For my FMP project I wanted to investigate the idea of looking at automobiles and everything that surrounds them. I wanted to approach this theme with the intention of not just sticking to just the idea of current transport vehicles but also the different types of art styles that comes out of the idea of automobiles from various types of concept arts such as retrofuturism and look back at the history of automobiles.
My aim for the project was to stretch the way I did my design work and pattern cutting and investigate how to push my understanding of concepts, much like the work of fashion designers Hussein Chalayan and Craig Green. In terms of audience, I did not want my work to be limited by age but a consumer that was unafraid to be experimental with their clothing choices.
Ideally, I want to stick more to the side of menswear but investigated womenswear also so that I understood how to design for the wider market. I liked to see if I could design from a more commercial angle with this project rather than Avant Garde or abstract as I wanted to give myself more design opportunities in terms of wearable clothes rather than the statement pieces which I have produced before.
For my FMP I wanted to return to an earlier project. Although the earlier project went well, I felt that I could have explored it further and delved into my imagination deeper to develop on the concept. Reflecting back, there were areas that I missed out on and did not expand on such as trying out different surface patterns and even construction techniques.
This time around I used Flowers as the starting point again but combined this with the idea of Contrast and Clash. I was inspired by fashion companies such as Pretty Little Thing, Fashion Nova, Urban Outfitters and Shien because they always brought out clothing that is unique to the mass market, I was also inspired by high end designers such as Alexander McQueen, Comme des Garcons and Viktor & Rolf. I created a collection of designs aimed at the young womenswear market and translated the successful designs into 3D wearable pieces.
For my FMP I wanted to further explore clothing shapes and inventive silhouettes that I touched on with a previous project. I found it interesting that clothing could take whatever extreme shape and form you wanted. The idea was to distort and reimagine how the human body is represented to the world. Images on Instagram and social media have been edited so much that the public have begun to think that polished looks and slim bodies are the perfect ideal, this in turn has affected people’s confidence on how they see themselves and especially if they are overweight of have any form of disability.
For my FMP I wanted to look at this topic of deformity and body issues and attempted to turn what is considered ugly into something beautiful. My purpose on doing this topic was to push personal boundaries and do unusual things that wouldn’t be seen as beautiful but also question what is beautiful how can we label if someone is beautiful off what their body looks like.
Further research into understanding the theme of Comme des Garcons Lumps and bumps collection was a starting point as well as textile artist Daisy May Collingridge and fine artist Jenny Saville who all look at enlarged bodies within their work but presented it in a positive way. I visually communicated this idea with my own work by creating looks that were exaggerated and experimented with body parts by distorting and enlarging them.
With past work created I tended to rely on techniques and processes that were familiar to me. A recent project encouraged me to take greater risks by exploring and investigating new ways of working and combining materials so that unexpected results could be celebrated.
The success of this enabled me to reflect on my earlier works to realise that working in safe ways would not enable me to grow as a designer. For my FMP I decided to investigate a starting point that I felt would allow me to explore drawings and design work as broadly as possible. I have collected road signs and objects connected to the streets for quite a while.
These artefacts were found on my travels and were either discarded or damaged and left as waste. I found them quite intriguing objects in that they had a purpose to either direct or inform commuters during their journey and were designed in a minimalist way. This was in stark contrast to the actual journey me and others made on the roads which at times were busy and chaotic.
I used these objects as a reference point for my initial drawings and found ways, through creative experimental and textile play, to create an outcome that celebrated road signs and symbols.
My project concept revolved around the idea of harmony and discord. The idea stemmed from my visual investigations of the people around me and the way they dressed. In the past there were distinct subcultures such as the Punks with their distressed or customised clothing and spiky hairstyles and the Mods with their smarter Italian inspired outlook.
There were many others that appeared through time or evolved from another subculture. My time growing up I feel, has been very different in that there has been no clear subculture or visual identity that separates the youth of today. I noticed my generation have taken bits and pieces from what they liked from different subcultures and combined them together to create a watered-down identity or look they were comfortable with whilst not following a gang or tribe.
With this in mind, I thought it would be interesting to take recognizable parts of different subcultures, the best or even worst, and combine them. I investigated the dominant subcultures of the past and began to piece ideas through sketchbook designing and collage to determine what would work for my own project. I ended up customising existing garments whilst creating patterns for new garments. The range of garments produced are interchangeable with each other to create a clashing of style.
My initial concept for this project was to make a visual representation of the morality of the human psyche and behaviour, and how I could show this using uncanny visuals. I wanted to create something that would make people question it or think about why there was a blend between the human and the non-human visuals as a literal representation of how people question that in real events.
I made sure to focus my strengths on illustration and 3D work, as this gave more room for texture as well as line and shape, with each angle of the work warping the shape, playing into the uncanny. The concept and research into uncanny artists like Junji Ito and writers like Lovecraft really made me excited for the project, as these are styles of work that I have a lot of passion for.
I was really drawn to the research into phobias and psychological reasoning behind them too, as it brought my concept out more clearly with the uncanny and how something would appear surreal and unnatural.
My project concept revolved around the idea of harmony and discord. The idea stemmed from my visual investigations of the people around me and the way they dressed. In the past there were distinct subcultures such as the Punks with their distressed or customised clothing and spiky hairstyles and the Mods with their smarter Italian inspired outlook.
There were many others that appeared through time or evolved from another subculture. My time growing up I feel, has been very different in that there has been no clear subculture or visual identity that separates the youth of today. I noticed my generation have taken bits and pieces from what they liked from different subcultures and combined them together to create a watered-down identity or look they were comfortable with whilst not following a gang or tribe.
With this in mind, I thought it would be interesting to take recognizable parts of different subcultures, the best or even worst, and combine them. I investigated the dominant subcultures of the past and began to piece ideas through sketchbook designing and collage to determine what would work for my own project. I ended up customising existing garments whilst creating patterns for new garments. The range of garments produced are interchangeable with each other to create a clashing of style.
