IT Lesson

In this lesson we were taught how to use Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.

1) Choose photo, cut around person
with the magic wand tool

How I could have improved my work was if I had prepared some images that were easier to use before the lesson and the one that I chose was difficult to manipulate and shape into the environment. 

2) Choose background, change
saturation

I had hoped to increase the saturation on my final image however I experienced some difficulties trying to achieve this.

3) I copied the background and cut out
the pipe so that it would seem that I was
rising out from it.

4) I had a play around with
these figures too, I found it interesting to
place them in the game.

5) I increased the saturation so the the photo stood out more

We then had the chance of making our own logos in Illustrator. The way that the programme smooths out the edges of the pen helped to create the sweeping lines in my designs. I am pleased with how I used Illustrator and the only way that I feel I could have improved was if I had used more colours and maybe tried a tighter more conformed shape such as a square.

My Final Design.

Designs for my logo.

WIlliam Eggleston

William Eggleston is a well-known fine art photographer, famed for his complex and colourful photographs of southern towns in America. These two series of his photographs, named ‘Chromes’ (1969-74) and ‘Election Eve’ (1976) are displayed in the ‘Energy and Processes’ exhibition in the Tate Modern (curated by Simon Baker and Shoair Mavlian). They mainly focus on everyday life in small southern county towns, particularly his home town of Memphis, Tennessee (‘Chromes’) but also in Plains County and Sumter County, Georgia (‘Election Eve’). ‘Although these images record a particular place at a certain point in time, Eggleston is not interested in their documentary qualities. Instead, asked what he is photographing Eggleston simply answers ‘Life today’.’  (Aitken, 2013, www.tate.org.uk).

The immediate reaction to this exhibition is the striking and bold colours that draws the audience in, this is a printing process called dye transfer which is what promotes the bright reds and greens. All of Eggleston’s photographs vary slightly from image to image, he uses landscapes, close ups and portraiture in his work this helps to keep the audience interested throughout the entire exhibition. The photographs are laid out well around the room in chronological order, the curators have used a simplistic and minimalistic design which helps to remind the viewer of the period that the photographs were taken in; a time of ‘high tension and anxiety on the national stage’ (Aitken, 2013, www.tate.org.uk). Each series dominates two of the walls of the room, this gives a reflective feel to the room. The audience is able to enjoy and appreciate the quality of the photographs in this exhibit without needing any previous knowledge of either the subject or aspects of photography because of the sharp focus and striking bright colours of the images. Both series include the ‘charismatic elements’ of Eggleston’s style such as the positioning, lines, reflections or lighting. These make the photographs much more striking and give each image a different point of interest that draws the viewer in.

Figure 1, ‘Election Eve’ Eggleston

Bibliography

Websites

Aitken, Doug. (2013) William Eggleston. [online] London. Tate Modern. Avaliable at: http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-moderndisplay/william-eggleston.htm (Accessed 7/10/13)

Glover, Michael. (2013) Genisus in colour: Why William Eggleston is the world’s greatest photographer. [online] London. The Independent. Avaliable at: http://www.independent.co.uk/rta-entertainment/art/features/genius-in-colour-why-william-eggleston-is-the-worlds-greatist-photographer8577202.html (Accessed 7/10/13)

Images

Figure 1, ‘Election Eve’. Eggleston, William (Tate, 2013, Energy and Process)

William Eggleston

William Eggleston is a well-known fine art photographer, famed for his complex and colourful photographs of southern towns in America. These two series of his photographs, named ‘Chromes’ (1969-74) and ‘Election Eve’ (1976) are displayed in the ‘Energy and Processes’ exhibition in the Tate Modern (curated by Simon Baker and Shoair Mavlian). They mainly focus on everyday life in small southern county towns, particularly his home town of Memphis, Tennessee (‘Chromes’) but also in Plains County and Sumter County, Georgia (‘Election Eve’). ‘Although these images record a particular place at a certain point in time, Eggleston is not interested in their documentary qualities. Instead, asked what he is photographing Eggleston simply answers ‘Life today’.’

The immediate reaction to this exhibition is the striking and bold colours that draws the audience in, this is a printing process called dye transfer which is what promotes the bright reds and greens. All of Eggleston’s photographs vary slightly from image to image, he uses landscapes, close ups and portraiture in his work this helps to keep the audience interested throughout the entire exhibition. The photographs are laid out well around the room in chronological order to remind the viewer of the period that they were taken in; a time of ‘high tension and anxiety on the national stage’. The audience is able to enjoy and appreciate the quality of the photographs in this exhibit without needing any previous knowledge of either the subject or aspects of photography because of the sharp focus and striking bright colours of the images. Both series include the ‘charismatic elements’ of Eggleston’s style such as the positioning, lines, reflections or lighting. These make the photographs much more striking and give each image a different point of interest that draws the viewer in. 

