Final Presentation

Today I had my final presentation for the design of my exhibition. This was in front of three people from the committee that are trying to save the National Picture Theatre building, my tutors and other students. I tried to keep as calm as possible but no matter how much I tried to reassure myself, nerves kept seeping through.

Presenting has never been a particularly strong point of mine however, today I really pushed myself out of my comfort zone to speak in a confident manner. I am pleased with how it went and I am proud of myself how much I have developed my presenting skills. I feel extremley happy to enter the next project in September confident that I can sell my ideas to other people. I received good feedback from the members of the committee who were pleased I had created an emotional link in my design and had made it appealing to children. They even said that they will be using some of the ideas mentioned today.

Overall I feel this has been a successful project in creating an inspirational idea and developing skills and progressing to the next level. I now welcome new challenges in future projects with open arms.

Looking Back........

After reviewing the work that I completed for the Republic Design Award I am extremley pleased with how I have developed. Two years ago when I first began my design course I found it very frustrating as I never fully managed to grasp the tasks given to me, but after making mistakes and learning from them and pushing myself I find my college work a lot more enjoyable.

Presenting and professionalism of presentation boards have always been my weaker spot but one I was fully aware needed to be developed in order to keep moving forward with my course. For the Republic Design Award I set myself the task to design professional but creative looking presentation boards and I believe I achieved this. I allocated my time well with this project and made sure I was spending a adequate amount of time designing the overall appearance of my presentation boards. I really think by using my previous strong points such as time managment have helped me to develop other areas of my work. In previous tasks I haven't put as much effort into certain areas of my work but I have tried my best to stay enthusiastic and motivated throughout this project.

At the beginning of the year I also had decided that my computer skills needed to be pushed as I had become more and more under confident about using computers. As times progresses and I.T clearly is a big proportion of modern society I only had a very basic knowledge when using a computer and attempting to enter an industry which needs to stay current at all times it was enevitable I was going to fall behind. Fortunately for me I managed to learn a few basic skills on computer programs I had never used before, like Photoshop and apply these to my projects where necessary. Again, they are quite general Photoshop skills that I have picked up but ones that I can strive to develop further in future ambitions.

Overall I feel I am definetley a different person than when I first began my degree 2 years ago and am seriously looking forward to completing the next 2 years of my course. Who knows what skills I might have by then???

Republic Design Award

This is a close up of the butterfly and flower drawn on one of my presentation boards for the competition. I decided to draw this in pencil for the reason that I didn't want it to be too bright and take the main focus away from my designs.

This is a close up shot of how one top can be worn in two different styles. The coolmax material is quite stretchy so the top can be pulled down and work as a dress or shortened and tucked into the shorts. By adding some accessories and a pair of high heels it really glams it up for an evening look or dressed down with a pair of flats for during the day.

 These two drawings so the shorts again but with another top. This top is actually reversible so you get two different looks in one. One side has the pattern on but the other is plain depending again on the occasion of which you were wearing it. Not only is this top versatile but saves space in a backpack where there is none!

Republic Design Award

Another project that I have been participating in alongside the exhibition project is the Republic Design Award. This is a competition for students to take part in across the country. I received a brief at the beginning of the project stating what the task was. The task was to design an outfit for the travelling student. It needed to be not only fashionable but practical as well.

I completed a questionnaire to hand out to people to gather information of the preferred items of clothing to wear abroad and started to design an outfit in response to the answers.

I then started to think of the practical elements which my outfit needed to have. It needed to take up minimal space within a backpack, quick drying, lightweight, correct climate fabric, versatile and most of all it needed to look good!

I decided to design a pair of shorts, a top which was reversible and a top that could be worn as a dress or a top and a pair of shorts. Just by designing these three items I had a minimum of four looks that all complimented each other.

I put together a mood board and picked my colour palette from this which was rose, orange amd grey. I then concentrated on developing a pattern for both the tops. The pattern that I designed is inspired from animals around the world. I selected a few animals and drew an abstract pattern from their faces. I thought that the possibilities with designing a pattern like this are endless. I also stated on my presentation boards to send to Republic of an idea I had had of donating a precentage of the profits from these items of clothing to protect endangered animals. I thought that this would be a great ethical policy for Republic to have and a globally accepted concept.

I named my collection 'Second Nature' and designed a logo for this although the items of clothing are designed for the collection Miso which is in Republic I felt this could be a collection within a collection.

Featured above are the technical drawings for my designs. These are all hand drawn and I am very pleased with the overall result. Also included on the board are my chosen fabric swatches samples of the Coolmax fabric mentioned earlier on in my blog, pattern examples, colour palette and a swing tag which I made.

