Pull to Inflate

Emma Grieshaber is one of several Gray’s School of Art graduates who received an RGU Art and Heritage Purchase Award in 2020.

Emma Grieshaber’s Fashion Design degree show body of work PULL TO INFLATE was a collection consisting of three themes – Inflatable, Tudor and Parachutes.

The young designer’s final student collection was developed by exploring shape and volume obtained from vintage parachutes. In the Art School photography studio, she draped puffa jackets, duvets and large voluminous materials on the figure to create oversized, obscure silhouettes. This inspired her to work backwards and draw the potential garment derived from each photographic image. This process was the catalyst that helped further her design process.

Sketch for a Quilted Jacket by Emma Grieshaber

The subsequent challenge for Grieshaber was to translate the conceptual to the practical by investigating materials and valves that could be inflated and hold voluminous shapes without deflating. Once the early research photographs were accumulated and resembled the silhouettes seen within Elizabethan costume, visualisation began. Period costume research from the V&A was a pivotal moment in the development of her collection. The V&A collection enabled Grieshaber to link these different strands of research together.

Vogue Feature

We would also like to congratulate 2019 RGU Fashion Management graduate Catherine Gillespie and Gray’s School of Art graduate Emma Grieshaber for a recent feature in the Designer Profile section of Vogue magazine Catherine set up her zero waste garment business http://www.modelctizn.com and Emma’s work is featured. We really wish both these talented individuals great success in the future.

PRINT OF THE CENTURY TRENCH by Emma Grieshaber

Emma Grieshaber – YouTube

EMMA GRIESHABER (@_grieshaber_) • Instagram photos and videos

RGU Art and Heritage Awards

RGU Art and Heritage Purchase Awards

Each year we identify works created by successful graduates who study a range of courses offered by both Gray’s School of Art and the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and Built Environment. Identified works are selected as Purchase Award winning work.

These works are retained by the University and are collected for future display and research. The resulting works provide an excellent visual record of the creative output of the University and the North East.

#puffedupwithpride @artukdotorg @RGULibrary @UniMuseumsScot @MuseumsGalScot #OnlineArtExchange #fashion_design

Headdress

This graphic student illustration was one of many illustrations for book jacket design projects organised by Gray’s School of Art Head of Design George Mackie DFC RSW RDI.

Stevenson’s An Inland Voyage is captured here with this image of Stevenson and his Scottish friend Sir Walter Grindlay Simpson negotiating a canal lock as they travel from Belgium through France in the autumn of 1876. A Belgian windmill catches the wind in the distance.

The route itinerary became popular for modern travellers to re-enact with guidebooks and maps becoming available.

@artukdotorg @RGULibrary @RGU @UniMuseumsScot @MuseumsGalScot #OnlineArtExchange #communication design #The_Big_Draw #Scottish_Graphic_Design

Headdress

Gray’s School of Art alumna Hannah Jakobsen created this graphic as part of her 2017 Communication Design Degree Show. You can get hooked on shopping, as can be seen in Hannah’s illlustration for Buy Nothing Day. In these lockdown days we could all do with a good visit to the shops.

Let’s listen to Hannah discussing her project.

This project was inspired by my ever-growing cynicism towards the consumer culture of today, using narrative and humour to raise awareness of consumer behaviours, while making others question their own consumer habits. Creating a series of consumer identities and objectifying them in such a way allowed the message of consumerism to be broadcast on both a painfully obvious yet subliminal level. By poking fun at these flawed characters, guilty of so many common consumerist traits within us all, I hoped to create a platform that allowed the viewer to question their own consumer behaviours from an outsider’s perspective. This interest has been researched further within my dissertation, with emphasis placed on the methods used within the design world and the role of artists and designers when taking responisibility for changing consumer behaviours. Throughout my final year at Gray’s the opportunity to explore my creative and social interests has been invaluable, not only in developing my illustrative style through narrative and humour but also allowing me to tackle important issues within society that resonate with me on a personal level.

Hannah Jakobsen

@artukdotorg @RGULibrary @RGU @UniMuseumsScot @MuseumsGalScot #OnlineArtExchange #communication design #The_Big_Draw #Scottish_Graphic_Design