Design Practice One is a whirlwind. When starting university for the semester or year, you usually expect a couple of weeks ‘warm-up’ period, but this was the opposite. Starting off with making 51 things in week one was a jolt to the system,m which ultimately led to some great benefits but also some understandable shortcomings/flaws. I set out in this class to explore ‘how does wool make a statement’, which is extremely broad, I know. I had the goal to bring wool to the forefront of the wearables industry, and I had split that into two thought groups: 1) using wool to create superior products, e.g., merino instead of polypropylene for leggings, and 2) creating more awareness around wool so that more people see it and are exposed to it. Because Design practice was about making, exploring, and learning through prototyping, I wanted to start with a broad statement and then narrow it over the weeks. I feel like I began to do that, but perhaps my opening statement should have been more specific to better guide the direction I wanted to take. I started week three in three mediums, an additional split from how wool can make a statement. 1) mixed media, creating awareness through graphics created with images of wool I had taken, 2) felting, using a machine within textiles that I wasn't familiar with to learn and prototype with and 3) natural dyeing, something that I have seen connect people to the material through my business selling naturally dyed woollen shoelaces that I continue to operate now. This exploration took me right through to week two, where I built on the concepts from week one to continue testing and developing these three areas, expanding on a woollen shoelace alphabet I was making, using wet and digital felts, and continuing new explorations into natural dyes. I feel like trying mixed media and felting was a great way to push myself to explore new ways of expression, but perhaps natural dyeing at first served as a safety net, giving me at least one thing I was familiar with. However, because I was familiar with it, naturally dyeing led me to use more time than I should have in specifically week one, where I would adjust, not needing to use the waiting times between dyes, when realistically I was cleaning and setting up the next one, which was a part of the process. I feel like this strain has caught up to me, and I need to do a better job in the next two weeks of valuing and respecting my time.

Then in week three, I had a realisation. I was talking to Sue in my contextual review class and began explaining how I wanted to bring wool to the forefront of wearables, effectively by ‘tacking’ it onto fashion and bringing it closer to fashion because there weren't enough people who knew about wool to market to them. She challenged me and said, "Is that the goal, or should you be looking to expand the wool industry within, telling its stories and inviting people to sit at the table rather than moving tables?" This new outlook stuck with me and was shown in my week three outputs, while i still continued with my ‘awareness’ through completing my shoelace alphabet and turning it into a useable, downloadable font, I also explored this concept of tying people to product, but more specifically trying to understand where the line was between ‘nike and your nana’ where did the authenticity from a hand crafted one off good and a mass manufactured product meet at a point that promotes traceability, narrative and authenticity while still maintaining a viable price point? I trialled making a wet felt I had created in week two through a digital felt instead to see whether you could see and feel a difference in the time put in. Their feedback was simple, yes. This has led me to a more specific purpose of making that I perhaps didn't have in weeks 1-3, which were more about exploring, but perhaps that was the point? I don't think I would be where I am now without letting myself be creative and just play and learn through making.

Action Plan 

This has led me to a new goal for weeks 4 and 5: “How can strong wool strengthen people's relationships with what they wear, so they are buying more than just a product. I aim to test this goal by heading to Cornwall Park, with whom I have already been working through my business, and to create a piece of felted work dyed with ingredients from their park. I aim to do this on a digital felt, which is a faster method, but see if the story the piece tells through its connection to place outweighs the idea that it wasn't inherently made just with my hands. Looking at where I have come from to where I am now, I feel like I have gained a deeper understanding of what I want to achieve. I feel like there are still ways to go, but I am much closer to articulating this ball of thoughts revolving in my head.