Class Sequential Images

 In class we created a set of sequential images in pairs.I created mine with... 

The concept for my sequential images was lambs in Spring.  The idea was I could show the movement and expression of the lambs as a practice project and to see how this worked creatively.

I used a Olympus E3 DSLR camera to take these images.  I used an ISO of 500, F5.6 aperture and shutter speed of 1/800

I then used Pixlr to create a canvas to present my images on my blog in a professional manner.

Next I opened my images in Pixlr to check these and edit for quality control

I cropped all my images using the crop tool 

IU also checked the lighting and quality to make sure they all looked consistent

.

I selected each image using 'select all' and then edit - copy and then I pasted into my canvas.

I then added text using the text tool on Pixlr

I changed the font Adolfine and the font size to 120 for the title and 100 for my name.  I also made the text bold and left aligned the text for presentation.

Here is my final image that I have created for this practice 

Reflection: I was happy with my final presentation of my images.  This is a good practice using digital editing editing software.  In my final images I will plan and create a real concept that will express sequential photography that will look professional and have a deeper concept. 

Welcome to Spring Term 2022!

 Welcome to the Spring term.  Here we are again, still hanging on and not in lockdown!  As always I am writing a new post to bring in the new term.  I have recently been looking at contemporary women photographers and I thought I would share one with you that I found to be striking.

Haley Morris-Cafiero is an American photographer and I was drawn to her work as it is both self-portrait and performance.  In Wait Watchers (2011-15) Morris Cafiero takes portraits of herself on the street but it is the reactions to her that they portray.  In Cops (2011) policeman take the mickey out of her in the street, amazing this seems to be acceptable and below in Sunscreen (2015) a woman laughs at her with no shame.  

 

Cops (2011) New York By Haley Morris- Cafiero

Sunscreen (2015) Cocoa Beach, Florida By Haley Morris-Cafiero

Rogers and Houghton write; 'Cafiero manages to capture the palatable disdain f for her body is at once shocking and depressing but the photography empowers herself, cleverly turning the negative gaze back onto the viewer and in doing so, makes a spectacle of the audience itself' (Rogers & Houghton, 2017:43)  Gaze and Reflection are a reoccurring theme in Cafiero's work, she states about her work; 'I consider my photographs a social experiment and I reverse the gaze back on to the stranger and place the viewer in the position of being a witness to a moment in time. The project is a performative form of street photography. I place the camera on a tripod and take hundreds of photographs' (Morris-Cafiero 2021) 

In The Bully-Pit Cafiero takes on Cyberbullying as she had suffered this intensely herself. Here Cafiero investigated the social profiles of the bullies and she states: 'I photograph myself costumed like the people who’ve attempted to bully me. Finding photos online, I recreated their images using wigs, clothing, and simple prosthetics, while small imperfections mirror the fallacy that the internet will shield their identities. Finally, I overlay the parodies with transcripts of the bullying comments, almost as if I were “subtweeting” them.' (Morris-Cafiero 2021). In the image below the artist has parodied the social profile of the bully and placed their words on her t-shirt.  The image here feels almost classical in composition and the use of the colours and lighting.  The artist looks upward, as in a classical painted portrait.  The post-modern knowing comes from the bare light bulb, terrible rug, and leather armchair, This is a clever use of classical composition and postmodern performance photography. 

From The Bully-Pit (2019) By Haley Morris-Cafiero

References

Rogers F. & Houghton M. (2017) Firecrackers: Female Photographers Now, Thames & Hudson. London

Haley Morris-Cafiero (2021) Artist Website [Online] Available from: http://www.haleymorriscafiero.com/ (Accessed 09/01/2022)

Creating a Fashion Collection: Process Two

 I will now go through the Photoshop process for the portfolio. 

Begin by opening Photoshop and then opening the file you are going to use.  

I then went to Image - Auto Tone, Auto Contrast and Auto Colour.  I did this just to make the colours and tones stand out however I could also have used Curves for a more subtle effect. 

