OUGD603: Brief 7- Feathr Competition, initial research

Research

In the brief Feathr suggests that the majority of mass marketed wallpaper is simply decoration with no real concept or art behind it. They insist on expressing yourself as an artist and designer and therefore it is important to create your own concepts bearing in mind the target audience. 

Audience: 

Suggested themes: 

Out of all these themes the ones that stand out to me the most are Pop Modern & Natural World. This is because floral designs are incredibly common in wallpaper designs. Working with unusual subject matter and geometric shapes would be more of an interesting design. 

Geometric wallpapers: 

Geometric wallpapers use bold colour and oversizes shapes to create a statement on the wall, as a designer I am often drawn to briefs that require large amounts of colour and a bold attitude. 

I started creating design ideas by looking at how geometric patterns and bold colour could interact with the 'natural world' theme. 

I looked through my selections of photographs on my camera for close up detailed shots of wood, bark, plant life and grass. 

These designs incorporate my personality as a designer as they use bright colour although they aren't as impactful as I wanted them to be for the context of a competition. 

Previously I worked on a live project within the PPP module this year for branding of an african street wear clothing company. Through this project I did various research into Adinkra symbols. Having cultural context behind the work is an ideal way of making the pieces interesting and a taking point for the owner. 

From looking at these designs and patterns I have recognised that the wallpaper needs to be vivid colours to be able to reflect the inks and dyes used traditionally. The bold simple shapes inspired me to look further into traditional african patterns. 

Not only from looking at patterns that are painted, embroiled and woven. One of the most distinctive patterns belongs in the natural world, the zebra. 

Experimentation: 

I experimented with zebra print, crossed lines to represent fabrics and bold shapes.

The colours in this last experimentation really stand out to me as they were chosen from looking at previous researched imagery and fabrics. 

To develop this further I will use the colours to create bold patterns of ideas created from my research as inspiration:  

Zebra stripes, triangles, bold arrow shapes. 

Turning this into a repeat pattern for Feathr website: 

Posted onto the website including descriptions:

Zèbre is a design within a set of three. The artwork celebrates the culture of various countries within the continent of Africa, this is through inspiration found within traditional woodblock printing patterns on cloth to tribal masks. The distinctive bold patterns allow for the design to bring traditional culture into pop modern wallpaper. The designs encourage enjoyment of pattern and appreciation of traditional culture throughout the world.

Le Chevron is a design within a set of three. The artwork celebrates the culture of various countries within the continent of Africa, this is through inspiration found within traditional woodblock printing patterns on cloth to tribal masks. The distinctive bold patterns allow for the design to bring traditional culture into pop modern wallpaper. The designs encourage enjoyment of pattern and appreciation of traditional culture throughout the world.

Trigonométrie is a design within a set of three. The artwork celebrates the culture of various countries within the continent of Africa, this is through inspiration found within traditional woodblock printing patterns on cloth to tribal masks. The distinctive bold patterns allow for the design to bring traditional culture into pop modern wallpaper. The designs encourage enjoyment of pattern and appreciation of traditional culture throughout the world.

Putting the patterns into context with furniture really brings out the vibrancy and bold nature of the designs. Creating them as a set also enhances the concept behind them which is to introduce traditional culture into pop modern wallpaper. The use of bright colour links back to my visual research of fabrics and overall they represent the geometric bold patterns I found within traditional african patterns. 

Email received from Feathr: 

Hey Melissa, 

Your artwork is live on the site. Thanks for sending us your beautiful artwork!

Anne.