Sunday, 15 January 2012
Shin Tanaka
Shin Tanaka is a: grafitti writer, web specialist, T-Shirt designer with an innovative range of paper toys. Shin has developed his paper cutting/folding techniques and now wants to pass the flame. On his website he invites the public to download his creations (layouts) and use their own hands to build up their toys. He is passing on the love of hand creation and spreading the word across the globe. He has a blank layout (that anyone can download and take part in) that asks the maker to be creative and innovative and give the toy a face, clothing and develop their own character. This is a revolutionary way of interacting with toys, toys that can be recycled, built up from scratch, shared and enjoyed. A form of inherited knowledge, Tanaka has become the teacher of an all new toy revolution, taking people away from technology and making them use their imaginations and hands.
Saturday, 14 January 2012
A Lil Bit More Jen Stark...
Jen Stark is the personification of that indescrible feeling of creating something by hand, that feeling that there is no word for but described by most as: attachment, connection, interaction, satisfaction, emotional response, inherited knowledge etc These are the words/phrases that people use in all of the texts I have read on the hand aesthetic. And in my opinion Jen Stark is the greatest example and advocate for the hand made. Whilst on her website I discovered something of which I had over-looked on previous visits, some amazing hand drawn visuals, extremly powerful and colourful. These have been created with paper (Jen's specialist medium) and felt tip pen! The most basic medium is Jen's choice for the sculptures she creates and when designing and creating initial drawings she uses felt tip pens. It is so basic, that it seems quite radical. The felt tip pen has definately been over-looked for a long time if this is the magic it can produce!
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Karen Nicol
First I will begin with a quote from an interview People Tree conducted with Karen, Nicol says,'I think Primark should be closed down by the government, when you bring up a generation who think it's easier and cheaper to buy a T-Shirt than to wash it'
Karen grew up making her own clothing from simple block patterns encouraged by her mother and was taught to embroider through inherited knowledge passed down by her mother.
Karen also describes working in a prodominately hand produced studio, everyone working together, creating, designing, "I love the whole human interaction that producing craft brings"- This is something that is reoccuring throughout my research, the interaction and connection to the craft and the interaction with others (other designers, makers, customers).
Karen Nicol is a leading and well established, innovative embroidery designer with clients such as; Chloe, Matthew Williamson,Givenchy, couture range for Chloe, and the list goes on.
In an interview with Selvedge magazine Karen is asked about the production competition from India and China, Karen states, "they can charge very low prices for beautiful embroidery. They don't have the design skills that suit the western market yet so I still design as much but a lot of the production is done overseas now, leaving us with the more complicated pieces at the 'couture' end of the market"- which suggests to me that hand embroideries be can done in industry this country but only available to high-end market. "When sampling you must always take into account the the cost of the embroidery. For production this can be multiplied by seven when it reaches the shop"- £10- £70- astonishing to Karen and to me.
Karen grew up making her own clothing from simple block patterns encouraged by her mother and was taught to embroider through inherited knowledge passed down by her mother.
Karen also describes working in a prodominately hand produced studio, everyone working together, creating, designing, "I love the whole human interaction that producing craft brings"- This is something that is reoccuring throughout my research, the interaction and connection to the craft and the interaction with others (other designers, makers, customers).
Karen Nicol is a leading and well established, innovative embroidery designer with clients such as; Chloe, Matthew Williamson,Givenchy, couture range for Chloe, and the list goes on.
In an interview with Selvedge magazine Karen is asked about the production competition from India and China, Karen states, "they can charge very low prices for beautiful embroidery. They don't have the design skills that suit the western market yet so I still design as much but a lot of the production is done overseas now, leaving us with the more complicated pieces at the 'couture' end of the market"- which suggests to me that hand embroideries be can done in industry this country but only available to high-end market. "When sampling you must always take into account the the cost of the embroidery. For production this can be multiplied by seven when it reaches the shop"- £10- £70- astonishing to Karen and to me.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
People Tree Fashion
People Tree also incorporate big names to promote their cause, working with well established recognised designers and people of popular culture such as Emma Watson (as shown above)
Karen Nicol created a collection for them- on an interview with people tree Karen Nicol was asked about her feelings on using traditional hand skills "I love traditional hand skills; a lot of my work is inspired by vintage pieces... that's why I love working with people tree as you are keeping them alive"
Also in the interview both Karen and Safia (of people tree) discuss their own examples of inherited design and how their own tacit knowledge was passed down from their relatives. Nicol also expresses her love of human interaction through craft and working along side others in studios using traditional techniques, intercation of producing craft.
