Full critical journal by Amy Buckley

Amy Buckley

Critical Journal

Contents Introduction

Visual Research Trend Research Colour Research Photograms Blurring Textures Lace

2 5 6 9 29 35 39

Final Collections Collection One Collection Two

43 44 56

Conclusion

References

Introduction Before beginning any research into print trends and techniques, I knew the end use of my print was going to be lingerie and loungewear. I chose to create two collections both based of florals as they are a main theme within lingerie and loungewear, meaning my collection will be very appropriate to the market. The scope of floral designs within lingerie are very broad, ranging from water colours to detailed illustrations to photographic. Including elements from a spectrum of styles will benefit my collection by making it applicable for any area of the market and would widen the possibility of creating a collection with distinctively different designs.

Visual Research To begin my visual research, I decided I wanted to create a range of visual elements ranging from clear to abstract, graphic to hand drawn, flat to tactile; by creating a varied collection of visual aids early on in the project, it will be more possible for me to create complex designs throughout the development stages. The first element of visual research I created, were photographs taken in Leeds Kirkgate Market; capturing my own images to work with gave me many possibilities as to how to use them. After considering the style of floral prints I was aiming to create, I manipulated my images using Photoshop to create a blurred, smoky feel to them. This process was done by layering up the same image that was set at a small opacity level at slightly different positions; this created the illusion that the camera had been moved when the image was being taken. These will be a reference point when doing some drawings and paintings to help achieve a blurred effect within my work.

Dreamy florals laze in a haze of soft, sweet color - WGSN

Trend Research Stencil effects are key - WGSN

Photographic style coupled with subtle overlays - WGSN

After receiving the brief and deciding on a theme of florals, the next step was to carry out some trend forecasting analysis. With the use of WGSN I came across two trends set for SS 16 and AW 16/17; the two trends harboured similar themes and concepts. Pastel abstraction, floral haze pastel blocks and stencil florals. AI work combine the main themes from each trend as they both work well with the work I have already carried out.

Following research into print trends and working with the idea of hazy pastel florals, I felt as though I needed more information on colours trends. The key colours in the trend I am working towards vary from deep navies, to cool blues and greens to dusty pinks. The idea of having such a broad range of colours to work with is really exciting and gives me a lot of scope for visual research processes.

This palette gathers warm neutral tones. - WGSN

Although the tones within the trend research are very appropriate to lingerie, I feel as if my prints would benefit from using some more saturated colours to create complexity.

Colour Research Color turns soft and dreamy, as the palette is bathed in a nostalgic, rose-tinted light - WGSN

A new romantic movement -WGSN

My Collection My final pieces will be divided between two collections; the first concentrated on prints for lingerie and the second for loungewear and fashion, which means the pieces will be designed to successfully transfer from loungewear to fashion.

When designing the two collections I will take into account aspects such as scale of repeats and appropriateness of colour for each collection; for instance smaller scales and less saturated prints are more suitable for lingerie, with loungewear and fashion being more forgiving for larger prints and brighter colours. Having two collections allows me to create a full range of designs that are complex and visually stimulating.

Customer Profile Free spririted

Age 20 - 30

Bohemian

Calm lifestyle

Photograms After creating my blurred photographic visual research, I looked into a photography technique deriving from the 1700â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s called photogramming, which involves placing objects onto photography paper and exposing it to artificial light. Many examples of photograms I have seen contained blurred lines and hazy ambiguous shapes which is a visual element I am keen to replicate within my work. I was able to get access to a dark room and began experimenting with different exposures and objects. A technique that worked well to create a blurred edge, was creating a long exposure and moving the objects back and forth very slightly; this allowed light to pass the object around the edges making an ambiguous outline. This is the technique I will use to build up a collection of blurred photograms.I intend to explore further into how to use photogramming to my advantage in relation to the blurring of florals.

I then placed these photograms into Photoshop and combined them with my flower images. By doing this I was keeping on trend by creating stencil effects and utilising positive and negative spaces; these pieces also combines the idea of hazy florals. By creating these development pieces, I was able to envisage how I can create contrasting textures and tones and how they would then appear in a full repeat pattern. Following this experimenting, I knew I wanted to work more with graphic techniques. My first developmental work I experimented with, was how I could introduce textures and layers into my work. I wanted the blurred effect in my prints as it fits with my trend research and my photographs; by having parts of my prints blurred, will hopefully add some movement into my prints. I feel as though these worked well and I got the effect I was hoping for and will carry on creating and exploring textures in juxtaposition with my photograms.

Floris Neusüss Neusüss’ first collection of whole body photograms, seen on the following pages were said to have‘brought renewed ambition to the photogram process’ (Victoria and Albert, 2010). Neusüss uses the old technique of photogramming to create contempory peices of photography. The shadow like outlines on Neusüss’ whole-body photograms stood out to me as an effect I would like to achieve in my work, again to fit in with my trend research. Neusüss’ work has encouraged me to attempt hazy outlines and shapes when creating my own photograms in the dark room. To do this I will experiment with different levels of exposure and try out techniques that are used to develop soft images.

