Brixton

It was my first time exploring Brixton today and although I had quite negative expectations after hearing all the bad reports on the news, I really liked it. The whole place seemed so busy and vibrant and full of different people and cultures. The market stalls were so colourful and intersting with fruit I had never seen before and everyone was so friendly and chatty, telling me how to use the different foods, and what they actually were! Although I still have no idea what I'm doing for the project, I'm looking forward to going back to Brixton!

Reflective Statement- Unit 1

During the first few weeks of the course when we started doing the Rough Guide project I at fist wondered how on earth looking round London was ever going to help me learn practical skills and become a textile designer but looking back I think it was one of the most important projects I’ve done. It taught me that to achieve a really good and interesting final outcome, design idea or image, you really need to research properly. A couple of drawings isn’t enough and it took a whole week of collecting photos, drawings, rubbish and leaflets for me to really get a sense of place and understand the area and appreciate it.

I think I have also really learnt to look at all the information I have first then start to edit and analyze it, which really makes doing lots of research important! I have learnt to look at my photos differently and also take photos from different angles, levels, viewpoints and directions to capture the most visually interesting scene I can out of something which may look very ordinary.

I have worked really hard on my blog, trying to write down what we needed to as part of the tasks, but also include a few other posts, such as little reviews of the exhibits I have been to on my own and my thoughts on how the blocks were going, with images of my work, so others can judge and hopefully write comments about how they see the work. I think it is a helpful tool to show your thoughts and work to the public in a friendly and informal way, and it is nice to decorate and make your page a little bit interesting so people actually want to look at your work! I think I have done well in the tasks and wrote quite a lot for them all, but I think that at times I totally forget I’m doing a blog and slip into essay language, which isn’t good. I also wish I was better on computers so I could make my blog look really good as I’ve seen some with lovely backgrounds, pictures in different places, fancy text, links to other pages and websites, search boxes and even movie clips and I think that these added features really make the blog more interesting and easier to navigate. I would especially like to be able to use links and search boxes properly as it would make it much easier to see my different posts and find what you were looking for straight t away with the blog, as some posts don’t have the most obvious names. When I’m next doing my blog for a task I’ll keep an eye on the language I use to try and keep it chatty and informal and like something which I would enjoy reading so hopefully others can as well!

Robert Opie Collection

I think I can honestly say that this museum visit has probably been my favourite of any museum I have ever been to. It was full of old packaging, advertisements, toys, games, clothes, furniture, food, cosmetics and basically everyday products and appliances which we use everyday and which are all branded, but we don't even notice as the names and logos are so familiar.

It was funny to see all the packs of traditional brands like Cadbury Roses, Johnson's Talc, Marmite, Kellogg's Cornflakes and Heinz Baked beans dating from the very first packaging to the one we are used to today. It was also interesting to see how although materials used for the packaging had usually changed from glass and tins, to cardboard and plastic, the imagery, colours and brand logo all remained consistent, building up in our head a familiar and trustworthy brand which we have grown up with and will continue buying as we have become confident and brand loyal.

I have decided to focus on the Kellog’s brand as I feel it is something we all grow up with from been a baby and no matter what your diet you cant escape Kellogg’s food.

Kellogg's was founded as the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company on February 19, 1906, by Will Keith Kellogg and his brother John Harvey Kellogg at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. The invention of Kellogg's cornflakes which started the whole corporation was in fact an accident. The brothers were part of a Christian group, the seventh day Adventists, who were strict vegetarians, had no alcohol, tobacco, or caffeine and believed that spicy or sweet foods would increase passions so ate only tasteless foods such as oats, corn and rice.

On August 8th, 1894 the brothers accidentally left some wheat out while they went to work and when they got back they found that the wheat had gone stale, but as they didn't have a lot of money they decided to continue to prepare and eat it anyway by forcing it through rollers, hoping to obtain long sheets of dough. However, what they actually got were flakes, which they toasted and the first cornflake was made.

On April 14th, 1896 a patent was filed for the cornflakes and from then on the invention has been accredited to the bothers. In 1906 the brand tried to mass market cornflakes and added sugar to them to appeal to a wider audience and they also started experimenting with other grains and in 1928 Rice Crispies were invented. Since then Kellogg's have invented many many more products, such as Frosted Flakes, Nutri-grain, Special K, Coco pop's, All Bran and Fruit n' Fibre. The company saw decline in it figures in the early 80's so decided to advertise the "health benefits" and convenience of their cereals and this led to a 26% rise in cereal buying among 25-49 year olds in the US and their profits rose from $3.7 billion in 1983, to $5.4 billion in 1988.

Kellogg's as a brand has a very wide and varied consumer base, both men and women, young and old, they make a product to suit everyone. Most children are brought up eating different cereals like Frosties and rice crispies, and many of the character cereals Kellogg's sell through a partnership with Disney and the Simpsons creators. Not only are the cereals endorsed by favourite children's characters's, they are sweet and tasty and many often contain free toys and offers, making them irresistible to children. For adults as well they are seen as a cheap, convenient and healthy start to the day for their children. As we grow up we usually stick with the products we have always eaten and grown up around, however Kellogg's also markets some of its products towards adults, such as Fruit n' Fibre, Special K and All Bran as they are seen as nutritious and Special K especially is marketed as a weight loss product, which appeals a lot to women.

On their website Kellogg's have a whole section devoted to their values and commitment to the environment as try to portray a very positive view of the company. They say the company has a commitment to integrity and ethics, pride in the brand and its heritage, seeks to serve and delight consumers through the quality of the products and services, promotes and protects their reputation, is committed to continuous improvement and are willing to change.

Kellogg's have also been trying hard to reduce their environmental impact across the world and becoming more green. By sharing transport they have cut road miles by 270000 between 2006-09, reduced global waste by 41.5% per tonne since 2005 and have goals to further this, reduced emissions by 10% since 2005, reduced water use by 17% since 2005 and all their packaging is recyclable. All these measures have been put into place as part of long term goals and a plan for Kellogg's to become more green and preserve its friendly, family loved appearance and so far it seems to have worked!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...

Just finished the print block today and I am so confused!! Margret really liked my work which made me feel so happy, she even told Kathy that she wanted me and Kim in print next year (!!) but I really don't know what to do...I do really like print and I know I can do it, but I've been doing it since year 5 and i'm almost bored with it and this makes me think I don't like it.

I also really liked weave but it seems so long since we did it, I almost cant remember it and I don't want to make a mistake choosing my pathway. Do I go for something new which I know I really enjoyed doing? Or print which I have so much practise in and know I can do well....

Change of Essay...?

After starting to research for my object analysis essay I think I will need to slightly change the subject for it as I cant really find much on Suzanne Lee and her work other than the information I already had from the trash fashion exhibit. I think I will start my essay with the same focus, why we need to be sustainable in fashion and the effects the consumer culture we live in is having on the world but then instead of just looking at Lee's bioculture work I will look at designers who use nature as either inspiration or material to create more environmentally friendly fashion. So far I have managed to find information on bio jewellery, creating jewellery using human bone, David Anderson who uses a material like plastic but made from corn and creates beautiful clothes with it and Donna Sgro who uses creatures such as butterflies and peacocks and the way they shimmer in the light as her inspiration to create fabric which doesn't require the use of water and polluting dyes. By investigating these designers I hope to see how we can return to nature to create garments instead of using man made and synthetic materials and also investigate other possible natural sources of fabric for garments. I will also use the essay to ask questions such as is it possible to create such large volumes of clothes that we buy today using natural sources or do we have to change our whole consumer culture?