This is an all over paisley print I have created from drawings in my sketch book.

 

CUSTOMER PROFILE

 

The primary target audience for my statement tee is male and female aged 15-30 with urban interests, for example, music, art and fashion.

They will be interested in fashion and statement tees, they will wear statement tees for both casual and occasion.

 My target audience will be keen on designers like Givenchy who have a very urban style. The music they listen to will be, rap/hip-hop/r'n'b therefore they will attend festivals such as Wireless and admire artists such as Jay Z, Kanye West, Drake and Rihanna.

They will be in full time employment in a job relating to their interests of music, art and fashion. In this line of work their annual income will be anything above £30,000. Their spending bracket for a tee will be anything between £50 and £300.

My customer will have a huge interest in fashion always reading magazines such as Vogue and GQ looking out for new trends they can take on board. They are brand loyal, like Jay Z and Kanye West are to Givenchy wearing their tees for performances.

 

 

The target consumer is single and having so much fun whilst being so. They are dating the opposite sex who has similar interests in hobbies and fashion. They often shop online as they have such a busy life style but in their 3+ holidays a year love to fly out to Paris or New York for a good shopping spree. Along with their busy life style they tend to eat out most nights or grab a bite to eat on the go.

                                                         

 
 
 
 
                          

 

 

The secondary target consumer for my statement tee is male/females under the age of 15 with parents who have an interest in fashion and like to spoil their children and have them wearing the latest trends. This consumer will live in the city with their parents, they wont have any siblings. As their parents have a busy life style they spend a lot of their time with their nanny/baby sitter. They go to a private school and do very well in their studies.

They have lots of friends, are an active internet user constantly tweeting friends and love to hang out with friends going shopping, the cinema and bowling etc.  

Givenchy Inspired Experimentations

Givenchy Statement Tees

 

 

I have done some research into Givenchy's statement tees as they have the same target audience as me. They use modern, urban and unusual prints which are suitable for 15-30 year olds with urban interests, for example, music, art and fashion. Their prints include stars, animals and flowers.

More Photoshop Developments From Own Photography

This is another print experimentation from my own photography. This print would work best central of the tee. I have used a multi-colour, vibrant palette for this experiment, using 'curves', 'hue/saturation' and the 'magnetic lasso'. On the last design I have duplicated layers and reduced opacity on the top layer to create a blurred effect. I feel this print is very modern and eye catching however may be a bit hard to figure out what it is.. but that could also work. ANYTHING GOES WITH URBAN KIDS.  My target audience is male and female aged 15-30 with urban interests, for example, music, art and fashion. This print will be suitable for them as the blurriness and vibrance is very artistic and kind of reminds you of music.

Photoshop Developments for Tee Designs

This print experimentation is from a photograph I took at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. I was inspired by a t-shirt I seen when researching statement tees by Illustrated People from Topshop. Using Photoshop I experimented with 'curves' and 'hue/saturation' to create the electric lights effect. When editing I used a colour scheme similar to Karla Spetic, using aqua's, pinks and purples. I feel these colours work well and would be effective on a statement tee as they are eye catching. This print would work best as an all over print on the tee but could also be a rectangle on the front. Sections of this print on the sleeves would also be aesthetically pleasing. I think this print links well with religion as, as soon as you look at it and see the stain glass windows you can tell its from a church. If I was to develop this print further I would maybe experiment with layers and create a blurred effect to the print. My target audience for my statement tee is male and female aged 15-30 with urban interests, for example, music, art and fashion. I think this would appeal to my target audience as the electric light effect is urban and trendy.

 

RELIGIOUS STATEMENT TEE RESEARCH

Gilbert and George

   GILBERT AND GEORGE

           

Gilbert and George are an artist couple, who are known for their distinctive and highly formal appearance and manner and also for their brightly coloured graphic-style photo-based artworks. The pair have a huge love for Prince Charles they said  "We're also fond of the Prince of Wales: he's a gentleman."  I strongly feel they were inspired by the Prince's style and his suits. They were listed as among the fifty best-dressed over 50s by the Guardian in March 2013. The suits they wore became a sort of uniform for them. They rarely appear in public without wearing them. It is also unusual for one of the pair to be seen without the other. The pair regard themselves as "living sculptures". 

Whilst still students, Gilbert & George made The Singing Sculpture, which was first performed at Nigel Greenwood Gallery in 1970. For this performance they covered their heads and hands in multi-coloured metallic powders, stood on a table, and sang along and moved to a recording of Flanagan and Allen's song "Underneath the Arches", sometimes for a day at a time. This captivated their audience and they claim it had and mesmeric effect on them sort if hypnotising them.

Thank Thatcher For Art Boom, Say Gilbert & George

 "Left equals good. Art equals Left. Pop stars and artists are meant to be so original. So how come everyone has the same opinion? ... We admire Margaret Thatcher greatly. She did a lot for art. Socialism wants everyone to be equal. We want to be different." - 

Gilbert & George are an oddity in the artistic world because of their openly conservative political views and their praise for Margaret Thatcher George claims never to have been anti-establishment. They love Margaret Thatcher. as they say it was her who helped to get living artists recognised and make them money - "Because she deregulated everything, so they could become rich, the artists, for the first time. Before that they had to be art-school teachers mostly."

The couple are best known for their large scale works,  best know as 'The Pictures' which stared in black and white but as time went on hand painted bursts of bold reds and yellow were brought into them. They proceeded to use a range of bolder colours, sometimes backlit, and overlaid with black grids. Their work has addressed a wide variety of subject matter including religion and patriotism. 

Although working in a variety of media, Gilbert and George referred to all their work as sculpture. Between 1970 and 1974 they also made drawings (referred to as Charcoal on Paper Sculptures) and paintings to give a more tangible form to their identity as ‘living sculptures'.  In 1971 they made their first ‘photo-pieces', which remain their dominant form of expression. The emphasis of their work has moved away from their own experiences of life and concentrated on the inner-city reality that confronted them on the street and on the structures and feelings that inform life such as religion, class, royalty, sex, hope, nationality, death, identity, politics and fear. Their desire to make an ‘Art for Life's Sake' and an ‘Art for All' underlines their belief that art can still positively break down barriers.

The release of this print by Gilbert & George coincided with the opening of their series of work, JACK FREAK PICTURES. Ban Religion reflects the artist's stance on religion, emblazing the contentious message unashamedly, as characteristically their art so often does. 

Their attitudes to religion are very negative. As a homosexual couple they look down on religious view as once discussed they were disgusted in the fact once two boys were hanged in Iran for having sex. They were very humane, they kept them until they were 16 before they hanged them. It was attended by huge crowds. George also said in an interview with The Telegraph: "The Pope should be dragged to the Court of Human Rights and dealt with like Milosevic. He says that homosexual people are intrinsically disordered. He has caused death by refusing to allow the use of condoms."

The pairs views on religion are portrayed in the above peice. With several images of the crucifixtion Gilbert and George are almost advertising the death of Jesus and maybe this is how they are trying to say that they would like to 'BAN RELIGION'. The colours used for this peice are also significant, red and yellow  are colours associated with fire and hell. They could be trying to say that when Jesus was crucified he went to hell or they think he should of has he didnt agree with their views of homosexuality. The facial expressions of Gilbert and George in this peice are also symbolic as they are clearly not happy, they are very serious about this matter. 
In Gilbert and Georges brighter pieces their imagery also reminds me of Andy Warhol. The combination of the burst of colour with black are very similar.

Mert & Marcus for Vogue Paris is Dark

Le Noir Partie 3 by Mert & Marcus for Vogue Paris is Dark

Le Noir Partie 3 by Mert & Marcus for Vogue Paris is a dark series for the September issue featuring supermodels Kate Moss and Saskia de Brauw. This editorial captures the models giving demonic stares while wearing gothic monarch attire, and accessorized with hair-raising crosses. The crosses in this series along with the priest like colar on one garment link very well with religion. Kate and Saskia mesmerize in selects from the likes of Costume National, Coco de Mer, Oscar de la Renta, Dolce & Gabbana, Etro, Salvatore Ferragamo, Bottega Veneta, Lanvin, Valentino, Givenchy by Ricardo Tisci, Miu Miu and incredible head pieces by Tomihiro Kono. / Make-up by Charlotte Tilbury, Hair by Paul Hanlon, Nails by Lorraine Griffin

Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, working name "Mert and Marcus", are fashion photographers who work together on a collaborative basis. Their work and style is heavily influenced by the photographer Guy Bourdin and have pioneered the use of digital manipulation within their field.They have defined the look of the past decade and as a duo are one of the most respected and acclaimed photographers working today.

In the above picture Kate Moss Plays the unconventional bride, she captivates in this transformative layout, that has her looking like a Spanish Princess.  Each frame gifting us with more of their haunting perfection. Incorporating the religious iconography that has come fashion-forward this season, the avant-garde beauty of this story washes over us like a baptism of art.

Mert Alas & Marcus Piggot go strictly black & white in Partie 3 of their ‘Le Noir’ series. Each image seems to portray another dark enchantress, complete with the unsettling charm that comes with being a woman of mystery. I love the black and white choice this gives more of a religious feel as it reminds me of the original priest gowns with the white collar  The colours create a very dull mood and grungy feel. Similar to some looks created by Alexander McQueen for his Fall/Winter 2010 collection. For one look of the collection he had a black leather dress with leather head ware similar to the Muslim niqab. This look was very dark and grungy similar to Mert and Marcus' shoot. Another look from the collection saw a ruffled wedding style dress in black and olive greens with a large byzantine embellished cross diagonally across the front of the garment, the dress was styled with over the knee leather boots which yet again gave the gorgeous grungy look. 







IMAGES FROM MY FASHION AND FAITH SKETCH BOOK.

CHRISTIANITY MOOD BOARD.

The theme for my moodboard is Christianity, the message i wanted to give from my moodboard is how Christianity can be portrayed in many different ways through, fashion, art, architecture and graphics.  I feel I have been succesful when doing this as when looking at my moodboard you instantly get the religious vibe from the images of Jesus and the stain glass patterns, when looking closely at it you realise the different interpretations of christianity from Dolce and Gabanna's garments to Da Vinci's paintings. 

When arranging my mood board i was influenced by the stain glass artists Gilbert and George and how they use a mirror image style.

I feel my composition works well and is effective however as i have chosen a mirror image i haven't been able to fit many images on the page. The colour scheme for my mood board is harmonious, i have chosen to use bright colours in a dull way using the brightness and contrast tool on Photoshop. The dull palette works well with the theme of christianity as most art and things related the christianity are often of dull colours. I feel this is because at the time of Jesus there weren't a lot of resources to create colourful art. When researching artists and designers who incorporate christianity into there works i found they use a dull colour palette, especially Da Vinci and Michael Angelo.

 For my image research for the moodboard i used the internet, mainly Google images. The artists, designers and inspiration i looked at were:

Leonarda Da Vinci

Dolce and Gabanna

Damien Hirst 

Givenchy

Jean Paul Gaultier 

Karla Spetic 

Michael Angelo

The tools i used on Photoshop were, the magnetic lasso tool - this was helpfull when wanting to cut shapes out of large images, i also used the background eraser to delete sections of images. When adjusting colours of images i used the hue and saturation tool as well as adjusting the brightness and contrast.  I feel the adjustments i made to the images worked well and they all fit together well. 

I am happy with my moodboard, i feel the colours and composition work really well. If i was to do my moodboard again i think i would balance the style of images better, i think there is too much pattern at the bottom and not enough at the top therefore the bottom section clashes slightly. 

ART BE POPPIN - ANDY WARHOL

ANDY WARHOL

Warhol was trained as a commercial artist, and is best known for founding (or claiming to found) the Pop Art Movement in American art. He developed the technique of projecting photographic images to a silk screen, a process that enabled him to produce repetitive patterns within the same piece relatively quickly. Typical works are of famous people, everyday objects (soup cans, dollar bills) and macabre scenes of car wrecks and electric chairs.

Warhol's work was made between the 1920's - 1980's when he passed away on February 27, 1987 in New York City. Warhol was influenced by many different things, He was influenced by his Byzantine Catholicism, especially the iconography of the church - he ended up making sort of "modern" religious icons with famous people's faces and common household products.

Above are images of Jesus from The Last Supper cycle (1986). Warhol made almost 100 variations on the theme, which the Guggenheim felt "indicates an almost obsessive investment in the subject matter." These pop art images of Jesus are very similar to the ones seen on Karla Spetic's S/S 13 garments, however she only used head shots of Jesus. I think experimenting with different images of Jesus from the scenes of the last supper like Warhol has and using Spetic's colour palette would work well for an all over print statement tee. 

He was originally a commercial illustrator (making drawings for advertisements), so he was heavily influenced by commercials and the advertising industry. 

Colour wasn’t the only thing Warhol had going for him though. This is a Warhol peice from the 1980s, dealing with themes of war, death and religion. In these pieces Warhol depended on size and starkness to catch the eye. This quote "REPENT AND SIN NO MORE!" could be used on a tee, there is a lot of statement tees with quotes on in high street stores at the moment. 

Andy Warhol's work is very exaggerated. He used block colour and a bright palette to create pop art, unrealistic images. He created his peices quickly and simply as he said this was the quickest way to make money.  I find Andy Warhol's work very iconic and pleasing, I feel his style art will work well for a S/S 2015 statement tee as the bright colours suit the season as seen on Karla Spetics S/S 2013 collection. 

"Faith" - Karla Spetic S/S 2013

For her Spring/Summer ’13 collection Karla Spetic showcased a series of her bright sheath dresses and separates took inspiration from stained glass windows. Their digital prints feature flattering portraits of Biblical superstar Jesus himself — skin ex-foliated, beard groomed and eyebrows sculpted —pouting praying, and getting a cuddle from a cute little lamb.

The “Faith” collection mixes monochromatic tones with bright fuchsia and turquoise, featuring wardrobe staples with cutouts and popping prints with frills. I find the playful palette pleasing and feel it works really well for the S/S collection, the colours create an exciting atmosphere and don't think any woman could feel anything other than happy when flaunting one of these garments. These are colours woman are going to be wearing for the sunny season.Along with the shape/structure of the garments the black also keeps the popping colours sophisticated and Spetic's art for taking something simple and making it unique resulted in a calculated and playful femininity.

Karla Spetic has used an all over print design for her garments and i think these pop art inspired digital images of Jesus are perfect inspiration for my current project on Fashion and Faith. I think a religious pop art  all over print would work perfect on a statement tee, like the following high street tee from ASOS.com.

I'm not keen on the black and white print onto organic background however the style would work well in the palette Karla Spetic used.

Karla Spetic's pop art designs scream Andy Warhol at me and I think combining his photographic style using Photoshop to introduce the vibrant colour pallet I could create amazing pop art inspired prints. Using my own photography is something i am really interested in and will definitely experiment with throughout the design process.