Junqi Mei

Week 1 – Introduction to Sustainability

This week, the title of the lecture is sustainability. Nowadays, more and more people aware the importance of the environment due to the problems that pollution caused. The word ‘sustainability’ becomes much more popular in the fashion industry. As a student of print, I also care about the environment and the world. To apply the sustainable fashion, I decided to create some print with some sustainable materials. I got some cardboards from the express box. I just cut them into small pieces and stick them together in order to form a small signet with the texture inside the cardboard. Then I used that little signet to create some prints in a shipshape way. To make it more fun, I copied and enlarged the print and tried to do some collages with different size of it. So at the end I got a collage with different sizes of the print I created by the cardboard.

I also created some prints using the bottom of the empty plastic bottle and the rest of the cardboard. I also enlarged the print using the photocopier in order to get a different vibe. I used the color green, black and red with the cardboard to give the print a forest vibe. From this task, I really have fun and learn a lot. In the fashion industry, there are a lot of wastes and pollution being created every day. The environment has been damaged by all these things and becomes worse. So we need to do something to protect the environment and the world. Using the sustainable materials is very necessary and it is a very useful way to reduce the wastes and pollution.

Week 2 – Emerging Technology

The topic for this week is Emerging Technologies. Nowadays, we live in a world with full of modern technology. There are a lot of digital tools around us, for instance, photoshop, procreate, nomad, etc. So these things allow us to do more creative works. I used the 3D modeling tool to make one bone top (showing above).

I also used the glitch art with my drawings to create some prints.

Week 3 – Nature

The topic of this week is nature. I created some knit sample with the ocean vibe. One is inspired by the sea shell and the conch, the other one is inspired by the fish.

I also created a print sample using the leaves with the color blue and gray, in order to give a snow vibe.

Week 4 – Cultural Sustainability

The topic for this week is Cultural Sustainability. There is a traditional weaving skill in China called Bamboo Weaving. This skill exists for over 5000 years and still be used by a lot of artists now. It’s one of the intangible cultural heritages. Because of the lack of materials, I used the paper instead of bamboo to make one easiest sample of the Bamboo Weaving. And then, I just used it to make a print.

Week 5 – Empathy

The title for the lecture of this week is Empathy. The term “empathy” is used to describe the ability to sense other people’s emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling. In the fashion industry, designers should be more sensitive to users and aim to be more empathic.

I selected some work from an artist called Gaëtan de Seguin. Almost every drawing created by him is about the crowd. He didn’t explain about his fantastic work, but I can still feel something is connecting between each person he drew. his work really inspired me and gave me ideas.

So I just tried to use the way that Gaëtan de Seguin used and created some works about the crowd. I tried to draw in different scale. The first picture shown above is like a big family. different color represent different personality. I created a crowd in my second work. each person have different color, they all slightly blended some color to other people. I tried to show the connection between each person through this drawings.

Self Reflection

This trip through these weeks is very meaningful and memorable to me. Every week’s topic was interesting but challengeable. In the first week, The topic is Sustainability. I didn’t pay my attention on the sustainability before this. After the online lesson, I started to know the meaning of sustainability and how important it is in the fashion industry. To respond the topic, I just selected something that can recycle from the waste product, and tried to use them to make some simple print. the whole process is simple but interesting, I really enjoy it.

For week two, the topic was Emerging Technology. Actually I’m not very good at using the digital tool to create works. But nowadays, modern technology is one of the most popular subjects in the fashion industry. So I had to learn how to create with the help of technology. I really learned a lot from this.

The topic of the third week is Nature. This is a very wide topic because the nature includes everything without the technology, comes from the Earth. For this topic, I created one knit sample inspired by the sea shells and the conch. Also I made a small sample inspired by the fish crowd. I also created a print using the leaves. With the colors of blue, gray and red, I tried to give a vibe of winter. From this section, I realized how beautiful the nature is and the importance of it. We must do something to protect the nature.

Week four’s topic is Cultural sustainability. I did some research about Chinese traditional skills and selected the Bamboo weaving, a traditional weaving skill from China. it’s one of the intangible cultural heritages. I used the paper instead of bamboo to made a simplest sample. And I used the sample to create a print. This experience is very meaningful to me because it is about my culture.

The last topic is about empathy. I realized empathy also plays an important role in the fashion industry. we need to be more sensitive and empathic. I did some research about a french artist called Gaëtan de Seguin. I was fascinated by his work. He didn’t explain about his work but I still feel the connection between people. So I tried to draw something about the crowd. In the crowd, everyone is affecting others.

Through this experience of doing the blog, I really learned a lot. I used different kind of media to finish my work, and I got some new skills. I really appreciate the chance and I will keep exploring.