BA7 - ARTICLES AND ILLUSTRATION.

1. Article from Elle.

2. Beauty article from Elle. 

3. Article from Red Magazine. 

4. Horoscopes from Red Magazine. 

Since this whole week has been taken up by the Curating Dialogues project I feel like my BA7 work has taken a bit of a back seat due to time limit of the current work. I don't mind since I feel like this project has been helping me to come up with other ideas to help out my BA7 work, I think its due to working with someone else and getting a fresh perspective on things. 

Anyway, I thought I would share some photos I took of some magazine articles I found whilst doing my research that contain illustration. I know that illustration within fashion magazines isn't really something that is as popular as it used to be since they always limit it to the horoscope section, as you can see from one of my photos. But I came across a few others here and there from the beauty section, food/restaurant article and then a small poster/article about Karl Lagerfeld for Elle magazine. I was really drawn to the Karl Lagerfeld page (1.) because I like how its very free in terms of type, it's all very loose and they've played with the size, style and composition. I like the mixture of images, drawn and photographic gives it a scrapbook feel which is handily entitled 'Doodle Notes'. 

I don't particularly like the illustration from image 2. but it was nice to see some illustration being used in the beauty section. I think the mixture of photos and drawings does work since it gives the article a different feel, a nice contrast between the images and the text. I just feel that the illustrations are bit 'meh', I mean they're decent illustrations but they don't excite me or are strong enough to balance out the beautiful photographs. Although maybe that was the whole reason as to why they chose them since it's quite a busy layout, so my personal opinion is playing up here, but I do feel like it could have had more consideration towards it as a whole. 

Article number 3. was related to how eating food is all about "the experience" and led to having lots of tiny, to the point reviews of certain restaurants that give you the ultimate dining experience. I thought this was a cute article, something that I would probably read myself or maybe show a friend and I really liked the image used for this since it simplicity was what struck me in the first place. The idea of it is super simple but sometimes that is what works best, a motto that I apply to my own work, plus the combination of a drawing with food just works really well together. It gets the message across about what you'll be reading, clearly a something related to food or eating, but it has the right balance of imagery and objects, if the plate was filled with food I don't think it would have worked as well. 

Photo 4. is usually the only place that illustrations are used within fashion magazines, the horoscope section. This is actually one of the first places that got me into fashion illustrations when I was younger and loved how detailed they were and how many there were! But now they've cut that down to just the 'main star sign' of the month that will have an illustration. I thought this illustration was quite sweet and didn't think that Red magazine included illustrations so it was nice to see! The illustration is of the Leo star sign and I like how it compliments the colours used throughout the text and also the headers for the other star signs. I also like how the hair of the women reflects the mane of a lion which I thought was quite clever and it makes everything tie in together.

Thoughts/points to consider: 

• Colours used can affect the article as much as the image itself - consider what colours are used, does it need colour? 
• Think about the article as a whole. Everything should work with each other, not against (look at image 2.) Does your work compliment the text? Are the images too big? Too small? Also look at the layout. 
• Sometimes simplicity is key. Maybe start simple since it's easier to add than take away. 
• Mixing media can mean including objects or your own photography (image 3.). 
• Images can reflect parts of the text literally (image 4.). 

REFLECTION - 11.10.2013.

Today me and Jane had to stage our conversation (!). We decided to go downstairs into the second year studio since it was much quieter than ours upstairs. It was a bit weird/awkward to start with since we knew we were recording ourselves talk but about 10 minutes in we felt more comfortable. We thought that the tutors would listen to the discussion after during our crit so we did introduce what each of us was looking into for our own projects but we didn't ramble on too much (I hope!). We then moved onto our main question of 'How history has influenced fashion' and discussed the images that I had brought along and Jane made some really good points that linked both our subject areas into the discussion. The conversation lasted around 25 minutes since it came to an end naturally and then we got to play it back! We chose to both listen to it and whatever points came up that seemed interesting, useful or humorous we made notes of it, regardless of who said it. I managed to make about 3 pages of quick bullet points with my notes but I can always go back to it and have a listen if I need anything else. 