Environmentally sound design
As a surface designer of our generation I can not ignore the importance of environmentally sound design through the production process to the final design; once almost a trend protect the environment is now a world wide responsibility. Along with protecting the planet through using natural resources, desposing of chemicals in an environmentally friendly way and reducing harmful chemicals from dyes etc, companies are now starting to promote fair trade.
People Tree is an organisation that promotes fair trade, ecologically sound methods of production and creating opportunities for local poverty stricken comminuties in countries such as India. They work with 50 fair trade groups in 15 countries, sourcing materials locally from silks to natural dyes and teaching new skills and creating jobs in the communities too. They use the skills of the local people and produce screen printed and hand woven/embroidered fashion.
All hand techniques with allowance for the time it takes to produce the garments, without the fast turn around of trends and seasonal fashion of mass industry. Setting an example to worldwide fashion business.
http://www.peopletreemagazine.co.uk
People Tree is an organisation that promotes fair trade, ecologically sound methods of production and creating opportunities for local poverty stricken comminuties in countries such as India. They work with 50 fair trade groups in 15 countries, sourcing materials locally from silks to natural dyes and teaching new skills and creating jobs in the communities too. They use the skills of the local people and produce screen printed and hand woven/embroidered fashion.
All hand techniques with allowance for the time it takes to produce the garments, without the fast turn around of trends and seasonal fashion of mass industry. Setting an example to worldwide fashion business.
http://www.peopletreemagazine.co.uk
Monday, 9 January 2012
Stephanie Syjuco- 'Bling Bling'
Stephanie uses cheap easily sourced materials such as foamboard, paper, tape- all materials embedded in hand craft and tactile techniques. She creates peieces that relate to counterfeit culture, boot-legging, mass-production- all elements of the world around us in our generation. Stephanies works have very srong messages behind them and come from powerful concepts of captilism and global economics of which are very current issues and of which as she puts it 'an attempt to address being an ambivalent sunject of forces larger than myself''
The Power of Paper
The greatest return to the real for me is within graphic design. I personally find graphic design to be incredibly inspiring and a show of true innovation. Recently graphic designers have been leaving their computers behind in an effort to break free from the confines of the screen and discover the tangile world of 3-D. Not only have they logged off but they returned to the most basic and perhaps obvious of mediums, as it surrounds us, paper. Quirky and innovative designs have been constructed from the beautiful, environmentally friendly, sustainable source, ticking all of the boxes in our current climate including economical- cheap source!! For graphic designers who may have more focused on technological advances in software and computer packages are now returning to the tangible, the weight, feel and the sensory of hand production. To return to a place where accidents and imperfections occur and designs are developing personalities with production time.
'When creative attention is turned to the material itself, the medium becomes the object and the true personality of paper emerges"- Tactile, Die getalten verlag
'When creative attention is turned to the material itself, the medium becomes the object and the true personality of paper emerges"- Tactile, Die getalten verlag
Saturday, 7 January 2012
Ingrid Siliakus
Ingrid Siliakus:
"Paper architecture does not tolerate haste and will only respond to an approach of meditative precision"- Paper, Tear, Cut, Fold, Rip, Crease, Cut- Paul Sloman
Ingrid creates paper architectures, amazing 3-D structures that are inspired by the work of Professor Masahiro Chatani who created paper architecture- her architectural inspiration comes from the likes of Gaudi evident in her designs. The art of paper architecture is creating an object from one piece of paper. Before the final design is created up to 30 prototypes are created, layers of drawings are added until Ingrid is satisfied, each protoype is then cut and folded to her requirements. After the designing and prototyping Ingrid is ready to create her paper architecture, one false move (cut/fold) and the entire design is compromised.
Not only is the act of creating a piece of paper architecture a process of slow design but the actual designing and developments are too. The results are somewhat magnificant and awe inspiring.
"Paper architecture does not tolerate haste and will only respond to an approach of meditative precision"- Paper, Tear, Cut, Fold, Rip, Crease, Cut- Paul Sloman
Ingrid creates paper architectures, amazing 3-D structures that are inspired by the work of Professor Masahiro Chatani who created paper architecture- her architectural inspiration comes from the likes of Gaudi evident in her designs. The art of paper architecture is creating an object from one piece of paper. Before the final design is created up to 30 prototypes are created, layers of drawings are added until Ingrid is satisfied, each protoype is then cut and folded to her requirements. After the designing and prototyping Ingrid is ready to create her paper architecture, one false move (cut/fold) and the entire design is compromised.
