 by [TC]²
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Creativity: Designer Meets Technology Conference Review by:
The recent two-day conference (May 9-11, 2004) hosted by Philadelphia University (formerly Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science) adjacent to the magnificent setting of Philadelphia's Fairmount Park was an excellent opportunity for artists, designers, product developers, and educators to share their investigations of technology and its relationship to the design process. As part of the program development, organizers issued a call for presentations and the resulting collection provided diversity in terms of both speaker experience and topic areas covered.
As the program continued, speakers addressed themes including technology within the educational setting, novel approaches to design, new product development, and design innovation through technology integration and application. Some conference participants may have found portions of the program to be a touch theoretical or esoteric at times. However, this tendency was balanced by a strong dose of ‘portfolio' or visual presentation in which we were able to see the results of designers applying their technological process. I was particularly fascinated by Jonathan Trapp's presentation ‘Formal Innovation in Architecture and Design of the Information Age'. Having little familiarity with architectural design I found inspiration in the pioneering application of CAD as a design tool within an unfamiliar three dimensional environment. Jonathan emphasized the idea that architects have more traditionally used CAD technology as a documentation tool. He went on to present examples of approaches to the application of CAD within the design and innovation phase. The resulting forms illustrated unique solutions relating to elements of shape, surface interest, and movement within and around spaces. One could draw a relationship between Trapp's presentation and the way in which our apparel community uses CAD to digitize, record, and automate pattern production and sizing. The most innovative/experimental stage of new garment design often takes place outside the CAD environment – possibly on the dress form or sketch pad. As in the field of architecture, this may change with the development and integration of 3D pattern making tools that allow designers to visualize the interaction between body form, garment shape, and fabric. This concept of 3D product design was further illustrated by Traci May-Plumlee ( North Carolina State University ) who spoke about the use of virtual technologies for textile product design. In a concurrent session Nancy Powell (also from North Carolina State University ) explored three dimensional production methods through an investigation of Wholegarment knitting of polypropylene performance fibers for apparel. The goal of Powell's project has been to research the potential for using polypropylene in new markets. Her presentation emphasized the product development process as an integration of performance, aesthetic, and tactile considerations with production limitations and parameters. ‘Virtual' and ‘Three Dimensional' were recurring themes and an interesting twist on these notions was presented by Victor De La Rosa (student, Rhode Island School of Design) in his presentation ‘Technology is the New Craft: Downloading the Textile Future'. De La Rosa described the use of digital imagery to create environments and outlined how the development of inexpensive digital display technology will pave the way for the ability to download images for the creation of digital wallpaper and spaces.
Other conference highlights included presentations by Zane Berzina, a Ph.D. student with the London College of Fashion. Berzina provided an overview of her current research project entitled ‘Skin Stories: Charting and Mapping the Skin'. Her multi-disciplinary study involved collaboration with biologists and material scientists to investigate the function and topography of skin. This investigation was used as the basis for her design work and the research showed a conceptual and visual exploration of the relationship between science and design. The discussion of a multi-disciplinary approach to design and product development struck me as timely and this theme was echoed by a number of other presenters, including Jack Lenor Larsen, who provided the keynote address over lunch the first day. Mr. Larsen's theme, ‘How Creativity Can Again Make America a Producing, Exporting Nation', addressed the notion of creating new fabrics in new ways. He challenged the audience to think outside conventional approaches to fabric development and invent new structures and new materials. Janet Hethorn ( University of Delaware ) emphasized the use of new materials and technology in performance design and described the translation and migration of innovative approaches from the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center ( Natick ) to performance apparel products for the broader market place. This idea of setting convention aside is also being put into practice within educational settings. Terence Kavanagh (Loughboro University School of Art and Design) outlined the unique design approach within the graduate program at that institution. He described a process that was not without pitfalls as designers, technicians, and engineers learn to communicate and collaborate. The students are encouraged to bring their initial technological investigations to life, sometimes finding industry partners to aid the translation of fabric or material into garment or product. Kavanagh emphasized that while a multi-disciplinary approach offers considerable challenge for the participants, the results can be interesting and significant. In addition to the topic areas noted, there was also a heavy emphasis on explorations in the area of digital textile printing. Several conference participants provided an outline of explorations of the process within the educational and research setting. The portfolio of work presented was both interesting and inspirational for those of us working in the digital arena. In addition to experimental work, there was also discussion of the implementation of digital printing from a more industrial or commercial standpoint by Hitoshi Ujiie ( Philadelphia University ) and Danielle Locastro (First2Print). While the conference audience was largely a textile audience, the variety of themes may have had relevance to a broader group. It is unfortunate that there was not greater participation from designers working in industry as both the setting and the conference program had a lot to offer. There was time to network with exhibitors including Ned Graphics, Lectra Systems, Inc., DuPont, EAT Inc., Pointcarre, Testfabrics, and CITDA to learn more about their offerings. Participants that stayed on for an additional day had the opportunity to tour the DuPont Inkjet facility in Wilmington , Delaware . As the program came to a close, it was clear to me that although the conference was about the interaction between creativity and technology, ‘innovation' was the over-riding theme. It was also apparent that innovation arises through experimentation and ‘the meeting of minds'. The opportunity for designers to meet and share their work is both a great opportunity and an excellent investment. For more information about this conference, contact Philadelphia University 's School of Textiles and Materials Technology (215-951-2751 - www.philau.edu/schools/tmt/index.htm ).
Kerry Maguire King is the Manager of Digital Print Services at [TC]². May, 2004
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The first day began with a focus on ‘Inspiration' and kicked off with a presentation by Carol Westfall, entitled ‘Heart, Hand and High-Tech'. Carol highlighted textile production around the world and provided stunning visuals of the textile creator's interaction with technology in countries including India and Japan . Emphasizing the idea that technology has been part of world textile traditions from the earliest times, the visual story of technology, process, and migration provided a context for presentations that followed.
