Reflection

I chose the Visions of Sound brief because it seemed open, with no definite ways of working or end point. I wanted to include screen printing and photoshop designs, but had no set ideas about how I would work.

Listening to the Daft Punk track 'The Game Has Changed over and over again made me like it even more, as I noticed the subtleties and style emerging. By analysing the rhythm and making my own simple notation I formed an opinion of what the music is about; contrast in texture, impact, and bold staccato (read 'graphic' in visual language) versus nebulous background tones ('painterly'). This gave me the mood I should be working towards.

To put this into context I watched the film that this track was created for, TRON Legacy as well as its predecessor, TRON. The bold visual aesthetic of monochrome plus wild sometimes neon colour accents was eye catching and futuristic. The track was used for a battle - to - the - death scene in an arena which added 'menacing' to my list of adjectives. There were lace-like visuals and linear elements throughout that tied in well with my summer project, so I sought to merge the two.

I did some drawings based on lace, some hand printing work and shadow casting which was a good start, but the project really came alive when I began to use an OHP to project colour and my drawings onto a wall; this increase in scale and dark atmosphere captured the essence of TRON and the bold 'graphic' nature of Daft Punk's music.

The textiles used in the film were innovative; light had been sewn in to the costumes in a new way and the effect was exciting. I wanted to incorporate the nature of light into my work somehow, and Alex suggested using reflective materials with the OHP to do this. Armed with a foil rescue blanket, christmas lights, LED finger rings and new colours and drawings I took a range of photographs. This was a real turning point, as the results were futuristic looking, combined the sharp and cloudy textures and the colours (once digitally adjusted) worked well.

I had started working in photoshop by this time, and initially used my summer project colours; it quickly became apparent that they were not working, so I substituted them with TRON-like colours. They began to match more closely with my photographs and the tone of the film and music, and things really started to take off.

The next step was to attempt to bring these qualities into the print room. To begin with, I tried a variety of fabrics with pigment print, but the dye didn't show up very well and the contrast wasn't bold enough. After re-mixing the pigment and printing a proper black colour onto light fabric I realised that what I actually needed was the reverse: light print on dark fabric.

Utilising a newly learned technique, discharge print, I was able to strip thick black dischargeable cotton viscose fabric (silk would be too fragile for Daft Punk) of its colour in specific areas so that I could then print back on top. I hadn't thought about fabric shrinkage from the steaming process however, so when it came to printing back on top I didn't have a choice about alignment: it would never sit directly on top. I decided to make the most of it and deliberately placed motifs so that they were staggered, and this created a movement effect similar to that seen in TRON. In future I will definitely take this into account as it may not always be appropriate.

One important aspect of the TRON aesthetic is shine, which I had already captured with my foil cave photograph set-up. To get an equivalent set up in the print room I used different colours of foil, again a new technique for me. This really elevated my print room work, and in a way helped to define my target audience as high end, as it is relatively expensive to use, and mixing processes also pushes prices up. The usually discarded pieces of foil were really interesting, forming negative shapes that were more linear than my screen motifs. I wanted to use these pieces as well, but because parts of them were see through I couldn't use the screen motif and put them in the press as the glue would cover the whole area and not look good. Instead I thought that there was no reason fabric glue wouldn't work, so carefully spread it onto the back of the remnants, stuck them down and pressed them. This worked perfectly, allowing me to add a different quality to my work.

To contrast with the smooth glossy texture of the foil, I included some flock pieces which had the fuzzy edges that you can't achieve with foil or to some extent pigment. This didn't work as intended to begin with, as it was too patchy (again this actually fit well with a particular design) but by pulling the glue through the screen harder and pressing samples twice, a bolder effect was achieved.

The foil and flock helped my fabric pieces to have a 3D quality to them, which was vital as TRON constantly shows visual depth and Daft Punk's music undulates between quiet and blasting, booming and sharp. To get these qualities in photoshop I altered the way I used black; sparingly, everywhere, in the background and foreground, small scale and large scale. They all worked in different ways, the most important things being contrast between the black and smaller areas of colour.

When it came to displaying my work in an interiors context, with their many shiny surfaces (kettles, toasters, worktops, stoves, flooring) kitchens and bathrooms were the most appropriate places to showcase my designs. To emphasise the simple linear nature of the TRON environment I used hand drawing linear sketches as a base. These hypothetical images helped me to imagine my designs on a much larger scale, on different surfaces.

Overall I have really enjoyed this project and am happy with the range of work that I have produced. I also feel that I have learned a lot about how I work; to begin with I used a wide range of media to explore colour, shape and line, before narrowing my focus. Incorporating use of digital technology helps to push my work on, but maintaining a traditional approach in my use of screen print is still important. I am a mixed print designer, who likes to use a variety of processes and materials to produce fabric and digital designs. As a result, my product is high end in terms of market. Also I have no set product in mind when I begin a project; I prefer to suggest the most appropriate context for it when completed. It might be interesting in future to choose a specific product first and work towards making a design that would suit that particular item best.

