Continuing on the mental work for the one-a-week challenge from Annie over at Imogene:
One of my favorite things about Project Runway is watching the designers go through their process, even if an exciting idea ends up not working. This grocery store challenge really appealed to me because it forces me think about materials in a fresh way, discarding old limitations and accepting new ones. For me, that’s an essential part of craft: love of wrestling with the materials. So in the spirit of that, here’s some things I was thinking about in my brainstorming at the grocery store:
- visual appeal: what catches my eye? interesting shapes? colors? what about visual texture? opaque or translucent?
- physical qualities: does it already have an interesting shape? can it be strung on thread as is? can it’s shape be manipulated: cut? sawed? pierced? drilled? bent? carved? is it brittle or flexible? hard or soft? dry or moist? sticky?
- ephemerality: how will it’s qualities change over time? will it dry out? fade? become brittle? will it’s color change? will it rot? mold? smell? dissolve?
- structure: how can I create a jewelry structure given it’s physical properties? can it be worked like metal? paper? fabric? rubber? will I need wire, thread, or any other jewelry findings to allow it to be worn? Are there other items I can buy here which could replace those findings?
- evaluation of concept: how wearable will this piece be? will it change over time? how long will it last? will it cause the wearer some discomfort? how easy will it be to put on? what trade-offs am I will to accept on these points for the sake of an exciting idea or compelling material?
I have to run to work, but if I have time tonight or tomorrow, maybe I’ll share some of my prototype experiments (like the PR designers doing a ‘muslin’) and some of the materials that I rejected and why. Thanks for the challenge Annie, this is fun!!
