Blog post 2
Reflection on themes and my creative process
The Better Lives Unit informed us on fashion and its connection to themes such as diversity, sustainability and social responsibilities.
My Fashion Activism classes highlighted those themes in relation to creative direction. These classes have made me realise aspects of diversity, sustainability and social responsibilities that I didn’t necessarily think would be needed as much in this practice. For example it has taught me that when brainstorming for a visual campaign it’s important to consider resources carefully, to be inclusive and to think of ethical production. This was new to me as I thought that sustainability for example doesn’t affect creative direction as much as other more hands-on practices where actual tangible products are made.
What I learnt in creative direction can also be applied to my creative practice as a fashion image maker and illustrator. For instance thinking of resources that are renewable and reusable is key. It is important to maximise repair, reuse, remaking and recycling products. This may mean that when I’m styling a model for a shoot or a life drawing session I will need to consider using upcycled, second hand or borrowed clothes in order to maximise the reuse of already available products. This will diminish the amount of waste created due to over consumption of fashion items. Also when creating illustrations I may start using scraps and recycled pieces of paper to draw on or create collages with. This will also help the amount of paper wasted. I’m glad our research journals where we record our developments are already digital as that decreases the paper waste too.
Inclusivity is also very important in the illustration field as it helps to show representation of different body types, races, ages…etc. I have seen students from the year above put that into practice as they’ve based their illustrations on various types of fxmme bodies, with stretch marks, rolls and skin conditions, which I found very thoughtful and smart. It is so easy to dismiss how our illustrations can contribute to inclusivity and representation in the media and how much it would mean to people who can relate or look up to that image. Just by drawing different kinds of people we are able to shed light on them and celebrate them just as much as the models we generally tend to draw without any flaws or not as varied. This makes me feel like we are as important and as much of a contributor to this cause as other fashion fields, and that showing diversity isn’t exclusive to catwalk or fashion photography, it can be achieved through illustration too.
Lastly, it’s important that I look into ethics as an illustrator. I don’t want to illustrate for brands that aren’t in favour of ethical production. And even the mediums I use to draw with should be ethically sourced or recycled. Whether it be natural paintbrushes or sketchbooks made of recycled paper. It should be ethically produced.
The Better Lives project will also inform my practice in an upcoming project for my Fashion Activism classes, in which we are going to create a visual campaign keeping in mind the themes of sustainability, diversity and social responsibilities.
9th May 2020 @ 3:06 pm
Blog Post 4: Peer Review Task
I have chosen to review Asa Zaman’s second blog post because I feel she has reflected on each of the Better Lives’ themes (Social Responsibility, Diversity and Sustainability) thoroughly and has shown how she personally relates to each of these elements. For her Better Lives unit, she undertook classes in Fashion Activism where she learnt the importance of considering the use of ethical resources and production when planning campaigns. In any fashion related course, ethical responsibility is important since every one of our actions contribute to whether the impacts on the world are positive or negative. A notable point that Asa added was that she didn’t think the consideration of ethical production was imperative in a subject such as Fashion Activism or Creative Direction because of these subjects aren’t as practical as Fashion Design where you are more able to physically and thoughtfully interact with the materials you will be using to design garments. However, the theoretical fashion practices are just as impactful as the practical fashion practices since practitioners from various fashion degrees eventually collaborate when planning fashion show events for example, therefore ethical, sustainable and diversity issues and solutions must be considered across all areas. This is where Asa has demonstrated her knowledge of the connection between broader fashion practices and the need for ethical consideration.
Furthermore, Asa has used her knowledge taken from her Creative Direction classes to help her think more sustainably when it comes to her own fashion practices. Whilst studying BA Fashion Imaging and Illustration, she now feels more provoked to reuse and get the most out of the resources she already owns when producing illustrations. As a result, she will be lessening her environmental impact on the world whilst saving money and producing sustainable pieces. Asa has also mentioned that she will consider upcycling and using secondhand garments when styling her subjects which shows her thoughtfulness in how her consumption is impacting her surroundings. When reduce our purchases in mass produced items, we reduce the toxic impacts that can occur in the world when this occurs, which improves our health and preserves the earth’s resources. Asa has considered applying sustainable methods to her creative practices.
Lastly, Asa has also taken inspiration from her peers in second and third years whose work have incorporated elements of diverse representation, which is allowing her to explore ways to represent the underrepresented in Fashion Illustration. She has recognised that most of the fashion images portrayed in fashion media lack a range of diverse body types and skin tones and wants to present a different view in her work. The acknowledgement of how fashion media can affect the minds of people is apparent here because the everyday people that we come across during the course of our lives have imperfections, so why is that not included in a lot more fashion images?
In conclusion, Asa Zaman has covered all areas of the Better Lives’ Themes and has extensively considered how she can imply them into her creative fashion practices.