Practice Unit: Week 9

This week was our PE review presentations. This really helped me to focus my project in terms of concept and context, since I was presenting my idea to people who were hearing it for the first time. I received some good feedback from this, from tutors and students who seemed interested by my presentation of my concept and my future intentions of designing for Children's wear. I used the contextual reference of Molo Kids wear to underpin my future intentions. 

They are a Kids wear company who have a philosophy that children should express their creativity through their clothing, and that children's wear should be as personal as the clothes adults wear to them.  I love that they have this philosophy and create not only great designs for everyday wear for both genders, but also create a personal connection with the consumer through their concept.

Molo Kid's online catalogue and look book. 

I described Molo Kid's as a company I can imagine myself working for in the future, because of my interest in this market and their brand concept. 

After the presentation and the feedback from my peers and tutors about my work, I feel really optimistic about this project, and am really glad I'm doing this compared to the original project I had began this unit with. I feel it really suits me and allows me to explore my skills really well. 

Practice Unit: Week 8

This week I was focusing a lot on out CP3 draft deadline and the PE review presentation. However, I'd like to include some information on video making. 

I'd like to brand this project, complete with name, neck tags, swing tags, packaging, live website/blog/online presence. I have already written about GIF making, but as my research and concept develops I have made another short video on iMovie on my Mac, to show in my presentation that I am interested in marketing campaigns and branding tools. 

Practice Unit Week 7:

I signed up for a tutorial with Alex Russell, because I felt he would be helpful with advice on my early digital print designs. It was mentioned that my designs so far were a little too "neat" and that I needed something additional to the motifs and drawings work I already had. 

My inspiration from Mary Poppins also includes the song, "A spoonful of sugar" song as well as the candy striped suits. Alex gave me the idea of perhaps sourcing colours from sweets, and also looking in old fashioned sweet shops to widen my scope for visual and conceptual research. 

I took this advice, and below and a few of the photographs I took in Mr Simms Old Sweet Shoppe in Manchester city centre as well as the sweet stands at the Manchester Christmas Markets. I asked to go behind the counter to get better photos:

I played around with the photos on Instagram, in an effort to start thinking about branding and online networking:

 Sherbet 

Mint Humbug

 I would like to use some of these photos in my designs, as perhaps backgrounds or motifs, so i can explore more the combination of real-life and cartoon. I am very pleased with how I feel about the project as it stands, especially after engaging in more visual research which has given me another boost.