a close up photograph of a few of my samples. The samples show both knit & print & are some of the most successful samples that I produced.

Final Visualisation

I'm really pleased with how my visualisation turned out. It had been a while since I had properly used Photoshop or Illustrator so I felt a little rusty so start with but I'm so glad I got back into it.

I think the image shows the light, airy nature I want the room to have. I didn't want to overcrowd it with people, but if the space was real I'd hope that lots more people would be around.

Context Sheet

I really enjoyed putting my context sheet together, it was a good way of seeing all the different things that had lead me to the end of my project. I felt a little as though I had too much to put on it, so had to keep eliminating samples.

This is what the finished sheet looks like:

Colour Change Video

For the walls of the space I'm creating, I would like there to be a projection of colour that changes throughout the day, so for this I've created a short film as an example.

I created a series of colours & gradients in Photoshop, saved them as jpegs & imported them all into iMovie. I shortened the time as much as I could without losing the effect, just so the video itself doesn't drag on for too long as it is just an example.

Also, I felt that watching it with added sound made it more appealing.

It was my first ever attempt as using iMovie & it was a lot more simple than Final Cut Pro, hopefully I can use this for future projects.

For the projections I'm thinking there could be thin white fabric draped on each wall for the colours to be projected on to, this could help achieve the dream-like effect I'm after.

Digital Visualisation so far...

Recently I've been concentrating on the digital side of the project, as it's a really important factor in the end proposal. 

I just thought I would give an indication of how it's looking at the moment. This is the version that I'm working with at the moment & things are going to be moved/tweaked/added over the next few days.

I'm hoping to produce a film that shows how I would like the colours of the walls to change gradually, so it would be great if I could add that to this image when it's all complete.

Livingstones by Smarin

I found 'Livingstones' by Smarin whilst looking for furniture inspiration, I was looking for something which had the same fun element that I'm trying to create. Finding the whole website was a bonus, I was genuinely excited looking at all the different ideas the company has. I love how the furniture they design is to create a certain 'feel', yet is still contemporary.

Livingstones

I also love how they described this piece on the website:

"Oversized pebbles, a resting area with varying sizes and shapes that can be arranged according to your mood, for contemporary interiors. Pebbles as a fanciful landscape for ideal and permanent holidays, which can be transformed into an enjoyable domestic game."

Knit Samples

These are some of my favourite samples to come of my time in the knit room.

When looking through punch cards I decided to keep pattern as similar to those on the goose houses as I possibly could. 

Knitting.

This time I wanted to work more with colour rather than plain knits for printing just to try out different possibilities for the furniture I've been thinking of. 

Being someone who gets distracted fairly easily, I find the knit room quite relaxing and could happily sit for a few hours just making knits.

Visualising Furniture.

In the space I'm creating, as well as having a relaxed feel, I'd also like it to feel quite whimsical & odd. For it to be not like anything that you would expect to see in an institution for education. So for furniture I've had so many ideas on how I can bring a fun & playful nature to the room, whilst also providing comfort.

The ideas I've had so far are poufs, beanbags, hammocks, inflatables, large scale cushions & just general padded seating. I'm thinking that I'd like everything to be quite mismatched when it comes to shape & size.

I've been creating basic drawings in Illustrator of beanbags & hope to move on to other ideas soon.

Printing

I managed to get back into the print room, and using stencils was able to create some simple colour blends on to both fabric and my own knit samples.

In regards to furniture, I would like to keep pattern to a minimal but still include some. So I tried just using stripes of the diamond pattern rather than overcrowding the fabrics.

I'm not 100% sure if I'm happy with how the results turned out. Maybe going back into the knit room will provide me with more inspiration.

Starting on visualisations.

I was feeling slightly disappointed that I didn't manage to get in the print room today, hopefully I'll be able to continue where I left off asap.

Instead I decided to work on some visualisations, having started about a week ago but not being extremely proactive about it. As I haven't really worked on Photoshop very much since my BTEC Graphics course, part of me was scared that I would have forgotten everything. It does feel good to be getting back into it though.

A photo from the ground floor of the new build, taken from the mmu website.

The beginning of visualisations.

I'm also hoping to use basic templates of the space & use collage to create more visualisations.

Colour Blend Printing

Today I've been in the print room (even choosing the table with a backing cloth that matches my colour palette...), mostly mixing my pigments & producing a few test prints. During the week hopefully I will creating some good quality samples.