The grid structured created in the image below informed a need for an additional visual element within my photograms; this would support a contrast between blurred images of organic objects with clear images of man-made objects. Within my following photograms I used this notion and created photograms of a loose weave hessian fabric; this generated a texture which I hope will add complexity to my prints. The weave structure also reinforces the idea of juxtaposing old and new elements within my work; using an old photography technique to create an image of fabric which will then be pritned onto fabric using modern printing techniques.

Natalie Ratcliffe Ratcliffes work caught my interest in relation to my work as her work ‘combines traditional printmaking techniques with contemporary practices such as computer-aided design, as she strives to preserve and enhance one alongside the other.’(Natalie Ratcliffe, 2013) which relates closely to the notion of juxtaposing old and new within my designs. Ratcliffes collection ‘Paper Bouquet’ contains imagarey of flora and fauna created by using a old photographic technique much like photograms. Ratcliffe used Cyanotype, which when exposed to natural light develops into a blue colour, meaning when an object is blocking the light, a change in colour can be seen. This technique is very similar to photogramming and produces images which are very relevant to my project. Using Cyanotype as a printing method wouldn’t be as suchessful as using photograms as I wouldn’t be able to acheive the blurring effect I am aiming for. After viewing Ratcliffe’s work I can see how using old techniques in conjucntion with CAD can work to look very effective.

Becky Earley Becky Earley is well known for her work in Upcycling Textiles and relating her work to eco design theories. With that in mind, her work surrounds using traditional and simple printing techniques to upcycle old clothes. Earley’s Thistle Corsage (2003) and Ever & Again (2007) collections are highly appropriate to my work. Thistle Corsage (right) comprises of blurred edged thistle shapes created by using exhaust printing, which involes using heat to transfer ink onto fabric and using objects as a resit to create motifs. After viewing images of her work, I experimented with exhaust printing using transfer inks and a domestic iron; these peices worked really well in terms of achieving a blurred shape but I feel as if they reached the same outcome as the photograms, yet took much longer (see opposite page). After experimenting with exhaust printing I decided to produce prints soley using photograms. The work within Ever & Again is built up of a combination of digital sublimation printing, where Earley states she had to ‘translate my heat photogram print designs, which used real objects like wire and leaves, into digital repeats using photoshop. ’ (Upcycling Textiles, 2014) which is similar to the process I will have to undertake when developing my prints from photograms.

After looking at artists and designers, specifically designers that use techniques like photogramming directly onto textiles, I have a better understanding of how tehniques such as photogramming can be translated onto textiles and suggest show my prints may look. Following this, I will go onto looking at the concept of blurred images within my prints, to keep in line with my trend reseach.

Photogram inspired prints

Looking back at my trend research it is easy to see how blurred images will be easy to implement in relation to fitting with fashion trends. WGSN’s Elemental A/W 16/17 trend recommends ‘scattered repeats and blur techniques for a windswept feel’ and mention the terms ‘overlapped glassy translucency, cloudy opacity, misty translucence’ which all back up the idea of having blurred areas or motifs within my designs. The S/S 16 print trend Graceful shows the idea of ‘swaying from in focus to fuzzy’, a ‘milky texture brings a hazy, blurred mood to prints’ and mentions using a photographic style combined with subtle overlays which perfectly consistent with my existing work including my early photographs as well as my photograms which can be easily used to create overlays, not to mention the blurred edges of my photograms work well with the notion of swaying in and out of focus.

Blurring

Including a blurred atmosphere to my work will create a certain level of ambiguity by portraying shapes that hint at being floral without being too apparent.

Paul Smith has incorporated blurring through a number of collections. Paul Smithâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collections have included a many different floral prints, some of which have elements that relate to my work; for example blurring of images to give an ambiguous feel. After seeing these prints it became easier for me to see how I could follow the trends and implement these ideas into prints. By using the idea of blurring my images and input it through different elements to create a cohesive collection. Their use of blurring within the back grounds of their prints is something that stoody out to me as a way to show blurring within my prints in a subtle way.

Paul Smith

Ted baker was another designer that caught my attention due to their use of blurred, hazy florals; they successfully implement an out-of-focus feel to their designs in a very obvious manner by creating whole sections of smudged areas that play with the eye attention and create the complexity which I am striving for within my work. Ted bakers use of pastel colour mixed with graphic blur elements keeps the prints suitable for women’s fashion and will help inform my colour choices as to keep my prints ‘feminine’ and appropriate for lingerie and loungewear.

