New materials within a design professional and sustainable frame of reference.

Call for PHD fellowship

Kolding School of Design invites applications for a PhD Fellowship starting 1 February, 2012 or as soon as possible after that date. The fellowship has a three year duration and is in the field:

New materials within a design professional and sustainable frame of reference.

The position will be affiliated with the future doctoral school under the auspices of the Architect and Design Schools with place of employment at Kolding School of Design, Department of Product Design.

The project will contribute to building knowledge of new materials in a broad design sense within a sustainable frame of reference. The Department of Product Design comprises three specialist domains, Fashion, Textile, and Industrial Design, and sustainability represents one of the school’s strategic target areas.

New knowledge in this field intends to strengthen creativity and innovation in terms of education and practice, contribute to renewed self-understanding, and support design solutions to the many future challenges of product design.

The application should investigate the significance of new materials on design practice. The investigation should relate to relevant, existing, international research environments that work with material knowledge at the most advanced professional level. Moreover, in terms of methodology, the project should connect to action research and/or practice-oriented research traditions such as e.g. research-through-design. Furthermore, the application should explicate how the contribution will support the development of the three specialist domains of the department, including how it will strengthen the future development of design practice and create renewed professional self-understanding.  

The Application:
There is no application form. The application must be in writing in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish or English and allow for the appointment committee to be able to assess the applicant’s qualifications and potential for completing the project.

The Application must include:

• Project description stating the subject and the thesis and delimiting the theory and methodology expected to be applied.

• A preliminary timetable which includes any expected stays with other research institutions, organisations, or companies.

The project description must be a relatively detailed design presentation of the PhD project, while the timetable must be a brief outline of the expected course of study on a quarterly basis. The application, including notes, may not exceed 14,400 characters corresponding to approx six A4 pages.

Attachments must include:

• Copy of master’s degree diploma or corresponding diploma

• Curriculum Vitae and list of any scientific or other publications which the applicant wishes to present in support of his or her application

• Any recommendations

Where possible and relevant, attached should also be:

• Information concerning project specific teaching requirements

• Information concerning special requirements regarding equipment and facilities – including requirements due to any disabilities.

• Information concerning specific requests regarding main supervisor and project supervisor as well as any secondary supervisors.

Submission and Deadline:
Application marked ”New materials within a design professional and sustainable frame of reference” must be forwarded in 4 copies to Designskolen Kolding, Aagade 10, 6000 Kolding att. Research Secretary Lise Yde no later than 15 December, 2011 at 12 PM. An electronic version (PDF file) of the application must also be uploaded via the following link:

http://golf.hr-manager.net/ApplicationInit.aspx?ProjectId=65707&DepartmentId=7546&SkipAdvertisement=true

We encourage everyone regardless of their personal background to submit their application. 

FURTHER DETAILS HERE

For more information regarding the contents of the PhD Fellowship, please contact Head of Department Mathilde Aggebo, telephone +45 76 30 11 00 or mobile +45 21 42 77 04 (ma@dskd.dk).

Sustainable Design - Between Ethics and Aesthetics

Research Seminar November 11^th 2011 from 10 am to 4pm

Venue: KUC, Aagade 27, 6000Kolding, Denmark

Full program: http://www.designskolenkolding.dk/index.php?id=3863

The SEADS project explores the interplay between ethical and aesthetic values in sustainable design with the aim of promoting sustainable production and consumption. Furthermore, it seeks to strengthen and refine the public and professional debate about design and sustainability.

The seminar will present working papers as well as three keynotes from internationally recognized speakers:

Dr Martina Keitsch is specialized in philosophy, environmental ethics and aesthetics.

Dr Ann Thorpe author of The Designer’s Atlas of Sustainability.

Professor Bente Halkier, sociologist and political scientist author of Consumption challenged. Food in medialised everyday lives.

Registration to Annette Grønbæk ag@dskd.dk, no later than November 4^th

Fee including coffee and lunch 150 kr. transfer to bank account reg.: 0216 - konto: 4069032842, please mark the installment seminar 6113.600.5004

Students are welcome without food there is no fee, but you have to register, since we have limited seats.

For more details and the full program see attached file. 

The seminar is organised by members of the SEADS project  – Sustainability, Ethics, Aesthetics, Design and Strategy. SEADS is part of a new Centre for Design, Culture and Management set up in collaboration between Kolding School of Design and University of Southern Denmark .

Textile Research in Process

TRIP: An international symposium exploring the role and relevance of traditional ‘hand skills’ in contemporary textiles, and the value and status of craft process.

