LONDON TEXTILES FAIR 19.7.12

Off to the London Textile fair today, excited to speak to people with similar interests as me and maybe a chance to get some business cards and ask about short placements for the up coming year?

I wanted to get as much information I could in a short space of time so I wrote down questions to ask to everyone I spoke to.

- Did you do placements whilst at University? where? how did you get it?

- What advice could you give for 3rd year students?

- When you look at Portfolios, what do you look for?

- What would you like to see people do more in their portfolios?

From speaking to those at the fair, I was advised in my 3rd year to ensure I look at trends and ensure i have at least a few designers that would be suitable for employees at the time. This is because 3rd year is for experimenting and doing exactly what you want but when I present my portfolio to companies, if they are able to see that I have looked at trends for that season I show a better knowledge of the industry than if I did exactly what I wanted but it was unaware of the market that my work would fit and whether it would be successful.

A good knowledge of Photoshop is required

Crisp, Clean presentation of portfolio. No scatty edges!!

I was able to look at a wide variety of textile designers and see and feel the different processes they all use. The importance of designs standing out from the rest is vital at an event like these. I think this is also something I should consider for my website and portfolio. There are hundreds of designs lying on top of one and other and you need a design to catch peoples eye and be remeberable. For the website it is fundamental that I am selective so that the prints I choose stand out by themselves without looking cluttered.