Exhibition

I chose a small selection of my final pieces to be pinned onto my allocated board. Originally I had used black pins which are in keeping with my theme, but they stood out far too much against the white mounting card. I changed them for white and now they blend in well. 

I tried to include a variety of images and a fabric sample in order to fully represent my work.

From the top: Photographs, Photoshop work and Fabric sample

Final Collection

When choosing my final pieces I had to consider them as a group; the colours needed to work well together, composition should be sufficiently different to keep things interesting and they should reflect the variety of techniques that I used throughout the project. The collection includes hand screen printed samples, photoshop designs and photographs. Overall the feel of my collection needed to reflect Daft Punk's track 'The Game Has Changed' and associated 2010 film 'TRON Legacy'; I achieved this by using a bold colour palette, abstract shapes and shiny materials when working both digitally and with fabric.

First are the 5 screen print designs made by using discharge and illuminating discharge dye on dischargeable fabric, with pigment print, foiling and flocking on top. Next, the 5 photoshop designs which were built up in layers using brushes made from my drawings and lastly, my 5 edited photographs.

 

 

 

 

 

Context Images and Other Artists

I chose to use bathrooms and kitchens to showcase my designs; they often contain reflective surfaces and modern designs are sleek and shiny, with large flat areas that can hold print well.

Some of my initial line drawings:

I imported these into photoshop and filled them with neutral background colours:

parts of two of my designs inserted into the background 

I had a look at other artists who produce print for kitchens and bathrooms:

Italian company Scavolini create interesting modular kitchen designs, with exciting and bold patterns displayed on sleek, modern lines. Each panel shows a different arrangement or scale of the designs which encourages the viewer to keep scanning the work and retains interest.

I have always wondered why some household items such as mugs are easy to find in a myriad of styles, yet when it comes to the large, more permanent items that we see day in day out have traditionally been available in bland, neutral colours. Finally consumers are starting to realise that appliances don't need to be dull. Holly Fulton, who usually designs for fashion, collaborated with LG to produce a customisable washing machine in the same vein as the cabinets above:

With digital design and 3D printing still really in its infancy, it will be really interesting to see what happens to design over the next few years; potentially people will routinely download their chosen design and then print items at home or at a local printing centre. You could print stickers that would be exactly the right size or shape for your appliances or spaces so you could stay relatively eco friendly while replacing the visible layer on top of your product, as people do with phone cases now.

Tutorial 18th November

The re-colouring of my photoshop samples to match my photos and fabric samples worked well, and overall they feel like TRON and so Daft Punk.

There are still some things to adjust; the sample including green could be cropped and re-printed to match the others, and the red/yellow butterfly image could be cropped to make it better. There are a few samples that look similar so I have removed a couple of them from the final selection.

I also need to finish the photoshop context images (one for each final sample) and re-colour the one I have done so that it does not distract from my designs.

The fabric samples also need to be shown in a context, so I'll photograph them (when scanned previously the colour didn't come out well) and insert them into context images.

Tutorial 11th Nov

For the next two weeks I need to focus on choosing pieces for a final collection, making sure that the colours work across the range, that there is a variety of scale and composition and that I use good images from throughout the project rather than just focussing on work from the last couple weeks.

Photoshop tip: More accurately sample colour from a scanned image
Use eyedropper tool, look at the top options, drop down menu, select 'point sample' and increase the number (this is the number of pixels the average colour is taken from)

To Do:

Present context research

Select a few specific surfaces for context images eg. a worktop, cupboard door, washing machine

Finish drawing kitchen/bathroom settings, include a few drawings in each image to set a scene. Can block colour eg. a wall or floor to make it look more like a room and less like a line drawing, make sure that the join between the floor and wall is evident

Play with scale eg. use single large motif across the side of a bath

Try more photoshop pieces with black in the foreground

Tweak gold (yellow) and green colours in existing photoshop work

Go through projection/light cave photos and choose some for final pieces; may need colour alteration/cropping

Use bondaweb to present light blue fabric samples

Add tech info to print room samples

Mount print room samples with headers

Organise all project photos on USB stick for submission

Print room Flock, 7th Nov

Today I tried flocking for the first time. The colours available were appropriate for my palette and I wanted to add a different texture to my designs.

