FMP initial research collection and concept board

These are my concept and research boards I used for my FMP pitch and encompass some of the research I have collected for the project so far:

FMP Initial ideas stage and proposal planning

In order to prepare the proposal for our FMP's (Final Major Project), we had to begin to think about what it is we wanted to focus on. Some initial ideas of mine were revolved around the idea of male idols as I am a female menswear student and so I thought it would be interesting to gain perspective into what men look up to and idolise. I however thought it may be too general and not personal enough. After watching a documentary called East End on film, I began to think about looking back into the past and the old London imagery of the working class people of East London really resonated with me. However, I again wanted a personal connection to the project and suddenly thought to look into the life of my Grandad that I never met as the idea I had of him kind of linked to the men I saw in the East End programme. As I never met him, I decided I want to use this project as a vehicle to learn about him and his interests allow me to draw various themes I have already explored such as Football culture, working class life and London. I really cannot wait to start this project and begin collecting the different research which will initiate my starting point. I will need to make a concept board and prepare a presentation for the proposal however I do not think it will be done digitally as for me I work better with physical materials. Also with the sentimental and nostalgic nature of the project, I want to keep a kind of hand made and personal aesthetic.

EDIT:

I decided to do a digital presentation in order not to waste the resources I had prepared before I actually began the project.

Mini evaluation of the pathway stage

Overall, I really enjoyed the variety of projects in the pathway stage as they allowed me to explore so many different ideas and inspirations in a relatively short time. It was difficult to manage so many projects alongside portfolio work and uni applications however I am still really happy with the work I created in this time. I think I really progressed and developed from the first projects we completed to the more recent ones and I am really pleased with my progression. I don't think there is one project in particular that I could choose as my favourite as I enjoyed all different elements of each. I think I have learnt such a huge amount of skills and techniques that will benefit me massively in the FMP stage and  I am really looking forward to it.

A self directed project I completed over Christmas and New Year-'LAD'

Portfolio sheets of the self directed project I did:

Culture evaluation

I think I got on really well with this task as I was really enthusiastic about choosing my cultures and final settled on Donk and Lions. I collected all my research which was a mix of primary and secondary resources but at first it didn't seem to be used in an effective way which was discussed at the mid point crit. I however took this on board and reworked it until I felt I could gain some inspiration from it. This actually proved integral to the finl imagery in the designs. I am really interested in print within my work and developed an abstract lion image that I chose to work into my designs. I am really happy with what I achieved as I think I have managed to combine two unlikely cultures and made something that seems to represent my interests and aesthetic throughout. I received positive feedback alongside constructive criticism which is incredibly important as it is crucial to keep pushing your work.

I think my work is successful in that I have pushed myself in terms of aesthetic and colours used and I have tried to step out of my comfort zone. I initially was not happy with my early research in that I hadn't really taken much from it but after reworking it this was not an issue. I found the idea creation easier than the execution but I am constantly trying to push myself practically as well as design wise. 

My time management could definitely have been improved as I didn't set out with a clear plan of the 3 weeks we had. This however is a good thing to have experienced as I will be much more aware of this during my FMP.

Culture project

These are some screenshots of the research I used to inspire my culture project:

Sportswear evaluation

I think I got on well with this task as I really enjoy looking at sportswear for inspiration. I am happy with my final result that I achieved from this project as I think I managed to reclaim the vision I had for the project thanks to a tutor's advice and guidance. I think my designs and work have been successful as they capture elements of sportswear without explicitly copying features of the garments. I received positive feedback but as I mentioned before it was one of my tutor's advice that refocused me as to what my aims for the final design were. This was really good to have this kind of support. From this project, I have learnt it is important to go outside your comfort zone in terms of aesthetics but also not to lose what it is you love to create.
This will help me in the future as I will ensure I keep striving to be creative and innovative.
I think my work was successful in that alongside the sport I included, football, and the London Landmark, Arsenal Football Club, I managed to create a personal connection to the project as Arsenal are a big part of family memories. This allowed a lot of my research to be primary which will always work the best. Initially I was not happy with the overly gimmicky style that had woven its way into the project however I managed to work with it and bring back the sentimentality and nostalgia that I first tried to put across.
I think my time management was a slight problem in that my eureka moment came very late towards the end and so it meant I could not experiment further before final design stage. However, I was still incredibly pleased with the designs I create and so it did not seem to much of an issue in this instance.

Sportswear project

These are some of the boards I created for the sportswear project and I also had a mini a5 sketchbook which held other imagery associated to this project:

Deconstruction/Reconstruction evaluation

Initially with this project I think i struggled as we began with stand work using the garments we had brought in to deconstruct and then reconstruct however I enjoyed the self directed research I did including designer Maison Martin Margiela. However I really enjoyed and threw myself into the muse creation which then got me started on the project more successfully. I am really pleased with what I created from this project as I think it was successful in terms it being heavily design based. I then made a garment from this which I was incredibly proud of. I got positive feedback from others about my sketchbook and garment as people really liked the experimental nature of the project and also thought it worked well in terms of aesthetics. From this project, I have learnt it is possible to create interesting garments from old items of clothing that initially do not look as if they would work. I will use this in future within other work as I will always consider using things that at first do not seem to be usable. 

I think my work is successful in image in that I have combined a range of fabrics that may at first be considered ugly/tacky/childish but I have developed them into a garment that fits amongst the world of contemporary menswear. I was not at first overly happy with the colours of some of the garments I chose to deconstruct but I worked around that by whittling down the fabrics that I would work with until I had built a colour scheme I was happy with. I thought I would find the construction element of this project difficult as I do not have a huge amount of sewing skills however I really enjoyed this part and think I actually did quite well in this area. I do not think my time management was an issue in this project as I successfully completed all the tasks within time and did a well planned photo shoot. 

Deconstruction/Reconstruction

These are the different images from the project, ranging from research and development work to the final shoot: