Dress up your Attitude!

http://www.jiangluosan.net/FamousFashionDesignerSketches290nykalhlu/

In my last post I talked about fabric and what could be the next one to follow? Off course, clothing, apparel, fashion. This is the most popular stream of design, people from all socio-economic class are aware of it! What comes to your mind when you hear the word 'Fashion'? Glamorous models walking the ramp, celebrities flashing on red carpet flaunting in Designer wear, big fat weddings with talk of the town 'Designer bridal wear'; isn't it? Well, what we see is only the final outcome of the laborious process that's happening on the backstage for months together by the designer and the team.

It's interesting to know about the hard-work that goes into making these wonderful designer fashion clothes. It all starts from an inspiration, the theme. Designer researches on the theme, looks for inspirations to come up with basic sketches which undergo lot of refinement in the process of getting finalised. Once the design sketch is ready, fabric for the same is sourced. It could be directly available in the market or could be woven or printed as per the design requirements. Patterns(templates) are then made generally out of paper or other plain fabric to make prototypes of the garments based on the sketches. This is a testing phase and therefore iterative i.e. it goes back and forth till satisfactory results in fitting are achieved. Then final fabric is cut as per templates and stitched as per details. This is tested on model and final finishes are done after that. Apart form clothing it also include other accessories like headgear, bags, footwear, jewellery etc. That is the whole process it goes through before we see it on the model in a fashion show.

Rahul Mishra Collection in Paris Fashion Week
Image source:https://www.woolmarkprize.com/news/
rahul-mishra-debuts-at-paris-fashion-week/

Like the process, the history of fashion design is interesting to know. In India clothing was influenced by the regional culture, art and craft practices, climatic conditions. Clothing and accessories of Royal families would display the grandeur in every detail like fabric weaving, motives, embroidery. The value of dress was judged on the quality of fabric and work than who made it. For common people clothing was of similar type which varies according to the region. On intentional scenario too it was similar situation, where Royals got their clothes made from dressmakers as per their own style. During19th Century in France, English designer Charles Worth, for the first time designed dresses with his own label. He dictated his customers what to wear than following their demands. This started the beginning of Fashion houses and fashion industry. Post Independence slowly international fashion influenced Indian Cinema. But post globalisation with global exposure international fashion started influencing common people too. 

Fashion was not restricted up to occasional clothing but emerged with many possibilities like formal, casual, bridal, sports etc. During 1980s Indian fashion designers started establishing themselves on International platform. Today many designers have made mark and have presence of their label across the globe.

Fashion industry is based on trends. It needs to change by every season to keep the industry going. Researchers  forecast trends which are followed globally by fashion houses and retailers. Trend forecasters determine colours, patterns, textures, fabric those would dominate upcoming season. Clothing is second largest industry in the world ans generates as many job opportunities.

Today in India, with the help of fashion designers many textile craft practices are being revived and have seen application in modern garments. Indian textile craft and design is once again sought after on international scenario.

More on fashion accessories design in the next post.

Some useful links

https://youtu.be/RhPiaqKWMcw

https://youtu.be/sjLBbWbBTPc

https://youtu.be/367veujwj_Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTxT0vL8EcQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReD9RSQ1vlo

Weaves of creativity!

Image source: http://www.cityshor.com/pune/banjaras

We recently had a long journey through widespread streams of communication design. You must have noticed that most of communication design work, we can appreciate through our visual and auditory senses. Another stream of design which is perceived using visual senses is textiles. Off course tactile perception is equally important in textiles. The word 'textile' originates from Latin word 'textilis' which means 'Woven'. Weaving process gives fabric self textures both tactile and visual.

We feel like touching a beautiful texture of a curtain, getting wrapped in a soft cotton quilt is such a joy, it's difficult to avoid temptation of cuddling a cute furry soft toy. We want soft cotton cloths during summer and warm woollens in winters! In short, we keep appreciating fabric for different qualities unknowingly. Here I am talking about textile design which, I feel is like extension of graphic design, as prints and patterns are inseparable identity of any piece of cloth; traditional, modern, woven, non-woven, natural or synthetic. I really enjoy the visual treat by taking a stroll in a fabric market. Colours, textures, patterns, prints, feel are all elements of such visual treat.

