To print my mini fabric collection i will be utilising the same digital processes that i did in second year which includes digital printing. From my work experiences i have learnt that i want to work for a company that works with digital printing, and not be a manual printer myself. Because of this, i want to focus the skills i am learning at this point toward the job i want when graduating. As well as this, there is a vast amount of colour and detail within my designs so processes like screen printing would take a vast amount of time as i would need around 8 screens and the exposure unit may not pick up the finer details within the design. Given the limited time frame to have our designs printed by using digital services it will guarantee they are done in time.
My digitally printed fabrics will be printed 1 x 1 meter. My feedback from DG was that i need to make the individual monsters clearer so i want to print them at a larger scale. As they will be printed at a larger scale i will need a bigger piece of material to show the repeating structure and i feel this will be clear when printed 1 x 1meter.
My target market will not change from my gift wear collection so still be in the range of 8-11 year old boys. I feel my designs will still appeal to this demographic even when the designs are being produced in a different market area. I have decided to produce my fabric for the fashion market as i had a lot of positive comments during my giftware designing process that the designs could be pictured on boys t-shirts and other fashion garments. As well as t-shirts and other day-wear items i would also like to consider the use of my designs on boys pj’s. Often there are all over patterns with a matching top and bottom which i feel would really suit my gift roll design.
From here i will do some in store research to see which market area my designs would best appeal to.
Overall my time up until Christmas will have a heavy focus on my dissertation as i had limited feedback from DG and this is the area i feel i really need to work on. As well as this i will also be devoting a greater amount of time toward job applications which will be essential if i want a job in the design sector once graduating. I feel the amount of work provided for our mini fabric collection is more than manageable, even when allocating more time to other areas.
Overall my feedback from design group was very positive with only minor room for improvements. They mentioned they liked how different my target market was from myself; however, i had still managed to reach out to them and understand what they like. As well as this, they mentioned really liking my ‘out of the box’ bag design. This element was also one of my favourite aspects of the collection as it greatly differed from the designs currently on the market.
To improve they have said my gift roll design needs more space to allow the characters to breathe, or to simplify them slightly. To improve this area for my fabric collection i will make the scale of this design bigger so the characters are easier to read. This will also help versify the scale used within my collection.
For my new collection board i utilised the elements i felt worked from the one i produced at the formative assessment and then improved the ones i did not feel were working so well. I felt the black background with black electrical tape around the edge added a nice finish to the board, and also related better to my collection than a plain white board so once again utilised this idea.
When it came to printing my sheet wrap i was left in a dilemma of wondering whether to print it to scale, or to print it smaller to fit the entire design within the A3 template. In the end i decided to print this to scale, so my use of scale is clear within my collection. As well as this, i think it is easier to imagine how this would repeat across a 50x 70 cm sheet of gift wrap rather than myself having to explain the exact size of the font.
When getting each element printed i decided to use a 170 gsm silk paper as i felt this best represented the sample i had found in the Card Factory. Ideally the gift sheet and roll would have been printed onto a much lower gsm; however, i was advised by the printing company i worked with that the paper and inks they supply would not demonstrate the correct pantones once printed as the overwhelming amount of colour within my designs would not be absorbed properly by the paper they supply. This is demonstrated on the 90gsm paper that is wrapped around a box within my gift bag which i will expand on later within this blog post.
Overall i feel my designs work a lot better as a collection than they did at the formative assessment point as they now feel more united by style and colour. The blue background on my card and gift sheet make this hue prominent within my collection, and also help my designs to really speak to a boys market. Despite feeling that this design bored is stronger than my previous i still feel very fortunate i created one at the formative assessment point. I feel if i hadn’t had done this my designs would not make as strong of a collection as they do now.
Overall i feel my gift bag is a lot better put together than it was at the formative assessment point. The main areas i felt improved this was Matts idea of my gift roll as the background, the new string i have for the handles and the new lining of the bag. Once again if i had not put together a mock up bag for the formative assessment it would not have been so clear which areas needed drastic improvements meaning my bag design may not have been as strong as it is now.
To demonstrate how the gift roll and bag work together i purchased a gift box and printed an A2 sheet of my roll and then wrapped my design around the box as if it was a gift. Overall i feel this demonstrates how my ideas work together clearer, and also show how the designs work as a collection. One of the main reasons i included the acetate screen within the bag was to try and up sell more than one product to customers by making them work together as more than just matching patterns/ designs. Reflecting on this outcome now i feel the bag would have been stronger if it was printed at a larger scale; however, when presenting my ideas to clients this is something i would suggest to them.