The colours may need lightening a little, and the tests have also shown how the knits absorb the pigment, so maybe less pulls will work better next time.

CV

Textile Designer
Mellisa Ward

Personal Description

I am a determined and enthusiastic designer who is extremely passionate about the work I do. I am the kind of person who will not give up easily if an idea has not worked the first time round and will always try to think logically and creatively about a situation to make it work. My passion lies with design and constructed textiles, I love working with colour and I am also interested in print. Learning new skills is also something that I will always enjoy doing.

Creative Skills

Drawing, screen printing, hand embroidery, print making, hand knitting, machine knitting, weave. Floral design and arrangement skills. Skills in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop as well as Microsoft Office.

Education

Sep 2011 - Present Manchester Metropolitan University  

BA(Hons) Textiles in Practice

Sep 2010 - June 2011 Knowsley Community College  

BTEC Foundation Diploma in Art & Design (Merit)

Sep 2008 - June 2010 Hugh Baird College  

BTEC National Diploma in Graphic Design (Triple Distinction)

Sep 2007 - May 2008 Mysercough College  

Design for Craft & Floristry  

10 GCSE's achieved at Brookfield High School, grades A-D including Graphic Design (A) and Expressive Arts (D) which was achieved at age 14.

Work Experience

October 2010 - September 2011 QVC - The Shopping Channel 

I worked for the UK's current leading shopping channel at their call centre headquarters in Knowsley, Merseyside. My role was contacting customers regarding various issues with orders they had made and handling very personal data. As well as all associated office/call centre skills, the role required patience, a positive attitude and an understanding and friendly nature. I was a part of a small team within a huge team and thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I finished at QVC due to moving to Manchester to pursue my degree.

2010 - Present Hotbox Events 

During the summer I take part in a volunteer scheme with Hotbox Events, who work with various music festivals across the country. I have worked as a campsite assistant at Latitude, The Big Chill and Leeds Festival. The main duty is to assist the campers with general tasks such as carrying belongings and giving out basic information and directions. The role also requires communicating and assisting with fire and medical teams.

2010 - 2011 Compass Group for Jockey Club Catering 

I worked as bar staff/cashier on a casual basis at various racecourses in the North of England. The events were challenging and fast paced, high standards and perfect presentation were very important, presentation being something that I am very passionate about with any work that I do.


References are available on request.

Knit Pieces

This week I've been in the knit room creating backgrounds for print. I've really enjoyed getting back in the knit workshop, creating physical pieces is where I feel most happy & comfortable.

I've stuck to the neutral parts of my colour palette as I'm hoping to screen print some colour blends on top of the samples, using stencils with a blank screen.

Claire-Anne O'Brien

I was first introduced to Claire-Anne O'Brien on the group blog, a post by Bethany Smith who thought I may find the reference helpful & I really did!

Claire-Anne O'Brien is a textile designer who mostly specialises in knitted pieces. There is a real sculptural element to her work, instead of flat knitting she prefers to construct items.

I've been thinking about the creation of comfortable furniture to go in my space & trying to think of how this can take on various forms. I had been thinking that i'd love to combine this with knit as it's something I really enjoy, this was an approach that had not crossed my mind until now.

Colours...

There was something that I thought wasn't quite working with the last colours colour palettes & colour wraps that I had made. So I decided to make a few more colour wraps rather than paint the colours as I feel more inspired by yarn colours.

I'm happier with these new colours.

Testing Colours

Tomorrow I will be going into the knit room to start on some physical samples and I'm really looking forward to it. I would say that it is usually in the making stage that most of my ideas start to come about and develop, which is perhaps why I've found it difficult so far. 

I'm hoping to create some samples using the colours I've chosen and then some more plain, muted colours like beiges, creams and light greys to hopefully print on top of. I've been doing some colour work in my sketchbook and also colour wraps and as you can see, the tones have turned out really differently:

The paler shades may work better for the atmosphere I'm trying to achieve, but just to be sure I'm going to make sure I try both as well as any other ideas that might come to me whilst knitting. 

The thought of going into workshops has put my mind at ease.

Marcel Wanders.

Marcel Wanders is a Dutch designer who specialises in interiors, architectural design & furniture. Apparently he's been described as 'the Lady Gaga of design', which I found really funny!

Expo 2000

When I first looked at his work, I noticed that the rooms & spaces created tend to make an instant impact. They're definitely not shy & retiring pieces. They make an impression at first glance & I'm starting to think that might be something that I'd like to try & incorporate into my own work.