Image source: http://minister-industries.kerala.gov.in

India has a rich tradition in textiles. Every region of India has wide variety of textiles derived from local counters. 'Woven fabric' had major contribution in Trade and commerce of ancient India with foreign countries. Indian cotton, silk and muslin clothes have always been popular and in demand all over the world. Cotton is woven all over India. Each region has it's own distinctive character ranging from weaving technique, knitting, dyeing process, colours, motives, patterns using different printing processes or embroidery. Few examples of Indian traditional textile related crafts are intricately woven Pashmina shawls of Kashmir, Phulkari work from Punjab, Mirror work from Rajasthan, tie and dye varieties from Gujrat, Chanderi fabric from MP, fine silks from Benares, Balucheri, Bengal, Paithani from Maharashtra, Ikat and Kalamkari from Andhra, Kanchipuram silk from Tamilnadu. The list of this treasure is endless.

Traditional fabrics are crafted on hand-looms. The final product is a blend of complex processes of selection of yarns as per required result, selecting colours, dyeing yarns, pre weaving treatments, generating design of border and other patterns, actual weaving process. Apart from technical know-how of the weaving process artisans have to use their visual design skills to come up with fine fabric.

Image source: http://www.flagprintingmachine.com

Post industrialisation textiles are mass manufactured in industries. Synthetic fibres are used to create durable and economical fabrics. Research activities in the field come up with fabrics for special requirements like fireproof fabric. The process of digital printing on textiles has opened up enormous possibilities in terms of visual creativity.

A textile designer has knowledge of different fabric manufacturing processes, various materials like natural, synthetic fibres as well as visual design expertise to work with new patterns, prints, colours of fabrics. Two major sectors where textiles are widely used are furnishing and garments. Roles of textile designer include coming up with designs of fabrics for various purposes, make samples for construction of fabric, research on colour and trends forecast for new development, look for inspirations and themes for new design development. It's about experimenting with colour, texture, processes, patterns, materials, techniques. Textile designers work for fashion and garment houses, furnishing studios, furniture and automotive upholstery, other textile accessories like bags. They can have their independent studios. In short sky is the limit to weave their creativity!

Some useful links

https://youtu.be/iF5wef6lUXY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb0Hpj9VfVE

https://youtu.be/FCarXRadOnk
https://youtu.be/a-2vxvNmYhY

Entertainment, entertainment, entertainment!

storyboard

Image source: http://www.evolvemedia.tv/free-storyboard-templates-

for-filmmaking-projects/

Watching a movie is a trip to a different world. The story that is being communicated is made so realistic that audience feels to be part of that environment. What enables the storyteller to create such enchanting effect? Is it the way the story is being narrated? Yes, but not only that. Reading a story and watching a story on screen are very different experiences. While reading you are visualising it in your own way but on screen the audio visual experience that you get adds another dimension to the story telling process. Whatever you witness in the cinema hall forces you to believe it to be real. It is a holistic effect that is designed using various techniques to narrate the story.

The film making process can be understood by visualising it in three stages. First is the preparation before shooting, second is actual shooting process and third is putting everything together like visuals, sound etc. as a final product. These are known as pre-production, production and post production stages. This is a common process that we follow to complete any task in a presentable manner; first the preparation, then actual task and in the end it's presentation. Considering various aspects to be worked on to come up with the final product, film-making is a complex process. Design has role in all three stages of film-making.

