Colour, Composition, and Voice
Megan Wintermeyer
Sec #5
Lotus Blossom Diagram
Word List
My theme reflects my own personal struggle with mental illness. My word list reflects the different emotional elements I want my design to convey. Living with OCD and anxiety I struggle daily with a big mental boundary. My illness has prevented me from being able to live normally. Anytime I leave my house I get anxious and I am prone to panic attacks. It's an everyday struggle that many people have to face for a lifetime. This is the kind of emotion I want to portray in my design to raise awareness for mental illness.
Moodboard 1: Dysfunctional Neutrals
Moodboard 2: Mind Map
The selected images were chosen to highlight my theme as well as my struggle of breaking the boundary of OCD and anxiety. I want my inspiration to show that many stigmas are associated with mental illness, especially OCD. Many believe that OCD is the illness of wanting things to look or be organized a certain way, however, it comes in many different forms and is a lot more complex than it seems. Having a mental illness is difficult at times because it feels like a weight you have to bear throughout the course of a lifetime so I want the colours to convey that same feeling, therefore, I chose to use a more neutral-dark colour palette.
Proposal
For my final design, I would like to create a story through embroidery on muslin that could be used as a repeat design or as a design element on any garment of any kind. I chose embroidery because I like how by using design elements and symbols I can create a story and convey certain emotions. For this design, I want to represent OCD using "thought" spirals. One of my favourite authors wrote a book revolving around the topic of mental health and explained OCD and intrusive thoughts as a downward spiral and I felt as though it was a very accurate depiction of many different mental illnesses. I want to be able to design for everyone so I want it to be a very inclusive and classic design that can be used to make garments of any kind.
Tutorials
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRDo0w7l6EA (how to perfect a satin stitch for embroidery)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H8H-ne4EBs (6 different ways to fill an embroidered shape)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go89e8xpVYs (Different hand embroidery stitches)
Iterations
#1: Repeat Design
-Bright/neutral coloured houses
-Dark spirals
-Perfect for embroidering onto garments
-Some houses filled in some not
#2: Patchwork Embroidery
-Pieces of muslin sewn together with black thread
-Spiral and house embroidery
-Neutral coloured houses
-Dark spirals
#3: Contrasting embroidery concept
-Flowers and bright colours on one side
-Dark spirals on the other
-Muslin pieces are sewn together in the middle
-Each side of the house representing the colours of its side
#4: Repeat design #2
-All designs in neutral colours
-Colours are alternating
-Perfect for embroidering onto garments
#5: Two sides of house design
-Depicts boundary through the middle of the house
-Light colours on one side
-Dark colours on the other
-Muslin pieces stitched together in the middle
Iterations of embroidered houses for repeat design
Final Design
Reflection
Artist's Statement
For my final design, I decided to create a repeat design depicting the mental boundary of OCD and anxiety. I chose to embroider multiple houses and thought spirals in order to create a beautiful design that could be embroidered onto any kind of garment but also has a special story. I want the design to embody my experience with mental health and how OCD and anxiety have prevented me from doing several normal everyday things even so much as leaving the house. Therefore, the houses in my design represent the mental boundary and the thought spirals represent anxiety and OCD.
