Negativity Is Nonsense
For one of our dresses, LeAna and I decided to stick with my Rwandan theme. The initial inspiration behind this idea was my sister’s recent study of the topic. She ignited the idea for me to spread awareness. Upon explaining my concept to a few friends and coworkers, I found that few knew much or any information at all about the Rwandan genocide; thus, pushed me to pursue the concept even more. It was a significant event in history that should not go unremembered or unnoticed.
The nature of the Rwandan massacre was essentially a civil war, Hutus vs. Tutsis, and although they wore everyday clothes in the Hollywood renditions of the event, I immediately think of military-inspired clothing with strong shoulders, buttons, zippers, slim silhouettes, etc. I also think of strength and power when thinking about military and in my initial concept, I wanted to empower the Tutsi minority that were forced to endure such cruelty from the Hutu majority.
We decided on tape as the primary material for this dress, specifically duct tape because of the qualities it possesses (strong tact, durability, if you remove it, it leaves a residue – impression). Although that is subject to change; we are planning on experimenting with different kinds of tape (duct, masking, Gorilla, electrical, etc.) for strength purposes as well as what will accommodate acrylic paint the best. The plan is to stick with the original painting process because of the bold, saturated colors and the same color palette (red, black, grays) because they are most impactful. In addition to tape (built on a muslin structure) and acrylic paint, buttons and possibly zippers, will be added to keep with the militaristic theme. If tape fails, our back-up “fabric” will most likely be an actual fabric that emulates the look and feel of our tape choice.
The silhouette will be form-fitting with a short-sleeve, collared top of the dress and a pencil skirt bottom. The used of the Keith Haring inspired figures will be used on the back of the dress (as well as other graphics throughout), because most people respond to images before typography. As far as typography goes, the phrase "Negativity Is Nonsense" will be our theme and will be used in a similar hand-rendered typeface as the original acrylic painting; but with cleaner lines to make it more legible. The placement will start at the shoulder, continue on past the breast and detour to the back right before the hip. The reasoning behind this is to immediately grab the attention of the viewer to spread the important message of awareness.
I really enjoy your idea. It has a deep emotional feeling and meaning to it. Your concept is very well thought out, I appreciate the change of your slogan, "Negativity is Nonsense"instead "inyenzy", because the Rwandan cultural meaning of the word, which tells the concept negativity is nonsense, would be unclear for many people, what it means. Also your design idea of the dress is very nice. The silhouette and material goes very well with the topic. Also make sure that the type will be good readable because you place it on the side of your dress. I like that you chose the three color palette red, grays and and black, and you might should think about to use red for the type, to emphasize it. Very well, love it!!! (Sarah Jones)
ReplyDeleteThis idea/concept really spoke to me because I'm a stickler for design that comments on any sort of social problems whether they be at home or abroad. I believe that this issue is important for not many people know about the genocide happening in Rwanda. Anything that brings attention to human rights problems like this I'm a fan of. I really like some of your type choices, and inspirational images. Feel that the type will look good for this concept. Interested to see how it turns out.
ReplyDeleteAndrew McGinley