More on Shibori Dye

After participating in the Shibori dyeing that took place two weeks ago, I became very intrigued. I have done plenty of cloth dyeing before, but this dye seemed to be so much more rich and special. Therefore, I decided to do some more research on it.

Shibori dye stems from Japanese decent dating all the way back to the 8th century. The term "shibori" actually comes from the verb "shiboru," which means to wring or squeeze. This term is very fitting as there are so many ways to manipulate the cloth to create such beautiful patterns. We were able to see some of those patterns in class and at the final workshop. One specific technique is called Kumo Shibori. For this design the user must scrunch small portions of the cloth very tightly. This design looks random and spider-web-like.



Arashi Shibori is another technique. The cloth is wrapped around a pole tightly with thread and then compressed. Once it is dyed, it turns out like this:


Itajime Shibori  is my favorite that I have seen. This design is created through accordion folds and pressed between two hard objects. Therefore, the dye can only reach the exposed cloth. The end result looks like below!


http://blog.needsupply.com/2013/04/21/shibori-a-short-history/

Group project by Miranda, Nadia and Alice

Hi guys I'm Alice, I'm a BFA major and am from New Zealand!
These are some photos from my school portfolio which I based on the Christchurch earthquakes. Some of my artist models were Josef Koudelka and Aaron Siskind.

enojoy!

Group Project Reflection: NOHL

For the group project, our group consisted of me, Brynn, Hail, and Irene. We all connected with each other from the very beginning after we expressed our interest in Disney. Hail and Irene had more experience working digitally, while Brynn and I worked with more hands-on design. Our techniques balanced out, but we still had some skills in common. 

Our goal was to create hats in different collections that we could sell to Urban Outfitters. Hail created a snapback, Irene made head wraps, Brynn designed a beanie, and I made a flower crown. Each of our personalities shown through our hats, but we needed a way to to make our collections cohesive. We created a brand, NOHL, and a logo to tie all of the hats together. We made tags that we attached to each hat so they looked like they could be sold from the same store. Each of us also had a "mood board" so our client could see where our inspiration came from and constructed those images into a look book. If we had more time, we would have added more pages to the book and make it seem more complete. 

I felt like I learned a lot from this experience. I was able to take on a real life project while also trying to collaborate with other group members. We worked together really well and we all played an equal role on the team. We all listened to each other's ideas and gave suggestions for improvements along the way. I really enjoyed this project and hope I get an opportunity to work with my group mates again in the future (Hopefully at Disney!) Now I know where my path in design will lead to and I cannot wait to continue that journey. 

"Hand Made" Collaboration With 400 Students - Joanna Lee

For this collaborative project, our group decided to work with typography. Instead of solely utilizing computer graphics, we decided to go back to the basics by also experimenting with hands-on, tangible material so that we could explore all realms of type and font production. The idea itself was very general from the start, which opened up all doors for every group member to bring fun, exotic, everyday items that would form letters and eventually pertinent, cute little phrases. During the first group meeting, we brainstormed the concept of our project; we all came to the consensus that we wanted a visual book (almost like something that could be found pleasantly sitting on top of a table at a coffee shop for passersby to stop by and flip through) that provided both the artistic and entertainment elements to its readers. 

Link to the E-book, Hand Made: http://issuu.com/michael_bermudez/docs/handmadefont_project

"Hand Made" book cover page

Doing so brought more life to the text, and showed me that not everything in the design world had to be computerized and technology-based; sometimes going back to working with materials with one's own hands makes the experience even more intimate because one can feel the textures and how the objects themselves physically function and create the piece. Personally, it was a good wake-up call because I had assumed that design immediately associated with only computer-made layouts, spreads, etc. But through the experience that I gained while working on this project, I noticed that you can do both computerized works with an integrated hands-on creative aspect to it as well. 

Previously, I had always seen typography with a very skeptical eye because it only appeared to be a very narrow-minded, tedious process of learning the intricacies of text. Working on this project definitely showed me how the letters of the alphabet have unique shapes and symbols that all hold certain significance. Physically forming them with my hands when tying the rubber bands from one pin to another created a tension that I as the artist could feel while creating the rubber band "strokes" to create each letter, and positioning the safety pins in a rational and artistically-pleasing technique was a very fun concept to learn as well. Other different media that were used included grass blades, which had a very sharp and pointy feel to it, the tea bags, which held a very strong and fortified feel to it, sticky notes, which signified playfulness, and pixy dust, which was a very soft medium to work with (which meant that it took a lot of time to form.) The creation of the alphabets took about 2 to 3 class work studio days, and the rest of the work (compilation of the e-book) was done in and outside of class. We decided to include little phrases that correlated with the material used to make the words and the alphabet letter themselves because not only would it be practical, but more engaging because it shows the functionalities and readabilities of the letters we made from the rubber bands, grass, pixy dust, wet tea bags, and safety pins. 

Not only did I learn the valuable art of different typographical creations, but I also learned how to work in a group with varying interests and emphases. At first, being grouped up with a pair of advanced level students was overwhelming to me, but it was great that they encouraged us to be free in our thinking and to include input into what kinds of materials we would want to use to make the fonts. It was also a technical project because we thought about how to place and space the letters and which witty phrases to incorporate with each font.

Overall, I really enjoyed participating in this project, and I would definitely want to try it another time if I were given the opportunity to do so because I know for sure that every group learned something valuable, worthwhile, and unique from their own experiences.

Wet Teabags

Grass Blades

Pixie Dust

Safety Pins

Post-It Sticky Notes

Rubber Bands and Push Pins

Rubber bands + push pins on the wall

Rubber bands + push pins on the wall

Rubber bands + push pins on the wall

Rubber bands forming the alphabet