Practice unit evaluation

I feel I have progressed well over the unit as a whole, developing my strengths as a designer whilst also exploring new territories.

I have had a strong concept and set of values to underpin my work across the unit, which have been informed by the work I did over the summer. Although I have not felt limited by this, in hindsight a different brief or source of inspiration could have provided greater variety to my portfolio.

My work this year has been much more fashion focussed, I was a little concerned about my capabilities, as I have not had much experience of garment making. However I feel I have progressed enormously during this unit in terms of audience awareness and garment visualisation and illustration. I have actually found it helpful to have a clear idea of context to work towards with my samples and I feel they are more informed as a result of this.  

Making a garment was a steep learning curve for me. I found the process very rewarding, although the outcome was not exactly as I had envisaged and I now have a much better understanding of garment construction. I am disappointed I did not have time to make a 2^nd garment as I could envisage the outcome clearly and it would have made my collection feel more complete. Better management of time and quicker decision-making on my part would have facilitated this. I am keen to explore garment construction more in unit x though, so can use all my research and development to inform this.

The three briefs I have worked on have a unified aesthetic, but are distinct from one another and I think I have managed to address different aspects of my concept in each. I regret not starting the Batsford prize brief earlier as I am aware the work is not developed enough. Working with found materials was much more challenging than I had anticipated and I felt frustrated at times given the limited time frame I had to work in. I have made some interesting discoveries though and have enjoyed working in a more experimental way; the use of recycled materials in provocative way is something I would like to explore and expand on in unit x.

Using sustainable processes and materials was something I strived towards during this unit. I am pleased that I followed through with this to a certain extent as I feel it gives my work greater integrity. It has meant I have had to make certain compromises, particularly on yarn quality, I could have looked further into sourcing different sustainable yarns and worked more on finishing processes to overcome some of these limitations, this is something to develop in unit x. I feel the use of indigo and rust dyeing has been a success and will continue to explore natural dyes in the next unit.

The knit and hand finishing processes I have explored and refined in this unit have given my work a sensitivity and I am keen to develop them further to create a signature style to my work.