Burn the Doorway, Find a new Room.

As my degree draws to a close, the surreal nature of this is beginning to hit. While there is still. GFW to contend with, the reality of actually completing this time is beyond strange. As if, like school, there is the constant feeling it will never be over, and then when it is the world feels freer, but the pressure to make something of yourself is greater. I have my plans, back-up plans, and a great deal of flexibility within my goals and how I intend to achieve them, all of which are specified within my career pack. The goals currently are hand-in and Graduate Fashion Week, and upon having had such an up and down year, the recognition of needing to take a break from working to the level which has been needed to be observed; this became apparently clear when I was ill, and 2 weeks of being entirely unable to function, not feeling as myself, and not being able to recall as time in recent years in which being ill has brought me such misery. I have always pushed myself, and I will continue to do this, but there is no point pushing yourself if do so, so hard you lose the ability to do anything at all; and this could not be truer than what happened this year.

I am excited to enter the world, to apply for places, to take experiences, and to see where I end up after all this. I want to work across the world, and I want to create Art through Fashion, these are my two core goals, and I have no intention of not fulfilling them. This year has been one which has taught me much about myself and the way in which I work, what I strive to create, and while the collection has been the focus for nearly a year, I will always have a fondness for it as the set of outfits, and the design process which made me realise who I am and what my core, as a creative, and as a designer, truly is: Intense, Avant-Garde, Conceptual, and Powerful. This is the final time I will write here as a student prior to my hand-in, but this is not the end, and my journey, whatever it may be, will be here, laid out for all to see.

This is Rachael Mansfield, Design by R, Thank you and Goodnight.

Tuning out the Noise.

Needing an extension was one thing I did not want to have to do, however I am obsurdly glad I did, as the time lost over those two weeks of illness has become increasingly blatant. While there is an issue still with the nature of the extension length, having only been granted 11 days, as opposed to the requested 14 which I actually lost, this cannot be helped, and is likely in the event of Graduate Fashion Week and the need to prepare for that. Nonetheless, despite being selected by GFW’19, my focus remains purely on hand-in, as this is why I am here, not for GFW, and my degree is what will carry me forwards. It has been a difficult time, having an extension whilst almost everyone around me celebrates, relaxes, and, mostly without intention, parades their complete lack of responsibility now. This has made the possession of an extension, while incredibly necessary, and one I am grateful for, a difficult task within itself. However, as that time draws to a close, it is the standard rush for hand-in, and bore even further from the reality of the bank holiday the day prior, preventing any admittance upon this day.

The Flipside

The continuing flipside to the collection has been the digital work, which both accompanies it and presents the final result of the practical, it is not to be ignored, however as someone who has always found themselves as a slight disadvantage with the nature of manufacture, whether it is speed, or in a perfectionist attempt, and therefore there has been a heavy predominance for the practical, to allow time to complete the digital, without waiting for the practical. There is a method to this, while also being a large volume of similar types of work, it is not that I have done none, but with aspects such as the portfolio, it feels as the conclusion of the project, this many be from the routine of school, and now university, where the boards have typically been presented and created once the work itself has come to fruition, however this seems to allow for greater clarity in the outcomes and the most relevant pieces to include to illustrate the journey of months into a new of A3 Boards. Aspects such as my Tech Pack have been juggled, and while there has been a sense of urgency regarding time, this was an aspect which was genuinely enjoyed; it allowed for the practical and literacy areas of my brain to create something logical and tangible. The academic background from whence I came, means that written aspects provide some balance and some relief, where the creative demand is allowed to rest in favour of the logical and definitive. The tackle of the digital aspects, beyond the need to scan, print, and measure aspects for the variety of created elements, has been something of a challenge in times beyond university, when I must rely on my own technology , and the high-quality, large -screened, powerful systems are swapped for far smaller and lower quality technology with comparatively little power, the creation of portfolio boards, website, and any other digital elements, such as the detailed tracing of the Pattern piece for the Tech Pack, have taken far longer, and are more difficult to create to the standard I aspire to. Nonetheless, diligence and understanding are the only controllable aspects in these terms, and the recognition of when are where are the best places to utilise the technologies to their fullest capabilities.