Ted Baker

Osklen’s S/S 16 collection was inspired by the Inhotim, the outdoor contemporary art museum in Brumadinho, Brazil, situated in the middle of large botanical gardens; this contrast was the stimulus for his spring collection. Osklen Metsavaht explains ‘I wanted to capture the feeling when you leave one artist's space and experience this exuberant, tropical moment in the forest’. Osklen’s inspiration of the botanical gardens can be seen in his vibrant floral prints, but what was most interesting for me was his use of monochrome print on very sheer silk. The images found on Osklen’s pieces can be closely related to the ones in my photograms, but most importantly his use of silk creates a highly feminine feel to his collection which will inform my fabric choice Following on from my designer research I will begin to use techniques on Photoshop to implement blurred areas and sections of my prints; to create a diverse range of styles and type of repeats I will vary the ways in which I use blurring techniques.

Osklen

Following creating new photograms, it was clear that there was components missing from my visual research; this is when I began creating textures using paint. To keep with the trends which this project is based on, I considered the term ‘weathered florals’. Both trends I have focussed on within my project have both mentioned the use of textures. Graceful talks of ‘screen print textures’ and ‘hand painted blocks’ whilst Elemental discusses ‘heavy distressing’ ‘florals should look weathered and worn, so apply layers of texture, paint and watercolour’; I tried to create this effect using different coloured paints that are appropriate to my collection, but the most successful colour was black as this worked best when transferred into CAD.

Textural investigation

I first began by creating textures using tones such as pale blue and green; although these looked effective on paper, when I attempted to translate them using CAD they lost their textured aesthetic. This led me on to using different colours and techniques to create textures; I began using darker paints and backgrounds in the hopes that they work more effectively in Photoshop. Creating textures using palette knives and mono printing rollers gave me that hand painted texture the trends discuss. The most successful were the ones created with the printing roller as it gave clear lines and forms, where the palette knife gave a messier look which I thought may be hard to transfer into prints for lingerie. I intend on using my textures as a backdrop to my prints to add depth yet not to take the main focus off the floral elements.

The idea of using hand painted textures within my work really stood out to me when thinking about creating a stripe design as I liked the idea of a flowing stripe that isn’t ‘perfect’. Creating a stripe for lingerie would make a lot of sense as stripes are considered to be ‘slimming’ and flattering to the wearers figure. I want to build up textures and layers to create a complex stripe rather than an explicit standout stripe.

As I began developing my final prints, it was clear some were lacking an additional element and as I analysed them in terms of prints for lingerie it was obvious they needed something to bring them closer to lingerie. As lace is a very large feature within lingerie design it was clear I needed to add lacy elements into my work. Coincidentally lace is a key component within the Graceful trend; they mention ‘dissect patterns from traditional lace and rework them to create graphic motifs’ and ‘individual elements are also scattered into pretty placement graphics’. After understanding this, I aim to use close ups of lace trimmings to highlight areas of my prints in floral forms and using the ‘pretty’ details in the lace to bring my prints closer to the lingerie market.

Lace

I used detailed scans of lace trims and placed them into my existing prints to add an extra level of femininity. I varied the ways in which lace appeared within my prints so not to repeat the same imagery. I feel as if this worked well to bring the collection closer to lingerie and is an aspect I would like to explore more if I have time.

Final collections My final designs are split into two collections; the first for lingerie and the second for loungewear/fashion. I wanted to create pieces that could be worn together and that blur the line between loungewear and fashion. I then designed a second colourway for each design; I decided on a monochromatic colour scheme to create a sultrier feel to the pieces, in contrast to the more delicate colours within the first colourway, making them suitable for two different customers.

Collection One

My first design is made up largely of imagery derived from my photograms. In the foreground of the design you can see how blurring has come into use to create a motion like effect, behind that is a texture created using paint in very similar tones to the background which is also made up of a photogram of hessian. Hessian was used as a background to replicate the structure of a loose weave fabric. Within my trend research, floral scatter prints weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re mentioned as a key trend; this is where the idea for a scatter print started. Although some of the flower motifs are long stemmed I feel as if this print works as a scatter print as I built it up as a half drop repeat, as well as the blurring makes them less apparent.

This print was highly influenced a Paul Smith print which appeared to be a traditional floral print that had been cut up and rearranged. I really admired how well the print was displaced yet still appeared heavily floral. For this print I used detailed sections of my photograms and rotated segments to create that same displaced appearance. This print underwent a lot of deliberating surrounding colour as I found it worked well in black and white, pink and blue; I added a contrasting colour and decided the blue and coral worked the most efficiently as it creates a complementary colour way for me to work around when designing further prints. This print was intended to be a very small print, yet found that detail was being lost so I increased the scale of it and found it worked much better and was still appropriate for both lingerie and loungewear as it could also appear as a check style print which is very popular within loungewear. Blur was later added to a small number of sections in this print, this was to tie all of the prints together and create a more interesting print for the viewerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eye to work out.

