Behind the Scenes: Concept Design for Foundations Revealed 2020 contest
How do designers come up with the things they do for nebulous concepts? How does the design they make inform the viewer of the character, mood, etc that they are looking at? Come behind the scenes with me in a multi-part adventure as I design my 2020 Foundations Revealed contest entry!
Let's start with the basics: What is the brief? In theatre, you typically have a script that tells you something about the character-- name, age, socioeconomic status, geographic location, etc, and the development of the script should reveal their thoughts, motivations and so on. In dance design, you aren't always creating a costume for a specific character or a character who has a bunch of lines to tell you what they think, feel or want. However, movement tells you a lot about the mood of the character, too-- confidence, age, all sorts of elements can be provided by the posture & movement of the performer.
With all that in mind, how do you then translate this kind of storytelling through costume, to a photo shoot, editorial, or other more "static" representation? How blatant does the design need to be to tell the viewer what they are seeing? Where is the line between "hitting the viewer over the head" and "giving them the info but letting them decide what they are seeing"?
The "brief" for the 2020 Foundations Revealed contest is the theme of renewal, with an emphasis for designers to explore sustainability. Themes for the contest are kept open enough for entrants to play "mad scientist" and test out new ideas, in patterns, fabrics, techniques, and more. Many people design corsets or corset outfits for the contest, but there are also historical garments and other outfits that get entered.
Starting with that brief, and a poke through the contest Pinterest board the website staff created, my brain immediately latched onto mythology. It has been an interest of mine since I was very little, and so I picked up one of my favorite mythology reference books from the library-- The Encyclopedia of Goddesses & Heroines. Back in high school, I had that book pretty much memorized, but it has been nearly 20 years!
While I researched the deities & legends that connected to the theme of renewal, I looked at what kinds of renewal spoke to me... Nature? Psychology? Feminine trinity? I also researched natural fiber fabrics, sustainable fabrics, and eco-friendly dye treatments for fabric. This was another way I was able to play mad scientist-- I did a test batch of dye using only kitchen-safe ingredients! My "purple soup" was red cabbage, basil leaves, pomegranate juice, blueberries, vinegar, salt, and alum (the kind used for pickles). It definitely makes a lovely color (and a smell I don't love, as I hate cabbage!), but many plant-based dyes are fugitive... they fade out relatively quickly. They type of fabric and if/how it is pretreated can alter how fugitive the dyes are. I used an untreated silk/cotton swatch, and a scoured, alum-mordanted cotton swatch. The cotton has since lost most of the purple shades and is an interesting light grey. The silk blend shows more purple on the silk threads of the weave and the cotton threads nearly match the plain cotton swatch. It's fascinating and has a big impact on my design!
Initial experimenting done, I researched deities, plants, and symbols to find images that spoke to me, and then began sketching a design in watercolor pencils. This year's design involves a corset-free outfit for myself but a companion will be part of the project, and will be wearing a corset vest. I still have to sketch the vest design, but I have the mock up stitched together, a headpiece made for my part, and a belt made and heavily decorated within my theme for my outfit.
Persephone & Hades meme
Because I have to represent the theme in a way that most people won't see in person and most may not see my blog journey about the creation, I opted to add some symbolism that should be fairly obvious to most people.
Symbols of Persephone Spring Summer Autumn Leaf
Stay tuned for more details about this project! If you like what you see, follow me on Instagram, or contact me about special designs for you!
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