Wallpaper and fabric printing... done!

After a difficult week ( yes, it's only Tuesday ) of stress and working on my final outcome I have eventually been able to print my wallpaper and fabric design.

I am really pleased with the results although the wallpaper printed out a lot lighter tonally than I had anticipated. I will have to realise this for future wallpaper designs as the print room technician told me this was one of the drawbacks of using a digital fabric machine to print wallpaper.

My fabric design for my stool pad is graphic and bold with a quirky edge to it. I now need to wash the fabric to get rid of all the soda ash within it and hope that it does not distort.

Final shape for Wallpaper design

Who would have thought it could take so long to design this shape in Photoshop..

I knew that I wanted to use this shape within my patterns the moment I saw it in my photocopies of a Habitat catalogue from 1971. I discovered loads of backdated, vintage copies of Habitat and Clothkits catalogues from the 70s at the Research library within the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. I had originally gone to take some photos of 70s memorabilia but ended up with lots of photocopies from this library. Here's the link and details of a fantastic library ..  National Museum of Scotland Research Library

It has not been easy creating this shape and I eventually discovered how to make it by playing with the shape tool options within Photoshop. It is basically 3 circle shapes in Photoshop but overlapped with a cutout on either side of the main circle. Looking good I think!

It is a great shape and so versatile, so I will be experimenting over the next few days to see what I can create with it. Really excited about the possibilities.

Final (well nearly but not quite) designs

Pencil filter in Photoshop using Brownie
 camera photo in repeat

I like this Browniefest due to its simplicity. I could use a number of colourways with this imagery and I think this design lends itself well to stationery as it's quite a small print.

Pencil filter using ladybird stack

There is something so nice about a black and white image. I enjoyed creating this image and can not believe it was derived using just one easy filter. This design would look really good with lasercut incorporated into the text of the design. I have started to think about lasercutting text on a larger scale than this and I could perhaps use some of the text from within the ladybird books. I envisage using tracing paper lasercut so one of my geometric designs will stand behind the text.

partially coloured ladybird book
stacks with a plain background

I think I might prefer the back and white ladybird books with a geometric background but I am not sure.. I will see what some of my peers think about the variation in designs.

Anthropologie Wallpaper with Chip It!

Source: letschipit.com via Cheryl on Pinterest

Wow, I absolutely love this app.

This app allows you to add colour chips to images of your choice online. It's really easy to use and I have started to use it on a few more images.

A really useful feature for choosing colour palette options for my Final Major. Big thank you to Dyane Brown for pointing this superb app out to me.

I had a thought whilst using this app that it would be a good idea to produce a design using my ever growing collection of vintage Ladybird Books. The colours of the spines and the front makes for a lovely retro colour palette that I could explore, although it may not be quite the colours I am looking for when marrying this up with my other geometric designs. It is possible that I could go monochrome or mute the colours of the books somewhat.

Tracey Kendall

Tracey Kendall produces intricate bespoke wallpaper that's painstakingly put together by hand and features some unique details.

I want to introduce this element of hand collage to my wallpaper.

The shadows behind her cut out text wallpaper are very appealing and started me thinking about playing with light and shadow for my final wallpaper. I could achieve this through hand cut or laser cut wallpaper hung away from the wall slightly so there's a shadow behind the paper.

Source: www.traceykendall.com

More Wallpaper of a photographic nature

Deborah Bowness designs ultra trendy wallpaper from photographs with a tinted quality and a trompe l'oeil effect. The colours are aged almost creating a really interesting effect. I would like to explore using my photography in this current project but have not reached a point where I have the design material to take the photos.

Wallpaper -a look at innovative designs

www.lindaflorence.me.uk

Although I am pleased with my draft final designs, I feel they lack that certain ommph that comes with a well thought out design and some innovation, so I have gone back to the research desk to try and discover what I can add to my designs to make them that little bit special. These designers provided me with a few ideas..

Some time ago I came across the designer Linda Florence and her wonderful scratch card wallpaper. Parts of her wallpaper designs are covered in silver which can be scratched off to reveal a different pattern underneath. I like the idea of connecting with the wallpaper and being able to change the design whenever or however you desire.


I have also discovered the wallpaper of Sian Zeng a graduate from Central St Martins and an awarding winning designer. Her wallpaper is amazing as she uses a magnetic liner behind her wallpapers so that her own illustrative magnets can be added to her beautifully drawn wallpaper. She also has some fun printed giant stuffed scissors, really cool. These designs, whilst nothing like my own style inspire me to create designs that the user can interact with in some way. Although, I have no idea as to how I can do this at present and so its perhaps something to quietly contemplate...

www.sianzeng.com

www.sianzeng.com

www.sianzeng.com

Draft designs for Final Major so far....

I have been experimenting via Photoshop with various designs for my final and here are a few for you to critique, if you feel inclined.

My inspiration for all of these has been 1970s colour palettes, Scandinavian designs and  my camera obsession.

 The imagery behind of the camera repeats can not really be seen above and this design was the least popular in my crit, so I will not be taking this forward.

This is a very simple Scandi style print although it is perhaps too bright for a living room wall in its current form. I need to look into a more muted orange for this design and perhaps a different background shade.

Inspired by abstract illustrative art from the 1970s I feel this is successful in drawing the eye in different ways. It took a long time to create in Photoshop but I got there in the end. Again, the brightest orange needs muting in my opinion.

Rie Elise Larsen Orange & Black Pleated Paper Lampshades -HUS & HEM- Scandinavian Design For The House And Home

Rie Elise Larsen Orange & Black Pleated Paper Lampshades -HUS & HEM- Scandinavian Design For The House And Home

For my final show, I will be creating a mini-room set with lampshade, stool and papered wall. Great inspiration.