Creating a stripe for lingerie felt very natural and appropriate as stripes are a huge print used within that market due to its slimming qualities. My stripe was built up using hand painted stripes and textures to create a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;weatheredâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; look which have then been juxtaposed with floral shaped lace, which I designed to create a diagonal stripe running through the print to increase viewer interest. The addition of lace was in the aim to bring the print closer to being appropriate and fitting for lingerie. Blurring through the top layer of stripe again creates a movement like appearance and takes away what I saw as a harsh line, whilst also creating interesting colours as it becomes transparent. Overall I feel this is a successful stripe in both colourways as both are very feminine, with pink being more playful whilst dark reds and purples being sultrier.

The inspiration for this design were mainly small ditsy style floral prints; I felt the collection needed a very small print that could be used as an all over print or used on panels on a garment and still have full effect. Photograms of vine style leaves were used to create an interconnecting stem which flows around the garment; this is softly overlaid on a collection of watercolour dots which were painted to replicate close-knit flowers, these dots go in and out of focus playing with the eyes attention. It would be interesting to see this print large scale too, as it would allow me to texture or lace within the leaves as it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t possible to do this with such a small print.

The last print within the lingerie collection is a repeated selvedge print; I wanted to include a simple print that takes over the whole body. This print includes a very subtle blurred stripe which travels down the torso; again this was done because it is known to be a flattering design. Photogrammed flowers were placed around the edges of the design as if they are growing around the sides of the body; this piece was aimed to create a very romantic design. Translucency was used within the photograms to reveal the stripe beneath. An ombre effect was used from the middle to the outside of the print to again create interest for the eye and draw it across the print.

Collection Two

This print was the first print created solely for loungewear, because of this I kept scale in mind throughout the process; I wanted the floral bouquet shapes to be a big focus within this print so I used these shapes with textures in a half drop repeat. The white textured lines in the background draw the eye in and out of the print, playing around with focus. I opted for monochromatic blues as there was a lot of experimenting with colours in this print, and darker blues looked the most contemporary.

This large scale repeat was made up of scanned dried flowers that were rotated to create a circular motif and then placed into a half drop with large blurred panels and positioned over the top of a loose hessian photogram. This print works well due to its complexity; when viewed from a far the most apparent element is the blurred panels, yet when look at closely you can see the details that are within the motif and background.

When building up this print, garments such as playsuits were kept in mind and encouraged the gradient from dark and complex to white and simple occurs from the waistband out. Using both blue and pink as the main colours within this print brought together the two separate collections. Lace was introduced within this print making it appropriate for loungewear but also allowed it to be worn as a relaxed fashion print on a playsuit.

To utilise amount of space available on loungewear and fashion pieces, I wanted to create a print that was very large scale with a mix of textures which take the forefront and create ambiguous at first glance. The background to this print was made up of a painted texture which was then blurred using Photoshop. This piece was design for soft loungewear but could also be translated to relaxed fashion pieces with the change of a colour and the right fabric choice.

With this final print I wanted to use the textures and shapes within my photograms to create a delicate ethereal design which epitomises the typical elements of elegant and feminine lingerie and loungewear prints but something that could also be transferred to fashion pieces. As I began building up layers of white photograms it was clear that it would benefit from the addition of lace. Lace was used as a background which takes the viewerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention, whilst the photograms work as a way to play with focus and blur as the eye travels along the design.

Conclusion

From the start of this project I aimed to juxtapose old and new photographic and print techniques, whilst creating visually complex and stimulating pieces in a range of print repeats; I feel as if this has been successful throughout the collections as it contains a number of different styles and repeats that work cohesively together or as separate collections. Another main aim of this project was to create a collection that was primarily for loungewear, but could also be successfully transferred to soft, relaxed fashion pieces that fit my customer profile. Creating two separate collections allowed me to play around with different scales and repeat types to build up a varied compilation of styles. The two collections hold strong elements of the photograms as well as hand finished techniques that create feminine pieces, which fit within the high end high street lingerie/ loungewear market, yet have avoided a clichĂŠ floral print. Involving blurring throughout my collection was a significant intention and I consider the amount of blurring within my final pieces substantial enough but not too over powering to take away from floral elements in my designs. Designing two colourways for each print allowed me to essentially design for two sections within the market; the first being delicate and subtle, and the second colourway being darker to portray a more sultry, provocative mood.

If I had more time on this project I would explore further into the use of lace within my prints, it would be interesting to create a collection using lace as a main motif and reworking the traditional shapes of lace. Additionally, monochromatic colour would have been another route I would have taken if I had more time; black, white and nudes are a very large sector within lingerie so designing successful prints using a small colour pallet is something I would have liked to carry on with.

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