Brief...

Learning Agreement

My initial inspiration comes from imagery of destruction, deserts, decay and the photography of Richard Misrach. I feel that this will be a strong starting point as my inspiration is from something which is present. I was also inspired by Christopher Kane’s Atomic Ware collection and Prada’s Spring 2010 Beach collection. I am going to look further into the basis of my inspiration and come up with a range of ideas which I can work from and start to put these ideas into visual work such as drawings and photographs. My concept is to come up with a range of imagery I can then take and generate into print designs. My theme relates to the world of fashion as I will be designing prints for Womenswear. At the end of the unit my work will take the form of a collection of print designs and a series of fashion illustrations with ideas and initial research all clearly and professionally presented. I am designing Womenswear for Spring/Summer 2011. 

From this project I would like to develop my design skills further and learn new CAD skills as this is my preferred way to work and bring more drawing and photography into my work. I want to see more fabric in my work so I am going to make the most of the facilities on offer get the most out of the project as I can. I also want to improve my presentation skills and present my work more creatively and to a higher standard. 

I want to use this project to help me develop my own voice as a designer. I am going to test my work in the real world. I am going to do this through design competitions. I can also test my work through my Blog and through contacts I have on my Blog. I am going to contact people in the fashion industry who may be of help to me with this project. I am going to take risks with my work and try new things. 

I am really interested in illustration and print so I am going to use this project to try and experiment with the two.  My design outcome will demonstrate that I have developed as a designer because I will have tested my work in the real world. I will have a sketchbook which will display the process of my visual research, my generation of ideas, my development and my presentation progress. My design outcome will also demonstrate how I have developed as a designer through my understanding of how to author, manage, and present self initiated projects, and my work will meet prescribed learning outcomes. 

I am going to achieve all of my goals by going to tutorials each week and evaluating what I do each week, and looking at what has gone well and what needs improving etc. I will also use my journal to achieve my targets and use it to measure my progress as the project goes on. My journal can also by a great resource for testing my work. I will deal with change by reviewing my work on a weekly basis and if necessary I will tweak the learning agreement, I will also have a back up plan to help deal with change if anything goes wrong. I will also deal with my time management so if anything does go wrong I have time to work things out. On this project I am going to play on my strengths which I feel are my illustration skills and my print skills. I can use my skills to my advantage as I am creating a collection of print designs with illustrations. There are however things I am not so good at such as presentation and working on fabric which will be an important part of this project for me. I can improve these skills by having a set amount of time per week for them. 

Throughout this project I will need to use various university resources. I will need to use the library for research and access to the books and magazines. I will also need to use computing equipment for software such as Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. I will also need access to the printing facilities as well. I am going to make the most of the resources on offer to me and do the majority of the work in university. I will allocate time for my work at home and in university and I will deal with resource issues by having backup plans. If my hard drive dies I will have my work backed up else where and if I can’t spend as much time as I would like in a workshop I will do something else I was planning to do at a later date. I am going to make a budget and plan how much money I am going to spend. I will also keep a basic account of my expenditure and compare the difference at the end of the project. And finally I am going to plan my time. I will do this by creating a timetable and identify what I need to do and when. I will assess how well I work with this in my journal. 

The photos features in this post are just a few of many I have sourced for my inspiration for this project! Please contact me if you feel you could help me with this project in any way possible as I need to test my work in the world! 

Source: 

Photographs by Richard Misrach

Dress: Christopher Kane Atomic Ware