Work experience

I have just finished a 2 week work placement at Zandra Rhodes' studio in London. Having always wanted to live in London, being down there for this placement gave me a taste of what it would be like to live and work down there. I loved how busy it was and how every seemed to have somewhere to get to, I found it extremely exciting. 

On my first day of work experience I had to unpack some museum deliveries of old Zandra Rhodes garments from the 70's, it was amazing to handle the old designs and see how the company's style has changed over the years. Most amazing was seeing Zandra Rhodes' penthouse, it was huge and painted in vivid colours, it was amazing to see how her own style from her work was reflected in her home as well. Being there and seeing what you can achieve through being a creative and dedicated designer has really given me something to work towards. 

I got this image off google but the penthouse still looks exactly the same. I am still amazed by where she lives, it was just so full of creative energy and personal style.

The placement itself was very helpful. Zandra Rhodes' textiles are all screenprinted and, as I have not experimented with screen printing a great deal, it was interesting to see how the separate colours were printed. I also was able to see a new design being created and the process behind the design, which was far more complex than I had imagined. Separate drawings and designs are made, then cut up, then placed in diffferent positions until Zandra is happy with the result. I would quite like to try this approach in my own work next year as it will help me create a final design. 

Another useful thing that I learnt while with Zandra Rhodes was how her designs are made so that, when screenprinted, the screen is simply turned around to create the repeat pattern instead of creating more than one screen. 

While at the studio I had the opportunity to see some of Zandra's doodles and pattern drawings. They are all kept in files so that they can be looked at for inspiration in the future. I love doodling patterns, but i had always dismissed them thinking they were of no use, I think I will try the approach of putting them together in a folder.

Above is one of Zandra Rhodes' pattern drawings.

Looking back I wish I had taken more photographs of the studio itself, but I will be able to do that in the future as I will be going back in 2012 to do a 3 month screenprinting internship. I am really looking forward to this as I feel there is so much more I can learn from the people at Zandra Rhodes.