NTU Degree Show 2016

To end our amazing first year of university, myself and a couple of other FCP girls went to look at the degree shows around NTU. We were intrigued to see what third years from our course had produced so we headed straight over to the FCP degree show. I was astounded to see how professional each project was! It was refreshing to see such varied content and it got us all very excited to see what's to come for us in a couple of years!

I also loved the FLIP idea - you could collect as many postcards that you wanted and create your own flip book full of student's work and their contact details. Some of the postcards were beautifully illustrated, others were graphically designed and then there were some quotations! Everyone loves an inspirational quote!

We then moved on to the Graphic Design degree show. I had no idea what to expect from this display, however it was very inspiring, it was clear to see that everyone had found their strengths and had their own way of displaying their creativity. My favourite by far was the middle image on the first row - the cards were really cute and made me laugh! Here are some of the quotes on them:

"A true friend is like a good bra..."

"Just wing it..."

"I like big buns and I cannot lie"

"I've got 99 Bobby Pins but I can't find one"

Any girl can relate to any of these sayings!

 The next stop was the Fashion Design degree show! This is always my favourite stand to visit because when I was younger I wanted to do Fashion Design, however, I realised that FCP was best suited to me. Each stand was so professional and when looking closely at the collections, each garment was finished with perfection! As a previous textiles student, I know how hard it is to perfect a garment. 

Lastly, we looked around the rest of the degree show and found some homewear/product design stands. Again, the talent was outstanding. If you didn't have the chance to visit the degree show this year, make sure you add it to your diary for 2017!

Photo Credit - Chloe Ferdinand

Calling all creatives - Get yourself down to the loom!!

Last night, I had the incredible opportunity to visit The Loom in Nottingham with a couple of other bloggers. We were greeted by the most amazing duo Samantha and James, (brother and sister - how cool!!), who kindly shared their journey with us and how they came up with  The Creative Factory! The Loom is owned by Posedion Kumar who has given Samantha and James the platform to launch The Creative Factory! The pair were so lovely and even treated us to food and drink! (I would highly recommend the burgers!!) The passion that they have is mind blowing and it is very rare to find people who are so enthusiastic and go ahead to pursue their dreams! As soon as they started explaining the concept of their plan, I was sold!!!

The Loom is a bar/restaurant that opened last November but has recently been refurbished to entice the creatives around Nottingham. It is located in the "heart of the arts" outside the Nottingham Contemporary. This is a perfect place to be as the Loom has recently created the Creative Factory which gives artists the opportunity to exhibit their work. The decor of the place is amazing - you have to visit just to see the outstanding work!! All of the artwork on the walls has been created by James and as soon as you enter, you are greeted by a collection of famous faces. The idea is that the entrance is monochrome with no colour so you feel like you are in a classic hollywood film - full of glamour!

 As soon as you approach the stairs, you are hit with a pop of colour and an image of Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz (I am the biggest fan of this film and absolutely loved this painting!!). As the Loom and the Creative Factory evolves, the idea is that they collaborate with artists around the area and their work will be promoted on the walls of The Loom. I love this idea because collaborations not only help with self promotion, but they inspire and empower artists to be successful. James made the point that, "it is the artists and creatives that make the area cool", I 100% agree with this and there is definitely a lack of cool places for artists and creatives to promote their work but at the same time to hang out and socialise with other creative and inspirational people. The overall vibe of The Loom was relaxing and chilled, I felt welcomed and personally, I think the atmosphere of a place is vital!

As you move towards the back of The Loom, you are hit by the beautiful stained glass windows (see below) that are inspired by the most famous creatives. Each of the designs were intricate and full of colour, also made by James, how talented is he! If you are in the area - definitely pop in to see these! It's the perfect opportunity for an inspiration Instagram photo too! James explained that there will be a "Loominati" loyalty card for members, who will receive regular discounts.

We also got the chance to meet James' girlfriend Faye - a graphic designer/illustrator who creates the most beautiful drawings and illustrations. Below is an image of one of the drinks menus, Faye did all of the illustrations in both the food and drinks menu and we were blown away with the companies that she has worked for! (Skinny Dip being one of them!) I recommend that everyone checks out her Instagram - @fayefinn.

Not only were we spoilt rotten with drinks, wonderful company and live music - we also got to taste some of the food on the menu! I have to admit, my favourite by far was the selection of burgers!! They were delicious and I can't stop thinking about them!

After such a fabulous evening, I recommend visiting The Loom and The Creative Factory if you are ever nearby. It is a place of inspiration, a place for you! 

3-5 High Pavement, Nottingham NG1 1HF

Thanks again to Poseidon, Samantha, James and Faye - you treated us like royalty and you are a credit to creatives!

Photo Credit - CQ Bloggers: Chloe, Lana and Abi

Creating colour palettes

Still unsure on what route I would like to take within the fashion industry, I thought it would be a good idea to find out more about each role. I discovered a book called  "The Fashion Careers Guidebook" by Julia Yates which was very useful and had a very detailed description of what each job entails. The trend forecasting description was really interesting, currently, I have been learning about trends and i have enjoyed this so far. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to go into fashion but is unsure on what type of job they actually want to do.

Colour has a massive role to play in predicting trends. Using Photoshop, I selected an image from Pinterest and created colour strips to match the image, picking out all the colours that I thought were interesting and dominant. I found this task really fun, I did not realise how many colours were actually featured in one image. Below are my favourite colour palettes that i created using the images:

The first colour strip is selection - the colours that I chose to be part of my colour strip in a random order. The second strip is relationship - the colours in order, the order that I thought looked the best visually. Lastly, the third strip is proportion - changing the sizes of the colours (the more the colour appears, the bigger the strip).

Photo Credit - Pinterest

My admiration for Stella McCartney

Stella McCartney is one of the most sustainable producers in the UK and as an animal lover, her main concerns lie amongst the leather and fur industry which has influenced her feelings towards the production on clothing and this made her want to be as ethical as possible. You can see the passion in Stella McCartney’s company statement; “We understand that it is our responsibility to do what we can to become a more sustainable company. We are responsible for the resources that we use and the impact that we have. We are always exploring new and innovative ways to become more sustainable”. They refuse to use leather, skins or fur in any of their collections/collaborations with other clients or companies. I find this admirable because as a company you want to appeal to a mass market and a large majority of consumers love the look of animal skin and fur on their clothes. 

However, Stella went with her passion and continued to remain sustainable, adamant that she will make luxurious sustainable clothing. Animal skins are filled with toxic chemicals which prevent them from decomposing, just like leather, the process of making leather stabilizes the fibers so they stop biodegrading. This ruins the environment and McCartney is right to be going against these industries. One brand cannot abandon this issue so Stella decided to join the Kering Group (a group that promotes sustainability) with the goal of reducing the impact on the environment by 25% over the next four years. In a recent interview, Stella McCartney said “I don’t think that ‘eco’ should be a word that immediately conjures up images of oatmeal-coloured garments … I don’t think that things have to look ugly because they’re organic; why can’t they be beautiful as well?” As you can see from the majority of my blog posts, I always admire people that stick by their mottos and take risks! 

Why be like everybody else?

Quotations referenced from the website: http://www.stellamccartney.com/experience/en/stellas-world/sustainability/stella-interview/