Ruth Kirkland

Follow the chat about his on: https://www.facebook.com/whiskybravodesign



Carla wear a brace of medals for graduating a degree in Design at Wesley Institute.
Carla wears "clouds" and looks like a golden girl.

Cath in The clouds scarf.




Rome.


There's a second film on vimeo when the first one finishes. I know the thing is to make a movie with me in it but i just can't do it, I freeze, so here's a big fat picture instead.


My pozible project is to create a new product extension for my brand Whisky Bravo. The brand is my big adventure and for that you need a tone of voice. This one is a brave one, foolishly brave in fact. If we had an “industry partner” it would be Pussy Riot. Our mascot is a goat because they love to climb mountains for no good reason, if we were cashed up we’d be funding animal rescue people and Malala Yousafzai the young girl who was shot in the head in Pakistan for speaking out against oppressive conditions for women.

It’s foolish and not sensible to speak of political issues with your branding so that seems like the way to go for this brand. We’ve even struck a medal for a former member of parliament for her speech in parliament about misogyny in politics.

The project is to produce an initial run of 200 lightweight, digitally printed georgette Kimonos for summer and 2 more scarf designs. I've spent the last year and a half developing a brand and identity as well as imagery for accessories with a real personality and meaning starting with scarves that work as complex images and stories. This long Kimono is something I was inspired to create because of the heat of Australian summers and the very few flattering things a woman or girl can buy that are both beautiful and cool at the same time. Not all of us have the figure to make a singlet look great. I like the idea of wearing some white jeans, a tank top and this kimino to turn the mundane into the romantic or dramatic, a vision of light and colour moving through space.

Improved pattern idea has raglan sleeves and a gathered fuller back panel to catch the breeze
I have already produced the first product line for Whisky Bravo and it's these plus posters and tshirts, I'm offering as rewards to my funding friends and I've cut my teeth on them so to speak, learning what I need to know about digital printing on silk and developing the language and themes. The themes are heroes, animal rescue, aviation and romance. These are the 5 scarves you can choose from for a reward if you can help with $120+ They retail at $230 and each has a signed and numbered edition card.

Illustrator, Eleni Berdoukis kindly struck a sexy pose to demonstrate how to do the Freida Khalo thing.

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The process of manufacturing the scarves and the coats:

Firstly; the design process, starting with photography

Then: long hours developing the narrative and blending images and vector graphics. The stories involve rescues, often of animals. There's one scarf with an image of the Catalina being restored . A magnificent and huge old plane whose interior is so basic it feels like a tin can with a few knobs and levers. It fills me with awe that young men and women got up in these things and trusted that they would stay in the air.
My next scarf design is on a heavy silk satin and is a photograph of an escape map from inside a pilots high altitude jacket. These maps were printed on silk so that if the pilot went down over enemy territory or into "the drink" The handy map would assist in the escape without water damage.




I do all the print testing here in Sydney at Longina Phillips where the head of production is someone I can trust to be painstaking. We work together to achieve the best colour results and I value her advice about everything to do with digital printing. It’s a fascinating process, an 8 colour process digital printer using acid inks for silk and there is no limit to the variations of colour and tone. This is an artist’s playground! I love to stand there and watch, mesmerised as the images start to roll out.

The next step is to send those samples to a manufacturer abroad for the print run. It’s a limited edition.There’s a quality control person on site checking my samples against the run giving approval or not. The hemming is done there as well. Finding the people who can do the work to high standards has taken a long time.

More pictures

Supporters

Obstacles include a lack of advertising budget and personell to help with social media. Everything else is in place and ready to go