Garment LookBook Research

Having made up several garments I was getting a very good response from them, more than I would have expected. Automatically forcing me into shooting my garments in order to present them on a more professional scale, Diversifying into this angle has opened my eyes to the potential of what I could be doing with my print designs,

Creating a Lookbook for garments was never an output I had considered when compiling my learning agreement. It is merely something that made sense and I wanted to compile. I am researching for a future outcome and have become considerably more excited about since starting, forming basic base spreads is further then what I would have expected to take it. I have used three models to shoot it in different circumstances. Over easter I shot the original bee skirt, down in west sussex in Bosham Hoe, secondly I shot the bee skirt with co ordinaing top and styled with an h and m trend cropped jumper,  h and m wedges with Zara glasess for the whole outfit to take off.  When deciding on my shoots I particularly wanted alternative models, I want this to be styled for a broad market, Using four very diverse looks has created an instant impact from the first shots I have selected to edit. I also styled a second shoot by taking it back to its original inspiration of 'Fletcher Moss' this was more for me to see my inspiration in primary form and then see it as a final piece. The shots have turned out very raw and natural, I needed to enter a photography studio in order to take a few head shots and close up images that I could not get on the day because it started to rain. I collaborated with Lara Rhodes
@humanoidtrend on instagram as my photographer and will acknowledge her in the final print of the book. Her photography style is minimal and  sophisticated, the balance of each photo has depicted the models and the garments at their best.
Even though I am primarily a print designer for interiors, it has been a great response from people my own age because its far more relatable at this stage of our lives.

After the unit hand in and befoer degree show I am collaborating with Susanna Kala a Stylist student within my tutorial, giving my initial images to her as a base, She is going to help me compile a final professional lookbook for the show, never expecting to have completed these garments I did not allocate time during the unit to create a second book fully.

BEHIND THE SCENES IMAGERY:

BRANDING

During Easter I particularly focused on the branding side to this unit, I wanted my logo to be my handwriting, using my wacom was the easiest way to translate that across. The decision process of my final logo was lengthy as ultimately it was going to be present throughout. Finally I came to the conclusion Nokes worked best hand written and using Khmer type throughout was clear and professional.

When ordering my postcards and business cards it was fairly stressfree, using Zazzle the online maker was a very clear process to run through. However receiving the business cards was  disappointing, again using a third party and relying on another company never goes to plan and thats another learning curve for the outside world. The outside of the cards wasnt printed to the edge so my print wasn't centered, which online it showed that it was. They gave me my money back and offered to print them again which is good, however timewise it has set me back. In regards to outsourcing companies I feel I am going to have these implications when trying to source digital print companies outside of the university.

Having gone to Alex Russels' talk on online portfolios I began to set up my own website

http://www.ournokes.squarespace.com/

Buying the domain name www.ournokes.com will go live within the next week, this is an on going project I am looking to finish for degree show.
I have begun watermarking my prints and sharing them on pinterest, they have been repinned several times by people which is exciting and boosts confidence from an outside perspective, setting me up for leaving university. Pinterets instantly gets my name prints and brand recognised to a large audience.

http://www.pinterest.com/beccienokes/rebecca-nokes-designs-alpine/

Alpine interiors Lookbook. Final Decisions. Repographics.

Romo Black Editions Look book was a considerable influence on me when deciding on options for my final look. There use of spacial awareness in the book is particularly aesthetically pleasing, using particular weights of photo to each side allows the eye to receive the information in a pleasing way.

When completing my market research over easter regarding my lookbook, I noticed in Chelsea Harbour alot of the same styles, there was a continual repetition to how multiple leading companies were displaying there new collections. Digital print in production is a very recent medium for interior decoration. Therefore I want my look book to directly reflect the age of the medium. I want it to have a younger, smarter and modern feel to it. Choosing to add in different weights of printing material, such as my asatate inserts I feel adds depth to my prints, making a considerable difference within the book. However this decision did not come without implications, using Repographics as a third party is risky, it was a learning curve for me within the outside world, It did not go to plan within my final bound book as they bound it the opposite way. The content is all there and I am handing in two copies a copy bound incorrectly with a post it explaining, and a copy of the spreads in order of how I perceived them, clipped in the correct manner.

