Design (Ms Abela)

The industrial Revolution.

British economy was dominated by the agriculture for centuries. As the population was increasing in the 18^th century, they needed a new farming system to feed all the population, and they created an agricultural revolution that produced larger quantities of crops.

To increase productivity and agricultural prosperity, they introduced new tools, fertilizers and harvesting techniques.
Agriculture remained a principal provider of employment in the provinces.

As in the 18^th century the population grown, they needed to create a greater demand for manufactured goods. Steam engine was invented in the 1712, they achieved mass production by replacing animal and water power with steam power. Among other innovations, the invention of the steam engine was very important and big for the industrial revolution.

Coal was found and instead of wood as it was difficult to transport they began using coal, coal was much more potent than woods, providing up to 3 times more energy.

Steam engine was created to pump out water from the minds, as the old horse striven pump only reaches a depth of about 90ft, and that still left a lot of coal lower down, so they needed to invent a new machinery, and the steam engine was invented, to pump out water at a lower depth of hundreds of feet below the ground.

Horse Striven Pump

The First Steam Engine

In the 1769 ‘James Watt designs a more efficient steam engine. One of the most important inventions of the Industrial Revolution, steam engines power the first trains, steamboats, and factories’.

James Watt collaborated with Matthew Boulton, to create the rotating engine, this was a crucial for industrial production.  Now machinery could function much faster, with the use of the rotary movements, without the use of human power.

James Watt

‘James Watt helped take us from the farm to the factory and into 
the modern world. Though a truly awful businessman, he was the ingenious engineering power behind the industrial revolution’.

Matthew Boulton

Soft Schools, 2005-2015. [online] Available at: < http://www.softschools.com/timelines/industrial_revolution_timeline/40/> [Accessed 28 February 2015].

[Author] , [Date] , . British Museum [online] Available at: < https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/publications/online_research_catalogues/paper_money/paper_money_of_england__wales/the_industrial_revolution.aspx> [Accessed 28 February 2015].

History.com Staff, 2009. History.com [online] Available at: < http://www.history.com/topics/industrial-revolution> [Accessed 28 February 2015].

History.com, 2009. History.com [online] Available at: < http://www.history.co.uk/biographies/james-watt> [Accessed 28 February 2015].

T. de Haan, 2013. Industrial Revolution. [video online] Available at: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhF_zVrZ3RQ> [Accessed 28 February 2015].

Child Labour:

As children have a small figure, they worked in mines and textile factories as they can fit everywhere in small places. They worked in textile factories because when a piece of the machines stuck out that is called the flying shuttle they needed children to go under the textile machines and find the missing piece to repost it in place, as they were difficult to be reached by larger adults. This was design by John Kay in the 1733.

Children were cheap and were always available. 30,000 children a year where employed in the mills in Lancashire in the 1830’s. Children worked in mines as they were small and they could squeeze through small openings, to pull the loads of coal to the surface.

Nowadays children of that age can’t work, the once that can needs 
to be about 16 years old or over, nowadays more children study than working. And to work one need to have qualifications. The industrial revolution has change in all ways the technology took place to everything and everyone as in factories, the work is done mostly by machines and not by workers, many workers just have the easiest work to do in factories as the work is already done by machines.

2015. Victorian Children [online] Available at: < http://www.victorianchildren.org/victorian-child-labor/> [Accessed 28 February 2015].

Mandy Barrow, 2013. The Victorians-The Industrial Revolution [online] Available at: < http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/victorians/industrialrevolution.html> [Accessed 28 February 2015].

Dr Bruce Rosen, 2010. Victorian History [online] Available at: < http://vichist.blogspot.com/2010/03/child-labour-in-victorian-england.html > [Accessed 28 February 2015].

William Morris (1834-1896) 

William Morris was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement.
Morris and his artists friends, promoted by the success of their efforts, they decided to start their own company, and in April 1861, Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co. was established at 8 Red Lion Square in London. Original domestic furnishings were produced, including embroidery, tableware and furniture, stained glass and tiles.
They profoundly influenced the decoration of churches and houses into the early 20^th century. William Morris was also a major contributor, he revived traditional textile arts and methods of production.
Throughout his life, Morris wrote and published fiction, poetry, and translations of ancient and medieval texts. One of his best-known work is ‘The Defence of Guenevere and other Poems’, which was released in the 1858.