Out of my designs the gift roll is my hero pattern as this has the most amount of motifs and hues, as well as this also has the most complex repeating structure. As well as the gift roll, i feel the gift bag is also a hero design because of the large motif and variety of designs. My gift bag entails this large monster, my gift roll design in monotone and my gift sheet design along side the extra elements such as the acetate screen. The gift tags are definitely the blender designs as these consist of no repeating structure and are the simplest in the term of imagery used. Despite this, although the mouth design has a very limited colour pallet the happy birthday design includes all the hues within my colour pallet. I still feel this gift tag is a blender design as it involves no repeating structure and is at a very small scale compared to the rest of the collection. My secondary designs would be my cards and gift sheet. The sheet although does contain a variety of motifs is very simple in its repeating structure and is a lot more uniform than the gift roll design. As well as this, it contains a lot of negative space.
As well as my drawn product mock ups and physical mock ups i have also created a series of displacement map mock ups. When initially being introduced to displacement maps in second year the process seemed long, tedious and very confusing. However, now although the process is still difficult to perfect i have learnt the steps involved so can complete a mock up without my notes.
For my first displacement map i decided to create one of my cards. This was very tricky compared to my other mock ups and previous ones as there are set boundaries. With a repeat pattern you can simply repeat the motif to the boundaries and, the mock up is not reliant on the bounding area. However, with this card the shape of the displacement map image had to be roughly the same in order to not cut off areas.
With this outcome i did go through the displacement map process although reflecting back, i most probably did not need to as the cards surface is flat and i do not think it made much difference. To improve this outcome the design could look less digital which i did try to achieve by experimenting throughout the process.
For my second mock up i created my roll design. This i had done for the formative assessment; however, was not 100% happy with the result. To try and improve the outcome i decided to use a different image to displace my design on. Overall i feel this is an improvement from my previous outcome; however, still needs further developments. I need to develop my skills and learn how to make the highlights and shade more clear in order to make the overall image more realistic.
To try and improve on the above experiment i used a different image for the displacement map and continued to experiment with the process along the way. Although i feel this is an improvement on the previous, i still feel there is not enough shade and highlight to really show the curve of the paper. Despite needing further improvement i feel now analysing my work and outlining where it is going wrong has given me a much better and informed perspective.
For my third displacement map i used my gift sheet design. Out of all my displacement maps so far i feel this is the strongest although it is just a flat image. As my paper will not be double sided i decided to use an image of just a piece of paper on a table to displace my design onto.
To create digital mock ups of my gift tags i decided not to use a displacement map as they are very exact shapes. Overall i feel these demonstrate my physical mock ups very well and give a good indication of what my designs look like.
I have decided not to create a displacement map mock up of my gift bag as it is a very awkward and specific shape as well as the acetate element. Despite this i do have my mock up which will be included within my presentation board as well as my mini mock up in my sketchbook.
Now having created my bag i have been able to decide which gift tags i feel best suit my collection. For my gift tag i have selected two designs, one with text and one just of imagery. I feel having the two will create a balanced collection and both appeal to my target market.
The string used within my tags is the same as on my gift bag in an effort to unite the two together. This string is actually shoe laces. I hunted for some string, similar to what i used on my mini gift bag, around Cardiff and also looked at purchasing a gift bag with the string i wanted just so i could rip the bag apart and use the string. After having no luck i recalled working on the checkout at Morrisons and someone purchasing them and thought they would be great.
When thinking of multiple uses for my gift tags i think it would be a good idea if the gift tag could transform into a badge. To do this a pin would be attached to the back of the tag (with still space to write around it), and the string could simply be cut off in order to transform it. I think this idea would really appeal to my target market as they are at an age where wearing badges is common and they want everyone to know it is their birthday. I feel this idea would also really appeal to millennial parents as instead of the item just being chucked away after its first use, it could be transformed into a different product to get more use out of its life.
Overall i am happy with my gift tags as i feel they will really appeal to my target market and also help to bring my collection together. When showing Matt my gift sheet and roll he mentioned having one only text and the other just imagery to create a strong diverse collection so, i have used this idea and extended on it within my gift tags. The tags have been printed onto a 190 gsm silk paper which is the same as my birthday cards. When viewing tags for my in store research i recalled them being rather thick so wanted to replicate this within my own work. The silk paper also adds a nice finish because when the light reflects off of it it shines.
