When Wonders Think

The Washington Post

2011-03-02T20:01:00.000-08:00

Image taken from here

I'm in the Washington Post! I'm definitely way too over excited about this.

Carie Lemack came to Sue Wong to find a dress for the Oscars. She was nominated for Best Documentary (Short Subject) for the film 'Killing in the Name', directed by Jed Rothstein, co-produced by Carie Lemack.

I think it looks really interesting.

Sorry, not very designer related.

Tomorrow Never Comes

2011-03-02T19:05:00.000-08:00

I apologise for the lack of my blog in the last 9 months or so. Its been terrible I know.

I blame it on end of year exams firstly, then being crazy busy over summer, and then with my whole year in Industry malarky. But mostly its because I'm terribly lazy and have no real need to continue it - there is no teacher telling me that I have to or no job application as yet.

Throughout these 9 months, I kept telling myself that I have to write my blog this weekend, or I will definitely write something tomorrow. But in the words of Ronan Keating and by more reputable people, tomorrow never comes. and it literally never did, until yesterday, when I decided to finally actually write something.

I thought I would give you a summary of my life over the past time. I plan to come back and add a proper blog about each of the following - as I have missed a whole load of interesting things, websites, videos, art, photography, all stored up in my brain...that I need to show. I will wait for another 'tomorrow' and a cold and wet day to upload everything...and tell you my stories and share my findings.

Back to a summary:

July: I spent pretty much the whole of July designing and making costumes for a play for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It was called When In Rome and was produced by a best friend of mine, Ella Jones. It was extremely funny, well written and directed, Rob Thorman, and as I heard, an incredible success!

August - December: I spent 5 months in Paris! (I did it! I actually ended up living there. My dream came true). It was incredible - I really loved it. I was interning for Première Vision - a massive international textile faire, and at the same time learning some french.

Image taken from here

January - I flew out to Los Angeles (where I am currently residing) and am now interning for Sue Wong, a high end fashion designer.

Image taken from here

Its all been very crazy, and I've learnt loads and met amazing people, and seen lots of incredible things. I will have to update you properly! This really doesn't excuse 9 months of silence...but I managed to find an urge within me to blog, and this shouldn't be ignored.

Speak soon,

xoxo

10 final designs

2010-05-21T03:43:00.001-07:00

These are my 10 final designs related to my Knitted Underground Project. I was inspired by the London Underground and so through colour and various techniques created 10 samples related to my theme. I was really intrigued by the use of the over knitting technique and found it a really successful way to demonstrate vertical lines amongst my horizontal stripes. I also developed a technique that creates diagonal shapes within a knitted structure.

This is an example of how my samples would be used on a knitted jumper or cardigan. I love the way it turned out and really feel that the colours work so well together.

Bon Bon

2010-04-06T12:09:00.000-07:00

It was my best friend Yentyl's 21st yesterday, so some of my friends and I made her a wallhanging. She is originally from Trinidad but has lived in London since she was 7, but is now off to Paris for a year (and potentially for a lot longer).

Due to her frenchyness (she has a french boyfriend) we chose a french and london theme - so obviously red, white and blue... we also wrote 'postcards' from us all addressed to random Parisian places, and stuck cute pictures of eiffel towers and frenchy things. There was also some remnants from our gap year obviously - some scrap materials from Northen Thailand, and some Indian beads, as well as 'polaroids' of us. Anyway, it came together really nicely, (although took me a wee while to sew).

A London Dress

2010-04-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

I saw this dress in a shop window in Carnaby Street. It reminded me of my project on tube maps, so I photographed it in order to share it with the world (anyone on here).

I love the way that the dress is actually constructed using a London map - obviously unwearable but such a fun and interesting idea. The shop was selling artwork rather than clothes or dresses, but I think there should be a real dress made like this.

The Knitted Underground

2010-03-19T05:47:00.001-07:00

Embarrassingly, when given the topic on journeys, I became extremely interested and intrigued by the whole idea of tube maps and how they have developed over the years. I turned into a massive 'anorak' (I think they're sometimes known as) and researched back to the beginnings of the first ever tube map (1908).

And this is todays map, that most of you will recognise - the distinctive yellow bottle shape:

Well anyway, I was very interested by this, and particularly loved the colours of the 1908 designs, and the randomness and incongruous way the lines met each other and dispersed.

I found that even physically on the tubes, there is such a linear perspective. Everything seemed to have or show a linear structure – from the actual tube train, to the wires, stairway and patterns on the walls. Structured lines became a definite theme within my work.

I decided to use the first ever map as my source of colour choice. I like the colours as they’re more muted and a softer tone to the ones used in today’s maps. Picking out the 9 different colours also gave me a clear starting point.

Once I had my colour choice, I needed a direction and to build on my ideas. I found that looking into Bauhaus gave me a good starting point. I thought that the colours they used are as striking as my choice in colour, and they use a lot of very linear and structured designs. I particularly liked Annie Alber's design, as the stripes are very clear, and it almost resembles a train track.

