Ever wondered how a design journey begins? Well I'm here to tell you. It begins and develops with the aid of a visual diary!
So what might one include in a visual diary? Here are just some ideas, based on some elements incorporated in my own diary:
Initial brainstorming
Progressive brainstorming
Mind maps
Images of inspiration
Quotes of inspiration
Annotations
Background research on relevant designers, styles and history (from reputable sources)
Trend Forecasting
Colour palette ideas
Fabrication ideas
Target market profile
Identifying competitors
Fleshing out of ideas
Sketches and experimentations
A personal design philosophy
At first I was really just lost for inspiration, so I decided to start somewhere. My very initial step was to just write a bunch of dot points of any ideas that came to mind when thinking about what I could possibly like to make or represent. Any imagery that came to mind at all - down it went. This helped me narrow down my choices and weigh up which ideas I felt most passionate about and therefore wanted to explore further.
I looked at multiple Designer's collections, and I found that I was particularly drawn to the artistic element of Moschino's Spring 2019 Ready-To-Wear Collection. I love the hand-drawn aesthetic incorporated. As a result, I began experimenting with paints myself to develop a hand-drawn punk look, to be later turned into a digital print onto fabric for my garments.
Of course, every building needs a foundation. With this in mind, it was also important to undertake extensive research about the history of the 1950s and punk styles, identify relevant designers and look into what they represented for their time. In addition to researching the past, I also researched the future (trend forecasting) using a reputable source such as WGSN. This allowed me to see that 'punk' would indeed be relevant to the modern woman as much as it once was, as well as some classic 1950s elements. For example, dresses resembling aprons are forecasted to come into fashion. While these are ultimately just predictions, they provide a good general guideline to help navigate a design direction.
The combination of elements collated in my diary allowed me to be inspired, and develop and alter my design ideas and concepts along the way. As I kept adding to it, I was just oozing with creative ideas and, as a result, I created multiple sketches to express this: four of which were narrowed down to be my four chosen outfits for my showcase range!
Stay tuned to see the end results of my selected outfits!