We had a quick meeting couple days after the interview. We started to think about the structure of the presentation. It went pretty slowly at first but then we decided to make a mind map of our ideas which made them more perspicuous and easier to change them around. We tried to set up 7 categories, one each so we can think about them for the next meeting.
We also started to think about how would we create an exiting, creative presentation. We thought about using collage, threads and maybe do an animation.
On the next meeting we had our rough compositions of the topics so we would see if there’re any overlap between them. We started to put together the main structure and decided to write 300 words each. Once we done that Amy will edit them all together.
We also decided on the form of the presentation. We will make individual collages on one evening with photographs and bits & bobs then build it all together. We organised who prints out what for the collages and I volunteered to embed the final composition into Power Point. We agreed to meet up on next Tuesday afternoon.
Here’s my bit of the presentation:
"It's not a major operation it's just me in a room"
Many people visit Judy in her studio to interview her with big expectations of her studio. They have to realise that being a designer can mean working long hours on your own locked up in a room. It can make you feel isolated and bored and that's not very inspirational. She bought 2 cats called Vivienne and Westwood just to keep her company and also tries to make the studio itself inspiring. Her space is full with vintage objects and tools, sketches, and mood boards, which give it a special atmosphere. She works from home as well as her studio; her pattern-cutting table and sewing machines are at her house.
The good thing about working locked up though is when you have a chance to go out you really appreciate it. Once she spent 5 hours in the V&A Museum just looking at costumes and dresses. Her advice is to be a sponge and take in everything you can whenever you have the opportunity.
She has so many projects, exhibitions to organise and she also runs her own business, which keeps her super busy all the time. But why is she doing everything on her own? She could have interns but she said it's hard to find good ones and sometimes she found it hard to get on with them. She's not keen on working alongside other fashion designers either because when they're using the same inspirations they start to come up with very similar ideas. She could employ someone but she cannot afford it.
Then how is she managing it all own her own? As she said she would not have been able to start up at all without NESTA founding, called Starter for six and could not have continued without JOLOMO award. She learned everything she knows about business from NESTA, where she got lectures on things like cash flow and yearly projections. She says as long as you keep all your invoices extremely organised you will be fine. Being organised is very essential. NESTA also improved her public speaking. She says you should remember when speaking that everyone else is just normal like you. They also provided enough money for her to start up but as she says she would not spend so much money when starting out. You need to resist the excitement of getting paid.
She was completely broke before JOLOMO so she describes it as stepping stone to her career. Unfortunately NESTA and JOLOMO are the only courses awarding funding that she is aware of and nowadays they are much more popular therefore there are more people to compete with.
