D
esigner Maker Specialism
Chelsea Bodell
D
esigner Maker
Specialism
Designer Maker - Positioning Statement I felt it was really inspiring how a workshops so hands but yet simple could generate a vast amount of ideas and ways to think. Most people (and I) didn’t really think about thinking just something that was taken for granted, like breathing or eating but in fact you can actually alter the way you think or improve the way you think. In art and design it’s key to generate ideas that are innovative and resourceful almost working like an inventor. What is your next product? I enjoy the notion of divergent thinking and how making a few rules that are out of your comfort zone, in your design process, could push your outcome enormously. I also feel like this could be a strength and a weakness not depending on the person but how far the person is pushed out of the zone. In this rotation I really related to what a Designer Makers career path was. Unlike commercial designer, where you have to recognize the final outcome and practically apprehend where you’re going to arrive, I feel a designer maker has the seed but flourishes and branches out to really push the boundaries of the simplest of things. The workshops in this rotation were rather unique from what I considered a conventional lesson but they all oozed Designer Maker and divergent thinking in one way or another. I also appreciated bringing fragments of other disciplines into my practice like the photography workshop. This was a fun way of getting fast outcomes that could be developed into a series of concepts. I also feel that communication and presentation is a big part of being a designer maker whether you are showing a client your idea or just a way to get your developments across visually strong and straightforward. As a kinetic learner, I always thrive for a hands on approach not just visually. This is where I feel I could accomplish a great deal. I revel in developing ideas. Finding new ways of adding or even subtracting to something. Again, unlike commercial designer I feel there is no boundaries or compromises to be made being a designer maker you can extend your designs out and beyond. Having taken part in the collaboration workshop, it really opened my eyes to collaboration. In school, or even college, I have been taught or had the connotation that collaboration is cheating and not your own work. However, this is false and I have been misguided. Where as I once thought it as a weakness to ask for other people’s advice I now think it as a strength putting two or more minds together to create something greater. I also feel the designer maker workshops interacted with my visual studies. Having the chance and serendipity lessons in visual studies really got me prepared for this rotation. Having loved those lessons it cemented my idea on taking designer maker for my specialism. In my opinion I would benefit from this much more that the other rotations and feel I will excel.
essay’s Extractions, feelings and questions I got from the Essays will be in the separate folder with quotations highlighted and annotated through out.
I did find the essays very eye opening and how craftmanship is a process that is infinate. In Margetts Action not Words I found her pairing really inspiring and how we think about design as a visual thing but it also can be so emotional. To me I love my home, I find memories and thoughts ooze from the walls. What better place to base my project on this. I want to try to create a knit that has parts of my proposal and parts of the house. My first proposal is loosly based on the idea of house hold objects being torn apart but what if these objects were personifications and it was like a journey or thought process or an emotional piece almost like a 3d photograph. I really enjoyed the personification task in the tumblr blog from contemporary practice. I enjoyed the suggestions it brought up and emotions by looking at objects.
libary TASK
I really found the Library task really inspirational. The New Design issues I looked through really opened my eye to be a designer maker, I feel this will be a journal I will have to read frequently. I was looking and sourcing for articles that I felt would co-inside well with my project. The first article I looked at was the Gourmet Tea company and their shop designs. As being a big fan of architecture and interior design I found the shop design amazing. When unopened the wall panels are just blocks of colour but when opened is a fully functioning pop up shop. The idea that something that looks like something but has a certain depth to it and not what it looks almost like an illusion.
Again when looked at it just looks like a toaster with a subtle print on the front but actually Cindy Strobbach has found out the electrical reaction in the dye of red cabbage and salt and infact when turned on and electricity flows though the front panel changes colour from yellow and green to purple and blue. She is definitely a craft person and spent many years perfecting this idea and how finding out how red cabbage is an indicator of PH.
The Development of a concept for producing personalised shoes using warp knitted textiles having shape memory characteristics. I thought what about if the memory could be a person or a face something that is more life like that a photo and what emotions would this bring up? As a knitter this really intrigues me and I would like to know more about warp knitting. If I had more time in this project I would look into this more and see what opportunities this textiles has, hopefully in future materials next year I can combine aesthetic with functionality.
