In this post, I will show the design process I went through to get my final product, by describing my initial designs.
British Culture
Face; For my initial British culture design, I created a look inspired by editorial beauty. The fashion scene in Britain is huge, with London Fashion week drawing a global audience of designers, influencers and retailers. It is even considered one of the top four Fashion Weeks, along with New York, Milan and Paris. As fashion and editorial beauty is such a big part of our culture, I wanted to represent this in my design. I chose to create a bold graphic eye and lip, inspired by the colors of our flag. I then also incorporated the flag into the design.
Body; For the body, I decided to once again use the colors of the flag (red, white and blue) to create my base. Then, I chose some of the most iconic symbols of Britain, such as; Big Ben, the crown jewels, London underground, red bus, the queen’s guard, and a phone box to decorate the back and torso. Then, on each limb I created a collage of iconic symbols from each important genre, such as sport; rugby ball, football, racket, tennis ball, shuttlecock, food; fish and chip cone, tea, tea pot, biscuits, a pint of beer, weather; an umbrella, the sun, a cloud, raindrops, and a collection of music notes to represent our legendary music scene. By doing this, I was able to represent many areas of our culture, rather than focusing on just one.
Asian Culture
In my first Asian inspired design, I created a body chart based solely on Chinese culture. Colors are widely celebrated, so I used a combination of bright colored and important symbols in a bid to represent their culture. I used symbols such as; the Chinese dragon, a yin yang, temples, a bonsai tree, lotus flower, a fan, chopsticks, a lantern and a blossom tree to paint a picture of a Chinese scene. I also planned to write ’China’, in Chinese, on the leg. Although this design was a good initial design, and literally just a brain dump of images I thought of when hearing ‘China’, I felt I had stuck very closely to their stereotypes, therefore I hadn’t really pushed the boundaries and presented the true beauty of their culture, which is my aim for this unit. Therefore, I created a further design.
Face; For my next design, I chose to represent the whole of Asia, rather than just one area. In my face plan, I decided I wanted to create a geisha inspired make-up. I planned to create a pale base makeup, with bright pink blush, and a smudged pink lip. I also wanted to create a pink ‘blossom’ inspired eyeshadow. That way, I am creating a look inspired by a traditional geisha, without actually directly copying the look – which may cause offense.
Body; As I chose to represent the whole of Asia in this design, I planned to add elements from all different countries across the continent. For example, on one arm I planned to create a Chinese dragon, and on the other map out a traditional Korean floral pattern. Then, I would create a Tokyo inspired billboard sign on one leg, and pay homage to Asia’s celebrations on the other by adding lanterns and fireworks. Then, on the back I planned to create a henna inspired design representing India, while using the front of the body to recognize their celebration of color by creating a watercolor splash effect behind an outline of the Asian continent. I also planned to add some important symbols, as well as writing ‘Asia’, in Chinese.
South African Culture
In my very first design for South Africa, I created a body art design based mainly on different tribal prints, patterns and symbolism’s. I used a combination of bright colours and geometric shapes to recognize a range of tribal groups across the country. I also planned to create a tribal mask collage on the back. Although I liked this design, I felt it was very specific to the tribes of South Africa, and I wanted my design to represent the country as a whole. Therefore, I created a further design.
Face; As just mentioned, I wanted this design to represent the whole of South Africa. Therefore, I created a popular beauty look on the face. In South Africa, a less-is-more approach for a make-up base is very common. Therefore, I intended to create a light, no-make-up make-up, while adding freckles to make it appear even more natural. Then, following along with their popular make-up trends, I planned to create a bold, graphic liner and lip. I used orange for this, to represent their popular use of bold colors.
Body; I really liked the effect the tribal mask collage created, so I decided to keep that element in this look. Then, I decided to create two different tribal bands across each arm, and another around the torso, to represent different tribal groups. Then, I planned to create a beaded necklace illusion paint around the neck, before creating the South African flag on one leg, and using SFX techniques to create a tribal scarring effect on the other.
Megan Hoff 