Library Research - 'Inspiration Tricia Guild'

Library Research - 'Inspiration Tricia Guild'

Tricia Guild is a designer who, since 1970 has created fabrics, wallpapers, paint and furnishings which are sold via the Designers Guild, London. As a designer she is widely known for her extraordinary ability to use colour and her ability to evolve with the ever-changing design industry.

This book, 'Inspiration Tricia Guild' obtained from the Norwich library, is a collection, put together by Tricia Guild, of her inspiration and how this influences her as a designer. From architecture to fashion and flower, Tricia Guild's passions are wide and varied, leading to a wide collection of unique work.

Image from Pinterest page

The book is full of a wide array of images and artist's work, all which feature as part of the influence into the way Tricia Guild works as a designer. It has shown me that a great deal of vision inspiration is an important part of the way we work, it makes up a huge part of where we are and what we create. I now think that perhaps I fail to document all the sources of my visual research, I see them on a daily basis, but an outsider who cannot see into my head, my work must seem a little disjointed and perhaps even slightly random. Visual research will help to bridge the gaps in my work, to show the thinking which goes on behind my sketchbook work.

I think that as well as using my blog as a form of textual research and written documentation, I need to make more use of my visual research and things which inspire the course of my course of my work. In response to this, the following link, under this paragraph, is to my Pinterest page, I have created a heading labelled 'BA6 - Patterns in Nature'. This will form another vital element of my project progression and my development from the last project.

http://www.pinterest.com/nathanmison9/ba6-patterns-in-nature/        - Pinterest link.

Library Research

Library Research

Today i decided to focus on the ideas and research which i hope will make up the backbone of this project. I used both the Norwich millenium library and the uni library to gain a variety of different sources of research, all of which i hope will be very useful to me over the course of the project, helping me to remain focused and maintain my enthusiasm.
From the Norwich millennium library, i took out two book book based the use of nature and naturally occurring patterns as sources of inspiration. The first is the book 'Photographing pattern and design in nature', a close up guide to photographing nature in all its glory. That aside it has some amazing photos, which have made me think about scale in the way i work but also in the inspiration i use. I think it would be really interesting to begin to look a things with a magnified view to create drawings with less of a focus on shapes and more on colour and texture. The second book, 'inspiration Tricia guild' is a book based around the designer Tricia Guild with a variety of images based on her work and the wide array of inspiration for bold but amazing use of colour. As well as having beautifully coloured images, there are influential artists to research and a wealth of text, which i must read, to spark new and invigorating ideas. I hope that this book will serve as a constant reminder into the importance of visual research in all the elements of my work, pushing to look outside my textile bubble into photography, ceramics and the real world for inspiration.
As for my work in the uni library, i decided to focus on the journals, something which i hate to admit are a great wealth of knowledge that i have not accessed before. I must must must use them more in the future they are sooo useful!!!! As i was pressed for fine, i decided to limit myself to a read of two (of many!!!) the latest issues of ''textiles report" and "textiles view" two journals aimed at the trends of the forthcoming seasons. Trends are something which i only realised the importance of about a month ago whilst at première vision. At this design show the focus was on the trends set for spring/summer 2015. Something that struck me at this event was the wide variety in the trends set for the season, there must have been over 40!!!! How naive of me to think that there was one main trend for each season. The two journals explored the trends for menswear and womenswear which included beside the sea, the recollection of the landscape and fabulous florals, focusing on the key colours, shapes and fabrics for the season. I was really interested at the examples of what the top fashion houses have put on the catwalk for this season, as an extreme example of how pattern and colour can be combined. I have noted down a few if the designers whose designs i think may relate to my project, to explore and research further.
Looking through all of the different sources of research today has given me a great dealt to think about in my own project as well as many starting points for further research that i would very much like to follow up! 😊

Visual Research - Norwich Castle

Following the project briefing, one of the main things we were told was that our last projects distinctively lacked visual research, sources of inspiration which can help to push us in our work, so we maintain enthusiasm and create a variety of new and exciting ideas.

