New Thomas Tallis Uniform Design 7 march

Alina Moat

Thomas Tallis Uniforms

Monday, 7 March 2011

The Idea

Moving to a new building - New Uniforms

Fact Finding Workshops to come up with a brief

A team of designer, students, teachers and parents


Fact finding....


Shadow students for 1 morning...

Students often carry their schoolbag and jacket all day because they do not trust the lockers and too many outdoor corridors in the school. Scarves are not allowed with the uniform.

Everyone hates the yellow t-shirt for PE. They also use it for dance lesson.

The school specialises in art, and it has well equipped

studios for music, drama, there is a strong interest in

new technologies.


Conversation with Tina, who runs the school shop

There are different options available for the uniform, but most people choose the hood and polo shirt. Because they are more or less the same colour, they blend into one.

They could wear the fleece to deal with the cold corridors but nobody buys it, itʼs too uncool. Only 5 were sold this year.

PE bag is too small to fit anything in it.


Whatʼs important for parents

Visibility for road safety

Distinctive from other schools

Warm in the winter

Easy care


Camera project:

you, your school, a day in the life of you

each participant of the working group was given a disposable camera to record a day in their life


Workshop 1


To gain an understanding of how students and teachers see their school

Using the photos from the camera project, participants were asked to tag the images they related to, and to write their thoughts on them.


To establish what sustainable issues are most important to the group

From a set of options, participants were asked to create their perfect T-shirt, all groups thought the most important issues were fair working conditions and energy consumption.


To find ways to take into account the needs of the future students of the school, and find interactive ways to achieve this.

A look into what’s important to us now, will it also be important to the future students of Thomas Tallis


Workshop 2


To gain an understanding of what is the participants experience of ‘local’ and ways to encourage the community around the school to feel their contribution to the uniform.

Have you noticed...?


To establish ways in which the uniform could be customisable within price restrictions.


To find out perceptions regarding smart and casual.


What are the positives and negatives of the current uniform?


The Brief

•How do we retire the old uniform so as not to create an even bigger environmental issue?•How to engage future wearers of the uniforms, in say, year 2020?

Taking into account:

•Distinctiveness•Reflects Diversity, Energy, Creativity and Uniqueness of the students•Takes into account Local community•Quality•Affordability•Practical Elements such as comfort, visibility, adaptation to seasons, pocketing, easy care•Colour palette to harmonize with colours of new site•Taking a sustainability stance, with emphasis on producer and energy consumption.

But also:


Finding inspiration...


what if the garments had elements in them expressed ‘smart’in innovative, fun ways, for example, a tie indicated by colour in the shirt, or a lapel printed in a cardigan?


prime Meridian of the world 0º- Greenwich, what would it look like if we use the meridian lines and degrees as part of the design to represent the diversity of the school ?


The Quantum Cloud by Anthony Gormley in Greenwich. Gormley’s starting point for this sculpture is the words of Dr Basil Hiley, a quantum physicist, ‘algebra is the relationship of relationships’

What if we could interpret this relationship of relationships in the new uniforms?


Designing the colour palette...


Logo Palette

on white on Tallis blue

Uniform Colour Palette

New BuildingGraphic Design Palette


Visibility


Staying Clean



Accents

Main


Finding manufacturers and fabricsLocal.....Fair Trade......Low energy consumption


Heba, a small manufacturing cooperative in East London for wovens

Using a local company for the printing and embroidery

Continental, a socially responsible, fair trade, low carbon footprint manufacturer in North London for jersey


3M has been contacted for their reflective tapes, in case we decide to use darker shades in the uniform, to ensure safety and visibility - awaiting reply

Nanotex was also contacted for stain repellent, anti odour solutions to the uniform, however, this would be very - awaiting reply of possible sponsorship

Howies is an active clothing company that believesin making higher quality, lower impact products for our sports and day-to-day lives - contacted for possible sponsorship/collaboration for jeans as part of the uniform - awaiting reply


The fabric selection has been done taking into accountdurability, ease of care, but also the ability of suppliers to provide them for a number of years to come.

This limits the range of colours and textures, but secures continuity throughout the years for future production.


Design direction


Important practical elements to take into consideration through the design


Initial Idea


Initial idea to be able to customise uniform by the student being able to choose their own colour shirt from a range of colours

Issue 1: Would be much more expensive as the shop would have to keep all different colours in different sizes as well


Issue 2 : It works well with darker colour, however...


Issue 2 : ... it’s a bit garish with the blues in the palette ...


Issue 2 : ... and it really becomes a big issue when a third colour is added to the equation


Proposal


Taking inspiration from the Meridian 0º, the shirts would come with a print and every year, as the school runs campaigns such as read 1 book a month...


Students would select their campaign for the year, which will correspond with one colour;and this colour will be printed in their shirt


And for every year passing, a new campaign will be selected, and a new colour will be printed allowing for small meaningful customisations,


Engaging with school activities.. whilst the uniform reflects their academic year by the amount of grids filled with colour


A classic style with a modern twist, slightly reminds of a tie, bringing that element of smart in a humorous, contemporary way


•allows for different years being distinctive •allows for customisation, student chooses campaign and therefore colour•allows for engagement and feeling of ownership of future students of Thomas Tallis•allows for cheaper production, as we would use a standard polo shirt and customize it through print


Taking into account the feedback from the workshops, a medium weight jersey cardigan has been designed to allow for easy access into garment and with generous pockets. It has printed ‘lapels’ for that humorous take on suits.


A sleeveless woven jacket that again, plays with the idea of lapel by using it’s negative space.The lapel mirrors the printed lines in the cardigan.

This garment would allow for extra warmth on winter days, whilst allowing for freedom of movement with the lack of sleeves


it works better when the cardigan underneath is of a different colour, and it would make better sense for production as colour matching from different suppliers can be very difficult


If we were to chose the grey shade, we would have to add reflective tape to the garment to make sure students are safe and visible in the streets.

A generous pocket has been designed on the back, inspired by cycling jackets.


It also works well when worn without the cardigan underneath


Another option would be to have a hood incorporated, to allow for protection on rainy days. Even though it is a hoodie, it looks smart.


A different sleeveless jacket has been designed for the hooded version. This one has a sort of lapel, but is created by the fold back of the centre front.


All custom made garments have been designed with cost effectiveness in mind, so that the manufacturing part will not be expensive, details and cutting are simple. The fabrics should also be machine washable.


Jeans....it would be lovely, but would cost quite a bit more, we could use the Thomas Tallis logo for the pocket details. Otherwise the uniform would work quite nice with standard grey or black trousers.


Summer


Autumn


Winter


Spring


Or.....


Summer


Autumn


Winter


Spring


What about the girls?


Skirts!!!

It has one more

garment...


P.E. uniform coming up soon....


One more thing...


How do we retire the old uniform so as not to create an even bigger environmental issue?

Creating an event (s) that would become a collective piece of art inviting the local community to join in whilst customising the old uniforms ready to be donated to a good cause.


event design coming up soon....


Thank you!


New Thomas Tallis Uniform Design 7 march

Lifestyle

Transcript of New Thomas Tallis Uniform Design 7 march