Wednesday 16th and Thursday 17th November 2011 School of the Arts - Loughborough University

Technology such as digital embroidery, print and jacquard, laser and rapid prototyping are valuable assets in textile manufacturing but can be limiting and may restrict or exclude creative spontaneity in the design process, development, and production. This may lead to a more superficial approach to the origination of the designs and artefacts, inhibiting conceptual content and promoting mechanical and uniform characteristics where irregularity and subtle variety are less evident in the final textile outcomes. In contrast to this, in relation to traditional processes, human inconsistencies and even error could be promoted as positive qualities, leading to innovation through experimentation and may also embed a desirable degree of character into the textiles. The unexpected can contribute a visual and conceptual depth that is exciting and potentially unique. Within this context the hand-made has acquired a new value and respect in recent years.

Through a series of illustrated presentations and panel discussions by leading artists, designers, researchers and technologists, the symposium will seek to explore and define the role of hand skills and the value of process in contemporary textiles.

Bookings for the Symposium are now being taken..

Keynote Speakers:

Bradley Quinn
Margo Selby
Emma Henderson (Matthew Williamson)

More info on Loughbourough University website

Exciting London Design Festival Workshops

A flavour of Something Lab's workshop, more workshops on Puff & Flock's blog

London-based textile lab Puff & Flock, has concocted a series of exciting workshops for this years London Design Festival. Hold at the fantastic Farmiloe building in Clerkenwel- this years' Designers Block venue- from 22nd to 25th of September, the workshops will be led by cutting-edge designers including Jennifer Ballie, the Something Lab or the recent formed Postextiles collective. Discover the whole programme and further details on Puff & Flock's blog.

At this occasion the Puff Up shop, a souvenir shop offering gorgeous goods, mostly limited editions, will be back. It will be located in the outside courtyard in the large inflatable cube courtesy of Inflate.

If you have the chance to be in London, I would not miss these exciting events!

The Shared Scarf Project @ DESIGNERS|MAKERS

This Saturday the Shared Scarf Project will be running some DIY fashion workshops in collaboration with DESIGNERS|MAKERS Market Place. This interactive market stall will enable participants to rip and mix past and present fashion trends to make and style their own bespoke scarf.

A selection of vintage scarves and The Shared Scarf Project's first "Collective Collection" will also be on sale within the market stall.

Please come along and say hello. Workshops will be running from 11-5pm

Location:

SPACE

129-131 Mare Street

Hackney

London

UK

E8 3RH

For further info visit www.designersmakers.com

Co-Design Workshop 2/6: Collaborative Consumption

The Scarf Project: Think | Make | Style | Share

This interactive workshop offers an opportunity to engage in an alternative fashion experience by enabling participants to think and make for themselves. A co-design toolkit will be used to facilitate action and enable the generation of a bespoke printed scarf for each participant. The workshop will end with a style session and photo shoot.

Are you a designer? A fashion / textiles student or graduate? Or are you a consumer / fashion enthusiast? Come along and get involved in a new and exciting fashion experience which will enable you to produce a scarf unique to your own style and personality.

This workshop is free and all materials will be provided. To participate send an email to : textiles2.0@gmail.com

Future Fashion Textiles Competition

+ + + + + + TFRC’s Future Fashion Textiles Competition, 2011 + + + + + +

with VF Corporation, USA

Textile Futures Research Centre is to host a design competition with VF Corporation.

VF Corporation is a US based, $7 billion apparel conglomerate and parent company to over 25 global apparel brands, including The North Face, Vans, Lee, Wrangler, Eastpak, Jansport, and Nautica, as well as several others. They will hold an Innovation Summit to in September 2011 for the executive teams of each of VF's brands, where there will be an opportunity for University of the Arts London students to present cutting-edge design research and concepts.

The Textile Futures Research Centre (TFRC) is one of the UAL’s six research centres, and is renowned for its innovative and ground breaking work in the fields of practice-based textiles design research, which explores digital, science and sustainable textiles. This TFRC / VF competition is open to all students and recent graduates (2 yrs) from Central St Martins, London College of Fashion and Chelsea College of Art and Design, including: BA and MA Textiles at CSM and CCW; MA Fashion, CSM, and MA Digital Fashion, LCF; and TFRC & UAL Research Students

Themes

The competition covers five future textiles themes, which will be explored by eminent researchers in the various fields. The launch event will be on Monday 21^st February 2011 (2 – 6pm, Lecture Theatre 272 High Holborn):

Theme 1 ‘Simplicity Regained’ – Dr Emma Neuberg, Slow Textiles and Fashion Design

