2 months isn't a long time, is it?

So...another quarter, come and gone. Out of the four I've had so far, I think that this one was at the same time the most creative and the most lackluster. In my Creative Design course, I felt I grew a lot - and it certainly helped that we were able to do computer flats (or CADs) rather than hand-drawn ones!

Here's a round-up of what I did, very quickly, in every class:

Creative Draping 2: This class was fun because I was surrounded by good friends and a teacher who was very generous with grades - and was very appreciative of the students who actually followed directions. She incorporated a lot of couture sewing methods into the projects, so every assignment had a hand-sewn hem (I'm an expert at blind hems now!). My final project was this amazing colorblocked cobalt and black dress, which I'll have pictures of soon - maybe by November. The bottom part fits, but the top is a little...roomy...for someone of my stature.

Creative Design Analysis and Collection Development: I loved this class. This quarter (and next) I had all of my classes with my friend Airi, who is amazing and really creative. The first project of the quarter was a group project to reinvent a current designer's line, and lo and behold - we both chose Tommy Hilfiger! It was so much fun to do, and I got a lot of experience with using Illustrator.

The second assignment was a 36-piece collection of your own design. I chose to do a collection based on a Nickelodeon cartoon, Avatar: The Last Airbender, which, I will state, is NOT the same as the movie. As snowboarding outerwear is my first love, I went in that direction, and this was the first assignment where we had complete creative power, and the freedom definitely inspired me. I posted one of my jackets on facebook, and all of the positive comments inspired me to show more. Here's the rest of my assignment below so everyone can see! (Copyright Claire Kaiser, 2010)

Computer Aided Fashion Design II: This class introduced us to Photoshop, and how we can use Photoshop to make our fashion illustrations look even more professional. Personally, I like hand-drawn, hand-colored better - there is a quality there that you can't imitate with the Dodge and Burn tools on a computer.

Computer Patternmaking I: I'm loving computer patternmaking, which I should since that is what my internship is training me to do. I feel like I know more on the system at Volcom more than I do about Gerber, that we learn about in class! I think it's a hard program to grasp, but luckily I was able to do that quickly and kind of understand how to create things besides the projects we had in class.

Survey of Western Art II: Because I'm Professional Designation, I was able to get out of the first Art History class - and I almost wish I could audit it. I loved my teacher (I had him first quarter for another art class) and his lectures were very insightful and, at the same time, not overwhelming. For our final project, which was to curate an art show, I compiled royal and presidential portraits, both official and unofficial, to show the differences between their way of seeing themselves and the public's interpretation. While it didn't seem to be the best project, as I got into it I found myself enjoying ways to connect artworks and regretted not having more resources!

Next quarter won't be anything new, just more emphasis on designing actual garments and hand patternmaking, rather than just the creative side. I can't wait to make more clothes!

Okay, turns out the way I posted the project didn't work before....hopefully this works better.