Chapter 1 Introduction
This chapter is going to introduce the background of my interest in material, and the description of project motivation, objectives, and scope.
Chapter 2 Paper, Textile and Plant Texture
This chapter begins from the observation of paper, textile and plant. Material characters will be determined and explained here. These characters may be the information needed when the material design is conducted later.
Chapter 3 Exploration
This chapter contains the exploration structure, information analysis, plant image transformation, productions and material application etc; in order to determine the representation of plant, paper and textile to create a new material.
Chapter 4 Material Collection
This section will demonstrate the result of the exploration. A number of material samples will be designed in this project and the detail description of every sample will be written down in this chapter..
Chapter 5 Application of Material Collection
For achieving the process of applying material collection to product design, here is a design process to demonstrate it.
Chapter 6 Discussion
After the exploration with research, analysis, producing and design process, this chapter is going to discuss the whole process and provide suggestion afterwards.
Chapter7 Exhibition
The exhibition of this project is recorded in this chapter. It contains the installation design, working process, the way of exhibiting material collection, product design and the light arrangement. .
Chapter 8 References
The list of references, including books, essays, and periodicals.
2. Paper, Textile and Plant Texture
This chapter begins from the observation of paper, textile and plant. Material characters will be determined and explained here. These characters may be the information needed when the material design is conducted later.
2.1 Paper
This section includes the information of paper and the characters of its usage.
Apart from the background overview, the characters of the material’s usage are the main part for determining the kinds of function which paper can provide.
However, this information may become the basic knowledge for using paper in the design.
2.1.1 Background
Papermaking is considered to be one of the Four Great Inventions of Ancient China, since the Han Dynasty Chinese court official Cai Lun is widely regarded as to having invented the modern method of papermaking from wood pulp in AD105.
Paper without writing has been used mostly for purposes of wrapping or padding protection of delicate objects. In general, paper is used for the recording of knowledge such as book, magazine and newspaper, the representation for value such as paper money and ticket, cleaning such as toilet paper and handkerchiefs, craft such as paper cut, paper umbrella and lantern. Its widely application has held an important position in history.
Apart from its practical function, paper art and paper craft have a long development in art history. In contemporary art, paper is not only a useful material but also a medium for artwork through every paper art technique such as paper statuary (Fig 2.1), paper cut (Fig 2.2), origami (Fig 2.3) or paper modeling (Fig 2.4). Paper art and craft are usually created for the representation of the artist/designer’s self-awareness and personality. Artworks are created abstractly, others concretely; some are created for practical use, while others are decorative;
some are created skillfully, others handmade freely. However, paper is a pure material which can be easily carry the artist/designer’s concept to people through its unique and diverse characters.
Fig 2.1 Paper statuary Fig 2.2 Paper cut
Fig 2.3 Origami Fig 2.4 Paper modeling
2.1.2 Characters in Usage
Fibers are the main material in paper. Papermaking involves making a dilute suspension of fibers in water and allowing this suspension to drain through a screen such that a mat of randomly interwoven fibers is laid down. Water is removed from this mat of fibers by pressing and drying to make paper.
Paper is a popular material for design as a result of its highly transformable character. It is cheap, can be found everywhere, easily constructed such as cut, folded, torn, twisted, and also shaped anywhere with any simple tools and skills.
People use it daily, from masters to kindergarten students. However, although paper works very well in our daily life, there are still lots of capabilities that can be innovated for various purposes.
Paper is not only a material but also a useful product. For example, paper provides a function for painting or writing when it is a product. If it is treated as a material
or medium like contemporary paper art, it can be an artwork and has its own personality. Paper also displays elegant technique and design through its character without any symbol or pattern. However, using the material itself to describe what it can be is a pure and easily achieved process.
Texture’s feature which paper can present is various. For example, handmade paper has soft, tender and hairy texture; tracing paper’s texture is neat, translucent and cold. Handmade paper made of bamboo fiber usually has thick and warm texture like snow. Its soft texture also makes people feel tranquil and peaceful when touching it. Furthermore, paper manufactured for printing or publishing has big differences with handmade paper, especially its thin, smooth texture and practical functions. Paper is used for different purposes according to its different features of texture.
Conflicted characters exist in paper. It is fragile but can be cut easily. It is usually kept away from water, but this easily-dissolved material is good to make a tissue.
However, good characters sometimes are not good depends on different situations.
If these characters can be used in right way, there will be vast potential in the application of paper.
2.2 Textile
This section contains observations about textile and texture characteristics. Apart from the background, it is biased toward texture constructions as they are easier to be achieved than other abstract concepts. Nevertheless, the information given here may be used in designing such as texture structure or layout whenever they occur.