Theme 2 ‘Trust Rebalanced’ – Adam Thorpe, Design Against Crime (DAC)

Theme 3 ‘Networked Lives’ – Di Mainstone, Peformance, Technology and Fashion

Theme 4 ‘Responsible Living’ - Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino, Interaction Design

Theme 5 ‘Health & Wellness’ – Suzanne Lee, Biocouture

Prizes

· 10 x TFRC Making and Mentoring Awards (£250 cash and 2 feedback sessions with a mentor)

· Top prize of £1500, work included in the VF Corp USA Summit exhibition, & trip to the summit, September 2011

Timescale

Launch Event: Monday 21^st February 2011;

Deadline for Proposals: March 2011

Mentoring Awards announcement: April 2011

First Mentoring Session: May 2011, Innovation Centre, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design

For Further Info Visit http://tfrcconnections.blogspot.com/

Call for Participation

*Call for Participation*

AN EXCITING OPPORTUNITY

Calling all current fashion or textile design students/graduates interested in collaboration: you are hereby invited to participate in a practice-led research project exploring co-design.

Design has transitioned from an era of designing ‘for’ people towards the current era of designing ‘with’ people. Brown (2010) predicts that in the future, design will become a social experience and no longer practiced in isolation.

The term Generation Y is used to define a demographic (born between 1977 and 1997) who have grown up surrounded by digital media. Tapscott (2008) argues that this group are a force of social transformation:

- As consumers they want to be prosumers co-innovating products and services

- They use digital media to edit, create and distribute their own content

- They collaborate by constructing their own social networks

- They innovate by becoming active participants within the design process.

Economic changes bound up with globalisation are increasing pressures for people to re-think current models of design and production. The fashion industry is exploring new models to enable Gen Y to participate through exploratory marketing campaigns and streaming fashion week live online. There is huge potential for digital media and design to collaborate to construct new ways of working, but a re-think of the relationship between the designer and the consumer is required: both to consider how new technology can be used to enable the exchange of skills and knowledge, and to bring us into the future with consideration to the users needs and wants.

The selected participants will be invited to a design meeting where the project will be pitched and they will play an active role in defining the overall brief. You will leave with a goodie bag of design tools, tips and tricks to get started on your design research and development.

The following week we will meet again and get to work collectively designing a collection of fashion fabrics and accessories.

This is an exciting opportunity for you to participate in a live research project and play an active role in defining new design approaches, an excellent CV opportunity.

Participant Criteria

- A current fashion or textile design student or graduate

- An Interest and familiarity with digital media tools for example, blogging, twitter, Flickr and Facebook.

- Available for two weeks to participant from Monday 7th - 18th February 2011. There will be x2 real time meetings and the rest will be online.

How to Participate

Send a few short sentences describing YOU as a designer.

Send an email to: textiles2.0@gmail.com

Include: Your name, contact information, University of study, and a blog link if you have one.

Visit - http://thetextilesampler.blogspot.com/ for updates and further information. This is the first in a series of new projects so if your unavailable and would like to be considered for up and coming events just send a quick email.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

What is the impact of austerity on craft making and fashion design?

