MY CREATIVE PROCESS
Inspiration
The first step of my creative and research process was to learn more about graphic design in the LGBT+ community. Immediately, I was struck by the sheer amount of different pride parade buttons. From the 1960s until now, pride parades have been taking place with statement-making buttons as a staple. Researching further, it is clear through artists like Keith Haring, who used his art to speak about the HIV/AIDS epidemic, that art is instrumental to every step of the fight for LGBT+ rights and recognition. Even today, buttons with pronouns or rainbows are extremely common.
HOW MY WORK PROGRESSED
STEP ONE: SKETCH
My sketches are a great example of iterations since they look nothing like my final work! But they were very important in developing my ideas.
STEP TWO: GATHER SUPPLIES
With a general idea of my designs, I had to gather the fabrics and threads I wanted to work with. I did this early to keep a consistent visual theme to the patches (they all use the same fabric in different colors and complimenting threads) and so I would know what I was working with when I made my final designs.
STEP THREE: FINALIZE DESIGNS
The first step of my embroidery process is to trace designs onto a water-soluble stabilizer to use as a guide. Before I could do that, I had to choose which designs I wanted to work with! I mocked up some designs in photoshop.
TIME TO EMBROIDER
The most time consuming part of the process