My revision for my Arcadia assessment day

I've been revising really hard for my interview with Arcadia on the 11th of April! Every door and cupboard in my flat has revision about range planning/ Phillip Green/ Arcadia/ the role of a buyer/ the buying cycle/ challenges to the retail sector and trends/ general buying info etc! Fingers crossed for my interview I can't wait!

Nancy Rose Taplin

Guest Speaker - Nancy Rose Taplin

On the 27^th of February I listened to a presentation by an ex-Colchester Institute graduated student, Nancy Rose Taplin who gave a presentation of her final major project. It was fascinating to see her approach and different ways of working. She received a very high mark of 95% for her project therefore we were all very keen to see her strengths in her work and how her work reflected this high mark. What was most apparent during the presentation was her intense commitment and dedication to her work. I looked through sketchbooks and design boards and could see the immense amount of thought and detail that had gone into absolutely every part of her work. Her subject of World War Two for her project was illustrated throughout her designs in a really interesting and well-thought out way.

Nancy was born in 1980, the daughter of the sculptor Guy Taplin, and the ceramicist and stained glass artist Robina Jack.  She holds an MA in Art History and a degree in Fashion and Textiles, and her diverse training is reflected in her work, which umbrellas fine art, fashion and interiors, and is inspired by subjects as disparate as the First World War and the estuary at the bottom of her road.

Nancy has won multiple awards for her textiles, including the prestigious Texprint 2009 Interior Fashion Award, judged by Grayson Perry.  She has shown and sold her fabrics in London, Paris, India and Hong Kong.

It was really interesting to learn from Nancy how she had incorporated her research imagery into her final piece. There were so many discreet references such as hidden war figures in the shadows of the fringing and a birds-eye view of the trenches on the fabric. It is clear just how much time went into Nancy’s collection through her intricate embellishment and successful screen printing techniques.

Overall Nancy’s work made me want to get really immersed in my work just as she had done with her own.

She gave us some really interesting advice such as:

• Being able to recycle your ideas is extremely important.
• There needs to be something consistent in your work whether it is colour, motif or theme so that it is recognisable.
• Consider how to brand your work and make it marketable.
• Make the mistake which lead to something exciting.
•  Become obsessed with your work to get the most out of it.

Final Major Project Wall Space/Presentations

On the first studio day back after the February break, I had to give a presentation of my final major project to my peers and tutors. I presented my ideas and research about what I wanted to do standing next to my work space which had all my inspirational imagery, colour palette research and primary and secondary research pinned on it. I was very nervous to present my ideas and worried that I may not have enough work to talk about, however I found the experience extremely useful and I managed to cover most areas that were required such as colour palette, subject, primary and secondary research sources, techniques and my intentions.

I found the overall experience very useful because it made me plan my presentation, aims and objective and have at least a vague idea for everything I was going to do. It also helped with my fear of public speaking as I’m not a very confident person and it gave me a chance to practice talking about my work and final project ideas.

It was also interesting to see the rest of my year group’s presentations as it gave me ideas of how to improve the structure of my own work and other influences and places to look at and take inspiration from. Whilst watching the presentations everyone wrote down critical feedback which was interesting because it made me consider areas that were lacking in their projects and if these areas were lacking in my own. It was also really useful because I received feedback and ideas from my peers about how I could improve my own project. Overall it was really interesting to watch the other final major projects and get constructive feedback from my tutors. Their comments and insights were really helpful and at this early stage in the process of the final major project it was useful to receive this in order to go away and amend and expand on what was said for next week.