Floral Motif Tile, Norwich Castle Museum

With this in mind, I decided to visit the Norwich Castle Museum, a museum full of a variety of exhibits from the Romans to pottery and portraiture. I used the opportunity to take a few photographs of objects which I felt interested in and which related to my focus for this project.

Whilst going around and looking at all all of the exhibitions, one thing that stood out to me was the lack of pattern in the Roman and Celtic displays. It is not until after these exhibits, in the pottery and decorative arts exhibitions, dated much later, that the use of pattern was included within objects. Perhaps this is because iin the Roman era, objects were just created to fit a specific purpose, they did not need to look pretty or necessarily be sold. Many object were made individually or by specific trades to meet the needs of local people.

However, during the Edwardian and Elizabethan eras, the main focus of the decorative arts movement, trade had begun to develop into a major part of the way the world and countries worked together. For this reason, it was important to make object appealing to people, so they would buy them. This has developed into the the global consumer culture we have today, focused around creating things for others to enjoy.

Glass Vase, Norwich Castle Museum

In the Norwich Castle Museum, there was a wealth of inspiration, particularly in the pottery exhibitions, especially the custard pots, small pots with a decorative motif used for keeping custard warm, and the Chinese and Chinese inspired pottery. In both of these exhibitions, the colours used immediately stood out to me, usually using blue or red onto and cream or white background. This more simplistic colour scheme lead to more of a focus onto the design, often a hand drawn motif. This, although a simple idea, focused the attention more onto the intricate design onto the pottery and the way it interacted with the shape of the pottery, instead of using a grand variety of colour to create an overpowering piece of mess!

In relation to my own work, this has made me think a little further ahead than the stage I am at, perhaps a little too far, into the design development stages. Not every design has to be a boring, strict, obvious repeat. I must look back on the pictures I have taken in the museum when I come to this stage of my work to aid me in the creation of more flowing motifs, also thinking carefully about the design and the product that it is intended for.

IMAGES AVAILABLE ON..... http://www.pinterest.com/nathanmison9/ba6-patterns-in-nature/

Learning Agreement, 1st Draft

Norwich University of the Arts

Learning Agreement

Course and Unit Number: Textiles - BA6

Name: Nathan Mison

Proposal:  What do you intend to do?

Following recent projects, I feel that I need to adapt and shift the focus of my work. I have lost my motivation and enthusiasm for textiles and I think that a new beginning will help me move forward. My focus for the project will be an exploration of nature and the patterns found in it, in order to create a more organic, flowing project which I hope will reflect the way I work. This project is one of the longest of the year and I want it to be the changing point of my work ethic.

I aim to begin this project the right way, exploring patterns in nature which are already featuring in the fashion and interior markets. I hope to follow this up with visits to museums and galleries whilst gaining sources of visual research to create a vast array of experimental drawings which will develop into pattern and design creation.

Assessment Work:

• Two sketchbooks with visual research, drawings and design development. These sketchbooks will be visual display of my work with very little or no written work, all explained in Blog

• A4 file with ‘plaster of paris’ casts of leaves and other natural objects.

• BLOG - A digital copy of the reflective journal as well as any research. This will be by written explanation side of my work for this project.

• A collection of A2 boards with design developments.

• Four textile conclusions to the project.

Schedule of Work: (to include the deadline for submission of assessment):

