Art Portfolio: Improvement

I made certain improvements to my website and portfolio. This blog shows pictures of processes.

Considering the purpose of the HOME page, apart from adding a link to my new project in the welcome slides, I also added my previous projects. At the last slide, there is a link to about me page. I think it is a good way to invite people.

Besides, I changed the front cover and introduction. I added an explanation to this paragraph to show the reason that I have chosen this theme. It also includes my intention or feeling I what to show to the audiences. I changed the word 'art' to 'fashion' to make my project more specific to fashion. For the cover page, I added some garment samples to the background. In order to keep it clear, I designed their position followed by 'Rule of Third', then the images would not look too crowded.

Because there is no model wearing the physical garment of look2, it looks a little bit flat. To make it more consistent to the gallery page, I added text to it and followed the format as others. And also a material page shows what materials I used; short, clear descriptions next to the images.

I used Photoshop on my laptop (Macbook Pro) to edit.

Art Portfolio: Material page

This is a page shows materials I intended to use and I used for my project. To consider textual surfaces and functions, I have looked at articles demonstrates fabrics. For example, Hodakel's 'What is Denim Fabric' tells how different types of denim created and what they would look like or feel like.  Also, I have searched for suit fabrics suitable to wear in summer. Then I found Vailly, which is 100% linen and it is light and less warmth. Therefore, I decided to use it to create a suit for my spring collection. (Look1)

Reference:

HODAKEL, B. (2020) What is Denim Fabric: Properties, How it's Made and Where. [Online] Available from: denim-fabric. [Accessed by 26/05/20]

MOSS BROS (2020) A GUIDE TO SUMMER SUIT FABRICS. [Online] Available from: a-guide-to-summer-suit-fabrics. [Accessed by 26/05/20]

Art Portfolio: 3D piece

To test which technique works, I made experiments. I found it is difficult to sew on the white plastic shown above; so I decided to use glue to fix the straws. The picture in the middle shows three different layers; the first layer and the second one were hand-stitched. I found the first layer was easier to create and it is more three dimensional than the second one. Besides, I tried to use two pieces of white plastic to give volume. It did not work as it is flattened. As a result, the first layer shows the best effect. However, I want to make as similar to my original design, so I chose the second pattern. I hope it will look better on a big scale. I thought it did not look good because it was not thick enough. Then I made a sample using fabric. I found it is the problem of the way to stitch. If I screw them a bit, it may have an effect like the first layer.

I started to make a plan for creating the 3D piece; I noted down ratios of each piece.

I made a shape of the top roughly then I hanged it up. I began to make the shape more accurate and use double-sided tape to stick edges. I was not able to apply clean edges with s scissor, so I changed to use a cutting knife. I cut straws into small pieces and used a glove gun to stick them. 

I placed plastic on the floor because it was easier to work on big scaled pieces.

I photographed the working process using a mobile phone and upload them to my laptop. I created a contact sheet on Photoshop.

Then I selected the best image and started to edit it on Photoshop to create a final piece. First I used the object selection tool to crop out the background and used a colour background to replace it. Then I used the eraser tool to make clean edges.

I found a very useful tool, 'Eyesdropper' that it helps me to find an accurate colour that I wanted.

This is the final outcome of the 3D dress. I uploaded it to my website's gallery which as my portfolio. The link of my website: website

Art Portfolio: Website Gallery

This blog is about the creation of my website gallery.

Firstly, I added a welcome slide on the HOME page to invite audiences to see my latest collection. Here has a bottom connects to the portfolio page.

This is the portfolio page. I used the same background on the welcome slide, to make it consistent. I decided to use one of the grid galleries, Masonry. It is because my designs are in vertical, Masonry allows to show all information of these pages. Otherwise, they may be cropped if I used a horizontal gallery. 

I clicked the images and changed their setting to just show titles of the work and they are open in a pop-up. Therefore, the gallery would not look too wordy for the first time and the audiences can check information afterworlds; when they click into the image.

This is the pros of the pop-up setting that viewers can see a bigger image and also the description with larger text.