Not only is the act of creating a piece of paper architecture a process of slow design but the actual designing and developments are too. The results are somewhat magnificant and awe inspiring.
Yuko Nishimura
Yuko's inspiration for her paper art comes from her own experiences of Japanese life- the connections between the use of paper in daily life (the unconcious action of folding paper/ use of paper in daily life) - and the simplicity at the core of paper art. She keeps the integrity of traditional Japanese origami through paper-folding and an absence of tools whilst using creative innovative ways to express and connect with current and future generations.
It's amazing to me that in this generation of computers and enhancing software that designer is using an age old tradition of origami and no tools but her hands. Yuko is surely the epitome of hand crafted design.
"The desire to express the Japanese soul through form and to breath fresh life into an artistic practice that continues to be passed down from generation to generation"-Paper, Tear, Fold, Rip, Crease, Cut- Paul Sloman
It's amazing to me that in this generation of computers and enhancing software that designer is using an age old tradition of origami and no tools but her hands. Yuko is surely the epitome of hand crafted design.
Friday, 6 January 2012
Evelin Kasikov
Evelin Kasikov uses a process of which she developed called CMYK embroidery- cyan, magenta, yellow and black- which is a hand made printing process that mimics the halftone screen process. Kasikov wanted to use a slow process to complement her graphic aesthetic- where imperfections and the sense of humanity can occur, and she can be more connected to her own work.
Kasikov prepares dot screens and then replicates these into a cross-stitch pattern.
I love the idea of our computer generation translating the mechanical into something tactile injecting life into something that can not be acheived with a computer but using the digital aesthetic.
By Hand
'As a verb, "to craft" seemingly means to participate in some small-scale process. This implies several things. First, it affirms the results of involved work. This is not some kind of detached activity... To craft is to care... (it) implies working on a personal scale- acting locally in reaction to anonymous, globalised, industrial production... It may yet involve the skilled hand. Hands feel, they probe, they practice.'- Janis Jefferies, Notes for boys who sew exhibition- p12 By Hand, Shu Hung and Joseph Magliaro
To Craft Is To Care...
Hands Feel,
They Probe,
They Practice
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Bit More...
This is the doodle that haunts me! I have been experimenting with collage slightly here and it's something I want to keep pursuing. Hand made with a graphic aesthetic but always hand made!
Bit Of My Own Work
All of this paper madness is really rubbing off on me and I think the next step for me within my MA will be more experimentation and perhaps some research into origami and try to create to wonderous sculptures of my own. I have always been inspired by graphic design, illustration and geometric patterns, so here are a few of the desings and early experiments I have been doing (incorporating illustration, geometrics, paper cutting and hand embroidery)
Next I will experiment with depth and size, use more paper and play with symmerty more. The boundless opportunities are endless!
Jen Stark
Jen Stark creates 3-D sculptures from lots and lots of sheets of multi-coloured paper. I love colour and Stark's work screams colour and vibrancy 'Look at me!'
These pieces of truely breath taking innovation came from when Stark visited Aix-en-Provence and nothing with her but some sheets of paper and endless imagination,
'Because when I arrived, I had very few art supplies to work with. Paper was cheap so I started to experiment. Now I really love doing these sculptures-and I love the repitition involved. I t is very meditive'- Tactile, Die Gestalten Verlag
'How to Become a Million in a Hundred Days' One million pieces of hand-cut paper 2007Paper Magic
Looking at the work of Rob Ryan made me want to research more into paper design. It's fascinating to see this growing trend of paper design in a highly digitized society, people returning to materials and process's that convey the spirit of the designer. There's something about hand production that makes the consumer feel closer to the designer, their product is a piece of them a window into their soul. Hand production also conveys a sense of inherited knowledge- techniques that are passed down- that brings the prodcut to life and gives the product a story.
We are the generation of facebook- children come home from school and imediately log on to facebook and speak to their friends who they have been with all day rather going out to play. Now designers are returning to hand production to gain back that relationship and interaction with their work.
Paper design speaks the most to me because it is so unbelievable, how can we have been neglecting such an obvious material source for so long? But also what designers are creating from paper...
AMAZING!!!
We are the generation of facebook- children come home from school and imediately log on to facebook and speak to their friends who they have been with all day rather going out to play. Now designers are returning to hand production to gain back that relationship and interaction with their work.
Paper design speaks the most to me because it is so unbelievable, how can we have been neglecting such an obvious material source for so long? But also what designers are creating from paper...
AMAZING!!!
