December 4th

This month is all about collaboration, so I want to look into painting on clothes. This would allow me to choose a person to be my "model" and base my design on them, what they're involved in, and the stories they have to share. Also, something I talked about in my  SDA reflection was impact- how to make people care? By desinging a hoodie with a purpose, I can speak to perspectives beyond my own and hit that "so what?" question. This SDA would be idea-intensive rather than art-intensive, as clothes don't take super long to paint, especially since you want to keep designs fairly simplistic. I see this as a practice from murals. Even though I've taken a step back on those due to my packed schedule for the next month, painting a clothing set (sweatpant and hoodie) forces me to focus on message and how to communicate a specific idea, whatever it might be. 

Rather than listening to a podcast like my fellow EMCers, I watched a video on how to paint on clothes and the overall design process. Video Link: 

Basic Steps:

1. Figure out design (use elements that help tell the story)

2. If black hoodie, lay down white paint (buy white fabric paint) 

3. Put a piece of cardboard between the layers of the hoodie to pretevent bleeding

4. Draw and paint your design with acrylics 

5. HEAT SET (put parchment paper on your design and iron over it for 10 minutes)

ANALYZING WITH SPECS 

Significance - This SDA will be important because it will teach me how to communicate a story simplistically. It will be important to an audience because I intend to talk about topics that matter to a larger group of people (example: gun violence, womens rights - more on this later)

Perspective - This affects people that will eventually watch the video because I want to cinematically tell a story that sticks with the audience and show people a new perspective on a topic they might already know about. It's like explaining a story while putting my spin on it and explaining it in a unique/new way. 

Emotion/Evidence - Again, I want to tell a story that moves people, so I'm going to need a lot of ethos from how I talk in the video to the design itself. Also, there is an evidence component as I have to research all the symbols and parts that go behind the design. 

Connections - I could see this connected with anything I want since I can paint designs on clothes about anything. For example, if I were to do a design for girls inc. (more on this below), I could incorporate history as I research the timeline of women empowerment. Or I could look into public policy while designing a hoodie for March for Our Lives/Students Demand Action (again, more on this below).

Supposition - Supposition in the design process is about asking yourself how things could have gone differently? How could the composition be changed and how would that affect appeal? The colors? The symbols used? This question would be something I explore more in my SDA reflection as I will be able to ask myself these questions at that point. 

THREE POSSIBLE PARTNERSHIPS:

1. Girls Inc. - women empowerment group

• I have a friend who is heavily involved with this group and it would be interesting to get her to model (maybe) and tell a story on what her experience has been, what Girls Inc. does, and any stories that leave an impact on listeners. 

2. March for Our Lives (MFOL) - gun violence prevention group 

• I love to bring MFOL into things I do and it is something I incorporated in an SDA last year too. For this idea, I already have a lot of stories to tell as I am a member and I could get someone in the MFOL club at school to model. The only "con" is that it is hard to make hoodie designs related to preventing gun violence without it being slightly controversial/misinterpreted. 

3. Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita?

• I don't always have time to look into religion and tell the stories that have shaped how I think, so this idea could be interesting. I also have a few friends that I always see at the temple that would love to model. While this would speak to who I am and engage an Indian audience, I want to branch out this month and this could narrow my audience, preventing me from experimenting. 

***A BIG ISSUE I RAN INTO PREVIOSLY WAS THINKING OF IDEAS FOR A MURAL. I'm so acccustomed to doing what I know how to do and talking about my own experiences to the point where it's difficult for me to brainstorm for topics foreign to me. This is something I need to get better at so I'm leaning towards the first partnership idea with Girls Inc.***