Lectures and workshops

Today was a long day full of lectures and workshops all of which were aimed at a question of research from different practices from academia to fashion design. I found myself at the start of the day thinking of what to expect as there were also workshops in both the morning and afternoon sessions. However, at this stage of my journey, I feel that it is important to have an open-minded approach to what I will learn from these workshops. This is because you can cherry-pick from them and apply them to your own practice in ways that make sense to you. I got a lot out of this morning's session from Olly's lecture to the workshop given by Dan. 

Slide taken as a screenshot from Olly's lecture
https://port.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=327fc04e-919e-477e-928d-b0b3011fbb07

Below are notes taken from a lecture that Olly gave my group that focused on his own methodology approach and how it is important to consider such academic sources as part of your secondary and contextual research. I found this lecture really good and informative on how I adapt to my question of research and how I can visualise materiality within my own practice.  

Below is a further screenshot taken from Olly's lecture which I found to be beneficial to me and also relevant to my own practice in how I am tackling materiality. Of course, this slide focuses on Subversion which is one of the other questions but, this slide actually had a lot of relevant information for me to consider especially on the form which plays a big part in my practice. 

 

Slide taken as a screenshot from Olly's lecture
https://port.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=327fc04e-919e-477e-928d-b0b3011fbb07

After the lecture was out of the way, we had the opportunity to work in small groups to tackle a topic area that Dan gave us. This workshop was to identify 3 key points about a topic that we were given as a group. The term Is Print Dead? was our topic to focus on debating against by forming 3 points to back our argument against. We decided it was best to go around our group to note down what this term means to us and what we think of it in terms of our own practice and how we see print today. 

Mind map that points out key areas to print that we know

My interpretation of this became clear from the perspective of being a designer after I revisited one of my favourite graphic designers Karel Martens. A Dutch graphic designer who specialises in print design. Below you can see just some of the work that I had looked at to inform my side of the argument within my group that print is not dead. From further research, I discovered a quote by Martens that says "Where two worlds meet" which connotes the term loosely speaking that print design is seen as another world to designers which is very much appreciated, as we are to adopt a more analogue approach within the digital age that we are in now. Below is contextual research to show Marten's work to support this.

Screen record taken from (“Absence in Design Is Very Important”: Karel Martens on Paying Attention to the Things We Don’t See, 2020)

I also decided to do further research by looking at Ambrose and Harris's book Printing and Finish, as they speak about how "the printing process is often overlooked when a job is being designed for print" (Ambrose, Harris, 2006, p46). This was an important part to which I mentioned my side of the argument to the other group who was for the term print is dead, that it is and should be an important factor to consider when designing anything. This is because print design plays a key part in editorial design and poster design to mention a few. I found myself confident in debating this within my opposing group as I was also speaking from personal experiences within print design, and so to illustrate this we decided to use one of my old test prints that I had on from my BA that would visually address the nature of print. 

One of my colleagues in my group decided it would be a good idea to write the words Print is not dead on the poster design to give it more context. This can be seen below which I feel worked very well it illustrates our arguments both factual and personal. Overall I found this workshop to be of great importance to my own development as a designer as it got me to talk briefly about the importance of print from the perspective of graphic design. This task was also great as a team-building exercise to work with different people from different industries which I feel is great to learn from as you get to see things from a different perspective. 

The image shows a photo taken of my test print used for this workshop with the added words print is not dead

These next lectures were given by Tom Clulee and Julian Roberts both fashion design lectures. 

I actually didn't know what to expect again as these afternoon sessions are rather different to what I am used to from the perspective of graphic design, however, I feel now it's important to be open-minded and try to glean from the perspective of others in different industries. 

Below are notes taken from Tom's lecture on Fashion Is a Vampire (2023).

This was a very interesting lecture to visually see Tom's approach within all three areas of questions within this module. Of course, I was focused on the relations towards materiality as this is what I am focused on within my question. 

Tom mentioned that "the journey is most of the time more important than the actual outcome itself" (Clulee, 2023). This gave me great insight into realising that the resolution isn't always the most important aspect, the journey is just as important as It can visually show your thought process and visualise your own methodology approach. Ideas can spark from the journey itself, which I find works like happy accidence from time to time, so I am always open to the idea of these situations happening within my practice. 

This lecture was very much inspiring me to think outside the box and trust the process in my journey as it's a personal one to me. Tom also mentioned that "resources, skill and imagination, can make beautiful things" (Clulee, 2023). This clearly tells me that the right process through your own methodology will allow you to create things that are meaningful and can resolve a 

problem within a brief. 

This next lecture was given by Fashion designer and lecturer Julian Roberts who talked about his working practice on the process of making: subtracting cutting (2023).

Julian Roberts. (2022, January 23). Subtraction Cutting “Tunnel Technique” demonstration by Mari Bendeliani and Julian Roberts [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS3CHH9Bcg0

I found this lecture to be very insightful into another designer's perspective on the materiality approach within their practice. It was unique to me to see how Julian constructs shapes by cutting them into the fabric in sections to then make actual garments from it.

Here are notes taken from his lecture. I decided to note down what stood out to me the most. I found myself inspired to see Julian work with materials in a subjective way that explores the art of fashion design, whilst promoting its overall functionality as a piece of clothing. 

juli

Notes taken from the lecture that Julian Roberts gave us

The image shows a photo taken of Julian in action using his own methodology approach within research in action

I decided to document this part of the lecture, as I feel it supports the use of geometry in design which I am exploring in my own practice. There seems to be a strong connection to the theoretical work of the Bauhaus in terms of the meaning of shapes and their functionality within design. 

Quote by Kandinsky, from https://www.guggenheim.org/teaching-materials/kandinsky/the-bauhaus-1922-33

I find it very interesting to see how other people from different industries align their working methodologies with the use of shapes and how they apply them to their work. I got a strong sense of dynamism within Julian's working approach. The clear indications of exciting ideas and energy started to formulate from the video examples that he shared with us and the live-action demonstration that was given to us. I feel that this allowed me to see how I too could adopt a mindset that can suit me and that I become confident in my own working practice and share with others my methodology.

The screenshot shows further notes taken from Julian's lecture.

I feel that my current stage in my journey has shown me again that it's always good to have an open mind to what is being shared as you never know what you may find is beneficial to your own practice and development. Overall, I think that it definitely showed me a different way of working, plus to hear from a different perspective in the industry as you can glean from their experiences in a way that you can apply to your own areas of interest and methodology.