At 1:30 we had our group crit with Glynn which went nicely! We gave a brief explanation of our projects to everyone then told them how we recorded our discussion then what our plans our for the final piece. Glynn thought we'd done a good job but did bring up some good points to consider:

• Could also make the initial thinking/processes and dialogue part of the final piece too, not just what we recorded. Look at it as a whole. 
• Make the major points obvious. 
• Draw people in with our imagery/type! 

I'm glad we had the crit since its given us something to think about over this weekend but also pleased that we've got it out of the way so we can get really stuck in! I need to think about imagery and type this weekend so then I have a variety of images to bring with me on Monday. 

FASHION INFLUENCED BY HISTORY.

Portrait of Hans Luther, 1527, by Lucas Cranach the Elder.

Viktor & Rolf - A/W 2013.

Portrait of Dr. Johannes Cuspinian, 1502, by Lucas Cranach the Elder.

Margiela - A/W 2013. 

 Portrait of Katharina von Bora, 1529, by Lucas Cranach the Elder. 

Andrew Gn - A/W 2013. 

Fashion plate, Le Journal des Dames et des Modes (1830).

Andrew Gn - A/W 2013.

Fashion plate, La Belle Assemblée, 1830s. 

Manish Arora - A/W 2012. 

Viktor & Rolf - A/W 2013.

Dolce & Gabbana - A/W 2013. 

Websites:

http://www.furinsider.com/historical-influences-in-fashion-the-garrick-coat/

http://www.viviennewestwood.co.uk/w/the-story/the-pagan-years

http://leluxemannequin.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/marie-antoinette-inspired-haute-couture.html

REFLECTION - 10.10.2013.

Ok so these are probably the worst photos that I have ever taken of my work but I will hopefully scan these in sometime tomorrow so that they look better, I just wanted to quickly put some with todays reflection. 

This morning felt productive in the sense that me and Jane came up with a definite question/theme that brought what we have been looking at, in terms of connections between each others work, together for tomorrows discussion. So the question we have thought to discuss is "How history has influenced fashion". This brings together nicely Jane's information about the weaving industry along with the Norwich shawls and also my information about more modern fashion due to my fashion illustration side of things. I think this will be a great way for us to explore the idea of old versus new and how best to represent that when it comes to creating our final poster/broadside. 

I made a few collages to day as you can see from the terrible photos but it was nice to get some images already made up even if we don't intend to use them next week. We decided that I would be in charge of creating modern collages of women wearing shawls/scarves so I played around with using different bits of magazine cutouts and using paper with interesting textures that could serve as the shawls pattern. Out of all of them I like the first, third, fourth and fifth. I don't think that second image worked out quite as well as the others due to the way I cut the neckline. I feel the others worked best since they look like they could have already been part of the image initially but I would like to play around with composition and the view more of my work, I remember Matthew telling me last year he thought my work looked its strongest when I really zoomed in on certain areas and blew them up so maybe that is something to think about. Overall I'm pleased with what we achieved today so now it's just time to start the discussion tomorrow! 

REFLECTION - 9.10.2013.

Today was a bit of a slow day. It's not something I want to be saying but theres no other way to explain it. This morning consisted of a presentation about our grading criteria and how all of our work will be assessed... very overwhelming(!). Although on the other hand I found it to be quite helpful in that I feel that I understand the grading criteria more clearly, even if it was a long presentation. We also had a brief explanation about portfolios and presentation which was super helpful and were shown some Prat Portfolios that I really liked the look of so I will see if I can invest in one for this term. Glynn briefly touched upon the subject of research files and how best to present them and blogs were mentioned. I think tutors are slightly worried when students use them since they can be unaware that they have a research blog online or that things aren't recorded correctly. This worried me a little but I always make sure to keep tabs on all of my posts so that they are easy for others to find specific areas/topics and obviously make it very clear that this is how I have managed all my work. Plus this is the best way for me to keep track of all my thoughts and ideas since I can do this anywhere and at any time, whether it's on the computer or phone. 

