Tuesday, November 18, 2008

more research: SEW GREEN

Sew green is a movement that embraces fabrics made from biodegradable, sustainable, and eco-sensatve manufacturing. Fabric production is the number one polluting industries in the world, it is environmentally abusive and detrimental to our eco-system. Organic fabric producers consider the effects of the farming, harvesting, manufacturing and mill practices of their industry. The fashion industry has made a substantial move towards going green. Oscar de la Renta, Giorgio Armani, Katherine Hammett, Stella McCartney, Elieen Fisher, Levi Strauss and more have started making clothing using organic fabrics including jeans, baby clothes, evening gowns, accessories, and bridal gowns. With new "green" technologies and processes oragnic fabrics no longer have to be dull colors. The use of minimal impact dyes and water-based, vegtable or safe chemical dyes allow for the same type of clothing as commercially made clothing.
Natural and Organic fabrics are not the same thing. A natural fabric does not mean it is grown or manufactured in an eco-friendly way. Organic fabrics are controlled by strict federal guidelines that encompass how it is grown and manufactured. Organic fabrics include cotton, silk, and wool. Another way of producing fabrics is through sustainable crops such as soy, hemp, bamboo, corn and even seaweed. These crops are sustainable and renewable because they are fast-growing and replenished in a short amount of time.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

research

i am doing the research direction because i am more interested in the idea of presenting information in that context then in a commercial format. also i don't really watch/enjoy tv..and i mute all commercials. mainly i enjoy looking at and working on this kinda of media so i think it would be more appropriate in my portfolio.
the work exist to excite and encourage others to be involved in the tradition of sewing. I aim to liven it up from the stereotypical grandma's hobby and it make it appealing to all ages as a fun and suitable activity for anyone.
it would be found on any type of website because it is informational or a sewing website or on fabric store website (hobby lobby, joan annes fabrics, Michael's.). or my audience would be homemakers or younger. mainly because i have found that elderly woman that are a part of sewing group most often do not use the internet at all or do not understand the internet.

click here

click here

click here for multiple examples i can't directly link to

Monday, November 10, 2008

Final Presentation


through using audio in this project i found that the added element increases the level of understanding of the activity itself. sound brings together common everyday noises and groups them together to create a palette of sounds that all together represent an activity. music sets the context of the activity, adding an additional level of understanding of the people who may have preform that activity.
the sounds are more informative to the activity itself while music gives it a background and scene. alone the sounds intrigue the audience with familiar noises and together they present a three dimensional space.
my limited knowledge of flash lead me to design my project around what was taught to us. in that sense I was restricted by what i had learned for my initial concept. although i ended up using outside sources i found it really hard to try to learn a new language, and then be able to apply it to what we were doing.
i designed this piece to be controlled by the user. i selected the sounds, and visual representation of the interface but i left the interactive part open and easily manipulatable purposely without a desirable end or goal. I attempted to put enough variation in the interface to allow for many different way of interacting with it in ways that i could not predetermine. My hope was to inspire the user to create the relationships between the elements themselves in their own way.
The different kinds of visual or verbal elements are categorized in different section signified by the motifs. Which was a way of organizing the different elements in away that the user would be able to identify. The interactive play would happen through their manipulation of those elements through the relationships they discover in the motifs themselves. I wanted the user to have to learn through play how the elements work and to discover the elements through happy accidents.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Sound Process

the sounds i collected for the first part of this project had to do with the instruments of sewing and less of the noise of sewing itself. i collected a range of sounds from dropping needles, rolling thread, cloth ripping,cloth tearing, scissors snipping and sewing machine sound.
i did a series of voice overs that conveyed the definition of sewing. i ended up using a commercial i stubbled apon about a "new" item for a sewing machine from around the 1920's. The song i chose is from the musical The Perils of Pauline from the Paramount Studios in 1947. The main singer is the actress Betty Hutton who is singing about how her job sewing has taken over her life. The instrumental song i chose was...
my sound mark was the noise of a sewing machine ending with the noise of a pedal release.

through using sound in this project i thought it was interesting how the added element increases the level of understanding of the activity itself. alone they intrigue the audience with familiar noises and together they present a three dimensional space encompassing sound and visuals.
my concept for the interactive portion of this project began with the idea of the user being able to interact with my sounds, music and videos through manipulating the objects that contained the items. The objects are different motifs that would be arrange on fabric into patterns. each motif corresponds to a different type of object. in all there are five motifs.


Draft Screen Shot
Draft Screen Shot
Final Video Screen Shot

Final Video Screen Shot