From here i am now going to send off for my wrap and sheet to be printed (slightly later than anticipated because of the issues i had with my Abode software). Whilst waiting for these to be processed i will also create some final product mockups on Photoshop.
Within a tutorial with Helen she mentioned i could expand my ideas by creating more birthday themed products. One of these things that she mentioned was a birthday banner. I think a birthday banner would suit my target market as they are still at an age of having birthday parties.
To create the banner i used my monster font and then placed it on a 100cm x 20cm template in illustrator. When looking at other products similar to this on the market this is around the standard size. I decided to use a black background for this design to really help the colours stand out.
I have decided not to have this printed for the assessment; however, will do if it is within my feedback for the summative assessment. Classic examples of banners are often printed onto a plastic and then have a shiny finish. I would like my product to have this shiny finish; however, be printed onto a paper based substrate so it can be recycled.
The primary area of feedback for Matt during the formative assessment was to develop the background of my bag using my monster gift wrap. Unfortunately as i had spent so long considering the acetate screen and overhanging tentacles this is an area i did not really consider going into the formative assessment.
Matt had suggested to use a blue background and just the black outline from my monster designs, so this is what i started with. Despite this working to a certain extent i wondered if i could create a bigger contrast through experimenting with other hues from my colour pallet.
Following this experiment i then developed this by using an orange background and black outlines. Despite achieving the initial idea of heightening the contrast, i feel the orange background took this too far, so much so that it distracted from the green central monster. As well as this, the orange and green together created a rather sickly feel.
After i did not feel the orange was working for this design i then reverted back to the blue; however, tried using a white outline for the monsters in the wrap design. Overall i felt this was also not as strong as the original blue and black combination as it had not helped with my issues of contrast and the vast amount of white outlines dimmed the overall brightness of the blue. With neither of these experiments proving successful i decided to stick to the blue and black combination Matt had suggested as i felt it was the strongest out of the 3.
During the formative assessment i asked Matt about production costs in relation to my low end market and he noted not to worry about this as it is in fact a university project. Because of this, i have decided to add a lining to my bag using my sheet wrap design. I feel adding a lining to my bag will help it appeal to the market as the bag will appear more costly compared to a bag with a simple white lining. As well as this, adding an interior lining will allow myself to hide the acetate screen which looks very messy on the inside of the bag i produced at the formative assessment. Despite that this will give me an overall nicer end finish, i am expecting this new design to be a lot harder to construct compared to my previous developments.
Once deciding to add an interior lining i then thought it would give my bag a nicer finish if i added the cutting guides to the interior only. Although Matt stated that if these are present on the outside of the bag it does not matter, as i have put so much thought into adding a nicer finish with the acetate screen i thought i may as well create the best end result that i can.
When making my mini mock up of my gift bag i realised the design would look more professional if i added colour and texture to the underside of the over hanging tentacles. To achieve this all i did was copy and paste the relevant elements onto the same sheet which i will then glue to the underside of the whole image before attaching the monster to the bag. In industry there will be a way to print the entire monster attached to the bag which then the tentacles can then be pulled out from. However, unfortunately i do not have access to such high tech equipment so have found it easier to print the monster separately and then attach him.
As i have had to print out 3 separate pages for this bag i have decided to make the bag outcome slightly smaller than it was at the formative assessment stage as it has cost me over £17 to print the 3 pages A2 at the print studio. Unfortunately, i just assumed the printers at university would give us the best rate on the market; however, have found they are exceptionally more expensive than the company i had my cards printed at. I will explain in the summative assessment that the bag size could be bigger to allow room for larger gifts children tend to receive at a young age.
To start the construction of the bag i taped both the interior and exterior sheet and then folded along the main fold lines. Following this i then cut a hole for where the acetate screen will be placed using my green monsters as a guide. After this i then untaped the two sheets and put the acetate sheet between the two, using double sided tape to hole the acetate screen in place. Then i went about constructing the bag, adding the handles and finally the green monster. I felt the design would be stronger if i did not use holes for the handle; however, simply attach them between the monster and the bag its self. Overall i feel this gives the design a lot neater finish.
Because of the acetate screen this bag did take an awfully long time to put together; however, now finished i am happy with the result. I feel Matts idea of using the wrap design for the background of the bag really draws the whole collection together. I also feel the new lining of the bag adds a more professional finish and also makes the bag a lot neater. Despite this there is still one more addition i want to make to the bag which is to add a sheet with the interior lining design to the inside bottom of the bag. This should hide all the folds at the bottom of the bag and give the bottom a neater finish. This idea is something i saw during my in store research.
