I wanted to work with applique and I thought about how to make the plants actually more interesting.
I tried out some plain green and pink fabrics and also a light patterned one which I thought would work well on the pale background. I think I prefer the bold effects of the greens and pinks and the thin lined method of attaching them to the fabric, I think this lends itself to real applique type of style.
I also tried some more linear drawings onto plain fabrics which I went went okay but I prefer the colour behind it.
The hedgehog and the dormouse has turned out quite cute but not in the kind of realistic style that I wanted. I think the plants outlines are okay but better with the applique behind them or drawn with something else. I could try some painting too but I think the fabric ones just will not have the impact that I want overall.
The first thing that I wanted to do was work on the business cards because I had a tutorial with Suzanne last week and we discussed how to improve these, I was not happy with them and I just could not figure out how to improve them. The solution ended up being simple, or rather making them more simple. I thought I needed to include a lot more on there that I think it needed, and when we cut down on this, the designs turned out a lot better.
Business Card Designs
I am much happier with this design, I was using an older pattern from my insect collection, a pink background with green leaves over the top, however I was noticing things about it that I would have liked to change, so I decided to use some motifs from a newer pattern and create a newer version of this. I like this pattern and the dots add an interesting kind of texture to it as well. The front is much more simpler, with my name clearly on the front with my small little title, we discussed removing this too but I wanted to brand myself as a surface pattern designer, as usually the business cards are used in the exhibition so its a given that this would be the same title for nearly everyone in the room, however I am thinking ahead for having potential orders on products and would like to have that title. The back again is simple and includes the key information, of my website, my email and my instagram handle, important ways to be able to contact me now.
The New Patterns I Created
I moved on to my CV and after chatting with Naeem in the careers service, he suggested some improvements I could make there, which included removing the photo (Some employers like them and some do not) and other things such as combining my work experience and employment and giving more detail on the skills I have described.
I also worked on a template for a postcard, which I would like to put two more patterns onto once I have created more in this style, whether this comes from my final Exposure collection, a pattern contest or even just creating them for the branding, as I think they do reflect my love of natural things well.
Post Card Designs
It is hard to tell in the actual digital images but the difference between the two drafts I created were the borders, the one had a white border around ti and the other one did not. When I printed these out I think I do prefer the one without a border, it makes for a more impactful design and bares the resemblance to my business cards as well then where my name and description are dark on the white background rectangle.
I also created a couple of templates for the personal statement to go on, which I suspect will be done a little later once I have had more time to start working on an actual pattern collection as I think I need to reflect a little in my personal statement. Again I tried a simple design similar to the business cards which I think works, but I do waste a little more room on it with my name where it is. The second design I love because of the transparency to the pattern behind, but still would make a good clear surface to write on. I also like the positioning of my name roughly as it will look more like I have signed it and I think this could be played with more when I have more of the writing down. I know this was a little different but keeping with the main pattern will tie in it nicely and allow for the layout to be changed slightly. I also thought about other documents, such as ‘Thank you for ordering’ cards, or little memos, that could carry on with these aesthetic too so it would not be the only thing like that. To be fair the CV is a little difference without the pattern, but for a more professional image I stuck to plain coloured squares and little watermark type motifs, although I think this does work because I think a pattern would make it far too busy, and I am able to add writing to the plain green box on it.
Personal Statement templatesMock Up Folder
Finally I had a go at a mock up of a folder, putting the personal statement, CV and postcard in the one side, and originally creating that little pocket on the only side for the business card, but I prefer the business card where it is now, just obviously it would be cut with better quality. I think we are supposed to add some more pattern designs into these, so I stuck them inside the little pocket instead, but I think a better way of doing this would be to add them to the background of the inside left bit and the outside of the folder too, then add a transparent box and a little welcome message instead.
Finished Cover
So this is what the final product looked like, using the same kind of pattern on the front, but this could definitely be an coordinating pattern, with a dark band and my logo holding it closed. I thought this did look good and I can definitely use this as a template in the future now for when I have more patterns and designs to choose from. This is by no means up to a professional standard, everything was printed onto plain printer paper and stuck together just to give me an idea of what I am working with. I am happy with the results and can not wait to develop this further.
Tahlia Paige 