Vacation Project

To get a start on the final year project we have been set the task of creating 3 boards as part of our research. They must be made up of 3-6 images and consist of an inspiration/influences board, a context board and a textiles/textures board. 

I have so many ideas circling around my mind at the moment that I just know I'm going to find it difficult to limit my images to 6. I really want to portray the highly decorative and patterned element I intend my work to have but also how the different cultures I have decided to look at (Britain, Poland, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, South Africa and Islamic cultures)clash. As I am only allowed 6 images I want to have an image for each culture so 1 for Britain, 1 for Poland, 1 for India and so on. Now the tricky part...putting images to my ideas....

Poland

I love how the polish cutout art has been put into an interior context here, although I will be designing for a fashion context it's interesting to see how the cutouts have been interpreted.

India

I love the geometric shapes in this Bhutan design

I intend to look at Henna Art and use the swirling patterns as inspiration.

Dye powder throwing at Holi festival- festival of colour.

As religion is such an important aspect of culture and identity I want
to look at and compare different religions.

Another Hindu festival is Rangoli, the powder patterns people create
 for this festival are extremely intricate.

Islam

Tesselating patterns are an important freature of islamic design.

Nigeria

Britain

I love the Celtic and Medieval English manuscripts and the amount of decoration on them.

The final images I have chosen for my Inspiration and Influences board are show below.

Top left to right: British celtic art, Indian painting of Ganesh, Islamic tessellations.
Bottom left to right: Woven Bhutan fabric, Nigerian Dutch wax prints, Polish cutout art.

Mara Hoffman resort 2012

While browsing the internet a few days ago I came across Mara Hoffman. From the collections I have looked at she mainly focuses on swimwear. Despite this, her resort 2012 collection is extremely inspirational for me as Egypt is the starting point for my final year project and is also the basis of her collection.

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 I love this dress which has Egyptian images and is only partly coloured.

This skirt appeals to my geometric shape obsession.

Bits and Bats...

After publishing the previous post I've come to the decision that my blog is a little bit boring.....I intended it to be just for my uni work but I might add little bits and bats that catch my eye as well and its also a perfect place to make a shopping list of things that would be amazing to have but, at the moment, I could never afford...like this beautiful urban outfitters poncho for example. I'm not normally a fan of ponchos but I would love to own this. I must admit I've got a little bit of an obsession with Aztec prints and geometric outlines.

I've made a conscious decision that this Autumn/Winter I will not look frumpy. I never can seem to grasp winter style but this year I'm going to make sure I'm snug but chic.....well thats the plan anyway. I've been looking on the Elle website, as I am so penniless that I cant afford to buy the magazine this month, and have found an article on the classics every woman should own. Their list comprises of 44 items.....of which I have approximately three.....this indicates that I need to refresh my wardrobe and do some shopping.

I also cant wait to get my hands on a pair of these Topshop shoes...just waiting for my staff card then boom these babies are all mine...if they fit....and if I can actually walk in them!

On a more unrealistic note, unrealistic as I could never afford them, I have serious bag envy of anyone who owns one of these Alexander McQueen clutches. Pure genius- a bag with rings attached so you don't drop your clutch which, I have to admit I occasionally/frequently do on nights out, leading to scattering of personal objects all over the floor. Although I cant afford one of these beauts I am tempted to whap out the old glue gun and see if I can make one.....surely it cant be that difficult :S

The coming year...

It seems I have abandoned my little resolution to remember to blog frequently.... In my defence after weeks of 1-9 shifts at Topshop blogging has been the last thing on my mind. 
Despite this, my final year at university is looming and I think its quite important that I keep a record of what I'm doing. It will enable me to set my thoughts straight at the end of the day and will also be useful in seeing my progression throughout the year. 

So...for my final year I want to delve into multiculturalism. We live in a country which is so culturally rich and I want to look at the good and bad aspects of the mixing of opposing cultures. I intend to look at pattern and artwork from select places and also how the life of people changes when they come to England.


This idea came to me after visiting Egypt, I felt like it was a complete culture shock to me as the customs and the way people dress are so different to my surroundings in England. I also found the Egyptian decoration extremely inspiring and so this will be the starting point for my work.

table with a tessellating pattern

Some designs painted onto boats.

I loved this colourful ceiling in one of the stalls we went in to.

I really like the blue tiles used in the Mosques and want
to use this colour in my work.

These hanging lamps were sold almost everywhere, up close
they were really beautiful and ornate

colourful spices in a shop window.

Egyptian decoration.

The novelty shot- me and mon petit amis on camels.

After watching border force Uk on tv and looking at how many illegal immigrants try and enter england I decided to do some of my own research into which countries have the most migrants to the UK. I found the following table on http://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/briefings/migrants-uk-overview#kp5

Table 2 - Top ten sender countries of migrants by country of birth and nationality, UK 2009

Largest senders	Country of birth	Percentage share	Nationality	Percentage share
1	India	9.9	Poland	12.3
2	Poland	7.0	India	8.1
3	Pakistan	6.0	Pakistan	4.1
4	Ireland	5.8	United States	3.3
5	Germany	4.4	South Africa	3.1
6	South Africa	3.3	France	3.1
7	United States	2.7	Italy	2.9
8	Nigeria	2.5	Germany	2.9
9	Jamaica	2.2	Nigeria	2.9
10	Kenya	1.9	Portugal	2.5

If we take away all european countries from the statistic table the top senders of migrants to the UK are India, Poland, Pakistan, South Africa and Nigeria. Based on the research from this table these are the cultural groups I intend to look at in my work. I also want to look at the increasing presence of Islamic culture within England as, although it is not in this chart I think it is important when looking at Multiculturalism.

With this idea in mind, I am looking forward to the year ahead as there are so many aspects of this topic I can look into:architecture, lifestyle, food, traditional dress, art....it will be difficult for me to run out of ideas. I am a little concerned, however, that my topic is too broad but i can always home in on one specific area later on.