Wednesday 12 March 2014

Cath Kidston - Primary Visual Research


Today me and Ste went to the library to try and do a bit of research on 1950's pattern design to get an idea of the kind of work that was being produced and also to make sure that we came up with an original theme for our pattern design. It will also help when it comes to choosing a colour scheme too as I think this is going to be a harder task than we had originally anticipated. We came across one really appropriate book which was the conversational prints of the 1950's which is full of designs with a very similar illustration style to Cath Kidstons and also many of the themes you can see in Caths work crop up in this book. I didn't realize how big cow boy prints were in the 1950's. I was also surprised to find many tropical scenes too. I really love some of the colours schemes that were used in the 50's. They can be quite garish and bold in some cases which I personally like, however there are many pretty poor ones too.



I particularly liked the colour scheme in this design, It is quite feminine but still has masculine qualities too. The combination of turquoise and pinks contrast really well together. The illustration style is not exactly like Kidstons but it works really well. It has been produced in a painted style and looks quite unfinished which I like.


 I documented this piece as I think the colours contrasts well against each other. The illustration style is like a simplified version of Kidstons. Its not the best pattern but it stood out for me.


Here is another cowboy style print. This works well as conversational print, the scene carries on across the design which I really like. Its nice when you can follow the pattern around as it creates interest. The negative space is nicely filled out by the tracks left by the carts which is also a nice touch, the marks are quite subtle as well which pushes focus on the cowboy carts.


I really love the colour scheme used in this print, it is bold bright and eye catching, it has a lot going on and at first glance just looks like patches of colour, it is not until you focus on the individual elements that you realize it is actually a town like scene. It is nothing like Kidstons design but the concept and execution has been pulled off.


Once again the colours really do it for me here, they are eye catching and bright and contrast well. I like how the flowers frame the smaller scenes that are going on in the print. this is a nice concept and gives the pattern too pretty bold focal points.


 This is nothing like the work we will be producing, but it caught my eye. the colours are quite strange but it has something about it that draws you in. The illustrations link together nicely creating an abstract grid like structure. Some of the elements remind me of kitchen utensils which links in to one of our possible routes, we are thinking about looking at British Baking, inspired by 1950s cooking era.



Another bold pattern design with beautiful illustrations. I love the vibrancy of this design and the use of space to create the contrast between the figures and the background. Once again a similar illustration style which has been slightly more polished.


In the conversation Print book there were contless interesting scenes depicted in many different illustration styles. Some of the designs were pretty crude in some cases and many of the colour schemes used were pretty crazy. Here can see a wacky baseball print. The images are not in any uniform pattern, some of the players are upside down, others sideways. There is no clear structure to this pattern.


Here is an interesting fishing pattern, I love how the fishing rod and line fill up space aound the other components of the pattern. The colour scheme is simple but bold, and the illustration style is similar to Kidstons.


I found allot of the prints from the 50s stereotype people quite allot here you can see the sleepy Mexican with his instruments and donkey. I like how the rope breaks apart the negative space creating a patch work aesthetic. Once again a simple illustrative style.


Here you can see more cowboy like designs, cropping up throughout the book, many of the styles differ but the components seem very similar. this must of been a popular theme of the 50s.


This is a modernized twist on the cowboy designs by the looks of it...well not exactly but we are back to horses. For me this colour scheme doesn't do it for me. It looks pretty tack and boring in comparison to Kidstons style. The illustration style is really nice however.


Here is a bit of a holiday scene going on. I like this theme as it is unique and quite fun and engaging. there are many elements and some are even quite humorous.


Here is another example of a seaside style print in a similar style. The colour scheme is quite basic in comparison to what we are looking to produce however the theme is interesting. I feel like it could be pushed further as it is quite simplistic.


I particularly like what they have done with the background of these designs, there is still white space that has been used as the water pattern works around the components of the pattern. The colours work in a series of different schemes.


This bull fight pattern is another design that took our eye, I like how the space is broken up with the use of swirly lines which gives the design some aspect of motion which I like. This also works well in several different colour schemes.


We came across this colour design in one of the books which works really well, once again the background lets aspects of white space through the gaps which makes a quite busy design look balanced.

Cath Kidston In Store Research


This one of Cath's more simple vectorized illustration styles of design, the colours are really bold and vibrant but there is few colours I think it would create a much more visually rich design highlighting more of the tones in the image.


I really like this style of illustration it is almost like a painting. There is a good use of colour and a lot going on which I think makes a much more interesting conversational print. The have linked all the elements into one big scene which works really well.


We noticed there was loads of Bakery/Food related products in store but there had been no food themed patterns as of yet. From the research so far we believe there is a gap in the market here that needs to be explored. We have had the idea to research into British Baking as this is something that is becoming more predominant in today's society. 


There are more and more products like these cropping up all over the place and Television today shows just how much interest there has been in food and baking programs in recent years. For example the great British bake off was a massive hit last year and we believe there is potential for some interesting visuals around this kind of theme, whilst also linking to the traditions of the 1950s style housewife style that inspired Kidston. 



This is a really nice concept for a pattern, depicting various postcard like scenes, the illustrations are almost like paintings which helps to link all the scenes together. I also like how they have used flowers to help overlap the postcards merging the images together.


I love this illustration style, however I think it falls out of the traditional Kidston style. The colours are amazing and contrast really well with each other. There are many different elements which I like as it keeps you interested and looking for the different space crafts.


There is more detail in this design which I think gives the image a stronger appearance. They have used loads of different elements to create a much more visually rich image.

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