This is my mood board.I gained inspiration from animals around the world and other aspects you see from other countries but my main inspiration that I began with was my research into Australia. Again this mood board features my colour palette as well.

This board shows the overall looks that I designed. I really pushed my creative skills with this project and by looking at this board I can see how much I have developed. I love this board and couldn't be more pleased with the results. I spent a lot of time adding extra detail to really emphasize my designs. In my next project I hope to push my skills even more and have high expectations of myself to improve on this further.

This is the logo that I designed for my clothes. I felt that alongside the ethical policy I came up with that this fitted well. I designed the butterfly myself and then altered it on Photoshop. I have never completed a logo before and for a first attempt I am happy with it but will definetley be looking to work on this sort of thing in the future.

Acrylic

The windows in the school building are made out of cell cast acrylic the other type of acrylic is extruded acrylic however this isn't of as high a quality as cell cast acrylic and I wanted the building to look as realistic as possible. Cell cast acrylic is made by pressing the liquid inbetween moulds to create sheets of plastic. Another benefit of using cell cast instead of extruded is that it is much stronger than extruded acrylic. This is a much safer material to use than glass as it will not smash easily like glass will. Acrylic is also very clear an so lets 92% of light to pass through it whereas very thick glass has a slight green tint to it. Acrylic can also maintain it's appearance well and doesn't weather like some materials. It can last for decades without starting to look worn. It is also half as heavy as glass as well making it very easy maneuver. Some acrylic can be up to 32mm thick and this is actually bullet resistant. This thickness of acrylic is what they actually use for plane windows.

The FSC

The plywood I have chosen to construct my sets with is all FSC sourced plywood. This stands for Forrestry Stewardship Council and this means that any trees that are harvested for timber are guaranteed to be replaced or allowed to regenerate naturally. They are an international, non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting responsible management of the world's forests. Every single year an area that is half the size of the U.K is cleared of natural forests and this is happening all around the world. These forests can not be replaced and when areas like this are cleared it has massive economic, social and evironmental impacts.

On FSC timber there will be their trademark logo to show that it is responibly sourced wood that will not be contributing to the destruction of the world's forests.

Please click on the link to read more about the FSC.http://www.fsc-uk.org/

Updated Presentation Board of Axonometric

As mentioned earlier I have been doing an exploded axonometric drawing of the school building in my exhibition. I have now added labels to it and this is the final piece which I will be talking about in my presentation on Monday 14th May. The total presentation will consisit of my film with details of my concept and inspiration, sketched drawings of the school on a construction line with bits added to it in each drawing and this exploded axonometric drawing which is quite a formal hand drawn piece. All these presentation techniques are what I have learnt to do during this project.

Materials for Exhibition

As mentioned earlier I had looked into Green Screeing to create visual effects for my exhibition rather than building stage sets. I do believe that if working towards a budget then this would be a good route to go down however, after some research into materials I have found that my original and preferred idea of building stage sets is well within reason. I have found a great website called Scenery Salvage which collect waste from old theatre settings and sell it on at a much reduced price. Not only is this website promoting the recycyling of materials but they are making it affordable (a reclaimed door for example costs around £10) to encourage people to use them rather than just sending their waste to a landfill sites. I have put information about Scenery Salvage on one of my presentation boards and will be talking about the materials that can be used from them and prices. Other materials I want to use for my exhibition are FSC approved timber for wooden frames. This is timber that when harvested, the FSC guarantee that the trees are replaced or they allow them to regenerate naturally.

I want acrylic windows in the building, not only is this material high gloss giving a realisitc effect, easy to clean but can also be fully recycled as well.

As said earlier the doors will be reclaimed from Scenery Salvage. This goes for the plastic bricksheets as well to surround the building with. This plastic is extracted from old sets, reprocessed and made into rolls of vacuum formed bricksheets which can then be painted with fire retardent paint and applied directly to the timber frame. Please click on the link to see what other services Scenery Salvage offer. http://www.scenerysalvage.com/  

Exploded Axonometric Drawing of School Building

A third piece of work I will be showing when presentating my final ideas will be an exploded axonometric drawing of the school. This drawing will be very informative and hopefully will really help people to understand my idea. I have learnt that visuals are an important tool when presenting as if I was to just explain my idea some people may not be able to fully grasp the concept I am trying to put across and so pictures help make my idea clearer to people.