The first (blue) sample turned out a little uneven. At first I wasn't sure if this was an illusion; the flock on the discharged white parts of the fabric seemed thinner, and the untouched black parts of the fabric thicker. This effect, although technically incorrect, still fits in with the TRON aesthetic and give the impression of movement. It was in the press for 30 seconds, and I used 6 pulls of the squeegee with the Texiflock LL glue.

uneven flocking still gives a TRON-like effect

To rule out the colour of the fabric underneath the flock as a reason for the patchy finished look, I pigment printed onto the white shape in red before adding the red flock on top. I didn't iron the pigment before adding the glue, which I probably should have done. Again, the sample went into the press for 30 seconds but this time I used 8 pulls in different directions.

large lace/animal shape after discharge and pigment print

large lace/animal shape after discharge, pigment and flocking

uneven laying down of the flock, gives an interesting effect

For the third and final flock sample I used 8 heavy pulls in different directions for the glue, and realised that the flock paper wasn't coming off easily enough after 30 seconds, so I put the sample back in the press a second time (total of 60 seconds in the press). This produced a much stronger result. Again this was done over an un-ironed red pigment base. Although there were a couple of small areas that were difficult to peel off, the overall look of the result is bold, bright and definitely TRON-like.

lace/animal shape after discharge printing

lace/animal shape after discharge then pigment print on top

lace/animal shape after discharge, pigment and flocking

raised surface

Monday 4th November Tutorial

This week we were encouraged to go through all of our work from the start of the project, and select some pieces that may be suitable for final designs.

Also we need to choose some contexts for our designs (providing our own photographs of these or drawings) and start putting our images into them. I had thought about relating the reflective nature of my work to the context it is presented in by displaying it in a sleek kitchen, with shiny surfaces or as something related to light like a lampshade or blind. 

If using curtains or layered pieces to showcase photoshop designs we should provide samples of the material that we would have them printed onto to indicate the desired feel of the finished product. For something like wallpaper, it is enough to research people who produce their work in a similar way.

The mixing of processes in the print room is starting to work really well; discharge, pigment and foil printing give a good range of textures and colours on dark backgrounds. Where illuminating discharge was used, the edges of the motifs seem pixelated and the colour sits perfectly within the shape. It looks quite clean-cut. As a result of fabric shrinkage with the normal discharge process, the pigment can't sit exactly on top of the dye-stripped area and so a stepped effect results. I like both approaches, so will (time allowing) use more illuminating and plain discharge dye. 

Layering images up in the print room works well but is very time consuming even when working on several samples at once; in future I might group more images together on screen, so that I could still print with them individually if necessary, but when used in groups the printing process would be faster and I might be more productive.  

To Do:

Go through all print room samples, order them

Cut them to roughly A4 size with sellotaped edges

Write print room notes next to them

Go through photoshop work, order them

Print photoshop samples

Write photoshop notes next to them

Scan print room work into photoshop to extract colours

Produce further photoshop samples, ? try out repeat

Produce context images

Insert selected work into them

Research artists working in that context

Produce further print samples - discharge, discharge illuminating, foil, pigment, can paint in discharged areas with reactive, flock. 

Use foil outlines, try them with fabric glue and press onto fabric

Find a textured fabric similar to purple one - nice effect

Select out final designs, present for assessment - Card holder for fabric, Print out photoshop designs, put technical notes in an ordered folder.

Screen Printing

I was glad to get back in the print room; the business and rhythm of the work suits me well and I wanted to see what my designs would look like in the flesh.

The first day was difficult, my colours didn't show up well even on the lightest of the fabrics I had prepared and so I was not getting the right 'feel'. I then re-mixed the colours with white or made them darker as appropriate and started to piece the images together. I printed over the paler base, and this made it look as if the shapes were 3D, or moving.

original pink creature below, white-pink ship above

purple over the pink creature worked better. black on top of the purple bricks makes it seem as if it is moving

I thought I should try a brighter background as well and it definitely adds the intensity seen in TRON. Again, the original dark grey lies below the black, successfully adding a sense of movement.

To work on a black background I realised that discharge printing was the most sensible option. This worked well and provided good contrast. When dry, the fabric had shrunk slightly, so the images on the screen no longer fit perfectly over the white shapes created by the discharge. This led to the shapes overlapping, and a slightly edgy effect which again suits the atmosphere of TRON and Daft Punk well.

Before steaming and washing

After steaming and washing with pigment print on top

With this cotton viscose fabric, I could only use a single, blue reactive illuminating discharge dye to add colour back in at the same time as stripping it away. The only other dischargeable fabric in the store was a silk, which I could have used a greater range of dyes with but it was grey and I needed black.

The blue dye shows up green after one steam.

After 2 steams and fixing by washing and drying. It needed an hour in the steamer for the second steam to turn fully blue.

To bring a new shiny texture and light to my designs I began to experiment with using foil. With 6 pulls of the Texiflock ST glue through the screen and 30 seconds in the heat press, the top layer peeled off easily and the images were clear. I tested small pieces first of all to make sure that this would work on the different fabrics. I quite liked the pieces left behind; they form a negative image of the one on the screen, and could also be used on fabric. I could trim round the edges closely and try using small amounts of fabric glue to stick it down, before putting it in the press.

I chose certain shapes for foiling, because they would mimic a shape already there, add another colour, move the viewer's eye around the fabric or to bring it out compared with the other ones.

 

Where there are 2 or more different foiled shapes in one sample I put them in the press
multiple times. This didn't spoil the appearance of the foil and meant I could modify things as I went.