Monday 5th January
What I did:
-in groups presented the work in progress which has been done over Christmas holidays for the "Small Change" project
General reflection:
-the difficult part was trying to convey what I had in my head to others. This was hard because although I had illustrations of my ideas they could still not represent the full concept I have developed in my head. To manage this misunderstanding I had to answer many questions and explain a lot of elements which were not understood by others.
-I really enjoyed getting feedback from the group. This is because it made me confident and settled on ideas, plus I obtained thoughts I personally did not have about my concepts.
-I have learnt what other students have decided to do. For example some interesting and resourceful uptakes of the Small Change Project Brief in my opinion were those which sealed with a course of unsustainable human behavior (e.g. pollution, water depletion, soil erosion, animal poaching etc.)
-my time management depended on the rest of the group's time management and luckily everything happened according to the schedule
Research
-to get myself started over Christmas on the Small Change project I decided to focus on sustainable materials which I can use to make a fashion accessory
-I looked around myself and found the following objects (http://vrresearchcsm.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/research-for-small-change-project.html)
-thinking about materials lead me on to develop ideas of final products which can be made from them
Project/Ideas development
-the initial response to the Small Change project brief was to use sustainable materials and make accessories which would be cheap to produce and therefore cheap to sell and many people will buy them
-after receiving feedback during today's lesson I was told that the ideas I had were to simple and that there should be more design put into them
-therefore I will need to think about more complex ideas and thus the price will have to go up as well
-I am thinking of changing the concept for this project all together
Materials and methods
-WAX because it is cheap, easy to manipulate (when heated), creates beautiful and finished-looking shapes, can be used for casting
-BOOKS' PAGES because i have a lot of old books, recycling what otherwise would have been thrown out, easy to manipulate, when creased creates beautiful geometric shapes
-WOOL because it is an organic material, easy to manipulate in felting using a needle, however it is very time consuming
-TWIGS because there are a lot lying around, when alive/soaked are fairly easy to manipulate, if coated can look very high-end
-OLD PUZZLES, MATCHES' BOXES AND PLASTIC BAGS because this would be up-cycling materials which otherwise would have been thrown out eventually, cheap, unique in design for a jewelry piece, can be coated or surface treated to disguise the original product altogether
Tuesday 6th January
What I did
-got given a new project brief, presentation and an introduction to the new project which will run along side with the small change project, called "Memories contained within"
-in grops brainstormed ideas for "memories" and "contained within"
-after, were asked to focus on one memory/concept and start thinking about the possible container of this memory/in the concept's style
-went to CSM museum collection and examined some ex-student's project related to the Small Change and Memories Contained Within projects.
General reflection
-the difficult part for me was to choose a single memory. This was because I have a lot of memories which are equally as important and are all completely different. To overcome this problem I decided to focus on deciding upon a concept for my project.
-the best part today was getting a new, fresh project brief, because I love all project right at the start when a hoard of ideas starts attacking your brain.
-i have learnt museum's artifacts' handling techniques, such as wearing gloves and the sort of questions one needs to ask oneself when examining an artifact
-time management has been done by teachers today and has been done to the minute
Feedback from others
-as one of the group sessions we had 2 minutes each with Helmert to discuss our strongest memory.
-as I already mentioned, I do not posses a single one, thus I explained my situation
-the feedback I got was: "Try to construct a chain of memories. Memories which existed before you were born (i.e. your parents' memories) and memories which will be carried after your death (i.e. by your children). Look at how they can be linked and what is the relationship between them)
-this feedback was very useful because it signaled to me that it is okay not to deal with a specific memory, but to work more on the concept for this project
Wednesday 7th January
What I did
-in search for new ideas and concepts for the Small Change project I went to the library, hoping to find something
-I decided to step away from thinking about "what I am making" and focus on "how I will be making it"
-this was the right direction for sure, because I realized that I haven't done anything to do with scarfs in JFFA yet, yet they are a big part of Fashion Accessories
-this was also ruled by my big passion for textile prints (and current application process onto BA Fashion Print)
-therefore making a scarf suddenly seemed like a perfect solution to all my problems! Hurrah!