I have never done an exploded axonometric drawing before but with some guidance I was able to create a piece of work which I am very proud of and this is another skill that I have acquired during this project which I will be able to apply to other projects in the future.

Again this was a hand drawn piece of work to link with my illustrative style. I will be adding labels on to this drawing to give information of the materials used and construction methods etc. and this final piece will be added to my  blog upon completition.

Photoshop Skills

As well as showing my film I have designed a presentation board on Photoshop to show how one of the buildings within my exhibition will be created. Designing this on Photoshop really shows me how much my skills have developed and how much I have learnt during this project. Earlier on in the year I would never even of considered creating a presentation board on Photoshop but now I have managed to design a professionl looking board to present as my final piece of work. The drawings are of a certain illustrative style which ties in with the rest of my work of telling a story and connecting with children to promote their learning of World War II. This board tells of the materials I want to use for my stage settings and how they will be constructed.

Presentation Alterations

I have made a few alterations to the movie that  I did. I put some fade in and outs on scenes to create a more professional look. I really think by creating this case study on movie maker I have developed my computer skills which was my main objective that I set out for myself earlier in the year. By doing this I feel I am more confident in my ability to present my work in a professional way. I have really tried to create an emotional element in my film which relates to the full idea for my exhibition.

Presentation Techniques

As I have already mentioned I am going to be doing the presentation of my exhibition on Windows Live Moviemaker. I had never used this program before until this project and have found that it is a great tool for portraying emotion. As my whole idea behind my design is to make people have an emotional experience I thought this would be perfect to do my presentation on. I have posted my video on here for people to watch. Some parts maybe don't flow on from each other as good as they could do but I feel that I am quite pleased with the overall outcome of this. This video may get altered before I hand it in but again I will post the final copy on to my blog.

Presentation of Exhibition

As part of my work for my exhibition I must present it and I will be doing this on Windows Live Moviemaker. On this I have used special sound effects and the website I have used them from says that I must declare the details of their website on either my art work or my blog so here it is below.
http://www.freesfx.co.uk/

Republic Design Award-Material Choices

For one of my other projects I have to design a 4 collection outfit for the travelling student. The outfit needs to be both practical and fashionable. Going on these characteristics I decided that my overall outfit needed to take up minimal space in a rucksack, easily dried, the material needed to help make the wearer feel cool and also needed to be attractive. I decided to research into different materials which actually helped to cool the body down when perspiring. I came across a material made by COOLMAX, this material is made out of polyester fibres which pull moisture away from the skin to the outer layer of fabric helping it to dry faster. This process is called evaporative cooling and a great fabric to wear in hot conditions. I have ordered several samples from a website called rockywoods.com which is an outdoor fabric shop based in America which specialises in these types of fabrics. Please see image above to see how the fabric works.

Possible Material Choices

As mentioned earlier I was looking into green screen technology, I felt this would be an alternative route to go down if there was a limited budget as this can be a reasonably cheap option. There wouldn't even necessarily need to be a cloth like the picture above as I found out the same effect can be created by just painting a wall green.

Construction Methods for Exhibition Design

You can see in the pictures below where I have started to make my designs a reality by figuring out construction methods for the different stages within the exhibition. Instead of doing an actual street scene as mentioned earlier, I looked in to the effects you could create using 'Green Screen'. I thought this would be a cheaper option if there was a budget. I am not sure if I will contine to go with the green screen idea for my final design.

The New Concious Collection from H&M

http://style.uk.msn.com/fashion/handm-conscious-collection-out-now

Ecoology

I have just come across a very interesting fashion website whos mission is to provide fashionable clothing without the expense of the environment. Started in Barcelona, they only use raw materials like tencel, milk woven fabric, cotton, bamboo, wool and linen as well as recycled fabrics. Combining fashion with eco friendly designs they are a very inspirational brand. I hope that more fashion designers start to take environmental damage more seriously and follow the same path as Ecoology. The dress pictured above is from their current Spring/Summer 2012 collection. Please click on the link to see more eco friendly fashion.
http://www.ecoology.es/en

"The most exciting new tower in the world"

After doing some research into sustainable designs I came across Stefano Boeri's Vertical Forest. I am completely amazed by the design which is still under construction in the centre of Milan. The idea is to grow forests in the sky creating fresh outdoor air for residents offering a safe healthy environment to live in. The building will add green space to an already over-industrialised city. http://www.stefanoboeriarchitetti.net/?p=207

Design Development

After completing the initial design process I then had to start looking into how my exhibition would actually be constructed and the materials used.

