Interview with Oliver

In my interview with Oliver we made the connection between their style and preferred visuals. They explained how growing up they always gravitated towards wearing black to make themselves seem like less of a target. They also mentioned they may come across as cold and uninterested in conversation with strangers but they're actually very warm hearted and love people. I commented that their artwork seemed to reflect their stories. The work was of black backgrounds with bright colorful subjects on top. Oliver has such a bright and colorful personality and prefers wearing black or dark colors. While our interview was less scripted than my others and more on the fly, the connection we made between their fashion style and art style made a big impact on me and this article. 

Interview with Zach

Zach began by telling me about how they like to wear their Grandmother's old clothes. We then veered to discussing their current style and the types of accessories or choices that make up a "look". They also brought up the importance of young people expressing their creative self in safe environments. To be frank, not everyone is ready for the visual aesthetics we're ready to serve and that could potentially lead to being harmed. A few of Zach's quotes that I liked the most were:
"It's a performance"
"If they don't like it then they're not my audience. I'm not performing for them"
"it's like we know something they don't. Like we have a secret. And they're not wrong."
"I change my looks based on how I'm feeling that day, sometimes I want to appear more feminine and others I want to be more masculine" 

I have about 40 minutes of dialog to sift through in order to refine their quotes. 

Interview with Jules:
I conducted my first interview for my article about artists and expressing their creative identity through style. Jules was great to talk to, she's an illustration major and has drawn out her outfits before she's worn them. Her looks match her artwork and she even "tests" or "prototypes" new looks using sketching. She attended a high school that required uniforms which is when she began finding new ways to express herself; from her shoes to her hair and makeup. Her expression has only grown since high school and now she can incorporate her choice of clothes for the day. She said that she generally dresses in two different ways- bright and colorful or edgy. The type of people who interact with her varies depending on the way she's dressed. She said when she dresses edgier she attracts more conversation from other creative types, but less conversation with strangers. On the contrary, when she dresses bright and colorful she seems more welcoming of conversation with strangers. You can tell what mood Jules is in based on her style for the day, like a mood ring. 

My research plan for my upcoming Urban Milwaukee article is as follows:

Continue researching articles about fashion, and learn my likes/ dislikes when it comes to  descriptions of style. I think fashion can be very floofy, but I want to take an artists approach and explore it more as a form of identity. I'd like to begin talking to my classmates who choose to express their identity (heavily) through stylistic choices. I've began compiling questions for my interviews and this is what I've developed thus far:
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1. Do you/ why do you gravitate towards certain colors.
2. Is there a message you're trying to tell
3. when did you begin using style as a way to express your identity
4. Does this identity reflect in your artwork
5. How does your artwork relate to your style
6. What is the general feedback from the public, and do you care

My goal is to show Milwaukee to be chill when they see someone dressed differently than what they consider "normal". Maybe if they read the article they will think, "hey, that person is probably creative and this is another way they're expressing their creative identity" as opposed to just thinking, "they're weird". 

Personally, when reflecting on MIAD style, I feel a sense of acceptance. I wake up each day confident enough to try new things because the environment at MIAD is very encouraging of that- or at least my friends are. I love my art friends because they are, in general, much more kind and openminded than the average person. I don't feel judged by other creatives, I feel like they just "get it", and are supportive. 

In one of my classes, which happens to be full of artistic fashion lovers, a group of friends showed so much excitement and praise when their friend arrived decked out in a LOOK. She was wearing a long silver wig, with a dope outfit and fly ass makeup to match. One of her friends exclaimed, "OKAY! GIVE ME LIFE THEN", you should see the inspiration to explore one's creative identity flow from one person to the next. 

Article ideation and research!

I know I want to discuss the fashion displayed by Milwaukee Artists, specifically MIAD students, but I'm not quite sure what to ask my subjects, nor what insight I will gain from my conversations with them. I'd love to have a variety of styles portrayed in my article- the artist who dresses in only black, the artist who accessorizes to the max, the artist who doesn't care what they wear- which is still technically a "look". 
What does our look say about us? Does it align with who we are as creatives? Does it contradict the work we create? 
Who are my favorite inclusive fashion icons that I would love to interview?

Rihanna- Fenty. Rihanna produced a fashion show that featured people of all genders and sizes. Her colors are bright and the cuts are bold. This show was revolutionary as it was much more than a fashion show, it was 100000% performance art.

Jaden and Willow Smith- Their styles are both wild and simple. Some days they wear extreme oversized clothes, others they wear outfits tailored to their body. They play around with hair styles, eye brow bleaching, piercings, shoes, and also nonconventional accessories- boxed water, backpacks, pets (in a good way) etc.