Day 3: Fashion and Textiles

Task 1: create an item of clothing out of paper/ card etc.

Task 2: take photographs of your outfit on each floor

For my item of clothing I chose to do a waistcoat, that you wear like a shawl/ pashmina. 

I created many drawings and diagrams to try and understand how you would put together a waistcoat. I found that it is all down to folding the material in the right place to create the fitted shape; I also found that it is not as easy as it looks. I was going have sleeve holes however it was suggested by one of my peers that I could just leave it to be worn on the shoulders. I found that this was probably the best idea as the jacket was already quite small and if it didn't fit my model like this then arm holes would definitely not help.

I was thinking that if I had any spare time I would create some decorations to put on the coat, I took inspiration for these from the second day of Fashion and textiles where we made the outfits for the models. I did have time to make them as I finished the coat early however I did not have enough time to put them on the coat. Also I was going to add pockets to the coat, I had planned how I would do it however I felt that the simplistic look to the coat was fine and there is no use for pockets if the arms are already inside the coat.

The second task was to take photographs around the college of our outfits. Each photograph I aimed to capture a different angle of my outfit I also tried to have interesting and capturing backgrounds in each to contrast against the dull colours of the jacket. I feel that my photographs would have been improved if my model did not have to hold the jacket closed, this could be overcome by pinning it together or creating some kind of button function.

If I was to redo this project I would add the things that I left out on this design such as the buttons, pockets and sleeves. I feel that I would have been capable of making the sleeves as I had done a test run of a sleeve on the first day.

Day 2: Fashion and Textiles

Task 1: use five cut-outs and create clothes for them

Task 2:  design 20 items of clothing (hats/ shoes/ clothes etc.)

Task 3: Photocopy 2 favourite designs form the first task and use them to cut out clothing shapes

For this task I tried my hardest to be as abstract as possible, for four of the cut outs I created 3D designs and for the other one, 2D. I am very pleased with the outcome of both my 2D and 3D designs. I tested out different origami folding and if I were to redo this task I think I would try cutting out paper with a Stanley knife and creating interesting 2D shapes across the models body, also I had the idea of cutting parts of the models clothes out in symmetrical shapes and reversing them, which I have seen before and thought was very effective. My time management for each task was very good and I finished on time for each.

For task 2 I was pleased with the designs that I created; which were inspired by the clothes that I made in task 1. on each page I created a full body outfit with five accessories down the side of the page. Each of the accessories related in some way to the main outfit.

For the last task, I feel that the way I placed the clothes to be cut out has maximised the potential for my patterns to look good. However I feel that the photos were a bit dark and dull so if I had the opportunity to redo this task I would use more coloured paper to add some colour and interest to my work.

Day 1: Fashion and Textiles

Task 1: make five small clothing items out of paper 

Task 2: choose one of the designs and make bigger versions of them 

Task 3: in groups dress the mannequins in what you have made

We were given one hour to complete the first task and I finished it with 15 minutes to spare. So I decided to make some fabric patterns. To improve on this task I could have been more abstract with my work, other classmates chose to do five fabric patterns rather than five items of clothing.

 

For the second task I chose to scale up the weaved paper design; I used a variety of styles ranging from two types of paper to two different designs weaved together. I feel that my design that I chose was too simple compared to what others did and in the future I should not be afraid to hold back.

For the third task we were given words that we had to make our design relate to (as shown below). We had to move around the mannequins for each new word and then use the textiles provided appropriately.

1) You were allowed to do what ever you wanted for the first mannequin
We chose to use the materials as a skirt which extenuated the hips because of
the big ballooning effect it had 

2) Futuristic
We felt that the design of the fabrics spoke for themselves for this word, and the
headdress just added to the  allure that the future has

3) Draw attention to the shoulders
we focused the clothing around the upper part of the body so that the eye is drawn straight to it

4) Draw attention to the waist
the addition of the flower to this skirt helps to draw the viewers eye to the waste, I feel
that if this flower was not there then drawing attention to the waist would be a lot harder.

5) Organic
The flowers give the organic feel to the dress, we used the leaves as-well as the bright
flowers, this gives a stark contrast between the tow different shades and helps to
draw the eye into the middle of the photo

6) Your own design
We found it quite hard to design our own outfit as we wanted to incorporate all of our designs
into the work; however I felt that my design did not tie in well with the rest of my
groups designs so we chose not to use mine in the final piece.

Front

Back

For this task we finished each outfit and photographed it before the time was up; this may be because of the minimalist look that we used throughout this task.