Zandra Research by Natalya Andrews

Customer Profile - 1st draft

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 12:46:02 UTC

This was my initial customer profile. This customer was born in the 60s/70s and was a part of the wind rush generation, traditionally masculine. This person would know of Zandra but wouldn't necessarily engage with their brand as they would probably consider her brand to be too feminine. The challenge with this customer would be to bring draw them into the Zandra brand without it being too inauthentic to them.

Idea change

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 12:46:02 UTC

Initially for this project I wanted to create something that explored the method that we often see in the media. However, upon reflection I have decided that I'm no longer interested in this idea. I think this is because I have taken a massive break from the project and my head is no longer in the same space as it was when I initially started. For this project I would like to explore creating a party for the Zandra Rhodes brand.this kind of touches on an idea that I had very early on in the projects that I didn't use but I'm still interested in. Specifically for this party idea I would like to see how I can connect Rhodes brand to black Culture and make it accessible to black people.I would like to start to explore the culture of caribbean Carnival/fete, most likely looking at the Notting Hill Carnival that takes place in London. Creating floats that are representative of zandra's brand. I believe that this is fit in fallsandra's brand as she often explores other cultures in her pieces specifically patterns and prints.

Zandra Steel Pan

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 12:46:02 UTC

Zandra Steel Pan

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 12:46:02 UTC

I made this steel pan gif for part of my final outcome. This piece was created in ZBrush and edit/animated in Photoshop. This piece was inspired by Notting Hill Carnival.

Statement of intent - Old

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 12:46:02 UTC

My initial idea was to create a short film/photo series about introducing the world of Zandra Rhodes to a group or individual who is unaware of her. Almost treating the world of colour and pattern as something infectious. This idea has since shifted as I wanted to experiment with creating an animation as I wanted to enhance my moving image skill in a different way. I also wanted to explore the makeover trope that was commonly seen in the early 00s. This trope often looks to suppress individuality. The reason why I want to look into this is because I think it will be interesting to this trope in modern-day society as we aim to celebrate and accept differences.

Statement of intent - New

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 12:46:02 UTC

In this project, I would like to explore the female form and pay tribute to the showgirls/burlesque era. I plan to do this by creating an event for Zandra's brand. I believe that Zandra Rhodes' brand image is perfect for this image as Zandra's print and design showcase femininity in an unapologetic way. I believe by merging both designs from the showgirl era and Zandra's print will combine two versions of femininity that sometimes oppose each other. I believe that whilst both versions of femininity are bold and out there, Zandra takes things that women shamed for liking i.e, pink and flowers. Whereas, the showgirl era is a version of femininity that can sometimes feel like to appeal to the male gazes. I plan to visualise this event with 3d design, animation and a little bit of film.

Zandra 3d costume sculpture

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 12:46:02 UTC

These are some edits that I did. For my sculptures I made them in Zbrush. To add some texture, I layered Zandra's prints over them. This is a visualisation of how I would want the costumes to be. For this I wanted to play around with form and shape. I would imagine these to be big and volumous designs.

The Princess Diary

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 12:46:02 UTC

I was initially looking at the movie The Princess Diaries as I wanted to explore the makeover trope that we often see in films. This trope plays out in the film quite clearly. The idea is the main character is not conventionally pretty. In this movie, features such as curly hair and glasses are seen as "undesirable". The main character is then transformed into this beautiful person who immediately became popular as they removed these" undesirable features". These films often send out a message that being yourself is not acceptable and that you must change yourselves to fit in.

Snog, Marry,Avoid

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 12:46:02 UTC

Snog, Marry, Avoid shares a similar sentiment to The Princess Diaries, however, it explores the makeover trope in a more reality TV style. Snog, Marry, Avoid has more extreme examples of the trope as it looks at people with very specific aesthetics and changes them into 'plain jane'. I would like incorporate this into my final outcome but in reverse.

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 12:46:02 UTC

The Missing Thread - Somerset House

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 12:46:02 UTC

I went to visit the Missing Thread at Somerset House. This exhibition was a focuses on Black British History with an American influence. The first thing notice about the exhibition is how beautifully curated it was. The exhibition was divided into sections, such as, Home, Nightlife, Performance, etc. Each sections gave insights into different points of Black British History, such as the Windrush era and the growth of Grime.

I think that the exhibition was important for me to see, especially as a black creative. As a creative I do try to bring black culture into everything that I do.

Project Management Plan + To do List

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 13:03:42 UTC

As this project was a retrieval, I had to try and work around other projects such as my FMP/ career document. At first, I had set aside a day to complete catch-up for this project and dissertation, however, ultimately was not able to due other work taking priority. I believe this is because I enjoyed working on my FMP much more. As a result this project is more rushed than I would of liked. Although I think I have improved in my organisational skills, I think that this project is not reflective of that.

To do List

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 13:16:08 UTC

Carnival Costumes - moodboard

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 13:17:48 UTC

New customer profile- older

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 13:21:39 UTC

Age: 55-70

Gender: Female

Description: An older women who is black, originally from the Caribbean. She is at the point in her live where she is completely carefree and lives for herself. Has a family - children and grandchildren. Spoils grandchildren. Strong part of her community. Would like to move back to the Caribbean at some point.

New customer profile- younger

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 13:22:29 UTC

Age: 25-35

Gender: Female

Description: A young woman who is black, a second/third generation immigrant most likely from the Caribbean. Her personality is bold and out there. Is considered a social butterfly and is passionate about paying homage to her culture.

Showgirls - Moodboard

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 13:24:02 UTC

Afro futurism- moodboard

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 13:25:14 UTC

Costume 1

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 13:26:55 UTC

Head piece

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 13:27:18 UTC

Age uk - event (my work)

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 13:34:09 UTC

During my time at work, I did some photography/filming for an age UK event. At this event they had some dancers. This is content that I have that was not able to used for my works social media. I have decided that I would like use some of this stuff for this project.

Steel the show - my work (sound not working)

nandrews22 — 2024-05-20 13:56:26 UTC

This is some filming I did for Steel the Show. Steel the Show was a competition that takes place yearly, where all the steel pan bands come together to perform. This is another iteration of Panorama that takes place the night before Notting Hill Carnival. Steel Pan is a huge part of a carnival alongside the floats and costumes.