I then wanted to get rid of some of the smudges and roughness of the background so I used the Clone Stamp tool with a soft large brush just to remove the smudges - however, I did not actually want to remove all of these as I still want it t feel a little raw in design. 

I then create a new canvas by going to File - New, a dialog box opens and I go to Print in the top menu then A3 and it should be white in background with a 300 resolution for high print quality.  

I then went back to the original drawing  - checked the Image size and resolution so that it fitted well onto my canvas and had the same high resolution then went to Select - All and then copy and then clicked into my new canvas and went to edit - paste to past the design onto my portfolio page.

I then went to my logo which I had already created and added this to the top right-hand corner of the page.

I also added the title of the collection and tagline and underneath I will write a description of the clothing and materials

This is my finished page

I will then create my other pages, A front cover, and a page that explains the materials, origin and sustainability and target market/price point.  I will put the concept in my introduction and I may add a final page with all six designs.

Here is another example - we can discuss these materials in class!

Creating a Fashion Collection: Process One

 As an example of how to hand draw and then create a digital portfolio I created these drawings for a mens fashion collection. 

My fashion collection is for men aged 25-35 (Generation Y/millenials), I am targeting this age range as this is the 'largest generation to date—numbering over 80 million strong in the US alone' (Wertz, 2021). The collection will be called 'Winter Wonderland and will be urban chic in style.  The designs will use two solid colours; lilac and blue with an accent colour of orange.  This collection will feed into the current trends using oversized wool jumpers, asymmetrical design and skinny ankle-grazing trousers.

As millennials are socially conscious and want stylish but affordable clothing (Wertz, 2021). I will aim to use this in my branding and marketing.

To begin I gathered my equipment together, this included a croquis template of the male figure I wanted to use printed at A3, Tracing Paper A3, coloured pastel pencils, 2B pencil, rubber, sharpener and clip.  I also had my phone to hand to snap the process!

I laid the tracing paper over the croquis and clipped this carefully into place. I then began to sketch out my design using a pencil.

I carefully traced around the head and body parts that I wanted showing so that each design will be uniform in look, shape and size.

I began adding colours - starting here with the skin.

I used the two tones and pastel pencils to do this - I used these as I can colour and then use my fingers to smooth the colour and soften.  

The final design I then scanned and photocopied.  The scan I can then add to Photoshop for my final portfolio when I have chosen which designs to use. 

I used this process for all my designs.  Here are some further designs....

Ideally, you should have sketched out, developed and tried many many more than this!  In the next post I will go through the Photoshop process for the portfolio.

References

Wertz, B., 2021. The New Rules of Style, According to Millennials. [online] Men's Journal. Available at: <https://www.mensjournal.com/style/new-rules-style-according-millennials/> [Accessed 1 December 2021].

Further Research: Corbusier

 

Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier (October 6, 1887 – August 27, 1965) was a Swiss Architect and designer, 'whose designs combine the functionalism of the modern movement with a bold, sculptural expressionism.' (Le Corbusier | Swiss architect, 2021) 

Le Corbusier was one of the first to belong to the generation of the so-called  International School of  Architects. 'In his architecture he joined the functionalist aspirations of his generation with a strong sense of expressionism'  (Le Corbusier | Swiss architect, 2021) Corbusier did not only create Architecture and product design he was also an urban planner, great painter and writer.  He had designed his first house at age 20 and this spurred his ambition to become an architect.

This is why I have chosen to look at the seminal work of Le Corbusier in conjunction with my own product design.  I will begin by discussing some designs by Le Corbusier.  The first is this Escargot lamp created in 1954.

 Le Escargot Lamp by Le Corbusier 

This lamp has a 'body of the impressive lamp is made from aged cast brass, with a curved interior surface in anodised aluminium. The light source, hidden in the body, is reflected on the curved inner surface to give a widespread, diffused lighting'.(Avenue, 2021)

This work is interesting to me as I am creating a chair design, this lamp has elements that inspire me to consider the curve and ergonomic dimensions of the chair design and it gives the idea that I could create an in-built light so that it becomes the perfect reading chair for my small library at home.  The materials here are for lighting design with the anodised aluminium however considering my own chair design in relation to this I might consider using Oak or Maple as these woods are often used in high-end furniture and they should give the look and feel that I am after and offer a real integrity to the product.  For the cushioned seat I would use hard-wearing linen or cotton material and a backlit backrest and overhead lighting that could use daylight bulbs and in-built LED technology. 

