My name is Ashley Conway and I am a first-year fashion design major. I was interested in taking this fashion seminar class since I heard about it last semester. It interested me because of its research involved with fashion related topics. What I enjoyed about this class and a couple of others was how they forced me to be open and be comfortable with new ideas. In Seminar and Studio 2, I enjoyed how we linked topics as it helped me get a hands on learning experience while using different research methods in Seminar to help inspire me. The skills that I learned in this Seminar class helped inspire me with deeper research and good arguments to help develop better and more meaningful designs in other classes. My academic and studio studies are connected in a way that they never have been before. I am very happy that I took seminar and sustainable systems this semester as they both taught me to think and develop more research before creating a piece. The papers/projects that I was the most excited about were the ones that were given some freedom but also had the right amount of direction. I think the fashionista activism project is a perfect example of this as we were allowed to choose a problem that we are passionate about and translate that into our work. I think further researching in any project is always important. Reading books, articles, etc. can help relate to separate topics you didn’t think it could. Also, carrying around a sketchbook and saving ideas and making methods is extremely helpful.
The two projects I am the most happy with this semester is my Time final and our first studio project. For my time project I researched deeply on the topic of time and how things can be non-linear. Because I researched and did many many sketches to get to my final idea, I ended up with something better than I could’ve imagined. I created a spinning book wheel made of wood, 3 books about time travel, and a wooden spool. It took a lot of time, thinking, research, and work in the wood shop.
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The first project I made in Studio 2 was a lamp deconstructed from a dress that no longer fit. The objective of the project was to deconstruct a garment, find a craft discipline, and transform the garment into something else. I made my small gingham dress into a lampshade. I was extremely proud of myself for saving money, an issue I have dealt with greatly at Parsons, and being more friendly toward the environment by reusing fabric instead of it being put into a landfill.
In the future in my career, I am hoping to be a sustainable and highly knowledgable individual that can make designs to help better the world or a community. I have learned how detrimental it is for designer to pay close attention to every little thing they do. I have also learned at Parsons that it is extremely important to spend your money carefully. I created a budget for myself this semester and have now learned that it is very hard to not spend over a certain amount. Overall, I am proud of myself for being able to adapt to new things and understand thoughts and ideas differently. I always think that recycled materials can be used in new design projects and that learning new things through the power of research can inspire us to want to learn more.
