I meticulously crafted 120 distinct fashion iterations within a span of several days, drawing inspiration from pre-established storyboards. These storyboards served as comprehensive visual narratives, originating from the various elements and characters that surfaced during a critical client consultation involving the Rorschach Inkblot Assessment.
During this client interaction, I presented a watercolor inkblot, handcrafted by me, to my subjects, prompting them with inquiries such as "What do you perceive within this inkblot?" and "What emotions does this inkblot evoke in you?" I encouraged open expression, allowing each participant to articulate their unique interpretations.
For example, the thematic underpinnings that informed the creation of my fashion illustrations included concepts such as monarchy, the presence of a formidable antagonist, the misunderstood persona of a monstrous figure, the symbolism of vermin, visceral reactions of disgust and pain, the art of anthropomorphization, themes of aggression, the duality of a devil and angel, and the valor of a soldier. These themes served as the guiding pillars upon which I fashioned my distinctive fashion designs.
Watercolor inkblot used during interviews:
Fashion Design Iterations illustrated in charcoal:
Preliminary Story Boards:
Final Collection Designs:
In this fantasy world, character's are divided into four distinct tribes: Spiritual Advisors, Wise Fool, Nurturer, Military.
The Spiritual Advisors:
The Wise Fools:
The Nurturers:
The Military:
Client Interviews:
RORSCHACH TEST [CLIENT: MELODY] - SUBJECT #1
MELODY: Okay, so I'm looking at an inkblot. First thing I see is the apple eating bugs you see all over New York that you have to squash. Mandatory. Otherwise I see cavemen and their hands against the call creating a painting. The black parts are the hands, and the red is the different inks that they have. It's kind of like alien veins going up to the head, and then you see the bug’s face and the nose part coming down and then the two wings. Then it also has little legs, fat legs on the side with the dots, which are furry pieces on the sides.
LANA: How does this inkblot make you feel emotionally?
MELODY: It’s a pretty strong character. At first you would think it’s violent, but it's sort of a bug who just lives off on its own, and it’s pretty peaceful. But the outside look is pretty predatorial. Scary initially, but you’d actually think it's a pretty calm bug that does its own thing.
LANA: If you met this bug walking down the streets of New York, what would you do?
MELODY: I would side eye it, but I also heard it's everyone’s duty to squash it. It’s basically a vermin. That needs to die. Hahaha. Yeah.
LANA: So you see this ink blot as a vermin that needs to die?
MELODY: Exactly. But I wouldn’t care, you know? Whatever, it’s probably going to be squashed anyways. I’ll let it pass. Give it a couple more days.
LANA: Give it a couple more days?
MELODY: Hahaha. Yeah, and it looks pretty furry too. I like killing furry things.
RORSCHACH TEST [CLIENT: SABRINA] - SUBJECT #2
LANA: Okay, begin to tell me what you see.
SABRINA: Okay, so I see the head of an ant. Or some sort of insect like a praying mantis. It’s the head of an ant, and the body of a human with muscular arms. And no hands, or maybe detached hands with little dots at the bottom. It has a robotic torso that is dislocated from the rest of the body. No legs, but it is still connected to the arms. And the red above the shoulders could be maybe an angel and the devil. And the little red things coming up to the head could be its rib cage, or it could be blood flowing up to its head.
LANA: And this is all happening within the perspective of an ant?
SABRINA: Yes, that or the head of a praying mantis.
LANA: Oh. I was quite interested when you started talking about the devils on their shoulders. Could you go more in depth about that?
SABRINA: Well, seeing as both sides are pretty symmetrical there is a bit of a difference of coloring in one section. The left side is more splotchy and the right side is more rigid. The right side is the angle, and the left side is the devil. Because of the black and red it has an ominous presence behind the figure.
LANA: I see. So based on that description, how does this ink blot make you feel emotionally?
SABRINA: Emotionally it makes me feel intimidated by the figure, but at the same time, worried about the figure. Something is controlling it, or making it seem like an intimidating presence to everyone that is viewing the picture.
LANA: Hm. but what specifically is making it appear intimidating?
SABRINA: I would say the unconjoined limbs, missing legs and perhaps the dislocated head in general. And the blood flowing up there.
LANA: Are you seeing disjointed limbs? Are you seeing multiple bodies at once?
SABRINA: I wouldn’t say multiple bodies, I would say one disfigured body.
LANA: So one disfigured body that looks like multiple people at once. Is that what you are saying?
SABRINA: no, a disfigured body that is just one entity, controlled by others.
LANA: Oh! That is very interesting. I don't know where you are getting the control from, like being controlled by others. Could you go more in depth about that?
SABRINA: I say it is controlled by the way the red is surrounding and encapsulating the black part of the figure. So it seems like it is taking over, but not quite. It is giving the image of the black areas, but yet the red is still taking control.
LANA: So what you are saying is that the black is the true identity of the “whatever this is”, and the red is the one that’s invading the black space.
SABRINA: Yup. Like an invasive species.
LANA: So the red is an invasive species. Is that what you are saying?
SABRINA: Yes.
LANA: Hm. Very interesting. Now, I know you are a story writer. Off the top of your head, what kind of characters or stories or random plot lines come to your head when you look at something like this?
SABRINA: This could be a henchman that works for evil, but he is trying to take back control of himself and his body. He is trying to break through it, and he wants to work for perhaps a greater evil, even if it is still evil.
LANA: Wow. Do you see the henchman inside the inkblot?
SABRINA: Well the henchman is the black guy. It is the guy within the red.
LANA: So you are saying you actually see a man being created by the black ink blots, separate from the red?