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
just a bit more Rob
I beleive I have expressed my passion for Rob and his amazingly wonderous designs enough now. I leave you with one last thing, a link to a video of Rob talking about his work in his studio surrounded by all of his materials for hand-made, traditional techniques... (told you I liked these dots, dum, dum, duuuurrrmmmm)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvUfafedKqo&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvUfafedKqo&feature=player_embedded
Rob Ryan on his shop...
'The beauty of taking control of the means of production
is that, for example, you could be sitting up in bed on
Thursday night and have a great idea for a tile design,
draw it up on Friday morning, have the artwork put
on screen by lunchtime, print in the afternoon, fire in
the kiln overnight and take them out HOT on Saturday
morning to have in the shop at lunchtime'
is that, for example, you could be sitting up in bed on
Thursday night and have a great idea for a tile design,
draw it up on Friday morning, have the artwork put
on screen by lunchtime, print in the afternoon, fire in
the kiln overnight and take them out HOT on Saturday
morning to have in the shop at lunchtime'
'You Are My Universe', 2011 screenprint
ROB RYAN!!!!!
Trying not to look at the most obvious!...
You can not escape Rob Ryan, the man is everywhere and he has the right to be. I have fairly recently come across Rob Ryan, obviously I knew his designs as like I said they are everywhere, however I was exhibiting my work at the NEC in Birmingham last year and came across his designs through Cloth Kits. I have been recently re-introduced to his magic through interveiwing a graphic design student who loves his work and loves to work with her hands (Helen Brodie- www.hpisnotapencil.tumblr.com). I have become slightly obsessed and more in love with the return to paper- a widely avaible source of media with a green edge.
Rob Ryan draws his designs by hand incorporated with emotional expressions through his words, of which he has always used in his artwork. He then very patiently cuts out his design and later sprays the delicate piece and then attatches them to a backing piece. Every single blade of grass in his pieces must be linked as they are all cut from piece of paper- on first glance they look as though they are layered. The imagery and the emotions in the cutwork pattern are reflected in the fragilety and delicacy of the structure and the media he has chosen. His business thrives even though the majority is created through hand techniques, and he still draws out his designs and along with this he or his assistants will cut out the design- hands on, hand-made designs in a successful business.
You can not escape Rob Ryan, the man is everywhere and he has the right to be. I have fairly recently come across Rob Ryan, obviously I knew his designs as like I said they are everywhere, however I was exhibiting my work at the NEC in Birmingham last year and came across his designs through Cloth Kits. I have been recently re-introduced to his magic through interveiwing a graphic design student who loves his work and loves to work with her hands (Helen Brodie- www.hpisnotapencil.tumblr.com). I have become slightly obsessed and more in love with the return to paper- a widely avaible source of media with a green edge.
Rob Ryan draws his designs by hand incorporated with emotional expressions through his words, of which he has always used in his artwork. He then very patiently cuts out his design and later sprays the delicate piece and then attatches them to a backing piece. Every single blade of grass in his pieces must be linked as they are all cut from piece of paper- on first glance they look as though they are layered. The imagery and the emotions in the cutwork pattern are reflected in the fragilety and delicacy of the structure and the media he has chosen. His business thrives even though the majority is created through hand techniques, and he still draws out his designs and along with this he or his assistants will cut out the design- hands on, hand-made designs in a successful business.
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
technology back-lash
Through researching hand-made production in art, crafts, design and textiles (and generally walking around, being alive and watching endless programmes like Kirstie Allsopp's 'hand-made Christmas) I have found that there is an ever-growing market for the hand-made. People are trying it for themselves (home-made crafts) and being more concious of the products they buy when they enter a shop; quality of fabrics, quality of manufacture and techniques and also the ethics behind the production and the people who have made the product ie fair trade, and of course the effects the production may have had on the environment (is it a recycable/sustainable material).
The obvious advantage to mass-production and technology such as, photoshop that can very quickly create a repeated design and in several different colours, is the speed of the process. The longer the process the higher the price. Can we realistically create by hand? Is there a place in industry for slow design?
I wanted to look at designers who use their hands and take their time creating beautiful designs with traditional, methodical techniques, and to see how they survive.
The obvious advantage to mass-production and technology such as, photoshop that can very quickly create a repeated design and in several different colours, is the speed of the process. The longer the process the higher the price. Can we realistically create by hand? Is there a place in industry for slow design?
I wanted to look at designers who use their hands and take their time creating beautiful designs with traditional, methodical techniques, and to see how they survive.
Continuationof Makery...
Just wanted to add a link to this small video clip of Kate talking about the makery...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5v0c_97VEY&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5v0c_97VEY&feature=player_embedded
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