What Makes a Good Design?
The first thing to look for in a design is a certain freshness in it. It should not focus on the depths, but the depths should surface. It should be reflective and mystic. It should force you to surrender and loose yourself in it's power. It should lead you to doubt yourself and reaffirm your beliefs all at the same time. It should transcend into your being and resonate with your deepest thoughts. It should encourage you to doubt nature's perfection and appreciate man's power of decorative therapy. It will still you with an eternal peace and rest and terrorise you with the deadliest inner conflict and turmoil. It shocks you and cuddles you all at the same time. It holds you, it borrows you for some time. It pauses your decision making, it de-catalyses your progress and re-programs your course of plan. Is it all a play of logic or is it sensitive to instinct? Is it a conspiracy or a blessing? Does it speak to the senses or the emotions?
In simple terms, it should be just it!
What more?
Well they're almost done, they're at the shoe makers' for the time being, and I'll have it back in about 16 hrs.
I completed the upper today and gave a descriptive sketch to the shoe-maker explaining how the upper should fall onto the lower (sole). The only two colors you'll see are black and silver. The upper surface, where you keep your foot is made up of black felt material. The sole is black. A strap at the back gives additional support/grip to the foot. The back strap was done using the three-strand-braid technique in silver chord. I gave a soft tension/stretch to the strap using silver elastic.
Of course, it can't be described well without a photo, in fact even I don't know what they look like at the moment until I see them for myself. I have been speaking to him over the phone about how it's going.
Can't wait to see it, I'm so excited...!
Total cost:
Polished black cotton chord/yarn with wax/polished finish: Rs. 40
Silver Chord: Rs. 60
Shoe Sole: Rs. 90
Silver Elastic: Rs. 5
Assembly by a professional: Rs. 500
Total cost: Rs. 695
This shoe-maker charged me excessively. The assembly cost can very well be brought down to roughly Rs.150 at a cheap cobbler without much compromise on quality, thus leaving the cost price at a minimum Rs. 345 - Rs. 400. If you ask me, that's not much for a handmade designer shoe!
It's very nice actually to be considered mad sometimes, your steps aren't taken too seriously. Mad people differ from normal people in a simple way. That mad people hear things on the face and normal people have the option of letting their foes backstab.
Okay, so I'm in design school and what am I doing that's design-oriented? Well, for one, for the very first time in my life I'm making a shoe - that also a ladies shoe.
This is new and exciting for me because I have a lot of expectations from myself and my work. There's actually a lot of design constraints here because of the material we're using and it's technicalities - yarn. So as much as I'd like to make it stand out, I have to stick to a minimalist approach here. Let's see how it goes. I'm very unhappy about the unavailability of the required materials. I thought I'd select the sole first and then make the upper, but as it turns out, no one's willing to sell a sole unless I give them a sample of what I exactly want. So, it's upper first and sole later.
I went to the leather and sole bazaar near Karol Bagh and it was well very awkward for me. They'd give stupid looks when I'd say I want just one sole and that too a ladies shoe sole. Some would ask - "are you a fashion designer?". Turns out these people care a shit about what you want. I was redirected a thousand times before I realized they were taking me on a ride. I actually went back to one store in particular three times unconsciously behaving anew. It was only when they'd give a bad stare and say "you've been here before" that I'd realize. There's too many shops to remember, too common to differentiate and too easy to get lost about. They all look so much the same. Why?
I have absolutely NO clue how this is going to turn out. Have my fingers crossed.
Hmm...that's a tough one. Actually both suck big time. Both have disfunctional behaviour. But if I had to pick one, it'd be Hrithik! Gosh, he's not even on the list and I hate 'em already! ;) Is it him or his six fingers? I guess both.
India needs better actors, and now that Amir has retired, so to say, these big stars of the 90's can't find other ways of making it to the spotlight and competing with young and brighter talent like Imran Khan other than making lame publicity shows like the recent SRK-Salman mishap at Katrina's B'day Bash. Gosh, it really must be tough to be famous for these losers.
Has anyone noticed how emotionless and cold Big B is behaving recently? His speeches are planned and boring, his appearances spiceless, and his Big Blog sucks Big Time. Not that Amir's is any better.
Now lets turn the pages a bit shall we, coming to the bookmark that says "Abhi-Ash". You will always find Abhi and Ash in the same mood. If he's smiling, then so is she. If he's posing, then so is she. If he laughs, then so does she. If he's pissed off with papparazzi, then so is she. It's almost like they're both in love. Jeez that would be SO unreal! Now don't tell me they fooled you into thinking that they are ACTUALLY in love. ;)
Okay, so I've decided to change the name of this blog, forget about the blues, call me DesignerDude!
Updated design coming up shortly...
I am now, by virtue of a compromise - yet another NIFT student. Related thoughts keep coming and going all the time these days. Should I care at all?
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