The concept of this project began with the idea of isolation. This stemmed from before the Covid-19 pandemic as I spent the summer just been very unwell and isolated. With the rapidly developing global issue that was and still is Covid-19 I decided that conveying the isolation caused by this through my project felt like the right thing to do. This ideas came about before we went into lockdown and throughout lockdown I deemed it even more appropriate to base this project around Covid-19. I choose to analyse the lockdown period through the eyes of my generation and some how create a garment that encompassed my findings. Through this process I did a lot of drawing and asking questions. I asked a lot of my friends to send photos of what they were doing during lock down and discussed what their day to day lockdown lives looked like. From there I figured out what were the most reoccurring themes and began finalising my design.
To me this was the easy part, I had a clear idea and a good concept. When it came to starting construction I found it very hard to know where to start and felt very overwhelmed with all the different components that needed to be constructed, so I started on the table. This took a lot longer than expected and put me back by multiple weeks.
Having to construct this garment in my house in Blenheim made things a bit more difficult also as I had limited space, as well as limited resources and missed the guidance of having the lecturers around regularly. I also struggled a lot to stay motivated in a time of such uncertainty and struggled with my mental health throughout this project.
Addressing the design risks I took, I think the entire design is a risk as it is very bold and excessive. I think the colour pink was also a design risk as it could look great or it could look terrible.
I think the unique or special qualities of my work here is the concept behind it and the fact that it is based around my experience and my friends experiences in lockdown. I also think its pretty special that I managed to make around 85% of the elements out of recycled or second hand items, to reduce the impact of this garment on the environment.
Looking back on the outcome of this project I am incredibly disappointed with what I have produced, however feel I did as much as I could given the circumstances. There is a lot of work to be done before entering this garment into WOW, however I think this is manageable with the timeframe and the ability to slowly chip away at it instead of rushing to get it finished.
Some changes I plan on making before entering wow are: sealing the table and creating a more smooth finish, adding more detail to things, increasing the quality of construction of the items on the table and completing the other elements including the chair.
If i was to begin this project again I would definitely begin the construction a lot earlier as I now know how much time this project will take and how much stress it will cause when trying to rush it. I would also use a more solid base for the table as I love the idea that the table is made out of recycled materials however as the moment it looks white tacky and not very professional. I would also make a better plan and having things a lot more organised form the get go as I found that I was very overwhelmed and found this project hard to break down into small manageable pieces.
Overall I am reasonably happy with how this project has turned out considering the circumstances, however there is definitely room for things to be improved and added or removed.
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