The groundwork begins with a story idea which is converted into a screen play; scene by scene story. This story in text is put in form of series of visuals like a comic strip in a  storyboard. The storyboard helps in understanding the characters and environment in great detail. It's done by a team of concept designers and graphic designers. Final storyboard leads to the design and selection of locations, sets, characters, costumes, props etc. The detail in which the environment is designed gives the film realistic effect. Audience starts believing it to be real. Thus preparations are done before film shoot upto minute detail to save on time and budget. 

filmshoot

Image source: http://www.bhopalonline.in/city-guide/film-shooting

-locations-in-bhopal

During production stage, the film is captured as a video scene by scene. Audience is looking at the film through the camera. Each frame captured through the camera is going to impact the viewer's perception about the story. Cinematographer designs each frame keeping in mind what effect the director wants and how the story should be progressing. Lighting, camera positions, angles, lens focus, movement such details are carefully selected so as to get depth in the shot as it's going to be viewed on two dimensional screen.

Adding visual effects

Image source: https://onset.shotonwhat.com/gallery/the-power-of-

visual-effects/

Once all the scenes have been shot post production stage begins. The raw shooting is edited for better visual appearance. Colour corrections are done, unwanted clips are removed. Special effects are added. Sounds like dialogues, songs, background music are added. The music is generally composed during pre-production stage. With all these post production treatments the film is ready as a final product to entertain audience.

Other communication design products in entertainment sector are game design. In digital and virtual reality game design visual designers contribute in creating the realistic environment used as setting of game. Game designers work on the strategy to enhance participant and audience satisfaction and pleasure. 

After this read, I hope you will appreciate the grand efforts by creative team that goes in the making of film apart from glamorous cast that you see on screen!

Some useful links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5EoMcoUI2Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQsvhq28sOI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmRxjtjSc1E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5E_zB7pmlY

Poetry in motion

Photograph has a story to tell

Since last few weeks we have been looking at different domains where communication design is used. Till now I talked about Branding and Identity, Print and Publication, Campaigns and persuasion, Packaging and digital products. Let’s look at expanse of communication design in entertainment sphere of our lives.

As we human are social animals we love stories about people, other lives and stories in general. Isn’t that a means of communication? It conveys some thought, some feelings. We enjoy the indirect feel of different experiences. The presenter of the story communicates the idea or thought in interesting way so as to give pleasure to the audience. Drama in the story presentation makes it more engaging and joyful activity unlike watching mere information about any topic. Thus drama, joy becomes key factors in story telling and in turn in the entertainment. Both visual and auditory mediums are effective in entertainment communication.

Story tellers use different mediums and techniques to present or communicate. The basic medium is a still photograph. Don’t you think of any story when you look at a photograph? Our own family photos obviously have many stories to tell but other photos too trigger some message in you. The professional photographer uses the elements used in the frame interestingly to bring life to that photo! It communicates the message to the viewer effectively. Though every viewer has their own perceptions, a good photographer creates illusion of movement in a still image and draws attention to the central theme of the photo. Thus still photography is a creative medium used for communication design.

Image source: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4cyd9y

When ‘movement’ in the picture becomes literal it becomes frame by frame animation, another technique that is used for story telling. Most of you must have created own flip book at young age. Flip book makes the still images look like animated picture! Moving things catch our attention fast, which is one of reasons why animation looks so interesting to everyone. Animation is a technique, as the name suggests, of animating the still images. When pictures or sketches are used it becomes 2D animation and if 3D models are used, it becomes 3D animation. The technique could be used to narrate a story as a full length film, a short film, a T.V. commercial or an educations video. I witness watching my son small TedEd animated videos and learning various complex concepts in simple fun way.

Since making animation is as good as making a film, animation designer need to know about the film making process along with animation techniques. The whole process is very complex and animator has to co-ordinate with other teams like story boarding, character designers, concept artists, sound design team etc.

Other alike branches of animation design are motion graphics and Visual effects (VFx). Motion graphics is like animation but not necessarily character based. It is more about animation of abstract shapes like logos and texts. Best examples could be found in film titles or branding animations.

Visual effects are used in film making to make realistic effects which are not possible in real live shooting. It is done by mixing live shooting with computer generated graphics. Animation is one of the many techniques used to create visual effects. It helps in communicating the realistic story to the audience and making them believe what they watch.

More about communication design in entertainment in the next post. Keep reading!

Some useful links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZbrdCAsYqU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H31k2o3TBI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpDRftkteFE