College Diary - #1

Evening Internet!

As many of you know (or don't know), I'm taking a year out of my degree in NUIG, to complete the Fashion Industry Practices course in GTI.

I remember when I first learnt about this course, I was so excited. I always dreamed of moving to New York and working with Kelly Cutrone, organising fashion shows and fetching coffee for people. These dreams were shot to hell when I was told "GTI is for hippies and half brains"

(Thanks unnamed person. NOT)

However, all was not lost, because one faithful day in May of this year, I read a post by Erika Fox (Retro-Flame), explaining how she had done the course that I was going to undertake.

Half brains and hippies? I think not!

I know every year that this course is gaining more and more popularity but people are still puzzled by what we actually do. So I am here to enlightened you all my darlings.

I'm not going to make this a really long post to be honest, because I think I'm going to do a few of these posts throughout the year. I'll just show you a few things we are working on at the moment. 

In our module Illustration Techniques we are being taught the basics of Photoshop. I absolutely adore this class, I always feel so accomplished after it. So far the basics have been pretty easy to grasp. I can't wait until we start learning more challenging techniques on it.

Here are two lookbooks I did in class:

Moodboards are also important in fashion, as they tell a story without using any words and sometimes it is easier to convey an idea through images than the written word.

Here's a moodboard I did of street wear and fashion on the runway that could be seen at New York Fashion Week.

 Styling is another module we're doing a lot of work in at the moment. This class is such an enlightening and creative class. I'm learning so much about editors, photographers and stylists, essentials for breaking into the industry. We are also encouraged greatly in this class to be inspired by everything around us, which really makes you stop and actually appreciate your surroundings.

(Putting some things into my sketchbook)

Currently, we are working on an assignment where we have to research different photographers and stylists in the industry and I thought I'd introduce to you someone amazing I discovered,

Kai Z Feng

He's storming the fashion photography industry, he's worked with Vogue, Elle, all the big names, and he'ss only 28! There's something raw about his work that just draws me in.

 This picture of Chris Brown is one of my favourites.

Definitely check him out. :)

( Sourced at http://kaizfeng.com/ )

The awesome thing about this assignment is that we're going to have to put together a photo-shoot inspired by our favourite photographer or stylist. I already have so many ideas swimming around in my head, I can't wait to sit down with my friend Sara (who I have appointed as my photographer for the year), and brainstorm out an amazing concept for the shoot.

One of the great things about this course is that Work Experience is a compulsory module, which means we get hands on experience in the industry, something no amount of books can give you.

I received a call today confirming a trail day in a wedding boutique on Saturday, so hopefully they keep me on for work experience and maybe let me do a little post on an average working day there!

Fingers crossed!

So that's it for the first instalment of my college diary series!

What to see more?

Sinead

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