SABRINA: Yes.
LANA: Ah. Interesting. So you see a face, but the face is constructed only black ink, not red ink.
SABRINA: Yes. Well perhaps the hooded figure heads. Two entities trying to control one, because the center (the top center ink blot), you can see that it is a little bit lighter, and perhaps that forms the eyes that are blacked out.
RORSCHACH TEST [CLIENT: JASMINE] - SUBJECT #3
LANA: Looking at this inkblot, what do you see?
JASMINE: From the black and the red, it reminds me of a uterus.
LANA: A uterus?
JASMINE: Mhm! Because the shape of the black thing, and the red reminds me of blood. And it is symmetrical, so the shape itself looks like a uterus, and these look like— you know how they have balls around it?
LANA: So you see a black uterus, and blood surrounding it?
JASMINE: Yup.
LANA: Are you thinking of this is happening internally in a female anatomy or is more—
JASMINE: It is more inside. It gives me like— you know how when you get x-rays, or the things you do when you’re pregnant. When people look at x-rays the shadow looks like it. It is more like an abstract thing.
LANA: So like an ultrasound?
JASMINE: Yeah. Kinda shadowy. But then the red makes it stand out, it red makes it look like it is in real life. It is a mix of both.
LANA: Hm. Based on that description, how does this visual make you feel now?
JASMINE: I feel pain. Probably because of the red. You know how there are dabs of the red from darker to light?
LANA: Mhm.
JASMINE: It looks like stains to me. Like period stains. It also links back to the uterus, because it comes out from the uterus. I feel pain from it. And it reminds me of myself, from period pain.
LANA: Where is the pain coming from? JASMINE: It is more of a visual effect that reminds me of my own kind of pain. Because the stains just look like my own period blood stains, as the uterus. It reminds me of the pain I feel in my own stomach when I experience periods. It disgusts me, and I feel pain in it.
LANA: Disgust and pain?
JASMINE: Mhm!
LANA: Wow. It's kind of amazing.
JASMINE: Amazing? Your inkblot? It is amazing!
LANA: No, not the inkblot. Your perception of it.
JASMINE: Oh really?
LANA: Yeah.
JASMINE: Do you like it?
LANA: So you told me the black part looks like a uterus, the red part reminds you of blood stains, are there any other particular structures in this inkblot that make you feel or see anything?
JASMINE: Structure? The one thing that captures me is the negative space between the red and white negative space in between them. Because it is not just a simple thing, it feels like it is spreading out. It is the blood spreading out, so it reminds me of something running over— like blood. And this part, i was just thinking about it, but it kind of looks like the opening of a vagina. Maybe it’s because I already have an image of this as an uterus in my mind, so that it reminds me of a vagina. It’s kind of fun, because you are creating a shape of the uterus and the vagina from red stains and black shadows.
RORSCHACH TEST [CLIENT: AWURA ABA] - SUBJECT #4
LANA: Hello Awura Aba, would you like to tell me what you see in this ink blot? AWURA ABA: Immediately I can see two heads. I guess they might be knights, but i don't know they seem like they could also be woodpeckers the more that i look at them. And they are facing opposite directions on the outer edge of the inkblot. And I see a chess piece or a castle in the middle.
LANA: Hm.
AWURA ABA: upon looking at it further, it could also be a silhouette of a person? With a crown on their head. So very monarchy related. It is connected to the woodpeckers, or the knights, whatever you want to call them on the outer edges of the inkblot.
LANA: So I am hearing a lot of castles, knights, and monarchs.
AWURA ABA: Definitely.
LANA: Would you like to go more in depth about this? AWURA ABA: What can I say? I just think there is a lot of royal imagery. Especially with the dramatic framing of the monarch in the middle, with what could be a crest surrounding her. It is a very medieval royal image to me.
LANA: Royal? AWURA ABA: But villainous, because of the black and red color scheme.
LANA: So black and red in conjunction with each other is what is making this villainous? Not the black by itself?
AWURA ABA: not the black by itself.
LANA: Or the red by itself? AWURA ABA: not the red by itself.
LANA: Hm. How does this inkblot make you feel emotionally?
AWURA ABA: Emotionally? It is way dramatic. It makes me really into the ink blot, but I get involved in the details, because there is a lot of drama going on and I want to know more.
LANA: So a sense of mystery? AWURA ABA: Very mysterious. Enchanting if you will.
LANA: Enchanting! If you saw one of these knights walking down the street, what would they be wearing?
AWURA ABA: Well, um, knight shit. Medieval armor but in red and black. Very bird-like helmets though.
LANA: How would they make you feel though, if you saw him walking in the subway system, and you glanced over shoulder? AWURA ABA: I would think he is a student.
LANA: Hahahaha!
AWURA ABA: Haha! I'm just playing. I would definitely be intimidated, but also curious. I definitely wouldn't speak to him, but I would definitely be curious about what he’s doing and where he is going.
LANA: Would he be ugly or attractive? AWURA ABA: Underneath the helmet? He’d probably be French. Hahaha! I don't know.
LANA: Underneath the helmet? So now there is a helmet?
AWURA ABA: Yeah, that's what I'm thinking.
LANA: Woodpecker shit?
AWURA ABA: Yeah, woodpecker helmet type shit. Medieval shit. Very intimidating guy.
LANA: Intimidating guy? So there is a guy? AWURA ABA: Yes.
LANA: wow.
AWURA ABA: But the monarch is a woman though.
LANA: The monarch is in the middle. Being protected and represented by two men by her flank?
AWURA ABA: Yes.
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