Week Commencing	Planned Work...
17th March 2014	Mon 17th ‘Project briefing’. Read through project briefing and write out learning agreement as a way of planning the course of the project and how I intend to move forwards. Begin research into trends, current market and designers. Begin sourcing visual research. Start to create basic sketches on the shapes of the images as a starting point. These are just basic drawings to develop further.
24th March 2014	Research galleries and exhibitions to visit in relation to project. Begin to develop sketches into more advanced drawings, experimenting with material and colour further.
31st March 2014	Look back over the work created so far in my first sketchbook, which should nearly be full and start thinking about what I would like to focus on moving forward to the next sketchbook, towards a set of final outcomes aimed at the interior market.
7th April 2014	EASTER BREAK. Continue working on the drawing stage in my first sketchbook. Now start to complete more research on trends, looking forward to start beginning to think about the next sketchbook, which I will use to start condensing my work, think towards a colour scheme and pattern creation.
14th April 2014	EASTER BREAK. From the research, begin to create a colour scheme which I can begin to apply to my drawings from the last sketchbook. Begin to experiment with a variety of different materials, including plastics etc applying the drawings.
21st April 2014	EASTER BREAK. continue to experiment with a variety of different materials, including plastics etc applying the drawings. start to apply digital design to my drawings to think about the digital development of design.
28th April 2014	Arrive back at uni with a detailed plan with the development of drawings and patterns into different techniques, booking time in the printroom to develop ideas towards final designs. 29th april - 2nd may WORK PLACEMENT AT SMITHS ROW.
5th May 2014	Develop drawings and patterns into different techniques, booking time in the printroom to develop ideas towards final designs.
12th May 2014	Fri 15th ‘Hand In’ Sort everything out for hand in. Get all final samples complete and collate work together ready for hand in.

This schedule plan is based on everything going to the uni timetable. Personal issues will cause me to have time off uni for at least a couple of weeks. I will apply for an extension, but the schedule will still follow the same way, whatever happens.

Resource requirements:

• Gallery and Exhibition Visits (details to be confirmed following further research)
• Library Resources (uni and norwich/local) - Books and journals.
• Norwich Library and Market Research - Contextual research, and ideas for design outcomes.
• Internet - General research, trends, designer, ideas for study visits.

Tutor's comments:

Learning agreement agreed and signed by:

Course Leader: .................................................... Date:............................

Unit Leader/Tutor: .................................................... Date:............................

Student: .................................................... Date:............................

Tuesday Evening - Drawing Course

Over the last year, I have taken part in a drawing course outside uni at my local college. I had not written about it in my blog before, because I saw it as different course of work which did not relate to my uni work. However, since my feedback from the last project, I have realised the importance of this drawing course has become an important part of my work, and my drawing ability has greatly improved. This is an example of a series of work which I have taken on board off my own back as extra outside uni to develop the way I work. Thinking back, I should have written about this course of work sooner, to display my commitment to my development as an artist and designer.


During this evenings drawing course, we focused on the drawing of birds. I don't know what it is about the course, but every time I attend it I feel so much more confident about my drawing ability, i seem to achieve so much more. Along the course of these weekly teachings, we focus on the use of watercolours and their application in the drawing of different objects.

This week we focused more, on smaller, quicker sketches of birds, drawing quick, basic lines with a pencil and then adding splashes of watercolour to bring the drawing to life. I enjoyed this because it gave me chance to focus on what i wanted too, exploring shape and colour intensity. During this lesson, I think that I definitely learnt the importance of layering up the watercolours to create depth and texture, instead of just a flat coloured image. This is something I hope to bring into my work in this project.

Learning Agreement Lecture.

This was a lecture we have previously has, this time last year, so it was a kinda refresher of how to write our learning agreements which will help us with time management and keep us on track throughout the project.

The proposal of work should be 500+ words and should include the what? Why? And how? 

Ideas for proposal writing....

Colour, form, structure. - a detailed investigation.

What interest you?

How do you write about what you do?

What are you core ideas?

What drives you?

Why is it interesting for you?

Why are you doing it?

What do you want to achieve?

What issues do you want to pursue?

How does it relate to the aims and assessment?

What can you actually do in the time?

Do you need to learn new skills?

Be clear precise and REALISTIC!!!!!

Schedule

Look at the timetable, include placement and any intended visits or exhibitions.

Resource requirements

What do you need to complete a detailed body of work?

This could include a reference list, but may attached onto PDP blog if preferred.