Over the course of the weeks I have been thinking about what different things I wanted to try out, my first reaction was to create a small book. So I started experimenting with making different books, one of my classmates taught me how to create a hotdog book using a square piece of paper to create a lip to put pieces of paper in. (pictured below the different sizes we experimented with.)
I built on it by the idea of by sketching out some ideas of how I could present it for the final - by putting it inside a small matchbox for the hand in and then for the final show designing my own matchbox to put it in. So it would be a sort of pocket guide to first year (assuming some people carry around matchboxes still).
Rather than going with my first idea straight away I tried to think about other ideas, I was really interested with the idea of collectables. I had already made postcards but it was something I thought about for a while but decided against, I thought about making pins or very small stamps and framing them.
When I looked online and I found an interesting embroidery artist (@hancedote on instagram) and my original final idea came from this. Hanecdote creates inspiration badges and hoops for sale but also as a way of illustration.She explains the process on her instagram and after looking more into it I thought I'd like to try it out as I've never embroidered before.
After looking into the process I decided it was what I wanted to do so I went to the market to look for embroidery rings to create a series of ten. When I arrived there weren't 10 all the same size so rather than buying 10 assorted sizes I decided to just buy a small one to test whether I actually liked the medium or not. As I was leaving I thought about how I could perhaps just make badges instead and save on the cost (as it would have been around £20 to pay for all the rings and material).
One of the problems I faced was finding the right material for the white part of the badges/embroidery rings, several of the places I visited didn't have it strong enough that it wouldn't tear (we ran tests in the shop). After some searching I found a shop that produced a thick white cotton that was affordable and brought half a meter. Finding the other materials was relatively easy in comparison.
I went home and then decided to develop this idea. I looked at some browines badges online, I also researched into the colours of felt that I had picked up (blue, teal, orange and pink) and what they were associated with (vitality, nurturing, wisdom and healing). I then referred back to my list of ten rules I had done in class and paired them up with what they were (keep a diary - organisation, go to places in leeds - exploration etc).
I then created my first badge (a tester) and I ran into a few problems, my biggest needle was too small and I couldn't fit through the thread through the loop. I brought a needle instead from the library but it was too blunt on the end for embroidery. In the end I had to pull apart each big thread which consists of 6 threads and separate it into 3 threads each. This worked well I think but it did take longer filling in objects like books. If I had had enough time I think I would have ordered a needle online but being as there was only a small amount of time to create this I managed with what I had.
Making the type was reasonably easy but I did struggle on the practice one which caused me to doubt whether the words I had chose might be too big to fit in on such a small surface area.
I then drew up my basic ideas of badges and put them in the book.
CRIT w Matt ,
we talked about the badges and I explained how I planned to make them, He pointed out that some of the images I might struggle to stitch in and I decided to simplify the images as much as I could rather than having 6 or 7 I reduced it to 1 or 2. We also spoke about final pieces for the show and I decided that I wanted all of my badges sown onto a sash/ ribbon similar to what brownies wear and make it into a sort of "first year" sash to show what I had learnt. I might create a little book also but this is only if I have time.
Making the badges was actually easier than I had thought, the main problem was just that it was very time consuming and that sometimes the words on it were illegible so I had to undo the stitching until I could get the hang of sewing words in. It got faster as I learnt how to tie knots in and just got into the jist of sewing. I struggled picking out a good size circle and after trying various objects in my house to draw around I chose a big lipped cup and it created a nice neat circle. If I wanted to be really precise I would have found something to create a neat circle for the white material but instead I just cut that out myself to give it a "homemade" feeling.
Overall I was quite pleased with the outcome, I think once I finish the sash/ribbon for the final I will feel like it is more realistic and makes slightly more sense but each badge represents something I feel like I've improved or achieved this year.
My ten rules for the year that we did in the lesson were
1. I will sign myself in every morning
2. Do more research before and during a project.
3. Consider composition and frame in my work.
4. Pack Lunch and stay later to finish work.
5. Keep a diary and manage my time.
6. Take time and keep practicing digital media processes.
7. Make full and good use of college resources.
8. Set aside a specific day a week to blog.
9. Draw everyday and buy a personal sketchbook.
10. Look at more practicioners / expand my illustrative world.
(stop going on social media as much).
My final badges were as follows
"Broaden your world - look at others"
"Photoshop - craft"
"Like what you do - practice"
"Keep a diary - organise"
"Blog often - communicate"
"Dont burn food -- treat yourself"
"Laundry - survivalist"
"Know your city - explore"
"Ink Master - craft"
"Keep Playing - experiment"
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