Art Portfolio: Cover Page

This blog shows the working process of the cover page for my collection. The intention was to include 3D ad 2D elements. Firstly, I created a blank page in 'Sketchbook' to make a draft and to brainstorm ideas. I wrote down four main materials that I have used for 4 looks, gloves, forks, straws, and plastic bags. Then I decided the position of the title. It is a collection about fashion, therefore I used a similar idea of the fashion magazines to make one of my design to be the profile of this cover page. Then I copied and pasted the images to create a background. It looks not bad; it is colourful then makes the model stands out.

Here is the final version.

I added some fabrics to the background, such as the poms and denim.

Art Portfolio: Look4

This is the fourth look of my collection. The topic of this piece is the plastic bag; I used grey, grey-yellow, grey-blue, and black colour palette. To introduce from the top, a ruffle skirt, using the proportion of a tent dress, which the dress starts at the waistline. A ruffle; goffered frill of plastic pieces in grey on a garment around the neck, showing one side of shoulder. The middle part of this skirt is a stretchy cotton tube; wanted to make it comfortable to wear. The tube top connects the first layer underneath, which is in grey-blue. There are three layers of plastic pieces to create a ruffle skirt. The blue balls in the top to embellish that it makes this short dress cute and girly. However, a see-through net tight with black pearls gives a fashionable feeling; it drives people's attention and adds an element of fun and funkiness. To link back to the top, I added a pair of anklets sock with lace around the top; also some dots, but they are stretched so not like the balls. In the end, a pair of black leather heels turn back the feeling such as the bra top made by straws. they are solid and a little bit sexy. Overall, I very pleased with this design. I used some elements that are popular among young women. For example, a tent skirt with 3D balls. This idea came from my previous research, the blog named 'Further Research'. The anklets socks also add cutenesses to the whole look. I considered my target audiences are in a wide range year group; they are having psychological changes; most of them want to stay in a young image, however, they want to be mature as they think they are getting older. That's the reason I added a net tight and a bra top to this design. I think wearing a bra outside is innovative, so I added a top to this dress; it was just the bra. The tight with beads is my favourite. I wanted to show something between cute and sexy. The first version of this net tight was without beads. I think it is too sexy and it looks like for party and night out. Then I added the black pearls. It became more suitable for my target audience and it is fashionable enough to neither walk on a city street or cat walk.

Art Portfolio: Look2 & Look3

This blog shows look2 and look3 of my collection. This is the final layout and those pieces will be uploaded to my website; the portfolio will be shown as a gallery.

Look2 is which I had chosen to make into 3D. The topic of this design is plastic bags and I will use straws for embellishments on the under waist top. It is made from light yellow plastic bags that the bra top craze underneath can be seen. A large piece of plastic cut from bin bags is the first layer of the tiered dress; some additional thin lines to create second layers; it is ankle length. Combine with a pair of black leather heels; the whole collection focuses on sustainable fashion, however, I want it also fashionable and elegant enough to walk on the street in the city. That's why I decided on a leather texture.

More complicated design on look3. Let's start with the top; It is made by light yellow plastic bags, the same material as the under waist in look2; for the cuff and necklines. The main body part is denim, giving a strong texture to support the whole short jacket. On the right side, there is a big crazy patchwork pocket. No cuff on right; it is like a short croak. On the left of the neckline, there are some fork and hand stitch thread weaving. To consider the plastic fork is tough and easy to break, so I would like to replace them to trapunto in the shape of a fork to make it workable on the garment. Also cotton might be lighter. A bandeau top underneath is made from clinging films; wrap it around to create layers, the part with more films shows deeper colour. It is a 3D piece, showing the volume of plastic films. Considering it will be a real garment, then I would like to add a tube top made by stretch cotton. Then the surface of the bandeau could be cleaned by wipes and tube top can be washed. To make consistent designs, I used the idea of trousers from the jumpsuit in look1; cut the top then become long ankle-length trousers. A leather heels, but in Aegean colour which about the colour palette of the short jacket at the top.