Couch traveller!

I remember reading somewhere that books allow people to travel the world whilst sitting on their couch...

Sometimes I feel like textile design makes me feel the same way...I feel like I can learn and immerse myself into a particular culture or a period of the past purely through flicking through an amazing book on textiles and its connection with a particular place.

In the textile world we often look to culture rich countries for inspiration and pattern ideas.We draw on inspiration from the master craftsmen and textile experts of these cultures and attempt to break it down and allow it to inspire our own interpretation so that we can create contemporary textile designs with a traditional soul...

SO! Where am I going with all of this...?

Well, this semester Im working on a project for a home wares brand , Ladelle and part of our briefing included three themes from which we had to choose one to base our personal projects on.

The themes were Oriental, Floral and Professional. Having never done a far east inspired print collection I decided to go with the oriental theme.

The designs are for a collection of kitchen textiles including aprons,tea towels,oven mitts and so on. Its a very commercial brief so ' WILL THE CUSTOMER BUY IT' is a question I need to focus on while designing.

First step however is to : RESEARCH and so my 'couch travel ' begins...

And because words are too fancy ( and can be slightly boring ! ) I'm going to let the photo do the talking!

I love the www. but I also love books. So when it comes to researching a project I often use a combination of both....Books for some beautiful traditional inspiration and the internet is great for contemporary ideas.

Also ephemera ie:  things lying around the house that I've hoarded for years can come in handy...like that origami paper flower I've had since 2007...!)


I'll be back tomorrow with more details on my final concept board and my initial design doodles or 'textile croquis' as we officially call them !
Tomorrows a big day in the studio getting messy with paint,inks, watercolour and all those sort of lovely things!
Until then...
T