This is a rough sketch of the idea

Looking further at Le Corbusier he created many chair designs - here are some examples:

'The “Le Corbusier” collection, as it has been called since the nineteen seventies, would never have seen the light of day without the programme created by Le Corbusier in April 1927. He used sketches to establish the positions of the human body that the seating designs had to reflect' (Cassina., 2021)  Le Corbusier was very interested in ergonomic design and wanted to create something that was not only aesthetically pleasing and functional but also comfortable for everyday use.  

Le Corbusier used beautiful curves and sculptural design that uses light so that spaces are exquisite to work, play and rest in.  Le Corbusier understands the joy of comfort and light continually through his design.  I will continue to play with y own chair design and will look at in-depth the materials and then create a small prototype for feedback.

References

Encyclopedia Britannica. 2021. Le Corbusier | Swiss architect. [online] Available at: <https://www.britannica.com/biography/Le-Corbusier> [Accessed 18 November 2021].

Avenue, U., 2021. Escargot Lamp by Le Corbusier. [online] Urban Avenue. Available at: <https://urbanavenue.co.uk/products/le-corbusier-escargot-floor-lamp> [Accessed 18 November 2021].

Cassina. 2021. – LC Le Corbusier Collection: did you know that? - Gerosa Design. [online] Gerosadesign.com. Available at: <https://www.gerosadesign.com/de/design-cassina-lc-le-corbusier-collection.php> [Accessed 19 November 2021].

DESIGNFUNKTION, MÜNCHEN, GERMANY, D., 2015. Le Corbusier Reloaded: LC2 at designfunktion. [online] Architonic. Available at: <https://www.architonic.com/en/story/designfunktion-le-corbusier-reloaded-lc2-at-designfunktion/7001121> [Accessed 19 November 2021].

Fracalossi, I., 2021. AD Classics: Palace of the Assembly / Le Corbusier. [online] ArchDaily. Available at: <https://www.archdaily.com/155922/ad-classics-ad-classics-palace-of-the-assembly-le-corbusier> [Accessed 19 November 2021].

IIM: Ideas & Initial Research

 The Swimming Hole image from Eakins inspired me to create a coffee shop brand.  for my portfolio I will create the brand and logo, merchandising, an Instagram page, a menu, and offer leafet and business cards digital/hard copy.

Thomas Eakins The Swimming Hole (1885)

Here is a quick mock up of my first ideas - I just used tailor brands 

Business Cards

The logo I like the style, colour and font - but I could work on something like this myself in Photoshop and make this more dynamic 

Website and merchandise.  I would like to make a real t-shirt and I want to also create a menu design 

Looking at other Instagram sites for coffee - I looked at Costa and I could see how I could brand and sell on Instagram - photographs of my branded coffee and show the lifestyle by the river to feed into the brand

Costa have a brand mission statement and this I would write for my own brand so that I have a real brand story 

These are just a few quick ideas however more research is needed to make sure I am selling looking at demographics and design and I will explore this further for my project. 

IIM: The Swimming Hole: First Impressions

 

Thomas Eakins: The Swimming Hole (1884-5)

What first impressions do you have?

Beautiful sunshine, the smell of a sunny day and freshwater, the feel of water on my skin. The warm sun touched my skin.  The trees gently rustling in the breeze, the joy of watching young men swim!  Joy and laughter

What does it make you think of?

As above, reminds me of Jarnac in France when we spent a day sitting by the river.  I paddled and collected stones, the water was crystal clear.  I lay on the grass in the warm sun and ate an ice lolly.  

What connection can you find with the image? 

Summer holidays, photographing people outside in the sun, photographing the body and finding beauty 

How could this be a starting point to your own work? 

Thinking about how to photograph the body, something conceptual perhaps text/image - pieces of me