When trying to transfer my ideas into knit, I created hand knits which I felt could quite clearly show a transition from messy and incongruous to really structured and formed, similar to the transition from the old map to the new.

These were my first few knits, and they were a kind of practice to see what I wanted to do with the colours. I found that the stripes represented all the linear structures that I had been working on and could include the 9 different colours from my inspiration. However, within my work I wanted to also somehow create diagonal and vertical lines rather than just horizontal, almost to replicate a tube map on the knit. This is something that I am still working on.

When finding ideas for where my knitted designs would lead me, I found Sonia Rykiel really inspirational in terms of knitted stripes and her use of colour. She gave me a clearer direction in terms of what to try out, and inspired me to design for a garment.

Having seen Missoni's exhibition at the Estorik collection in London, Missoni's designs really inspired me in terms of brightly knitted stripes.

In terms of experimenting more with knitted structures I found this quite an interesting technique to use, as it creates quite bold formed lines, yet has a feeling of disorder and disarray. Its clarity and rigidity is somehow similar to the modern tube maps. I then tried out various other techniques in order to try and get a vertical line, amongst the horizontal stripes.

I then tried out various other techniques in order to try and get a vertical line, amongst the horizontal stripes. This is just using needles out of action, yet it creates quite a nice bend or twist in the fabric.

This was my most recent attempt. I have used a variety of techniques within this sample, and feel that a combination of techniques could be successful. I kept the thread on as it reminded me of the wires from the tube.

Although I'm still developing my designs, as part of my course we have to issue a piece for the annual Bradford Textile Competition. This was my final sample for this competition:

And it's end use:
I am still developing my designs, as I need 10 final pieces for this project. I will post them up once they're all completed.

3D

2010-03-13T15:29:00.001-08:00

While I'm on the topic of a hi-tech computer age, I just went to see Alice in Wonderland. I thought it was fantastic, I really did. The 3G was incredible, and the mix of real life and animation was so well done. Also the costumes and makeup were extraordinary. I would love to be able to create costumes so rich and stunning as these. I will definitely google the costume designer - Colleen Atwood.

Heres a trailer - but see it in 3D!

I also saw Avatar, at the IMAX, which in terms of computer design was beautiful, and the 3D worked so well. It was immensely enjoyable, although very cheesey, and a joy to watch. Will there be any such thing as 2D films in 5 years time? Will going to see a 2D film in 25 years time, be like seeing a black and white film now? Also, what will happen when these films turn into DVDs? Will they come with 3D glasses? This will be interesting!

Fascination.

Sixth Sense Technology

2010-03-13T15:24:00.001-08:00

In my lectures on marketing (yep marketing) we've been learning not only about marketing strategies for BHS and Channel 5, but also about leadership qualities within designers. Apparently design leaders are different to any other group leaders, as their success requires friendship.

Anyway, the point that I was trying to make within this blog post (and I apologise for not writing more recently), was that the lecturer told us that to be great leaders we needed to be ahead of the times, thinking beyond the now and about the future - ready to design for the next major technical advancement. His example was that in 5 years time there will be no more mobile phones, there will be no more computers, it will all be on your person. I was in complete denial, but this video just goes to show, anything will be possible. I find it frightening how close it is to being so hi-tech, and I think it will be awful. We're already in such a computer age, and I find myself facebooking or skyping my friend upstairs or calling someone within the same house. How will I be when I don't even have to go to my computer, but use my hands. Will people communicate properly ever again? It is going to be such a bizarre future.

But then also terribly exciting. But definitely watch this clip - its incredible!

Movement and Contrast

2010-02-22T08:21:00.000-08:00

Our aim in this project was to choose and investigate one theme from an art and design period. I began by looking into Romanticism. I was at first very intrigued by romanticism for it’s strong emotion, very visual, deep coloured paintings. However, what I found even more interesting was the variety of different paintings and painters, and their unclear connection to one another. Something which is common in Romanticism is that each painting is unlike anything else and has it’s one style. Although this interested me, I found it hard to find a starting point. Looking into Romanticism’s context helped me to explore themes and cultivate a link between Romanticism and knit.

Romanticism appears to be a very complex artistic and literary movement that arose in the second half of the 18^th century. I found that a lot of the inspiration or cause for Romantic art was triggered or resulted due to the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution, as the art itself was a revolt against aristocracy and political custom, and against the realization of science. I was encouraged to pursue such integral themes of ‘escaped confines’, ‘revolt’, ‘change’ and ‘contrast’. Contrast is clear within both the revolutions; the contrast before and after. These bases of contrast gave me most of my inspiration for my work within knit – through contrast of techniques, or construction.

However, I was struggling to find a way of expressing my ideas in a sketchbook rather than just by word or diagrams. I had to go back to the drawing board and look back into the paintings and the artists who I felt clearly show romantic art. William Blake was a very famous Romantic artist, and not only for his visionary images, but also for his emotional poetry.