In Expo 2000 (pictured) the ice-like reflective floor reminded me of the reflections in the water of the canals. 

Creating an atmosphere...

I've felt a huge sense of relief recently as I've finally been able to visualise an end point. Not being able to figure out where I wanted unit X to go has been really difficult, it's felt as though I've been carrying this big, black cloud over my head.

Speaking with people from other groups as well as tutors has really helped & made me realise that the literal mindset I was in wasn't doing me any favours. I needed to get that 'make a final piece' nonsense out of my head. And now that I've been able to chase away the rain cloud, I can finally think clearly about what it is I'm interested in & what it is that I love about art & textiles.

Right now, the focus is to create a space that is based on the canals around the city centre; however instead of thinking so much about the imagery I'm now thinking about an atmosphere. The areas around the canals have this sense of tranquility & calm. It might sound simple but it's just a lovely place to be & that's the kind of mood that I'd like to bring to the space.

Using the imagery.

I've been unsure on how to use the imagery that I've collected, especially with still being slightly unsure of my end point. I started to do small, simple watercolours in the hope that an idea would spring up. 

I'm not sure why I always take things so literally, I hoped I'd have learned my lesson for this project!

However I think I've finally got it in my head that I don't always have to draw things out. I'm going to move on to a different approach, hopefully it will generate more ideas.

I've started to think more about atmosphere & mood. Looking at Michael Lin's work has given me the idea that maybe I should create some sort of public area.

Arrivals Part2: 6 images.

The task was to select 6 images that I thought summed up the project so far.

So from the top left, clockwise: my first colour wraps, imagining the space in google sketch up, a photo of the canals complete with vidid reflections in the water, Michael Lin's 'Grind', a photo of a goose & the tiny 'goose houses' that I loved & the original Arrivals image of Ledbury High Street.

'The sun makes everything better.'

After the last photo's I took around the canals, I decided to go back & take some more, hoping for brighter weather this time! I had a couple of false starts were I thought the weather was better then it would suddenly start to rain. Typical Manchester.

But when the sun finally showed itself, I was out with my camera.

I thought taking photographs from near enough the same positions was a good idea, just to see how the weather can have an effect on changes in atmosphere & mood. 

Narrowboats & Canals

So I went back to the places I had originally photographed & it's amazing what difference a bit of sun makes. The areas looked so much fresher & just more appealing. The sun had brought out an abundance of narrowboats which was exactly what I was after.

I've been looking into the history of Manchester's canals & how they played an intrinsic part in carrying materials into the city & transporting goods out. So while the canals have an important history, the narrowboats are just something that I feel add character. I just think there's something really charming about a neat row of colourful narrowboats, bobbing along in the sun.

Michael Lin

Michael Lin creates art from & within public spaces, usually with floor or wall pieces.

His work is so bold & colourful & like nothing I've ever seen before. I love the idea of making an art feature out of a cafe or foyer.

'Palais de Tokyo'

'Grind'

In 'Grind' the feature is a combination of wall & floor, almost as though a giant roll of wallpaper has been dropped from the ceiling & rolled across the floor.

Around the Canals...

I've felt a lack of inspiration so early on in the project, so finding the canals was really lucky. I just find them so interesting, it's so so close to the city centre, but it's so quiet.

There wasn't many people around, it was the middle of the afternoon & after spending an hour there I only saw 3 other people. It's kind of like place is wasted, which is a shame & it's so peaceful.

Maybe the lack of people wandering round is why it's so peaceful? Who knows.

The geese were slightly frightening at first, they followed me round almost as though I was on their territory!

I did sit for quite a while, just listening to the sounds. The water, the wind & the occasional faint sound of a train going past.

I'm not sure just yet what it is I want to do with this project. I'm not confident that the imagery I'm finding is good enough & my ideas are changing everyday.

Cobblestone Streets

After my arrivals task I decided to go & photograph places around Manchester that had a similar look to them. I found that Manchester has a lot of traditional looking streets, particularly around by Potato Wharf & MOSI. There was lots of winding, cobbled roads that I found fascinating.

It was quite a dull, dreary day, so the photographs I took didn't really have the atmosphere that I wanted. I wanted quite a vibrant feel, but you can't help the weather!

On the day of taking the photo's, I was lead towards the canals nearby & lots of little places I had never before. Maybe that's what I should be concentrating on!