My typography and branding is all decisions made when deciding on my branding output for this unit and is reflected within this final Lookbook.

Interior Look Book Inspiration and Stlying.

Creating a Look book for my previous digital collection Alpine is extremely import in order to show professionalism and styling to my work. Its an opportunity to pull everything together, edit and cut down the best bits of the collection to showcase. Its equally important to have a direct visual source of how I see them as prints being reproduced. It gives an instant insight into what each print individually can give to a room. By me personally style directing my book its a direct insight to industry as to how I perceived my collection being seen, the decision making process has been very different, more taxing, I
am naturally out of my comfort zone as creating an interior lookbook required a lot of research. Pinterest has been particularly insightful in terms of instantly seeing variation between styles, I am not trained as an art director but directing this look book is extremely important to channel my designs into the correct audience.

Understandably it is important to take my own photos for a Look book, therefore I organised two photoshoots, one at my old school which is a very grand building and a good opportunity for me to take some interior photos of long drops for no charge. Spending the morning at Woldingham was helpful from a contact perspective but imagery wise I personally felt it was unsuccessful. They also offered  me the opportunity to send them my work that I produced from the imagery and they would display it within their termly magazine, however the rooms would not reflect how i want my prints to be visualised. They were directly designed for a chalet, my final visualisations were within a chalet. Without access to one to produce my own my Look book will never be a direct Aesthetic as to how I imagined.

Woldingham reception rooms

Implication wise I understand it is very important to  I have added in alternative options, of slightly lower end to broaden the target market I am trying to hit. However I want my prints to be shown exactly how I envisaged they would be during the design process. I went on another photoshoot asking my way into Hotels around Manchester, visiting The Lowry, The Hilton, The Radisson and Selfridges and home stores to get some idealistic imagery for displacing, Having in mind that a modern theme would be far more pleasing to the eye in regards to the final images. When displacing the images I wasn't pleased with the final results, although better then

The Lowry Hotel Manchester 

Having discussed my implications with finding correct imagery with my tutor, we decided that creating a Lookbook using my successful visualisations from the last unit, and a few of the successful displacements from the most recent shoot, together it could form the ideal. Giving credit obviously to the original photographers from the Chalets.

Transferring prints, co ordinating collection. O.U.R.NOKES

The decision to transfer my prints onto garments I never foresaw into this unit. As I created the first Bee print and got it printed over easter I began to show my work to friends and peers from home and it was apparent that that particular print should be made into a garment. I have been able to make garments since GCSE it was just something I had never pursued at university as interiors is my specialism, however adding this side to my prints creates an instant visual and association for industry. It plants my idea directly to the body, aesthetically creating a final result. I had allocated time to make one co ordinating outfit. Inspired from this season ASOS prints and co ordinating your clothes. In order to just visually plant an idea in industries minds that my prints are transferrable, and also show diversity I hold as a designer.
Setting up an instagram account @O.U.R.NOKES has given me the opportunity to touch the outside world with my designs. Trending via using hashtags allows your imagery to be instantly planted into certain criteria such as #design #digitalprint #print. Getting an instant outside audience has pushed me to pursue the idea of transferring my prints onto several co ordinating outfits, and jumpers. Receiving an instant great response and several orders it has spurred me on to pushing this element of the unit. People have been requesting specific items such as scrunchies, head wear, clutch bags. Which I have made to expand my market.

http://instagram.com/o.u.r.nokes

From my market research in regards to co ordinating yourself with your wallpaper, it is a playful idea thats occurring a lot within the current market. I am interested in exploring this area with my final visualisations and forward coming photoshoots.

Concept Forming. Imagery Sourcing. Palette Production.

