Unit X - Week 7

Deck chairs and stripes.

Can a deck chair really be the way forward? This has been a question that has been somewhat troubling and the cause of many worried moments for me this week. Keeping focused and on point I have been looking today at how the humble deck chair is perceived in the worlds media. Recent articles are show below..

Trying not to get too bogged down by the thought of designing only and solely for 'deck chairs' I have been digitally experimenting and playing around with basic colour proportions. The use of solid lines relates back to all aspects of the project, influenced from the Optical art elements that have shaped my way of thinking. The shape work I undertook in previous week, looking at diamonds and chevrons, has led me this week to start layering shapes over colour blocks to see the different effects. This is a tool that has enabled me to make quick, informed decisions when planning samples to be woven, by working first on the computer I am able to get a sense of how the finished sample will look.

The image below shows one of such digital manipulations, by adding simple chevron and twill shapes over the top of coloured blocks I can get a variety of different outputs at a relatively fast pace.

Using Photoshop as a design tool I have this week been able to translate hand drawn and hand photographed images into patterns suitable for weaving. I have found that this method of working has played a crucial part in my design development, the simple repeats have let me see first what amount of points and how many repeats work well within different sections.

It is important that my work holds a style of its own. I have tried to steer clear of having fully twilled fabrics, like Missoni, as I feel my pieces work best by having two areas of interest.

Experimenting again with digital programmes I have planned samples that will work with two completely separate patterns. Smaller sections with heavy twills and larger, regular sections with satin patterning. This hopefully will give the impression of shapes lifting from the surface of the fabric, an element I am still keen to push further.