Arrivals

Having realised that the arrivals task was going to be the starting point for this project, I decided to abandon my original idea & come up with something that was true to myself & that I could be 100% happy with.
At first I was really struggling, I felt as though fellow students in the Living It group had been on fascinating trips & exotic holidays, something that I just can't relate to! So I have been feeling slightly bewildered, not really knowing where to start.
I regularly volunteer at music festivals over the summer & in 2010 travelled to Ledbury to work at The Big Chill. Arriving via coach, through the thin, winding country roads, allowed time to just look out of the window & take in what was just simple beauty. Being from a big city, Ledbury just fascinated me. It was like stepping back in time, in a good way.

 Arriving on the high street, I was confused to see independent shops instead of high street chains, small vintage cafe's & a lack of traffic, infact I don't think there was any vehicles apart from the coach I had just stepped off.  Amongst the totally new atmosphere, I found something that I could resonate with, the cobblestones & old style street lamps reminded me of around the docks in Liverpool. So suddenly I was thinking about home.

There is something warm & welcoming about having something familiar in a not so familiar place.

So that is where I'm currently up to.
Just like the first day at Uni or the start of a new job, arriving at a new place can be daunting.
Familiarity makes people feel more comfortable.
So that has now become my aim; to produce designs for the new building that hopefully will create a warm, relaxed & welcoming atmosphere.

The End of Sampling: Part 2

Writing my own brief was something I was really excited about, as I felt that I had struggled in the first half of the project, I hoped that I would make positive changes to help me further my work. In some senses I believe that I achieved this, I gained an enthusiasm and a good work ethic towards knit. However on the other hand I'm not so sure that I chose the correct subject matter to link in with knitted pieces.

This project has very much confirmed to me that I am a constructed textiles person.

I believe that my main strength for this project as a whole has been making the most of the workshops. I have been working away in the weave and knit rooms on every available day, trying hard to produce samples that I can be proud of, but most of all I've been enjoying myself.

When I first started in the knit room I was unsure of what to expect, I just hoped that I would like it. Although I found it difficult sometimes to relate the samples I was producing to my brief, I was just enjoying learning all the techniques. I seemed to pick things up relatively quickly so I was able to produce my technical file first and then that left the time I had left to concentrate on my samples. I feel that I used my colour palette effectively and even received a comment that the colours used are very 'me'. This was not done on purpose, however I am glad that I am getting my personality across colour wise.

When I think of 'Lost & Found', both words create a different image. 'Lost', to me, creates a worn, used and rejected image. Yet 'Found' creates the image of a new lease of life, fresh and clean.

I decided to use these perceptions when creating my samples, so that some of them would like slightly worn out with duller colours while the others would look neat, brighter and more clean cut. I also kept this mind when thinking about presentation, displaying the 'Found' samples neatly and putting the 'Found' samples in a small box.

Even though I've felt like practical samples have gone really well, the drawing and imagery side of things has still been something I have struggled with. Finding the right imagery to draw from has been difficult, however I feel that mark making has helped. The mark making lesson in which we made our own tools was something I found really helpful. In all honesty, I enjoyed making the tools more than I did the mark making itself. Usually when I do mark making I will only use black and white media, this time around I have tried to experiment with colours.

In my brief I have written about how I would use keys and coins, however I don't think that I have done enough that relates to that. Other than a few drawings and some sketches in my sketchbook I have found it difficult to incorporate this into my knit. However I am really happy with how my knit samples turned out despite of this.

This project has been quite a learning curve, so if I were to do it all over again the only thing I would maybe change would be to concentrate more on texture rather than worrying about imagery.

I feel like this project has helped me to learn a lot about myself and the way I work.

Keeping Things Simple

I feel as though I've had too many idea's for this project.

All I've done is complicate things & confuse myself more & more. So now I'm happy that I've found how I would like to use the rest of the time I have left on the project.

This photo is so simple. It's just some of the yarns that I've been working with between weave & knit & I think that it's really effective. 

So now that my knit samples are on the go & I'm feeling myself enjoying it more, I'm just going to concentrate on making my samples the best I can possibly make them. Then hopefully they will shine through at the end of the project - fingers crossed.

The Museum of Science & Industry.

To coincide with my new found love of constructed textiles, I took a trip to the Museum of Science & Industry to visit the textile gallery. It was great to see lots of old industrial machines along with the same types that are still used today.

I also found this bundle/pile of fabric really interesting; the mixture of the different colours & clashing prints really caught my eye.