In term so work I didn't produce any until this evening and that consisted of finding some books to bring in for Jane to have a look through along with magazines, my cutting mat and scalpel to then start creating some sort of imagery tomorrow! I'm quite excited about this since it's been all writing and typing up until now so tomorrow shall be filled with lots of activities! I want us to focus on our topic for the discussion on Friday and would like to speak to a tutor about the recording side of things since I'm slightly confused but it's nothing major. 

A BRIEF LIBRARY TRIP.

These are just some quick photos that I'd taken from a few books me and Jane found yesterday in the library. It was a very quick stop since we had our lecture to run to but I thought that I would still upload them onto here. 

Since we have been thinking about creating a poster/broadside for our final outcome we wanted to look at various examples of old posters to see how articles/news were presented. This was also a nice way for us to see how we could combine my collages with Jane's line drawings and prints. 

WHAT INSPIRES ME.

My favourite artists/illustrators/graphic designers/photographers?: 

• Lou Taylor/ John Stezaker/ Gary Hume/ Javier Piñón/ Anthony Zinonos/ Mio Matsumoto/ Janelle Burger. 

My favourite films?: 

• Chocolat/ Amélie/ Ghost World/ Scarface. 

My favourite musicians/bands/styles of music?: 

• House/ R&B/ Grime

My favourite television programmes?: 

• Channel 4 documentaries/ Adventure Time. 

My favourite book(s)?: 

• The Lovely Bones. 

Which magazines do I like to look at?: 

• Vogue/ Elle/ Marie Claire/ i-D/ Nylon/ Rookie Mag/ Vice/ Oh Comely. 

My favourite colours?: 

• Green/ Red/ Black/ Grey/ Pink. 

What do I like to write or draw with?: 

• Write in biro/ Draw in pencil. 

What sort(s) of paper do I like to draw on?: 

• Write on lined paper/ Collage/draw on anything. 

Computer or hand for my own illustration work?: 

• Hand(!)

Why?: 

• Since I enjoy working with collage the most I prefer to do this by hand due to being able to mix different papers together, along with other medias, to create a variety of textures. I also enjoy being able to move my images around to play with composition rather than doing it through a screen. 

What types of patterns do I like/dislike?: 

• I like polka dots/ stripes/ Sicilian embroidery/ tropical or prints inspired by nature. 
• Dislike tartan in horrible colour ways like browns. 

What typefaces do I like/dislike?: 

• I like simple typefaces along with hand rendered type. 
• Dislike anything too swirly or complicated. 

Any reasons for these?: 

• I've just found that simple typefaces work better next to my work since it can look quite graphic and bold sometimes, it can give it a nice balance.

What types of illustration work do I enjoy most and why?: 

• Collage! I love images and being able to create something new and completely different with photos/magazines cutouts. I like how you can make it look as basic as putting two shapes together but it can still have a strong presence as well as doing the complete opposite by making them as busy and intricate as you want. It's also a great way to put ideas and thoughts down on a page quickly, I feel that I can get my message across better and more clearly by using collage. 

What or who inspires my work?: 

• Fashion magazines/ Women/ Relationships/ Old films/ Beauty 

Why is this?: 

• A lot of my images come from fashion magazines because I'm always drawn to their strong photographs and I like to mix those with drawing or other bits of paper. I've found that I always base my work around women whether it's showing them as powerful and sometimes dark characters or just relating them to personal experiences that I have had. Old films sometimes influence my work due to costumes used or just picking out nice stills to then work over the top of. 

Which decade would I have liked to have lived in?: 

• Egyptian or Roman times. 

Why?: 

• I have always been interested in the way they lived their lives, rituals and beliefs and also their clothes and jewellery. 

What other influences are there in my life?: 

• My family. 
• My 3 cats. 
• Books. 

Three words that sum me up as a person?:

• Stubborn. 
• Thoughtful. 
• Relaxed.