In William Morris's designs I matched these two works by the background of the wallpaper and with the designs drawn on the chair, as they're both elaborated and there isn't space between the designs. In both works are used almost the same colours, on a dark green scale.


Anon,2015.Victora and Albert Museum. [online] Available at: <http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/w/william-morris-history-of-the-collections/> [Accessed 28 February 2015].

[The Orchard] [image online] Available at: <http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O72515/the-orchard-the-seasons-tapestry-morris-william/> [Accessed 28 February 2015].

[Morris Bird Chair] [image online] Available at: <http://www.morrissociety.org/morris/artdecorative.html> [Accessed 28 February 2015].

The Great Exhibition & the Crystal Palace.

The Great Exhibition event was created by Prince Albert (Queen Victoria’s husband) and Henry Cole.

The Crystal Palace was designed by Joseph Paxton, it was made of prefabricated glass and cast iron.

There were 32 countries participating in this exhibition.

Prince Albert’s idea was to impress the world with Britain’s industrial achievements. Many countries exhibited, there were four main categories, Raw materials, machinery, manufacturers and fine arts.

The building was built in only nine months and cost just £80,000. Punch magazine nicknamed the building ‘Crystal Palace’.

It was built to house the Great Exhibition, it lasted opened for 6 months, and over 6 million people visited the Great Exhibition, including many from abroad. As Queen Victoria’s husband generated the idea of this building, she was a frequent visitor.

There were many designers, artists, scientists, engeniers etc…
One of the scientists, Jean Bernard Leon Foucault even hung a pendulum from the roof to demonstrate the rotation of the earth.

After the exhibition the building was taken down to be moved to a new park, Penge Place Estate, Sydenham as a ‘Winter Park and Garden under Glass’ after the exposition, but destroyed by fire in 1936. The Palace and the lands around it became the world’s first theme park that offered education, entertainment, a rollercoaster and cricket matches.

It has attracted 2 million visitors a year and was also home to displays, festivals, music shows and over one hundred thousand soldiers during the First World War. 

History.com, 2014. History.com. [Online] Available at: < http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/the-great-exhibition > [Accessed 09 April 2015].

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2015.World’s fair. [Online] Available at: < http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/649088/worlds-fair/301790/The-Great-Exhibition-and-its-legacy-the-golden-age-of-fairs > [Accessed 09 April 2015].

The Victorian Web, 2014. The Crystal Palace. [Online] [Last modified 10 September 2014] Available at: < http://www.victorianweb.org/victorian/history/1851/index.html > [Accessed 09 April 2015].

The British Library Board, [date]. The Great Exhibition. [Online] Available at: < http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/victorians/exhibition/greatexhibition.html > [Accessed 09 April 2015].

John Kemper, 2000. Britain and the Great Exhibition of 1851. [Online] Available at: < http://web.stanford.edu/group/ww1/spring2000/exhibition/start.html > [Accessed 09 April 2015].

BBC, 2004. London Crystal Palace. [Online] [Last updated 09 April 2008] Available at: < http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2004/07/27/history_feature.shtml > [Accessed 09 April 2015].

Victoria and Albert museum, 2015. National Art Library Great Exhibition collection. [Online] Available at: < http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/n/national-art-library-great-exhibition-collection/ > [Accessed 09 April 2015].

Victoria and Albert museum, 2015. The Great Exhibition. [Online] Available at: < http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/g/great-exhibition > [Accessed 09 April 2015].





Design Assay

Christian Louboutin
Fashion Designer

Christian Louboutin was born in France in 1963, He first starts dreaming about footwear since his early teens. He got expelled from school at age 16, Christian Louboutin had little interest towards school. He was the youngest child born to a cabinetmaker and with his stay at home mother, as his father wasn’t around much so Louboutin spent a lot of his early years in the company of his mother and three sisters.