I tried copying his painting ‘Whirlwind of Lovers’ using strong thick colour by oil paint. I wanted to show the vibrancy of the blue and the sections of beige and green. Although I found it really helpful to break down the colours, to see their impact and to relate that to knit, I felt that I was losing the strong sense of movement that Blake captures well within his work. I then had to find a way to express his movement through other mediums; I used watercolour, sewing, pen and something, which I discovered earlier on the project, the use of word and text. I feel that text correctly and successfully portrays my meaning, and outlines the aims of my work. I also feel that romanticism holds a lot of inspiration from poetry and word play. I chose to use text from the book ‘Romanticsm and Art’ which tries to uncover the mysteries of Romantic art.

Moving my project on in terms of looking more closely at movement, I sourced inspiration from other artists who demonstrate this within their art. One artist whose work I found very interesting was David Hockney, who experiments with different mediums in order to successfully express movement. In this painting on the left ‘A bigger splash’ although the image is rather still and flat, the focus of the painting is the movement of the water. I like the contrast between the stillness and the movement. It is interesting to see that there are different sections to the splash – the centre, which is the whitest and most concentrated, and then the straggling lines to the right. I think the lines on the right are effective in showing a trickling effect.

I was inspired by the trickling effect and wanted to experiment with different mediums in order to portray movement. I tried dripping paint in order to get the same motion of fluidity. I liked the idea that the paint was moving itself and that it was completely moving on its own accord. I used wet paper with ink and found the outcome really grasped the feeling of movement. It created quite a fluffy, dispersed effect, that could be easily interpreted through woollen yarns. It was interesting combining stitch with the paint flow as I liked the movement that the thread created, and think that it emphasises and highlights the inner shapes of the dispersed paint. The linear thread formed a nice contrast to the moving paint. This, then took me forward to looking in depth at the theme of contrast; between movement and stillness; fluidity and formality. In order to show this contrast I used the fluidity of the paint against the structure of the text. I found it interesting that text is so structured yet there is a link to movement and how words flow.

this idea further, I cut between the lines of the dispersed paint and put graph paper behind it. I think that this successfully shows the great contrast between the formality and the fluidity.

When converting my visual research into knits, I used drop stitch to create a similar linear effect as the dripping. I think that the loose dropped stitch contrasts well to the structured rib knit next to it. I also used the hand held stitch on the domestic machines to give the look of waves and fluidity. With the final pieces I’m focusing on the notion of movement between structure as the shapes created in the drop stitch link closely to those created by the dripping.

In terms of developing my visual research to produce a collection of knitted textiles, I will be focusing my knit to produce a structured and very visual garment. I take a lot of interest in artists and designers such as Sandra Backlund who creates conceptual yet wearable pieces. She has an idea and designs clothes to fit it, so it becomes more of a wearable art piece. I like the idea of bringing aspects from the art side of knit to a garment as my designs are very structural and quite conceptual. However, looking at artists such as Shane Waltener and Rania Hussain gave me inspiration for ways to use knit to create really dynamic and unique designs. I found Rania Hussain , who creates knits to be exhibited, particularly interesting for technique and the for looking at shape and form. Shane Waltener goes beyond the aesthetics of knitting and focuses on the social dimensions of the knit. His web like structure inspired me to look at drop stitch.

I think I will be designing for a haute couture line for a design house such as Missoni. Missoni has a unique collection of knitwear and produces a variety of very interesting and dynamic garments. The image on the left involved really loose lace sitcth – something which I am very inspired by. Missoni is also known for using very vibrant and dynamic colours.

Overall I am very please with my project, although I felt that it took me a long time to develop and properly focus with it. I think that I could still develop my ideas further and continue to experiment with different materials and mediums. I am pleased with my final designs, and feel that they relate well to my visual research and the colours link well to the Romantic era.

Digital Design

2010-02-08T06:02:00.000-08:00

For my digital design project, I decided to focus on the theme of East meets West. Through research undertaken regarding Indian patterns and designs, and looking at modern fashion and wallpaper designs I chose to design patterns for wallpaper.

The wallpaper that I designed needed to have the same qualities in colour and intricate design as those from India. I wanted to keep the bold colours and to use the images from Indian designs and patterns that I had sourced.

Design Theory

2010-02-08T05:40:00.000-08:00

For our Design Theory module, we had to cut up a square and hexagon into 5 parts. With the 5 new made shapes, we had to create a repeating tessellation that could be used as a tiling.

Our second assignment was to look into The Divine Proportions and the Golden Ratio, and analyze a specific painting or artist who uses them within their work.

Mixed Media, Weaving, Knitting

2010-02-08T05:14:00.000-08:00

In our second term last year, we had to choose which area we wanted to specialize in; whether it be Mixed Media, Weaving or Knitting. We had 3 weeks on each topic to produce 4 final designs. Here is a small collection of them. I have definitely improved since. Well I hope I have.