Billy Poter- He is an actor that is very well known for being one of the first men to wear a dress on the red carpet. He also plays around with bold hats and accessories. I like Billy because he has the perfect attitude to match his bold, confident looks. 

Young Thug- Young Thug got a lot of heat for wearing a dress on his album cover, but I found it to be edgy. The color scheme was beautiful, the textures of materials held visual interest, and the overall image was extremely artistic. I like when entertainers take artistic risks. 

Todd Mrozinski
I appreciate the simplicity of Todd's website. The site is easy to navigate and his bio was easy to read. He has an impressive body of work and I wonder if he's showing them to the best of his abilities. When an artist's work is impressive, you want their website to be a reflection of their work. I was slightly underwhelmed by the site in comparison to his intricate work. 
I like the way he writes in first person with a lot of details. His work is enjoyable to read and gives me a sense of environment and mood. His writing is peaceful and calculated. 

Dale Chihuly
The second artist's web presence I decided to explore was Dale Chihuly. The "life" section of his website was where I found text accompianied by images. These pieces of text broke down Chihuly's creative beliefs, processes, and personal life. The layout of his website is very clean and is elevated by the extremely high quality images. I appreciate the dramatic "hero shots" of his sculptures as well as the work in progress images. Chihuly's web presence is something artists can only strive to achieve. He is arguably the most well known glass artist due to the nationwide display of his work. Now with social media acting as a marketing platform, Chihuly's name has spread like wildfire. Dale's massive glass work has become iconic for backdrops found in instagram photos. 

Autumn Lundberg
Exploring my person web presence reminds me that I have a lot of work to do. While I'm leaps and bounds better than I was just two years ago, I know there is still room for improvement. I specifically need to invest in a better camera to photograph my work. Additionally, organizing the images is just as important as the quality. I'd like to re-vamp my entire site and begin to show my industrial design projects on that site as well. 

Hi! My name is Autumn Lundberg. I'm a Senior at MIAD studying Industrial Design. I believe writing is an amazing tool used to propel information to forward. Writing, paired with art, can be an incredible source of nutrition for our culture. 

I believe an interpretation is ones personal view on a subject. An interpretation is merely an opinion.

I'm interested in writing about the fashion found in Milwaukee- more specifically MIAD and UWM's art scenes. I love the fashion of artists and appreciate their stylistic choices as an extension of their creative self.

I would love to go beyond photographing and summarizing their fit and actually explore the reasoning behind their stylistic combinations. Artists are trend setters without even trying. We carry ourselves with "I don't give a fuck" attitudes paired with bold choices. Wonder resonates within onlookers, it's a beautiful thing to witness. 

I love this person's style because it's both electric and bold yet soft and playful. Style is fun because each piece is a layered visual choice. Some pieces contrasting and contradicting, while others blend seamlessly.
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A story is always being told whether we realize it or not. ​

Article Research:

OnMilwaukee: The articles found on this website seem like their trying to cater to the millennial readers, but the graphic design of the page disagrees. The articles are about brunch locations, beer gardens, outdoor drinking guides, CBD in the world of food and beverage and more. They also have a schedule of events happening around the area. I think OnMilwaukee has potential to be a platform for millennial readers but their not fully committed yet. 

The Journal Sentinel is a very factual, meat and potatoes, type publication. Their articles are about stats of sports, weather updates, stock trading advice and other national news. 

Shepherd Express seems like it's geared more towards millennials. The top bar that displays different topics includes LGBTQ, Hemp, Sports and Advice amongst others. Already the site feels interesting, current, and worth exploring.

Urban Milwaukee, no comment. I clicked in, and I clicked out. Doesn't catch my eye, the articles seem lame, and the overall design of the website feels lazy. 

Milwaukee Magazine on the other hand feels very developed. The article images paired with the title is very eye catching and gives you a "feel" for the piece. This acts similarly to the cover of a book. The images are nice photographs and don't look cheesy. The layout of the articles are also very clean and provide me joy as I scroll. The site and articles feel clean and nicely curated. 

Marquette Wire is a University website. The layout is dull, the images are small, and the headlines are dry. The articles aren't written any better than the layout was designed.

​Media Milwaukee seems like an informational website. The articles are easy to read and the headlines are catchy. 

Vogue is a publication that focuses on fashion, art, and beauty. Vogue is known for their edgy images paired with in depth interpretations of each piece. The website is minimal, modern, and clean. The articles are easy to read.

Upon exploring articles on various websites I've come to the conclusion that I prefer clean to cluttered. This goes for the images used on the sites as well as the articles themselves. The "clean" articles were organized, easy to read, and concise. The information being provided was the meat of the article and had very little "fluff". The cluttered articles didn't display their information in a way that was easy to digest. These articles also had distracting details and unnecessary images. 
Reflecting on this information, I hope to write an article that's enticing and to the point. 

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