Although it did take me an exceptionally long time to line up the back and front of the monster before sticking it to the bag i do feel having the colour and textures present on the underside of the tentacles and lips adds a much more thought-out and professional finish. Not only this but it also allows the eye to really visualise the monster swamping the bag.
Overall i am a lot happier with my bag now compared to at the formative assessment point. Despite this i feel so fortunate that i did create a bag at that point as it really helped myself to see which areas were working within the design and which others needed drastic improvements. If i could make one change to the end result it would be that it was the same size as my bag at the formative assessment. Despite this i will note during the assessment how much it cost myself to print and have my original design there as a size guide for how big it could be. From here i will have a piece printed for the bottom of the interior which will add a neater finish to the bag and then start considering what tag i feel best suits the bag design.
To have my two birthday cards printed i decided to find a printers outside of university which could offer me a greater variety of papers and finishes. For both my cards i selected a 190 gsm silk paper as this is thick enough so the card will be sturdy and have a slightly shiny finish.
Overall i am very happy with the outcome of my first card and really like how the hues stand out compared to using the university printers. As i could not find any service which would cut away the top area of the card on a one off basis i decided to do this myself. Overall i feel getting this done professionally would have given it a slightly nicer finish; however, this time when cutting away the top i was a lot more careful and think this has given it a nicer edge compared to my card at the formative assessment.
For my second card i made some minor adjustments before sending it off for printing. When attaching the exterior back and front within an illustrator document i realised i could improve my design further by making the monsters wrap around to the back of the card instead of just cutting them off. Overall i feel this gives a nicer finish to the card and unites the front and back.
I am glad i made the decision to use blue on the interior of the card instead of red as i feel this better unites the interior and exterior now it has been printed. Despite this, the blue hue within the inside of the card may be a bit dark to write on, if given more time on this project this is definitely an area i would look at developing.
Overall i feel my cards are a lot stronger now following the formative assessment and feel Matts idea about including the colouring in pages really help my designs to appeal to my target demographic. I feel making mock ups for the formative assessment really helped myself and Matt to highlight areas which needed improving. It gave myself a clear idea of what elements were and were not working within my designs.
During the formative assessment i realised i had not completed many product illustrations in comparison to other students. Although it was not in my formative feedback to complete these, i felt it best i did in order to demonstrate my ideas. I decided not to complete product illustrations for my roll and wrap designs as these consist of a flat rectangular surface, so i already get a good idea of what these will look like when developing my patterns digitally and also from my presentation board from the formative assessment.
To start with i drew my gift tag designs and added a sample of the type of string that would be present on these and my gift bag. Overall it gives me a much better idea of what they will look like as tags with the addition of the string. With the string included i feel the mouth tag is a lot stronger because of its simpler outline. Despite this, i want to wait to decide on my gift tag until i get my new gift bag constructed to see which suits the bag best. Although i am yet to decide i have already had these two tags professionally printed so they are ready for when i have my bag constructed.
I selected the black rope like sting on this page as i felt it better suited a boys market than a piece of ribbon as it appears less feminine. As well as this, this substrate is quite thick so if a heavy present was put into the gift bag it would be able to hold the weight. I selected a black hue for this so it reflected the black outlines present within the bag and tag designs.
Initially i was going to draw my gift card and bag; however, felt it would be a better idea to make them as these require more detailed elements. For my card i had initially experimented with a red interior; however, upon making this product mock up i felt it be stronger if i used a blue interior instead which better reflected the hues on the exterior of the card. Overall i am a lot happier with the blue interior as it now ties the design together.
For my mini gift bag i really wanted to make one as i was not sure how my monster wrap was going to look against the monster. Overall despite being an exceptionally small scale i feel this really works and also helps to tie my collection together further with the use of my roll design. When making this mini mock up it was also good practice at using Matts bag cutting guide, which is not hard to put together following his demonstration. This mini mock up also made me realise that my bag design would look more professional if i added colour and texture to the underside of the tentacles and other elements of the monster that are hanging over the edge. I have now sent the elements for my gift bag off for printing and have included an extra two monsters so i can stick them back to back, which will hide the white on the underside of the over hanging elements.
Overall creating these product mock ups has given myself a better idea of how my illustrations will work as products, and how they blend together as a collection. Making both the card and bag was of excellent use as it really demonstrated areas that are currently flawed and could use improvement. From here i will be sending all my elements off for digital printing so i can start to put together my collection board.
BA Hons Textiles Consultancy Blog 