I now specialize in Knitwear.

Coursework

2010-02-08T04:48:00.001-08:00

I thought I would finally put up some of my work from over the years, partly as a place for me to store my bits and bobs, but also to allow you to see it.

This was from my A Level project. My brief was to make a ballet dress to be worn by Darcey Bussell in a perfume advert, which can be easily adapted for batch production to be sold in selected high street boutiques.

My teacher replicated my design and made one for her daughter to wear at a wedding.

Paul Elliman

2010-01-15T04:40:00.000-08:00

From an extensive collection of randomly found objects, Paul Elliman has designed 'Bits' - an ongoing typographic design project. 'His survey of the detritus of contemporary urban experience establishes the designer as a conduit between the blank abstractions of the soft city existence and the kinetic rush of individuals careering through it's spaces, knocking bits off as they go'. He believes that the city is talking to him.

Paul Elliman asked 26 of his friends to meet at a passport photobooth and he assigned each of them a letter of the alphabet. Their responsibility was to 'act' out their letter - utilizing the practical limitations of both the photobooth and their own bodies.

Paul Elliman's 'alphabet' and 'bits' are typographies designed wherein alphabetic form shows our relationship with objects in urban space and ways in which the everyday contains performance.

Typography and Jenny Holzer

2010-01-15T04:03:00.001-08:00

I have currently been revising for my exams. I only have two, so its not too bad really, but my exam yesterday was such a disaster. The module is just a disgrace - the teachers don't know what they're meant to be teaching us, there is absolutely no structure and their lecture notes don't make grammatical sense. They have never taught this module before and apparently are discontinuing for next year, due to it's awfulness.

However, although the module was atrocious I did learn a lot about typography (which unfortunately never came up in the exam), and it's influence within art and design.

One person who stuck out in particular was Jenny Holzer, whose means of art is through typography. Holzer places her art into situations for everyone to see, making a clear political standpoint and feeling against society. She displays her work publicly, projecting LED writings onto a building. The building is essentially her canvas. A lot of her work explores and attempts to subvert electronic advertising by adapting it to their means.

This is from her earlier work in the 70s:

And this is her more recent work, which has become much more technically advanced:

Into the next decade

2010-01-04T04:41:00.001-08:00

Well a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!! I have been on hold for 3 weeks, which is no way to go about a blog - but there we go....I have no excuses. Time to change for the new year - my resolutions - to work harder, to push myself, to not procrastinate. And things I need to achieve this year - an industrial placement, good exam results, fluency in french. haha. I'm not aiming too high I hope. And I would love to keep this blog going. I shall hopefully be finding exciting things and new designs all from 2010 - I may also delight you with some of my own work...which is not as exciting, but could be interesting?

I'd also like to add, that now we are not being monitored or graded on our blogs, I can truly write whatever I like...which probably changes nothing.

For Christmas I got a book by the Sartorialist- a blogger who goes around the streets of New York or Florence taking amazing shots of the people around him. I love to look at other fashion blogs, particularly ones that are now famous and really inspiring. Its interesting because he often takes close ups of really intricate details about someones attire, and he photographs men and women equally, which I think is important. Check out his blog, and also buy his book - its truly wonderful. Apparently his favourite photo of all time is this one:

"I love her posture, the bike itself, her hat pulled low, the studious glasses, she just seems so elegant and yet completely sporty. I hate over-preciousness and she seems like the kind of girl that would ride in a convertible with the top and not worry about her hair because she knows she has a great cut."

This photo was taken in Paris - I love it! And I love that she never knew she was being taken, and never knew that she is part of something so big.

Happy New Year!

Knitted money

2009-12-10T01:57:00.000-08:00

My parents took a long weekend in Paris, and visited an exhibition called gallery Rabouan Moussion. They were really fascinated by it and so took pictures for me. It is a collection of knitted money or credit cards, made on a really large scale. What I find most interesting is that the money or credit cards are not completely finished and are decaying slightly at the bottom. This highlights the current credit crunch and the loss of money, and money falling to shreds. I like the idea of using knit to express a fear or a worry in today's society. The knits themselves are also very beautiful and well made. Very impressive.

www.rabouan-moussion.com

The Turner Prize

2009-12-08T00:52:00.001-08:00

The turner prize occurs every year. And the art work is really inspirational and really interesting. It focuses on modern art and new and exciting styles or techniques.

Watch the video, it sums up everything and is really good!

The winner was Richard Wright - using gold leaf on the wall.

Such a dynamic size, yet really intricate - almost Baroque inspired with its grandeur. I find Roger Hiorn's work also really inspiring. He takes a South London flat and copper sulphates the whole room - amazing.

Sorry for the ridiculously simple and small post - so many things to do, oh no! Last week of term and all.

Fame cannot come without publicity and publicity does not come without fame.