-this is also perfect because materials for scarf making can be made sustainable
-I took out the following books on sustainable textiles, natural inks and general scarf painting techniques (INSERT)
Thursday 8th January
What I did
-in class started developing my final outcome concept idea and creating a title for the Memories Contained Within project
General reflection
-the most difficult part today was being concentrated. This was because I didn't feel well. As a consequence my time management failed, in that I have done way under what I was capable of.
-the best part of today was coming up with an interesting and unique title for my piece. This was because no one else has thought of actually designing the title
Project/Ideas development
-after carrying more in-depth research (http://vrresearchcsm.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/memories-contained-within.html) into the concept of memory I decided to focus on the technical and physical aspect of it, because I realized I do not want to dwell into something very personal to me
-I centralized my though process around an idea I have from my childhood - to create a small pill or a nano-memory card which you can digest/insert directly into the body and suddenly know/remember all the information located on that portable memory device
-I decided that for this project I want to design this memory wear
-I centralized my though process around an idea I have from my childhood - to create a small pill or a nano-memory card which you can digest/insert directly into the body and suddenly know/remember all the information located on that portable memory device
-I decided that for this project I want to design this memory wear
Friday 9th - Sunday 11th January
What I did
-sketched potential areas of situating the memory device on the body
-started ideas development process on different parts of the body
-came up with the final design for the memory device
-came up with the final design for the memory device
General reflection
-the difficult part was deciding on the final idea from the many that I came up with because I liked all concepts. However I decided to focus on the closest to me - connection of female physique and sound senses
-the best part was designing different styles of accessories which could potentially bring my childhood dream to life because I never imagined I will actually come to making it
-I haven't really learnt anything new today
-my time management I think is okay, because I could potentially be working faster, I still think I have enough time to do everything before the 19th of January (crit)
Project/Ideas development
-my initial response to the brief was (as was suggested by the tutors) to focus on one key (most important) memory in my life. I created mind maps and even illustrated an example of a "first kiss" memory
-however I did not feel right about focusing on one memory, because I do not have a single memory that stands out to me, plus I did not feel like thinking a lot about how can I present something very personal to people a barely know
-as a result of this uncertainty I decided thinking about memory at different angles and remembered that when I was a child I always wanted to have a "memory card" which can be inserted into my head and then I don't need to learn anything (go to school) and i will "naturally" remember everything
-therefore Memories Contained Within project felt like a perfect opportunity to bring this child dream to life!
-I have researched existing designs for similar memory concepts (http://vrresearchcsm.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/memories-contained-within-design.html), however there wash't much design in them
-I am hoping that my final outcome will not be a simple memory card, but a rather complex and conceptual (unfortunately not functional) device which will (by linking different human senses and physical features) evoke all memories nice and clear in one's head
-the difficult part was deciding on the final idea from the many that I came up with because I liked all concepts. However I decided to focus on the closest to me - connection of female physique and sound senses
-the best part was designing different styles of accessories which could potentially bring my childhood dream to life because I never imagined I will actually come to making it
-I haven't really learnt anything new today
-my time management I think is okay, because I could potentially be working faster, I still think I have enough time to do everything before the 19th of January (crit)
Project/Ideas development
-my initial response to the brief was (as was suggested by the tutors) to focus on one key (most important) memory in my life. I created mind maps and even illustrated an example of a "first kiss" memory
-however I did not feel right about focusing on one memory, because I do not have a single memory that stands out to me, plus I did not feel like thinking a lot about how can I present something very personal to people a barely know
-as a result of this uncertainty I decided thinking about memory at different angles and remembered that when I was a child I always wanted to have a "memory card" which can be inserted into my head and then I don't need to learn anything (go to school) and i will "naturally" remember everything
-therefore Memories Contained Within project felt like a perfect opportunity to bring this child dream to life!
-I have researched existing designs for similar memory concepts (http://vrresearchcsm.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/memories-contained-within-design.html), however there wash't much design in them
-I am hoping that my final outcome will not be a simple memory card, but a rather complex and conceptual (unfortunately not functional) device which will (by linking different human senses and physical features) evoke all memories nice and clear in one's head
