Project 3 (second year)

The brief for the last project of my second year was completely determined by myself, I chose to focus upon a historical archive. In this case I wanted to investigate into the NTU lace archives, I was interested in the deterioration of the lace and its history, I was also intrigued by the detail and graphic nature of some of the lace, portfolio pages and draft plans. Below are some of my digitally designed samples, I focused on layering, broken line and incomplete motifs. The samples have been designed with a A/W13 colour palette in mind, juxtaposing sombre navys and greys with neon greens.

All images ©Yashmin Siraj


I'll post some of my final fabric samples and development work at a later date.

Second Year Textiles (Live Project)

These are some of the resolved designs I created for this live brief. 


These fabric designs were used for the final group collection. I focused upon graphic imagery juxtaposed against a muted background. I used the more sombre colours in my colour palette as backgrounds and the more vibrant turquoises and greens for the motifs and imagery. I used a range of print processes and pigments such as flock, puff binder, metallic and regular pigment. I wanted to create a contrast of textures and colours within my designs. I also collaborated with the embroiderer in my group to add another element to one of my samples through the use of stitch. I also created different colourways with the aid of Photoshop, to explore different mood and colour proportions.


(Click images to enlarge)

I also created samples to be used within my individual collection, These samples are quite different from the ones i included with the group's final collection. I experiment a bit more with colour proportions and different print processes such as reactive dye monoprinting, which in turn creates a very different look and mood.

All images ©Yashmin Siraj

Second Year Textiles (Live Project)

The second project for the second year, was a depart from the self directed routine that we have had in the past modules, this was a live brief set by a textiles company. From the four companies that set us briefs, I chose to do a brief that was very interiors focused, the company Harlequin set a very open minded brief of which we had quite a lot of room to be creative, innovative and also experimental. However with this brief I did have to focus on the target market, the interior focus and also what the brand has already got to offer to the interior textiles market and how I could create fabric designs that would work within the established brand identity.


The concept that my group and I decided upon was a rural/woodland theme, focusing on birds, habitats and plants.


I decided to take a very graphic and illustrative approach to this theme, I looked particularly at birds and the feathers in particular. The visual research and drawings i produced combined very hard graphic, liners mark making with more fluid watery inky backgrounds. I also experimented with layering, contrast of textures and also combination and blending of colours.


Preliminary drawings,

Experimenting with colour and ink,

All images ©Yashmin Siraj

Second Year Textiles (Man Made/ Organic Project)

I developed more refined design ideas with the aid of Photoshop, I created motifs and imagery using the drawings from my sketchbook. Using this imagery I created repeat and placement designs. I wanted to create  a organic, slightly chaotic mood, however the use of my imagery in my sketchbook (the ordered maps and grids) meant there is a certain man made element to my designs. Furthermore the use of digital technology and the fact I used digital print on silk habotai emphasised my theme of the contrast of man-made and natural. The flow and vine like qualities of both the motifs and silk juxtaposes greatly with the map/grid like lines within the motifs and the digital print methods I decided to use for my resolved final outcomes.


Below are the final design samples for this resolved project. (Click to enlarge images.)

© Yashmin Siraj

Second Year Textiles (Man Made/ Organic Project)

Developing on from my theme of the contrast of man-man grids and natural textures, I developed my drawing through the means of Photoshop into developmental designs and compositions. I wanted to create a complex and fluid pattern with the imagery from my visual research.


Below are a few examples of the preliminary designs I created with Photoshop.

© Yashmin Siraj 

Second Year Textiles (Man Made/ Organic Project)

Going into second year I decided to specialise in Print. I felt my drawing skills and knowledge were best suited to this area of Textiles, and i wanted to explore the specialism further throughout my second year.


The first module consisted of a technical block, in which i learnt all the processes and skills needed for the rest of my degree. In this project i decided to look into the juxtaposition of natural and man made as my over arching theme. I researched into maps, aerial road maps, satellite road images, OS maps and also into natural forms such as trees, vegetation, fruit, and decaying organic textures.


I wanted to push my CAD skills further therefore worked heavily on Adobe Photoshop to create a lot of my designs.


These are a few of my initial sketches and visual research for this project.

© Yashmin Siraj