Wall coverings: Project report by Victoria Perriss

After being set the project I decided to research in to all three of the subject matters, I had heard of two of them but not well enough to be able to continue on the project. I have always been interested in floral designs so when I began research in to Hortus Botanicus I decided that this was the one for me.
I researched in to artists such as the most traditional designer of floral wall paper, William Morris and the simplicity of lines and details used to create his pieces with a combination of use of colour, which to this day are still popular.
I then continued my research into more contemporary artists/designers such Linda Florence who has looked at interior and exterior design, which followed on to her work on floor surfaces she has explored hybrid design concepts that she has produced for both wall and floor designs, her work is mainly based around surface pattern combining textures, her work has a very bold sense the images are very simple and give the effect of more of a graphic or illustration appearance.
Designers guild is another design team I looked into particularly Trisha Guild who has produced some amazing pieces, her work uses a strong use of colour that compliments although sometimes deliberately contrasts. Her work is mainly based around floral but has expanded into other objects such as teapots. I find her work very inspirational, I have always been interested of bright colours being used in wall coverings and techniques used to achieve them.
It was at this point in the research I realised to continue on the project I needed to gather my initial sources, I went and brought some orchids and thistles from a florist and tried to capture the brightness of colour and wanted to produce photography that wasn’t just basic images of flowers that are seen all the time, I wanted the object at first glance not to be recognisable so I took the photographs from the inside of the flower and at a range of angles. I also collected images that I had taken previously from holidays and days out, so that I had a big starting point. I began drawing from the images and from observation including colour on some of the images and leaving other with just linear lines, I developed these in to lino-cuts and printed them in different compositions and colours. I then decided I needed to work on a larger scale, I moved my work on to A2 paper so that I could explore the colours and styles of drawing I wanted to use.
It was at this part of the project that we went on the group trip to the Whitworth gallery in Manchester, where we were taken to the archives, here we were able to see wall paper from as early as 1500-1510 which was printed on hand made paper and produced on small sheets. Around those times wall paper wasn’t just seen as a wall covering it told people the social class you belonged too. wall paper was very expensive to produce and buy, a family wouldn’t have had it in rooms such as a bedroom a no one would be able to see it, family’s lucky enough to have wall paper would be in the social areas where friends would be, such as the living room. Many of the manufacturers realised the cost of production so they tried to reduce it by making block cuts for the black areas only then the colour was added by hand at a later stage. After this it was the manufacturers that realised if they could sell two styles of wall paper that had to be put together, they could produce a piece that would compliment both pieces and join them together, by doing this they would be making more money as it was a layering process, these were the first styles of borders produced and were printed by hand.
The style of wall paper had a dramatic change in the 19th century where people began hanging wall paper on the doors to disguise them, it was at this time that the French scenic wall papers became fashionable, they were non- repeat patterns they used images such as plum trees and fields, one third of the image was sky so that it may be hung onto a wall with high ceilings and trimmed down if the ceilings were lower.
It was Trompe l’oeil that introduced the use of electro static charged paper known as flock in tom the wall paper deigns, it was commonly used to make the material on the image look more realistic a majority of these pieces where big draped curtains revealing a perfect landscape. The style then changed and the plum trees were still being used but now the consumer could buy extra pieces to place onto the wall so that they could make it individual to them. They produced birds to be stuck onto the walls they were very vibrant and commonly used to disguise joins in the wallpaper, this worked effectively and made the consumer feel as though they had helped design the piece.
Over the years there has been many different styles of wall paper being produced, including commercial wall paper that introduce popular culture, for example the flinstones wall paper, there has also been a range of educational wall papers and revolutionary pieces that have caused conflict in society.
After we left the archives we went to the current exhibition ‘putting on the glitz’, there was a range of styles including, flock, foils, repeats and block prints, we were taken around to look at all of the pieces individually and told about some of the process included to make the pieces, I got a collection of photographs of the pieces that I had really liked in the exhibition. I wanted to use some of the styles including the flock and foiled pieces which have been developed through time to make a much more simple process to produce.
After visiting the gallery I looked into more designers styles and the way that they produce the images, I wanted to in corporate my photography as one Idea so it gives a feeling of Trompe l’oeil style.
In my research I looked into manufacturing methods and how the process have changed for one off hand printed production and mass production reducing the overall cost of production and making the product more cost effective, by doing this wall paper is no longer used to show wealth and class it is now used for fashionable aesthetic reasons and it changed to fit the colours and styles of the seasons, by doing this designers need to make sure that all there work fits the needs of the consumers with the right style and colour, this had been happening more in recent years since people have a disposable income.
After researching into a range of styles in this project, taking inspiration from others to produce my own work I believe my work has a more contemporary feel to it and uses a range of methods and combinations of styles in a similar theme, I produced them so that all the pieces could be related to each other, and would look as if they came from a similar collection, by doing this I have created a style that can be adapted in colour to fit the trends and the niche in the market for this style of wall paper.
I have used a range of flock, foil, photographic imagery and drawings, referring back to my previous influences. I went through a variety of process’ to come to the outcome that I decided on for my final pieces.
By going from my starting point I was able to develop a style that I am happy with and continue in developing my drawing skills and techniques.
Overall I am very happy with my final outcomes from this project, I have tried to use a combination of techniques in all of my designs as I wanted them to be original. From the beginning of the project my work has developed very differently to what I had expected it to.
I had planned to do all my work in the style of Trompe l’oeil and it was only when I started to research further and began initial sketches that I realised that I wanted to continue on this particular style of work. I believe that my designs have a more personal appearance to them than other designs as all the images are either hand drawn or hand printed in a random order that may be classed as a one off. I like the fact that all my prints if reproduced will be slightly different, as they are not measured prints as I wanted them to show the essence of hand printed pieces rather than being easily reproduced.