EVALUATION

My final outcome is a halter top with a fringe trim, a jacket with pleated sleeve and a pair of flared trousers. At the beginning of my project I had no idea what I wanted my final outcome to look like or where I was going with it. All I had was a list of designers, artists, photographers and musicians who inspired me and they were going to direct my project.

My main of working has been through the use of my sketchbook. All of my ideas go in here and it has become a visual diary of everything I do from research to development to final designs. Have all of my work in one place has helped me to develop my ideas because they're all in one place so I can constantly look back on what I've previously done in order to help know where I want to go next. While using my sketchbook I tried to forget that it is something that will be marked and graded but examiners at the end. By doing this is helped me to express my ideas in my own ways such as collaging, writing little notes to my self and drawing. Because I was focused on how I wanted my sketchbook to look, not how an examiner might see it, I think this benefited me because my sketchbook now has a very natural, organic flow to it rather than a check list to getting a distinction.

Another method that has helped me develop my work is the use of my blog. My sketchbook is mainly visual so having a blog were I can write down all of my ideas and clear my mind has been extremely useful. Sometimes it can be difficult to visually portray what I'm thinking so my blog has helped me to explain my thoughts. It is also a way for other people to understand my thought process which may not always be clear from just looking at my sketchbooks.

I have found my one-to-one tutorials really useful in this project because it really helps to get a fresh pair of eyes to look at your work because they always notice things or have ideas that you wouldn't have thought of. One piece of advice my tutor gave me was about the models I was using in my collages. My project is on black feminism but for a lot of my collages I was using white women's because black women were harder to find in magazines. She told me that the collages were great but I have to keep my theme running throughout the whole project and stay true to what my theme was. Although it seems like a simple piece of advice it made me think that I always had to go back to my theme and my research because if I didn't refer to it there was no point doing any research at all. This is something that I tried to carry throughout the whole project which is why I was still researching right till the end.

One thing that I'm going to take away from this project and try to improve on is my time management. Although I made a timetable at the beginning of the project I only looked at it a few times. I was never falling behind but I think if I had continuously looked at the timetable I wouldn't have had to rush toward the end to get everything finished. I'm also going to try to become more organised with written task such as blog. I was on top of my blog till around week 5 when I became lazy and once I'd stopped doing it, it was hard to start it up again without think about how much I had to catch up. This is definitely something that I need to find a way to keep on top of.

The main skill that I have feel I've improved on in this project is to think of my designs as clothes not illustrations. By thinking this way it forces me to think about how this item of clothing will be made, what will it be made from, what kind of zip will it have etc. By having this 8 weeks I was able to have time to think about these things rather than push them aside like I did in the two week projects. Another thing that I think I was good at was the research. Having nearly a whole sketchbook dedicated to research was amazing for me because any time I was slightly stuck about where to go next I had masses of images, texts and drawings to look back on to inspire me. Doing extensive research before I begin to design is definitely something I will continue doing as it helps so much with the design process.

Next year I am going to study a degree in Womenswear Fashion Design at the Paris College of Art and I am excited to see my skills continue to develop in a new environment.