2009-12-02T12:02:00.000-08:00

Hmm. Just now, I was facebook chatting to a guy that I grew up with and we came onto the subject of my blog. I asked him whether he'd follow me, as I need followers... the more the merrier and the better my course grade! He replied that he doesn't follow blogs, and that I'm clearly seeking fame. But I've never wanted to be famous. There's always an itch for fame, but only from when I was younger - I'm definitely over that stage now. I just couldn't be bothered with it, it doesn't appeal to me... But he said that I was after publicity, and I guess I am, having a blog and all...but I don't think that by seeking publicity I'm after fame. He left me with this point: 'Fame cannot come without publicity and publicity cannot come without fame.' I get that fame cannot happen without publicity, but surely there is unsuccessful publicity and that does not equal fame. Someone like Tavi Gevinson is now famous through her blog, and through her publicity. But think about all the X Factor rejects, who had major publicity but have no fame now. At all. But then they did have fame at one point.

I don't know really, but what I do know is that I don't want to be famous. Thats not my aim in this blog. My aim in this blog is to find inspiration and process my thoughts (as stated in my about me) and tell people who care about stuff. However, the industry that I'm directing towards could result in fame (if successful) and I most certainly wouldn't be opposed to that. So maybe, I don't want to be a celebrity, but I do want to be known.

I don't think I concluded my point very well, and I don't think I really made a point. But hopefully you can write your opinions on the quote - I'm intrigued by it. In order to make this blog more interesting, I've attached a picture of Marilyn Monroe - who is ridiculously famous. I love this picture - I've put it up next to my mirror, with many more amazing photos from magazines and cards and polaroids of my friends.

1st of December....Holidays are Coming!

2009-12-01T04:13:00.000-08:00

It is now the 1st of December - which means mulled wine, chocolates everyday, frosted glass, christmas trees, and a reef on the front door. However, we can't have a wreath where we live because it'll most likely get stolen. Yep, thats Hyde Park for you. Hyde Park in Leeds, not London - very different areas.

To begin the festivities, I thought I'd upload some videos or images that really do remind me of christmas. To me 'The Snowman' really is christmas. I remember watching it when I was younger and loving it, and still now 'walking in the air' is such a beautiful song. Well done Aled Jones. It makes me happy.

And to be more with the times, Coca-Cola adverts do begin the christmas cheer. They did after all make Santa's suit red and white, to fit with the Coca-Cola colours. Actually I take that back, according to Wikipedia, Coca-Cola were not the first company to use a modern (red and white) Santa Claus. Well there you go, you just learn something new every day. The wonders of wikipedia.

Am I advertising here? I don't mean to be, but I kind of am. And I'm advertising for Coca-Cola. Oh dear. But it is Christmassy.

Madame Butterfly

2009-11-25T10:49:00.000-08:00

The world is very strange. I am currently studying Textile Design at Leeds University. Last week I had just come out of a Design Theory lecture when a girl ran forward and asked me whether I had been in the Madame Butterfly show 3 years ago. I responded really quizzically, as after all, it was such a long time ago, but discovered she had been in the exact same show. She was blogging about the experience and in doing so came across a picture of us both next to each other. How very very weird. I feel slightly bad in writing this blog as I'm almost stealing her idea, but I think that bizarre coincidences like this must be noted.

The dress that I had made for my A-Level coursework was selected to participate in a large fashion show in the Royal Albert Hall. The fashion show was based upon the themes of Puccini's Madame Butterfly. My dress tied in well with the themes of innocence, escapism, vulnerability and love. The Royal Albert Hall in partnership with the BBC and 15 colleges from London and the South East joined together to stage a massive fashion show on the incredible stage. There were a series of catwalks leading to Butterfly's house centre stage surrounded by water.

It was a really interesting and enjoyable experience. It was fascinating to see how the choreographers and directors managed all the 150 pupils to perform exactly how they wanted. It required immense amount of preparation and organisation but really came together. It was also really exciting to be apart of something so big and to be backstage at the Royal Albert Hall.

"Never put off until tomorrow the fun you can have today"

2009-11-25T05:37:00.000-08:00

This morning I sat at my sewing machine ready to wizz through 12 cheerleading outfits, but instead just sat there, on my weird posture chair, staring at all my birthday cards. I really do love birthday cards. I think they're really special... well they can be really special...obviously depending on who wrote it and what they wrote. But it got me thinking about card designs and how many there are. There are cards for all types of occasions, some pretty ridiculous. There are the birthday cards, the thank you cards, the anniversary cards, the valentines cards, the weddings cards, of course the Christmas cards, the 'feel better soon' cards, the mothers and fathers day cards, the general congratulations cards, the baby's born cards, the good luck cards, the 'sorry you're leaving' cards, the sympathy cards and apparently sorry cards. And then there's the theme of the card - whether its a jokey one, a flowery one, a teddy bear one (yuck), a poem, an arty one, an embellished one...well it just goes on and on.

I wonder if I should get into card making...

The LookBook!

