DIY Crafts - The Brief
The majority of craft books and magazines that exist are dated and aimed at an older or younger audience however, online websites such as Pinterest and various blogs are reviving the need and value of crafts, appealing to a more student-based audience. Emily and I would like to take advantage of this ‘revival’ online, through print form by designing and binding our own book, with all the ideas featured inside, hand crafted and photographed by us.
Design an interactive DIY crafts book for students, offering cheap and creative ideas for making things to decorate a student home through recycling and up cycling. Research into existing craft manuals and magazines. Blogs and pinterest will be a good place to start for crafty inspiration. Nicola Proctor OUGD603 DIY Crafts Collaboration
DIY Crafts - Primary Research
SCrap
A couple of visits to SCRAP - store for creative re use and play was very inspirational for Emily and I. We thought that it perfectly showcased how craft is like a culture, a culture of collecting, making, hoarding and never throwing things away. The space was really interesting and both of us could not stop taking pictures of the place. We also came back here to photograph some of our crafts here because the setting was perfect and the lighting was really good due to lots of windows as it is situated in an old mill building.
A trip to hobby craft was also in order to get a couple of crafty things that you don’t generally find around the house but the majority of crafts we make will be made from recycled or upcycled materials. This was also good to look at how things were packaged and the design for the packaging of the items. We also decided to go to Vernon Street Library to have a look at the collection of hand-made books, made by past students and a few practicing artists. There were a couple we found particularly interesting due to their folding and / or binding techniques.
Nicola Proctor OUGD603 DIY Crafts Collaboration
DIY Crafts - Secondary Research
‘Crafty’ Magazine
Pinterest INspiration
Primrose Bakery Recipe Book Pinterest and online blogs are a great source of inspiration for these crafty items. We have been looking into craft idea’s which are quite simple to make and from bits and bobs found around the home. As you can see all the craft idea’s are more modern and relevant to today, rather than the more old-fashioned crafts that are now so outdated. The scan from crafty magazine with the illustrations of the makers is a really lovely touch to the overall finish of the magazine and Emily and I have decided this would be something to help tie all the finished zines together and add a small personal touch to the designs, which is often seen on crafters blogs and crafty sites.
The photography of the cupcakes in the Primrose Bakery Recipe Book have been photographed really well, the juxtaposition of different objects and backgrounds adds quirkiness to the images. This is something to consider when photographing our crafts, they would look so much better in context rather than in a completely white studio with no character. We also looked at lots of different layouts for tutorials of how to make crafts, but later decided that we wanted our zines to be more inspirational than step by step how to’s.
Nicola Proctor OUGD603 DIY Crafts Collaboration
DIY Crafts - Crafts Development
Step by Step photography of the making of the bunting I made. When we initially started the brief we had in mind a different outcome, which was going to be a step by step manual of craft idea’s. After a tutorial with Brian and further research we later decided that we were going to change the deliverables to be a series of zines with inspirational crafts and quotes and idea’s. Some of the photography from the beginning of the brief came in usueful when designing the Zines.
The other step by step photography above is some of my contribution to the zines. Step by Step photography covers stuffed owls, tie dye and the weaving of the chair. For some of the crafts we decided it wasn’t necessary to have ‘how to’s’ or step by step images because they were quite self explanatory, like the appliqued bunting in the embroidery hoop. Photographs like this are more inspirational and idea’s based.
Nicola Proctor OUGD603 DIY Crafts Collaboration
DIY Crafts - Illustration Development
Emily and I split the roles evenly between us, and my role was more heavily craft and illustration based. We worked together however to create the finalised illustrations. I would hand draw them and then digitalise them, and Emily would manipulate them so they were appropriate for the layout of the zine, which she was in charge of. This process worked really well for the pair of us as it meant that we both got to do the parts we enjoyed and the parts we were better at. This meant that because we had utilised our best skills and combined them, we were really happy with the final result.
The illustration style I have used for this Zine is more of a doodle. The simplistic illustrations work well when layered over the craft photography. It has also been useful for when we have needed to show a step by step of how to do something, as illustrations can look less cluttered than photographs and more stylised. Nicola Proctor OUGD603 DIY Crafts Collaboration
DIY Crafts - Photography Development
This brief really gave me a chance to improve my photography knowledge and skills and I feel like I haved learned a lot from Emily in this subject. You can see the improvement in the tie dye photo’s from the original ones on the left to the ones with the sky on the right which compliment the tie dye much more.
Photography played a big part of this project as the brief developed and evolved. Our initial photography wasn’t of a high enough quality which then pushed us into using the photography studio, which we got some good materials photo’s from. A larger part of the photography we began to shoot outside for the natural lighting and the lovely natural green colours often complimenting the crafts.
Nicola Proctor OUGD603 DIY Crafts Collaboration
DIY Crafts - Fabric & therapy Zines
Final Photographs of the Zines with their hand-made covers. The hand-made covers really compliment the theme of this brief and make for a more interesting zine. The therapy zine which has a large section devoted to dream catchers has a dream catcher on the cover. The fabric zines also features some tie dye from the project as their front covers. Nicola Proctor OUGD603 DIY Crafts Collaboration