Product sketches

These are the coloured sketches I have made of the first ideas I have for my products. I have used the research I have collected to decide on the shapes and the materials are a combination of fabrics I hope to find second-hand, and fabrics I want to design and print. I have also included elements I hope to find on my trip to the beach, including shells, sea glass and driftwood.

Product ideas - shape trends

As well as having a shell/beachcombing theme, I also have to look at current themes to see what is in fashion. I looked at a website called WGSN using the college's subscription to find shape trends for bags, scarves and purses. For bag trends, I liked the small box style bags and a slouchy bag with long circular handles which would look good with an all over print.

 Whilst looking at scarf trends I found out about sweater scarves, these are meant to look like you have tied a jumper around your shoulders. Thinking about my theme, I am reminded of fishermen and their gansey jumpers. If I could find some second-hand aran jumpers I could easily manipulate the shape by sewing and picking up and re-knitting stitches.

Another new trend is apparently, the lariat. I think of this as more of a necklace, but it could be easy to incorporate elements of my theme. For example, the lariat itself could be made out of thick rope, the type used on boats, and the embellishments could be shells and pieces of driftwood. Here I have also researched fisherman's knots which I think would add a decorative element as well as keeping the embellishments in place.

Inspirational images

To start my project I gathered some photos and magazine cut outs of products that had a similar theme of shells and stuck them into my PPJ work book.

This page shows how initially I did a simple search for products featuring shells. It proves that it is a versatile theme that can be applied to clothes, accessories and home ware. I like the prints and the use of shells as embellishments and as a shape for 3D objects.

Although these photocopied images don't show my theme directly, to me they invoke the frills and ruffles of shells. I could use these fabric manipulation techniques in my own products to add some surface decoration without having to make a print or drawing.

I love the print image on this dress. It reminds me of a rock pool, and I think it would be quite easy to replicate using batik dyes and randomly dropping it onto fabric so that the colours bleed together. I also like the textures of the group of fabrics on the right. I could use a similar mix of chunky and fine fabrics to add some contrast and interest to my products.

First ideas - mind map

This is my mind map! You can see that I want to concentrate on bags, scarves and purses for women. I have then gone to think of all the different ideas to do with these products. I have also looked at what materials I could use including second-hand items and beach finds. Lastly I have looked at my theme and different ways of incorporating it into my products. From here I will start to do some visual research on the topics I have listed in the mind map.