2009-11-24T05:31:00.000-08:00

My friend has recently told me about the Lookbook. The lookbook is a website where people upload pictures of themselves daily to show you what they're wearing and their outfits each day. They also give you details of their outfit, and where each garment is from. Some people have obviously spent ages and ages taking the photo and deciding on what to wear and how to position themselves. And others have done a myspace style picture in front of a mirror. I find it fascinating, as I can spend hours and hours just scrolling down the lookbook and seeing all different types of people from different places and their styles. However I do find it slightly self-promoting and boasting, and when there are 13 year old girls posing in amazing outfits, quite sad really. But then it is really enjoyable and as the scroller just keeps scrolling and never ends, continuously reloading, one can waste hours and hours just watching people. Like a moving magazine. But with ordinary people.

Anyway, take a look.

www.lookbook.nu

Spring/Summer 2011

2009-11-24T01:24:00.000-08:00

This time last week, we were driving up to Bradford for a talk about the annual textiles competition, which we had applied to the previous year. It was quite a long talk, and not all was completely relevant to us, and Bradford as a place was rather horrid, (a car crash taking place just outside the hall). But, what I did enjoy was seeing the winners work, as well as hearing all about Peclers Paris - a colour and trend forecasting company. Their job is to decide today's trends, to picture the future and to infuse added meaning to the product.

Anyway, I thought you may be interested in the trend forecast of Spring/Summer 2011. The forecast is divided into 4 sections. And in general, there is a lot about Print. Within each sub category there is always a section covering ethnic prints, floral prints, cheerful prints. Prints, prints, prints, prints. But here are all the trends:

Floreal - 'A romantic rock mood blows over a fresh flower bed. Spring.' It focuses a lot on flowers and soft, pale colourings, such as prairie green, periwinkle blue, candy pinks, pompadour bouquets with rose water, poppy red and bleached pastels; foamy pollen. Femininity, virgins, laces, bloomsbury and floral patternings are major themes.

Meanderings - 'Docker equipment for long haul travelers - an environment where a nomad lifestyle... takes us elsewhere'. Meanderings looks to army khakis and quite an earthy and ochre theme. Colourings, such as workwear blues and dusty grey. Some themes which will be focused on are workwear, transit, rusty, 50s and patterns.

Solaris - 'Away with grey! Lumino-therapy and renewable energy, use the sun to warm yourself. Splatter life with cheer and good will'. Solaris is looking to the sun, focusing on intense orange flashes, emerald foliage, and burned earth. It is inspired by images of India, and encompasses soft, gold rays, and the whole spectrum of beauty. Themes within Solaris are inferno cult, theatre costumes, nostal geek, hotmix, patterns.

Cheerful - 'Optimism and well being, regenerated simple modern graphics, structured silhouettes and ultra-fresh colours organise yesterdays chaos'. Cheerful encompasses nautical stripes, rosey cheeks and lipstick red. It is looking into pratical clothings, for an upbeat lifestyle. Flashy clashes under pure summer sky. The themes are mustache stripes, fun bondage, leather, sexy sport, padding, patterns.

I loved the forecasting journals - 'Pulse Generation', and spent most of the lectures reading them and flicking through them. The way the trends are laid out on the page is not only enjoyable to look through, almost like a magazine, but is very interesting to see how they describe and illustrate the upcoming trends. It will be interesting to come back to this blog in two years time and to see what exactly will be in the high street.

I hope you're inspired. Be inspired. Go.

Arielle De Pinto, Knitted metal

2009-11-23T11:36:00.001-08:00

‘A fine arts graduate of Concordia University in 2007, Canadian designer Arielle de Pinto developed her unique style of metal work over the course of studies in print and textiles and a series of internships. Launching a line later that same year Arielle is a regular participant in New York and Paris fashion weeks and her collection of hand-worked jewelry is presented by select specialty stores internationally.’

I've always been very interested in different, extraordinary, unique and innovative ways to create knit. Arielle De Pinto specializes in knitting metal to create really interesting and refined jewelry. I also love how her designs are presented within the photoshoot.

http://www.arielledepinto.com - check it out...

Grease is the Word

2009-11-23T02:50:00.000-08:00

I am currently partaking in the Stage Musical Society production of Grease. Unfortunately I am not singing or dancing within the show, but instead I am sourcing and creating the costumes for the show. Also known as Costume Design. I am doing this with two other girls from Fashion Design, and the three of us have set out to produce a day wear outfit, a ball gown, a cheerleading outfit and a sparkly number for Beauty school drop out, for 44 cast members. Oh not forgetting the T-Birds and Pink Ladies Jackets. Although stressful at times, it has been an incredible experience and has really opened my eyes in Costume design as a plausible career. It combines two of my passions - Theatre and Textiles, and I love to see the final outcomes of the costumes on stage. I was meant to be documenting my experiences as I go along, but have now discovered that it is 2 weeks before the show, so most things have been found and completed - mostly found from charity shops and vintage stalls and markets. However, I have given myself the task today to make 12 cheerleading outfits. Excellent.

