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From magpie opulence to disruptive polka-dots for collaborative designs
Tuesday, 22 May, 2018 — Working collaboratively to produce a range of eye-catching creations, students from BA (Hons) Printed Textile Design & Surface Pattern and BA (Hons) Textile Practices capture their colourful pieces of handiwork in a playful photoshoot.
<p>Students from our <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-textile-design">BA (Hons) Printed Textile Design & Surface Pattern</a> and <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-textile-design">BA (Hons) Textile Practices</a> programmes came together to produce a collection of eye-catching creations.</p>
<p>Working collaboratively in small groups, students were handed a plain white, workwear boiler suit, and were tasked with exploring textile and fashion trends with the aim of transforming it into a piece of wearable art.</p>
<p>First year students utilised and reinforced their newly acquired textile and print technical skills, putting them to use in a fashion context. Working across the different disciplines allowed the students to explore how textile designers work, starting with choosing a key theme for their piece from the choices of magpie opulence, disruptive polka dot, integrated fringing, animal fruity spice and opulent blooms.</p>
<p>BA (Hons) Textile Practices lecturer Becky Dodman explains, “For the brief the students were taken through the basics of fashion design, with an emphasis on working as a design team, sharing ideas, communicating and solving design problems collaboratively together across their print and textile disciplines. Each team member designed independently and then as a team creatively combined their aesthetics to arrive at new collaborative designs. From here the students planned, sampled and created their intended creative suits. Again, this involved Surface Pattern students sharing skills with the Textile Practices students and vice versa.”</p>
<p>The project culminated in a photoshoot with second year<a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-commercial-photography-1"> BA (Hons) Commercial Photography</a> student Stuart Bewsey, who worked with them to produce professional images ready for an internal exhibition, communicating their design outputs and portfolio work. To prepare for this shoot, students were introduced to industry-standard shoot planning, moodboarding and prop prepping.</p>
<p>Interdisciplinary projects are a key feature of the learning at Plymouth College of Art, and encourage students to reflect on their own practice, considering what can they learn from each other, as well as what can they learn about themselves.</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses">Explore our range of hands-on undergraduate craft programmes, including BA (Hons) Printed Textile Design & Surface Pattern and BA (Hons) Textile Practices</a></li><li><a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/posts/take-a-virtual-tour">Find out more about the facilities available to students at the college, including industry-standard photography studios and large-scale workshops</a></li></ul>