The beginning of my exhibition starts with a street scene. I imagined this to be a fake street actually built inside but then I decided that this would be quite costly and wanted to think of other ways I could actually create a street by illusion. I started to look in to Green Screen effects otheriwse known as Chroma Key. This is typically used for weather people when they stand in front of a large blank green screen and communicate the weather. The actual map of the country is generated by a computer for the audience to see at home. Using this idea I thought you could have clients walk into a room with one wall behind them painted green and the wall opposite them to have an image of a street on generated by a computer. This would give the illusion that they were actually walking down a street.

The next thing I began to look into for my exhibition was the making of the school. I decided that it needed to be a simple structure with maximum impact. The main body of the school would be made from a wooden frame, then plaster boards would be fitted and then plaster would be put over these. However the outside of the school needs to look like real brick work, so I began to look into artificial brick cladding. This is made generally from plastic and is moulded into any brick shape you want. It comes in different sections which can just be drilled into place on to a timber frame. A lot of companies creating stage sets will use similair methods to deceive people. Please click on the link below for a company which creates artificial cladding and wall panels.

http://www.grpbuildingproducts.co.uk/faq.html#faq-22  

Streetlife Museum Link

http://www.hullcc.gov.uk/portal/page?_pageid=221,631492&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

Streetlife Museum Hull

I recently visited the Streetlife Museum in Hull to get an idea of what materials to use in my exhibition. They have a similar street scene to the one I am trying to create in my design so this was very helpful. I am now going to continue my research and find out how to construct the different sets that there are in my design. Please see below pictures I took whilst at the Streetlife museum.

My Concept Presentation

Below is my presentation board I used to describe my exhibition. This was created using Photoshop.

National Picture Theatre Hull

My current design project is to design an exhibition to stand in the building of the National Picture Theatre hull. The exhibition that I have designed is called 'Children at War' and is made to make you feel like you are reliving an experience of a child in WWII. My design is meant to play with your emotions and has several different elements in order to do this from sight, feel and smell. When being taught something people remember 90% of what they actually experience and so the exhibition was purposely designed to be interactive to aid learning.

Sustainable Materials

I've recently been doing some research into sustainable materials and found out some really interesting information about the shoes made by Croc. Not the most fashionable shoe in my opinion but the material that they are made from called Croslite is amazing! Croslite is a type of resin which is incredibly versatile. It would appear that the company Croc weren't focusing on fashion when they made their shoe but on the sustainability in the market place of their material. The material virtually eliminates odour, prevents bacterial and fungal growth and are non toxic. The company now intend to expand their product range into toilet seats and the building industry.

Interesting Websites about Sustainable Materials

http://sustainablematerials.com
http://www.ryanfrank.net/about/materials/
http://cabinco.co.uk/list-of-sustainable-materials-in-a-timber-building/

Interesting Websites to do with Ethics

http://www.aiga.org/design-business-and-ethics/
http://www.viviennewestwood.co.uk/
http://www.davidairey.com/
http://sustainablebusinessforum.com/green24/519obsolence-products-designed-profit-not-planet

My Design Ethic

Ethics in design I believe are particularly important. If all designers practiced ethically it would create a better world for everyone. I as a designer will always strive to follow my own ethics such as honesty, kindness and to design a high quality product made to stand the test of time.

I may not always be overly fond of a project or idea but would never use this as an excuse to not put all my effort in to achieving what I am being asked to do. I think it would be immoral of me to make a half hearted attempt at a design just because I didn't agree with the idea behind it. However, not everyone will agree with my ethical opinion. When the answer isn't as black and white as wrong or right and we get that grey area in the middle people's opinions will always differ. I just think that it's important to go with your instinct and stay true to it. Although, again venturing in to the grey area, if I really felt that a project would be severley detrimental to others I would refuse to do the design. Afterall that wouldn't be kind or honest now would it?

Looking at ethics from an ecological point of view I do believe it's important to produce a product that has respect for people and the environment. There are many ways in which people can help the environment no matter how small it's just whether they choose to shy away from the harsh realities of environmental damage or step up and make that small change. I strongly believe in encouraging quality over mass produced disposable items. Unfortunately products that are designed to last aren't always profitable that's why quality continues to lose out to quantity at the cost of the environment. 

Design Glossary

Plans- A drawing or diagram made to scale showing the structure or arrangement of something.
Scale Drawing- A drawing that shows a real object with accurate sizes except they have all been reduced or enlarged by a certain amount (called the scale).
Sustainable- Conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources.

Photographs of National Picture Theatre Hull

National Picture Theatre Hull

http://www.ncww2mt.freewebspace.com/