Texture

2009-11-23T02:44:00.001-08:00

It was my birthday on the 18th, but I have been celebrating it for a week! (Which is amazing, but not too wonderful seeing as it is almost the end of term and I need to get back on top of my work). I am now 21! So officially a woman. The last big birthday til I'm 30.
My friends have been incredible and are the best possible friends a girl could have - so generous, amazing, kind, fantastic, beautiful and lovely. And they overwhelmed with my gifts and presents.
Anyway, the reason for writing this post, wasn't to brag about how awesome my party was, but is instead going to tell you about Texture - an ingenious restaurant where my parents took me for my birthday.

Texture is a restaurant set in the heart of London, in Mayfair. The chef is from Iceland and serves up Scandinavian inspired food. Focusing on the texture of different foods throughout. The combination of Xavier Rousset (one of the UKs most successful sommeliers) and Aggi Sverrisson (an award winning chef) created a concept for a restaurant where light, healthy food and exquisite wines would have equal importance. That concept became Texture, believed to be the first restaurant co-founded by an award-winning sommelier and top chef.

For nibbles we were presented with flavoured pop corn and fish skin, parmesan crisps. All with unique textures and flavoures. For my mains I had a venison, served with chocolate. And for desert they presented bowls filled with dry ice, pouring over our icecream - like a couldron. I was most impressed. What I found fascinating about this restaurant was the way the food was presented - everything was taken into consideration; the placement of the food on the plate, and the decoration on the food, the colour of the plate, the position of the plate. It was just like art. Art and design within food.

Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain

2009-11-17T14:59:00.001-08:00

Amélie is wonderful and beautiful!

Amélie is the reason I love Paris, and probably the reason why I want to learn french. I just think the film is so beautiful. The whole film is like an art piece. Beautiful. From the music, to the cinematography, to the language, to the story line, to Audrey Tautou. It is the ultimate feel-good film; I came away warm hearted and ready to do good deeds for the world. It paints lovely images of Paris, filmed using vibrant colours to evoke a romantic and dreamlike sensation.

La Langue D'Amour

2009-11-17T13:49:00.000-08:00

Oui c'est vrai, les Français est la langue d'amour!

Why? Because it's beautiful, charming, romantic, and one can say 'amour'. At the moment I'm studying French as an elective, as part of my degree, in order for me to successfully marry a VERY good looking and charming French man. But also, and probably equally unlikely, I'm learning french so that I can work in Paris for my year in industry next year. Well, potentially. I have visited France many a time, and Paris a few times. But, no surprise, I love it, and I love how it is photographed and illustrated and how it is just so elegant, and classic. Take Chanel for instance. Again, no surprise there. These are just a few photos that I have taken of the city myself...

...I do however want to go back and take millions more.

I am lucky enough to go to Premier Vision in February as an honorary textileser, amongst fashioners. But I'll find any excuse to go. I am inspired to use this blog to search through french related designers and artists, and will hopefully document on here, my qualms and difficulties with finding an internship in Paris. IF, I find one. We'll see.

Experimental Knit

2009-11-17T12:02:00.000-08:00

Experimental knitting? I'm thinking Sandra Backlund (who I've already mentioned), Mark Fast, and now Pringle, who have brought experimental knitting to something of the norm; sold in high street stores...yes and by that I do mean Top Shop. Just as a quick aside, people love to mention Topshop.

Mark Fast.

Pringle of Scotland.

Topshop.

Other than just experimental knit in fashion, I have come across some rather amusing knitted things. And when I say things, I mean really really random stuff.

Look how wonderful these knitted cupcakes are! I absolutely love them. I really do! I just think they're such ingenious ideas. What knitter would hate knitted cupcakes. But what does one do with them? I would definitely squeeze them. I reckon they'd be really a good stress release.

A knitted chair. Yep.

Yes, most certainly a knitted bicycle. Obviously. No not a scarf, or a jumper...a bicycle. One may think it's pointless, and I'll probably agree, but it is fun. And we like fun.

How long do you think it took to make? A very long time.

And if it couldn't get any weirder. A knitted digestive system.

It just goes to show, one can literally knit anything, in any way.

Sandra Backlund

2009-11-17T08:43:00.001-08:00

Sandra Backlund! (not Buckland)

The quality of the video isn't superb, but I do find the music very soothing.

One of the most talked about and interesting knitwear designers of the century. Her knitwear is outrageous. Outrageous in the best possible sense. Using extremely different designs and creating beautiful yet wearable pieces. I think she is one designer who truly has inspired me, and, I presume many others, to view knit as something exciting, extra-ordinary and often daring.

I really really like this design, I love the thick ruffles on the bottom of the dress, and the colour shades, where it changes technique. Each section to me looks like a completely different dress or garment. And what I really enjoy, similarly to Hussein Chalayan, is how the overall dress looks like an art piece, really conceptual, exciting and experimental, breaking the boundries.