Call for Contributions Closing: 31-Mar-2011 The impact of recession and periods of austerity have led to changes in textile making and the skill base that supports these activities. The recent financial difficulties in the UK are resulting in an increase in craft based workshops, retail outlets stocking textile supplies and temporary shops popping up in residential areas that offer sewing machine classes and pay-by-the-hour sewing machines. Students and graduates of textile design courses are experiencing difficulties in obtaining work placements and employment in the sector. However, speaking recently Karl Lagerfeld (1) said that his work in fashion design has not been affected as he is working in a global arena where not all markets are in recession. The Crafts Council (2) reported in April 2009 that although there was a slight decrease in visitor numbers to recent contemporary craft events, there was no discernable impact on sales figures. They envisaged however a shift in the demographic of the contemporary crafts consumer. Changes in consumer attitudes and a reduction in the teaching of textile skills in schools have led to a generation with different perceptions of making. Through this second call, DUCK wishes to explore how craft making and textile design activity is affected by austerity. Submissions are invited which address one or more of the following themes: • What changes have been observed in textile craft making and/or textile design during and following periods of austerity such as financial recessions or war? • In what ways do changes brought about through periods of financial constraint perpetuate during ‘good times’? • How do textile designers and designer makers respond to changes in consumer demand and markets for their products? • In what ways do financial constraints such as increased costs for materials lead to innovation and ingenuity in craft making? • Do periods of austerity act as a catalyst for the acquisition of craft skills? Do they change the perceived value of textile design and making? • To what extent does reduced funding for textile and textile design research impact on craft makers? • How do periods of austerity impact on notions of luxury and bespoke in relation to textile products? Authors will be informed of the outcome of their submission by the end of July 2011. Submission Instructions Contributions may take the form of written texts (maximum 5,000 words), visual essays, a series of images relating to methods (sketchbook style), visual diaries or other methods deemed appropriate but must address the research question. Duck does not advise a particular format for written submissions although we ask that contributors present their ideas in an accessible format for Duck's diverse readership of researchers, educators, artists and designers. For written texts the Harvard System of referencing is preferred. Images should be 300dpi where possible, RGB format and submitted as TIFF or JPEG files. Text should be provided in MS Word (.doc), rich text (.rtf) or pdf format. Please provide your name, affiliation, email address, a title for your submission and a short summary of your contribution. Please send submissions by email to: F.E.Kane2@lboro.ac.uk (Maximum file size: 5mb) Alternatively, please send on disk (CD or DVD) to: DUCK Journal - Textiles Research Group Loughborough University School of Art and Design Loughborough Leicestershire LE11 3TU Copyright In submitting material to Duck, contributors thereby grant permission for it to be published on the Duck website. Contributors retain copyright of their material and may use it elsewhere after publication in Duck, though we would appreciate it if Duck could be acknowledged as the original source of publication. Please note that it is the responsibility of contributors to obtain the necessary permissions for reproducing work other than their own.

Website(s): - www.lboro.ac.uk

Pop-up christmas shop

The christmas spirit is spreading all over from Copenhagen to London. If you still miss ideas for gifts, brush the snowflakes from your eyelashes and come take a peek at the Puff & Flock pop-up shop on Newburgh Street (just off Carnaby and around the corner from Liberty's of London). You will discover a series of textile christmas delights and other decoration accessories.

Location:
8 Newburgh Street, London W1f 7RQ

Opening Hours:
Monday, 13th December: 12 - 7 pm
Tuesday, 14th December: 12 - 9 pm *special evening event 6 - 9pm*
Wednesday, 15th December: 12 - 7pm
Thursday, 16th December: 12 - 8pm
Friday, 17th December: 12 - 7pm
Saturday, 18th December: 11 - 8pm
Sunday, 19th December: 12 - 6pm

List of Designers & Artists:
retourve by Bang Bang / Exclusive collection of up-cycled statement jewellery
Monstify / Anatomical crochet badges and more
Grit Hartung / Games, prints and t-shirts
Yuko Taguchi / Paper rings
Masako Sato / Mushroom hooks
Jo Angell / Printed cushions
smths / animated jewellery and vintage toys
Elisabeth Buecher / Make Up Wallpaper and greeting cards
Delight Rubellery / Colourful rubber jewellery by Ros Weaver
Super Chic Chick/ / Hair decorations by Marilou Rabourdin
Think-if / Elegant tea set and Zen Cup
Lucy Hall / Art works and textile design
Alexandra Cakyova / Cittatas - bird brooches
Fantastica / Laid-back intimates and vests
Tactile Wonderland / Intimates and jewellery

Read more:
http://www.carnaby.co.uk/news/news_item.cfm?id=213

What is textile design research by Duck Journal

Ice-fern by Aurélie Mossé and Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen

Duck , the electronic journal for Research in Textiles and Textile Design published by the University of Loughborough has launched its first issue. This volume explores, through a series of eleven papers, the nature and significance of current Textile Design research and aims to establish a platform for future discourse. Together with designers such as Linda Worbin or Elisabeth Heimdal, I have been publishing about my work in this issue where I unfold parts of my current research on energy-harvesting and self-actuated textiles by addressing the role smart textile can play in a domestic context. Discover more about these cutting-edge textile research, the journal is available for free at this link.

Textile Environment Design: D-Day

Old T-Shirt Before & Old T-Shirt After



Textiles Environment Design (TED) is a Research Group based at Chelsea College of Art & Design. I am a PhD student there and was lucky enough to participate within one of their workshops last Friday.

The Workshop titled 'D-Day' defined durability day and was inspired by the recent Martin Margiela exhibition hosted at Sommerset House, London.

Using a variety of different print techniques a collection of old garments were transformed. I really enjoyed this workshop experience and was amazed at how quickly old garments could be transformed into something new and desirable.

I transformed an old t-shirt that I no longer wore due to damage and stains (images above). You can see some of the other work produced on the TED and Make it Digital.

The full report and next event will be documented on the TED blog.