libary TASK
023. P
roposal 1
During the lesson of destruction to reconstruction I had an idea on how something like this may work in a collection and started to look at artists and designers who actually looked at sustainability in their work. I found some really fascinating articles and websites including one designer who has actually made a fashion collection out of Ford car upholstery. This got me thinking as a designer and how I can take something, use the components, and take these to make something original? but the issue is what do I use? I decided to refer back to the risk taking workshop and let one of my close family chose three objects each in my house that I could start to dismantle. I shall then choose two of the suggestions given to me to see how I could come up with a final outcome that was something out of the ordinary. As this is hypothetical scenario I shall say I chose the T.v and the alarm clock, from these objects I will also have the knowledge and understanding of something I have never had the chance to study and a new perceptive on these objects and maybe learn a few techniques i can adapt into textiles. I will also see where the components live and how something like electronics can add to my understanding and how maybe if i have enough understanding could even use this in my work in future briefs. I shall use manuals for a little help but as I am more of a kinetic learner I want to do most of the work, working blind. I am not sure what the final outcome will be but I feel this project is also about the journey and how to understand something that you don't necessarily know how it works. I will also make lists of each components properties and how the properties could be changed if I burnt, oxidized, soldiered, unravelled to name a few. I also want to see how the two objects relate and make a list of their similarities and differences and how i can relate all this information into developments and just to try out different methods of the components into interacting with each other to form one or a collection of visually aesthetic pieces in fashion.
S
ustainability
I think companies, businesses and freelancers should all bear sustainability in mind when designing, producing, selling and delivering. I think that if the consumer wants 100% sustainable product it shouldn’t be as challenging as it is now to seek out these products. I definitely think there should be extra advertisement for sustainable products or what companies do to ensure they are sustainable, economic and environmentally friendly. We have already seen an influx of vintage clothing coming back into our wardrobes for a couple of years now could this be something that will empower this? The fact of the matter is that vintage and charity shops are helping the issue of sustainability in the textile industry by recycling and up-cycling products. Unfortunately in this day and age some companies are reluctant to move forward and stuck in their old ways. As a designer maker I feel strongly about moving forward and coming to terms that materials and sources will not be around forever. I do believe that everyday products can be visually exciting too. With knit I feel the choice of yarn can be unlimited. No matter what the yarn it can be formed into something beautiful and aesthetically pleasing.
Some types of finishing or applying fabric: Adding or subtracting yarn painting spray painting coating solidifying melting oxidizing mixing yarns together Mixing texture and surfaces is something that I am really intrigued by. As a knitter I am always finding ways in which yarn can be developed. My idea is to create wall hanging knits from everyday objects. I first started this project by looking through my house. Surprisingly this is a great way to start a project. People go through life in and out of their house not really noticing anything. I don't know if it is because I am an artist or just because I took 3 hours out of my day to really stop and take a look what was in my house, read manuals and get the knowledge of really how things work and do we really need all the things we acquire in our house. Almost like Grayson perry when he looks at stature and society, why do we buy or have these things/ objects? Is it because we like the colour, Is it because it means something to us, or is because we need it?
Knit coated in wax to solidify then applied different media to the surface.
If I had more time on this project I would like to really understand how objects and house hold items interact with every day life.
“Senses are physiological capacities of organisms that provide data for perception. The senses and their operation, classification, and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields, most notably neuroscience, cognitive psychology (or cognitive science), and philosophy of perception. The nervous system has a specific sensory system or organ, dedicated to each sense.� The 5 Senses By Dr.William K. Pediaopolis Another aspect of the house hold is the feeling, emotions and senses that go on here. I want to get the feeling of this in my knit work. SIGHT SOUND SMELL TOUCH NOISE I want to try to incorporate most of these in my knits. I feel the most common ones is sight and touch. The texture aspect and the vivid colours I shall use will really reflect and open up these senses. I would like to add one more to really get the senses flowing and I think I shall elaborate on smell also. The word smell can conger up many fragrances from Sunday roast to clean bedding, or what about unusual smells like essential oils or candles. Could this reflect the knits I want to portray? I will do this by adding them in weather it be cooking them in some left over food or spraying them with oils to really get that smell that is so inviting.
I also really enjoy elongated knits and how well they trap objects inside that can look like a scrapbook or journal but as a knit. I feel this technique would really be an asset to this project and that is how I am going to do my final piece. There are two ways mainly to elongate knitting in machine knitting: 1- Using a doweling or a rod to wrap around and to make the stitches manually, pull it out before you take the carriage across. 2- This method is quite restricting as you can only make the stitches as long as the length from position E to A. In hand knitting there are also two ways of elongating a stitch: 1- Using a bigger needle for one or more rows again this is only going to be as long as the circumference as the larger needles 2- Wrapping the yarn around the needle a number of times until you get the desired length. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt5pszfByjE
For my project I feel that hand knitting is the correct choice with this piece. I want it to feel homely, bespoke and hand made. There is also so many connotations with hand kitting that I want to challenge. I will create a mini collection as my final project and want to see how objects so mundane can be worked and moulded into a colour filled and textured piece of textiles art.
kirsty whitlock Kirsty’s goal is to push the boundaries of embroidery and textile art through the use of a variety of materials and their application. Here she explains how she’s eager to challenge the preconception of textiles by creating work that surprises and inspires.
I feel that Kirsty work is something that I want to achieve, by being a master of her work and also by using materials and sourcing objects that are second hand.