And something which she is very famous for is knitting garments with hair. Although potentially disgusting, I find it fascinating as a photograph and even more as a concept.

Its bizarre. But I think bizarre is good.

"Afterwords"

2009-10-26T03:53:00.001-07:00

This was my favourite video from the exhibition. I just think it is incredible how he transforms furniture into clothing, something that from what I know, has never been attempted by other designers. I think that this was inspired by refugees, to show how they are continuously moving, and are practically wearing their wardrobe or house.

I like to think that I could one day create a garment which means more than just a fashion statement. This may sound (in fact definitely does sound) really cliché and american, but my ideal future career would be to create something for a reason and for a purpose and for a point. Which Hussein Chalayan definitely does.

Hussein Chalayan

2009-10-26T03:46:00.001-07:00

Hussein Chalayan may, in fact, be my biggest fashion and textile inspiration. It's not because he creates beautiful designs or fashionable garments - as do many. But I think to him it is more than just a fashion garment. To him it is art. Or maybe I should say, to me it is art.

I visited his exhibition in the Design Museum in London last Easter, and have been meaning to some how document my opinions of him ever since.

Hussein Chalayan is possibly the most famous designer in terms of experimentation - clothes which turn into tables, chairs that transform on the model. I visited his exhibition a month ago and was beyond inspired - his passion and curiosity and ambition to change clothes and fashion into something of an art form.

The exhibitions included 'Afterwords', which I absolutely loved, and 'Airborne', where Hussein Chalayan uses the latest LED technology to fashion design with a specatcular dress consisting of crystals and 15,000 flickering LED lights. His work crosses between architecture, design, philosophy and anthropology, science and technology.

If you haven't already guessed, I want to BE him.

When Wonders Think

2009-10-26T02:41:00.000-07:00

I want to explain my blogs' name. I think I need to. It did take me about a year to think this up - which just goes to show how talented I am at writing, and my general geniusness. I am still not entirely happy with it and will almost definitely change it. For the time being its 'When Wonders Think'. My flat mate scrutinized it, trying to figure out what I was meant to say. I think she might think that I'm illiterate and can't construct sentences. Which to be honest, may be true. But anyway, timidly, I responded 'that it was a play on words - as in, When One Does Think, as it is documenting my Wonders and my Thoughts'. I don't know whether that's obvious, or just made sense in my little mind. But I suppose that's what this blog is really about - for me to put what's in my mind up. And to find things for me to put in my mind.

Maybe.

My First Blog Post

2009-10-20T05:18:00.000-07:00

Hello! This is my first ever blog post. How exciting!

I have been encouraged, through my university, to create an inspiring design blog, which shows my passions, my thoughts, my wonders, my aims and ambitions. I have many hopes for it; that it will be successful, and that I will actually continue to post things on here; that it is interesting and enjoyable; and that it actually benefits me in the future, with a possible job offer or business proposal. I'm sure I'm not expecting too much.

I have been known to join everything, such as in freshers week, and in fact not officially take part in anything. Somehow I always feel so busy and stressed with any amount of work, that I couldn't possibly have enough time for sport or even exercise. I don't understand how medics can physically do it - particularly medics who are also captains in hockey. 9 til 5 every day then sports on the weekend. Jeez. However this year, I want to make more of an effort, and have signed up to the Stage Musical Society to do the Costume Design. I am doing this with two lovely girls from fashion. I will be documenting our progress, as I'm sure you're desperate to see the outcome - as am I.

Ok, well fortunately I have managed to find enough time in my busy life to write this first ever blog post, I hasten to add, about 2 weeks after actually creating it - my real first ever blog (just to test out colours and fonts) was literally one line: 'this is my first blog post'. Which to be honest is really lazy and not exciting and doesn't give much hope to the rest of the blog.

When constructing this blog, as part of an assignment, we had to make a sketchbook to show how we came up with using Blogger; to show what type of things we'll be writing about and to show our target group. I struggled trying to figure out who my target group is. Surely, it is anybody who has the decency to look on my blog. Which, most likely for the time being, will be supportive friends. Is it really likely to be as successful as Tavi Gevinson? The 13 year old fashionista. And are designers and journalists going to read my blog? But I suppose it does come down to who I'm writing to, and I'm not writing to a 50 year old lonely businessman who enjoys fishing as his past time, or a 16 year old boy who is only interested or obsessed in computer games and losing his virginity. Also, I reckon its unlikely that my mum would ever have enough time to surf the net and stumble upon a design blog. But she will be looking at mine now! So who knows. And that businessman could be looking on his mates fishing blog and press 'next blog' and mine appears. And that teenage boy could be surfing game blogs (if they exist) and presses 'next blog' and mine appears. So in all truthfulness anyone could be reading this blog. So what a silly assignment.

Well, I have slightly blabbered. I'll definitely be making shorter blogs in the future. Ones that are actually design related.
Maybe.