TECHNOLOGIES FOR DESIGN
Kimberleigh Jones AUT 2017
Kimberleigh Jones
Technologies for Design
AUT
Area of experimentation:
Digital Portfolio How this helps my practice: Through creating an online portfolio, I am able to showcase my university work in a digital manner. This ensures my creative work is easily accessible for future employers, both in New Zealand and internationally. I hope my portfolio will create a genuine visual representation of my aesthetic and who I am as a designer for future employee ‘s. Stages of work: 1. Collect previous years’ work and collate them together. 2. Complete photoshoot process 3. Complete future ideas / designs / moods / aesthetics 4. Arrange projects into site in a way that fits with the overall aesthetic. 5. Allow space for new work Time frame: 1. One week 2. Three weeks 3. One and a half weeks 4 – 5. Half a week Resources needed: Previous work Computer
This project made me delve into who I am as a person and who I want to be. It made me question my beliefs, my loves and my ultimate fears. Being from New Zealand I’ve always been surrounded by the ocean, one of my ultimate loves in life. Through my travels I have been lucky enough to visit a total of forty one countries spread over three continents. I’ve made a second home for myself in Amsterdam, where I spend parts of the year. This project made me visualise who I am, or who I was when it commenced, I like to believe I grow and challenge myself daily and develop who I am as I continue learning.
I found this project challenging and I really had to invest time into research and self discovery to even be able to begin to understand what I wanted to convey and more importantly how I wanted to publicly present who I am. I would have loved to develop this garment further but I think focusing on the research phase really helped clarify the path I was on, even though it may have been just the beginning. I decided to photograph the look on myself to fully engage with the project. Afterall it was made by me, for me. This resparked my love of photography, direction and photo editing that I have continued throughout the semester.
Odyssey is a documentation journal displaying the turbulent adventure of the third year as a fashion design student at Auckland University of Technology. Blood, sweat and literal tears go into completing this degree to the end. I was lucky enough to be given this alternative assignment for semester one and two 2017. Through the proposal stage I have been increasing my photography skills and am learning elements of InDesign and increading my knowledge of Photoshop through the Lynda.com programmes. I also looked into experimenting with the laser cutting machine to create a journal cover. I chose a 300 thread count white cotton sateen blend and designed several different illustrator files that included different typefaces, I then experimented with etching, engraving and cutting on the lasercutter. This is really interesting as I am considering to cover the final project in fabric and so to see the effects of the cutter and then learning from mistakes, for example losing letters because they aren’t attached, I can correct this going forward with my experimentation which I wish to continue into second semester. ​
LASER CUTTING PLANING AND RESULTS
PORTFOLIO RESEARCH Abby Plested - Online blogger NZ
Tia Feng - NZ Fashion Designer (AUT Graduate)
Both of these websites are slightly different to what I wish to create but I feel as though they share a similar aesthetic in their overall apperance and mood. I really like the opening page where you have to click to enter the site, I feel as though it creates a theatric element or the kind of feeling you get when you unwrap a present. I want it to feel personal and I think this helps convey the message while also keeping it general to appeal to a wide range of people and companies. I’ve chosen similar layout aesthetics as I feel it creates an ease of movement and navigation through my site. This is due to the two schools being included, the drop tabs help to seperate and define the projects. Overall I think I achieved the design aesthetic I wished with a personal element attached, whilst also keeping it professional for prosective employers.
RESEARCH
6 Steps To Creating A Knockout Online Portfolio http://99u.com/articles/7127/6-steps-to-creating-a-knockout-online-portfolio 1. Take a step back, and curate your best work. I wanted to include work from AUT and AMFI to showcase what I have completed at home and abroad as I feel they are both valuable. I chose one design project from AUT and two full projects from AMFI. This is becasue I felt these displayed my best work throughout my degree. 2. Use eye-catching images, and share the backstory. I carefully created the pages and text to form an insightly story or to create a clear vision for the project. The images were individually edited and selected to give the best impression and visual aesthetic. 3. Keep the website design simple, and let the work take centerstage. I researched popular websites for fashion creatives and found that most people choose to display their work on LinkedIn. Therefore I went on to find some bloggers and fashion designers portfolios where I drew inspiration from. These related to my chosen aesthtic and design style. I chose the tab arrangements to keep AUT and AMFI work cohesive but seperate so it is clear and concise which work was completed where. I feel as though it displays the key information I wish to share and present while keeping the layout clear and easy to follow. I have chosen to put the AMFI tab before the AUT tab as I feel it shows my best work and work I am more engaged with. I wished to include some recent work I did on a entrepreneurship paper, but feel as though the overall outcome could be improved and so I decided to withdraw that work from this portfolio. 4. Craft a bio that expresses your unique process and/or point of view. My about page expresses who I am and what I have been working on in the past six months, and my current projects for the future. As a student I have outlined my study institutions and included my cv for prospective employers. I have also included a translation in Dutch as I wish to work in the Netherlands on the commencment of this degree. 5. Add distinctive elements (e.g. awards, your blog), and broadcast your work. I’ve included links to my social media sites, my LinkedIn and my Pinterest. These are probably going to be searched for my prospective employers anyway, so I thought I would add them. They also show who I am as a person outside of work settings and display my interests and hobbies. 6. Keep your portfolio fresh. I’m going to keep updating and developing my portfolio as I think it will be a useful tool in the future when I begin applying for jobs and international opportunities.