Every print from every collection has my recurring style, naturally. As a designer I do get directly inspired from my surroundings and consequently my mood. At the end of practice unit my colour palette for this progressional collection was based on WGSN forecast of 'BLOODLINES'

On reflection from seeing the previous graduates alternative portfolios, It is important I show a range throughout my work.  My previous collections were autumnally themed, especially the lead collection 'Alpine' was tonally specific to AW trend. I thought I would play with my comfort zone for spring summer, the brighter tonal variations of red and orange I have visually never enjoyed, but working with an intenser, brighter colour palette I think is important to my concept for this unit. It is my last opportunity to enjoy exploring my decision making process, and explore and test myself thoroughly before being set briefs in the outside world. Working with a totally opposite colour palette makes my prints transferrable into a broader market, my last collections Alpine and Lucent Voiles in particular were for a higher end market. This group eventually will have a more fun yet affordable and high street feel to it. 

It has always been an interest to me to play with aesthetically pleasing and stereotypical imagery. Whilst collecting my sources, drawing and getting responses from fellow peers I began to realise to the outside eye I was drawing, cute animals or fluffy bees or wasps. In Actual fact the insects I was drawing were dead. It was funny to acknowledge the response I was getting from peers on essentially dead specimens. Seemingly uninterested in the reason of how it died or why. If it was a human it would have been a very different reaction.

Personal Image

Working closely with my photos and inspiration I used Pinterest to draw on further imagery. I came across Steve Poxton a wallpaper designer, he similarly plays with this idea of dead flies his work is more specific in the way he has worked with his watercolour imagery, the positioning, realistic scale and forms of the specimens directly reflect their state. In an obvious matter. However using these specimens is going against the grain of what is accepted within society. I enjoy the idea of placing something such as dead flies in a Kitchen, juxtaposing the ideal visual.

Steve Poxton

Pinterest Board Screen Shot

Just Kids Wallpaper tm. 

Looking at the imagery I was creating, In order to build on the collection I needed to break it up with different woodland creatures and equally something looser, holding bigger bolder marks. I started to play with the idea of how the specimens died? Was it a natural cause or was it purposeful. Using my fingerprint and red watercolour, this mark making was key in broadening this collection. From an outside perspective it adds light to the group, but with this underlying theme not many withh understand. Responding from Luli Sanchez's mark making skills (see boards) I used watercolour in a similar respect to how she has worked, adding fluidity, painterly qualities and depth to the group.

Earthed Woodland Development Process. Unit X BEGINS.

Finalising the progressional collection 'Earthed Woodland' from the end of the last unit is about exploring my theme to a more advanced level . I want this collection to highlight the best elements in which I work from the results of my previous unit. I am looking for my final results to be an amalgamation of the highest qualities of my work. This collection is about exploring myself as a designer, drawing for me will always be my primary decision making process. From my market research both interiors based and fashion, I feel within the digital print industry there is a lack of first hand mark making. Something that I have a passion for, theres a natural fluidity that pen and paper create that I don't feel can be achieved using a purely digital process. Digital print is naturally used to explore techniques that are not available with hand print, however the qualities of first hand drawing can equally be transmitted in this way, it allows for graphic qualities to be directly reproduced to a very similar standard they were drawn at.
When leaving Earthed Woodland I expected my development process to go very differently, more along the same journey and output as my Practice collections. During the time I was creating my learning agreement we had the opportunity to view past students portfolios, Abigail Hutton's print portfolio was particularly insightful. Seeing an instant outside perspective and speaking to her about her last year has helped the decision process for me on how I was to finalise this unit and what I want to leave Manchester School of Art with. She advised that diversifying your portfolio is very important, it shows you are capable of multiple styles and increases your handwriting skills for potential employers. Having felt very pleased with my final outcomes from my previous unit I did feel it was time to diversify my collection. Choosing to take the same concept and using similar inspiration to Practice, I have incorporated a playful side to my prints, it has expanded my market, ideally making me more adaptable as a designer. Realising this it gave me the option of diversifying my output range. This collection is revealing part of my personality, each drawing is individual, its quirky and outrageous and fun. The initial drawings are made up of mice, flies, bees, wasps and feathers. All directly related to Fletcher Moss environment, but in a far more stereotypical way. This required far more drawing as my thoughts were forming, and as I was building the collection with a potentially different market level.