Reflective Post

 Last term we were introduced to Art Portfolio and this term we had the chance to elaborate further with this topic and see its true colours, both good and bad. For this second Art Portfolio I was more anxious and nervous in comparison to last terms' as I put more pressure than last time on myself in order to give it all and be as contextual and as good as I could. This term I elaborated more with my digital skills and graphics skills, and whilst becoming better in my digital skills, I disappointed myself with my graphic skills more than I made myself happy. This dragged me down and held me down until I began trying to find my style and what fit me best as an individual. In addition whether or not something is good or beautiful enough, this is something that we will judge ourselves and this is the hardest part. I was really sad that Mrs Zoe would have been absent this term as I liked her teaching style very much and even if she was strict sometimes it was for our own good. This sadness slowly faded away as Mr Sam which I knew him from being our 2d3d tutor in the first term came to teach us art portfolio 2. I was happy as Mr Sam is a very good tutor and has a more artistic aspect which forces you to be more contextual than you would normally be. If I am being honest when the themes were handed out I had very mixed feelings. I chose the Ultimate Black due to my love for the colour black but also because I felt that it could manipulate it more than the other themes. In the beginning I wanted to bang my head against the window as I was unsure of what concept to choose that is contextual to the ultimate black theme as I had too many ideas in mind and worried myself even more. I finally chose the Fallen Angel theme from all the other concepts I had and came to the conclusion of creating 4 2D pieces and 1 3D piece. All of these items would contain graphics that are contextual to the fallen angel theme. Now, what is meant by the phrase fallen angel, one might question that has not read my blog. What I mean when saying falling angel, I refer to the people including me, that have fallen in life due to their own mistakes but will eventually rise back again when they find themselves and be stronger than ever. This is contextual to the fallen angel, as I relate us people to the fallen angels who were naive to follow the other angels into the rebellion against god. This collection was even more personal to me as I have been a "fallen angel" and felt lost and wanted someone to hold me up and tell me that everything is okay and mistakes are normal. This is what this collection is about, providing a silent movement of support for "fallen angels" in order to help them get up again and not loose themselves. The names of the collection looks and the name of the collection itself were inspired by angels. Azazel is the fallen angel and then the looks are the archangels. I named them this way in order to present the "problem" (Azazel) and then solutions and hope meaning the archangels which are good angels and support the fallen ones too using their powers and help. This collection was aimed for ages 18-23 years old hence was not sustainable but instead used cotton, polyester, metal, wood, rubber, leather and fabric paint which are inexpensive manufacturing mediums in order for the collection to be affordable towards these ages which are mostly female college students and see clothes as an investment hence do not have the luxury of spending so much money on clothes as fashion changes drastically. In addition this collection features elegant but subtly sexy clothing in order to urge women and empower them to love their body and be themselves without being afraid that they will be judged. Azazel is a Spring/Summer 2021 collection hence not only did it help me choose the right designs but influence the way I dress even more. What was challenging was finding out where to place the graphic on each design, how big? and what?. This was a hard decision that finally came through after I told myself draw what you like and make a final elimination. This was difficult as black is tricky and simple colour hence has to be manipulated extensively in order to fit my theme casual night wear. For this project I began by drawing down my ideas which were grunge, fallen angel, anime, judas and witch but finally narrowed it down to the fallen angel as it pulled me more due to being able to relate to it. I then developed my sewing with a needle skills even more in my 3d ice breaker portrait where I sewed a rug with my face on it and due to it being braided I wanted to show how confused I am with myself and how many things I have been through and how not to judge someone about their appearance. I then wrote a story about a fallen angel in order to help me get in the "skin" of the collection, then studied a piece which I developed certain sketches, then I carried some research about the name of the collection and then researched the trends which I mostly incorporated which were do the floss, cut outs and mesh along with tiny bags. Including the aforementioned I also researched the foundation basis which is the story of the fallen angel and then carried some research about the lady of shallot in order to open my horizons and due to my admiration for etherial and eerie atmospheres which I also wanted to put in the collection. I also researched designers such as Complex geometries, Nensi Dojaka, Alexander McQueen (which I also based my student talks around him and his designs especially the bumsters), Ed Hardy and Gucci which all helped me understand the ethics one designer should have and how far they have come having come from different backgrounds, hence showing me will but also admiration for what they do. I was also inspired and driven by some of their designs and wanted to see what I could change or what I could add to take them to the other level. I also considered my work in the real world where I incorporated the free the nipple movement and Fentyx where it promotes self love and body positivity, I planned and carried out primary research to see if my collection would sell or be worn, I carried out secondary research on protest fashion, added sketches on the free the nipple movement, I posted about my presentation and added my opinion, I researched on materials and based  everything on the prices to actually prove that they are affordable, I checked the direction of my project, created a costumer profile and checked what I could change to fit the customers needs, project development with graphic sketches, the anatomy of.. a shoe, demographics of the target market meaning the gen z, worked over templates and found that abstract templates suit me more and I needed more practise on them, Interviews for primary research meaning more in depth details of target customers to distinguish the success of Azazel, glossary of terms to elaborate my speaking with the fashion world, research on names for Azazel, sketches for my ideas of Azazel, process and inspiration for each of the 5 looks, website update, 3D prototype which helped me understand better whilst giving a more simplified process of how a pattern and clothing is made, the sewing process, painting and photography process of Raziel, Yoko Ono lecture which made me relate with her and her with my work whilst providing admiration and finally my Flipbook process whithout revealing too much. Overall this term has taught me a lot from pain, sadness and disappointment but also joy, satisfaction and proudness. I have learned how to draw clothes and digitalise them from the much practise that we did but also familiarise myself with blogger and loving it along with DMUIC. What I intend to continue working on are my graphic design sketches to be improved as they need work due to being the first time drawing for clothes. Sewing Raziel was a pain but came out amazing for my standards but also painting her did not come out as I hoped but instead I liked how she came out better as it is imperfect which is what the collection is promoting and accepting it. Overall I want to say that I am glad I have come though all of the 3 terms but I also carry an overwhelming amount of sadness that it is all over. It had been a rollercoaster but we came though and just like life we must look forward to the future which is going to DMU and studying fashion design which is my dream whilst also pursuing ways to elevate my art and design knowledge and improving my skills. It has been a pleasure and thank you very much for the patience provided and support.