Louboutin passion for footwear happened by accident, it all took only a trip to a museum of African art. He saw a sign indicating that high heels were not permitted in the museum, he said the he was totally fascinated by that sign, as he never saw shoes like that. Before louboutin began filling notebooks with his own shoe ideas and sketches, he got further inspired by a book of Roger Vivier’s designs. Vivier designed shoes for Christian Dior in the 1950’s.

After Christian Louboutin got expelled from school, he soon began to work with the famed Parisian cabaret Folies Bergere. He did all sorts of jobs for the dancers, including fulfilling his personal dream of creating shoes for them. After this experience, Louboutin learned the ins and outs of the shoe business when he landed a job with Charles Jourdan in the early 1980’s.

After Christian Louboutin worked as a freelance designer for a time, in the early 1990’s, Louboutin launched his own line and set up his own shop in Paris. He found the inspiration for his trademark red outer soles in 1993. The red outer soles idea generated from a very stupid but innovative thing for him, as his assistant was sitting in front of him, painting her nails red. He took one look and decided to colour his soles red as a statement for the season, “Louboutin told Footwear News. “I thought, ‘Oh my god! Red soles are so flirtatious,’ and my customers asked me not to stop.” His artistic yet sexy shoes soon attracted the likes of Princess Caroline of Monaco, one of his early customers. Even Madonna, she wore his dangerously high heels in some of her videos, helping Louboutin to be known with the world. 

Later on, over the years, Christian Louboutin has continued to turn season after season of imaginative footwear. His beautiful shoes turned out into an international success story. According to The New Yorker, he sells more than 500,000 pairs of his footwear each year.

Louboutin has worked to expand his reach in fashion. In 2003 he began designing even handbags, and he now offers a line of men’s shoes as well.

Tucsick Jazz Calf/Glitter Mini                                   Versace

I compared this shoes with the Versace styles, as they use gold always for their logo and uses many white. And there’s a red touch of Louboutin always in bottom and in this shoes even on the back side.

Private Number Tissu Afri Loubi/Patent

This footwear name talks itself ‘Afri’ as its colours are of Africa as they use the most primary colours in their clothing.

Aliosha Backpack Calf                                  Piet Mondrian

This backpack design reminded me of the famous Piet Mondrian’s artwork, for his primary colours with black solid lines. I think that he used leather for it's solid colour, as there's no shades of the fabric in it, to keep the Mondrian's style with solid and block colours.

Mayerling Fluo Mat/Suede                              USA Flag

The colours of this footwear are the same as the USA’s flag colour, the use of some of the primary colours.

Dehia Tissu Loubi Jungle                       William Morris Wallpapers

I associated this footwear print, with William Morris’s wallpapers, as there’s leafs and flowers. And it’s African style of the wedge heel design and material.

In my opinion, this designer have a very interesting collection, as many designers have their own pattern and they'll use the same pattern on every style, only changing the style and shape of the clothes and shoes etc..., Christian Louboutin changes patterns almost on every design, to keep selling, as their are many people that don't like to buy things that have always the same pattern on every design, they like to change colour and style, but Louboutin keeps that affectionate touch under the design, the red soles.






Louboutin. [online] Available at:<http://eu.christianlouboutin.com/uk_en/homepage-1/it-s-electric.html> Accessed date [17^th April 2015].

Vogue, Year. Christian Louboutin. [online] Available at:<http://www.vogue.com/946480/christian-louboutin-new-nail-polish/> Accessed date [17^th April 2015].

The New Yorker, 2014. Sole Mate. [online] (March 28, 2011) Available at:<http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/03/28/sole-mate >Accessed date [17^th April 2015].

BIO, 2015. Christian Louboutin. [online] Available at:<http://www.biography.com/people/christian-louboutin-21105389> Accessed date [17^th April 2015].

Designboom, 2015. [online] (May 21, 2014) Available at<http://www.designboom.com/design/interview-shoe-designer-christian-louboutin-05-21-2014/> Accessed date [17^th April 2015].

Encyclopaedia Britannica , 2015. Christian Louboutin. [online] (September 9, 2913) Available at:<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1490559/Christian-Louboutin> Accessed date [17^th April 2015].