2.2.1 Background
Textiles have heavy usages in our daily life; the most common usages are for clothing and containers such as bags and baskets. In the household, they are used in carpeting, furnishings, window shades, towels, covering for tables, beds, and other flat surfaces; they are also used in art. Other uses include flags, backpacks, tents, nets, balloon, etc. From functional products to delicate artwork, textile has been an important material and medium for carrying our culture information, elements and life style since early civilization.
Despite how common it is in our life, textile work is an important craft in art as well. Artists or fashion designers create their crazy ideas and try to provoke deep
thought inside their mind through using textile combining different techniques such as weaving, knitting, sewing or quilting. Furthermore, some textile artworks are represented in modeling, and others are done in making texture. It goes without saying; textile is a useful material or media for to easily express your concepts into visual objects.
2.2.2 Characters in Texture
In terms of observations of textile texture, its construction characters can be separated into several parts including structure, arrangement, materials and expression forms.
Textile structure is the essential part providing connective function in texture construction. It is composed of techniques like weaving (Fig 2.5), knitting (Fig 2.6), crocheting (Fig 2.7), sewing (Fig 2.8) or quilting (Fig 2.9) which is given different texture features. Nevertheless, textile structure can not only be the connection with strings but it is also a kind of texture.
Fig 2.5 Weaving Fig 2.6Knitting Fig 2.7 Crocheting
Fig 2.8 Sewing Fig 2.9 Quilting
Arrangement or layout in textile design may cause new textures. Most textile artworks are connected with many tiny duplicate pieces. These small pieces always demonstrate a creative arrangement in textile artworks. Like the textile artist Patricia Campbell, she is interested in the beauty of repetition and always connects simple shape elements to create her artwork with her imagination (Fig 2.10). However, arranging elements which causes various effects in textile design is the representation of personal awareness.
Fig 2.10 Patricia Campbell
Different materials may provide different features in textile texture. For example, natural fibers like bamboo or vine give us friendly texture; and artificial fibers such as wire or plastic, they give us a modern style. Therefore, materials sometimes play the role of recognizing texture identity.
Subject for textile making is always the first attraction to people. Most subjects used for designing textile are about nature such as flowers, plants, forests or sea.
They are usually created in the aim of depicting true shapes, such as flower and plant forms; or represented in abstract description. An example is the Swedish textile and graphic designer Hanna Werning, her work is always inspired from plants with colorful pattern printing (Fig 2.11). Of course, this natural subject is also made in other textile techniques which cause strong texture identities in textile artworks.
Fig 2.11 Textile collection by Hanna Werning
2.3 Plant and Texture
Plant like grass or flower blossom, is a kind of textile covering the earth all around the world. Every plant has an individual figure with different shapes of leaf, petal and root; even growth structure which provides various texture when gathering together.
2.3.1 Plant Growth and Arrangement
Plant growth and arrangement can cause texture, like cherry blossoms covering a tree may be a pink carpet-liked textile composed with many tiny petals (Figure 2.12). Different from the composition of many tiny elements, plant details provide another texture such as veins spreading in leaves (Figure 2.13). Nevertheless, the detailed observation of a plant should not be overlooked as there is much information that can be found when designing texture.
Fig.2-12 Cherry Blossom Fig.2-13 Leaf vein
2.3.2 Plant in Design
Inspired from nature, artists/designers start to create something similar to plants by different artificial materials combined with their own awareness. For example, Jan Stark created a set of paper sculpture describing flowers and grass (Fig 2.14);
Domingos Tótora designed a collection of Kraft container describing plain texture (Fig 2.15); Christine and Margaret Wertheim’s ‘Hyperbolic coral’(Fig 2.16), a collective celebration of colorful creatures is taking form in an amazing crochet project that aims to raise awareness about the threats to delicate ocean ecosystems.
In addition, ceramics (Fig 2.17) or plastic (Fig 2.18) has been used for describing plant texture as well. Plant representation has much potential in all kinds of material.
Fig 2.14 Paper Statue Fig 2.15 Kraft Container Fig 2.16 Hyperbolic coral
Fig 2.17 Ceramics Fig 2.18 Plastic
The foregoing should help us when working upon plant texture design subject. While this project is a collection of material samples of plant texture made of paper combine textile techniques. What all this material design has is not only a demonstration of skill, but also the imagination of plant figure and growth. Furthermore, they talk about the story of materials including the relationship between imagination and production.
3. Exploration
This chapter contains the exploration structure, information analysis, plant image transformation, productions and material application etc. in order to achieve the representation of plant, paper and textile to create new material. For this purpose, there is an experimental process to explore the variety of materials and develop a material collection for usage in any other design. In this project, there will be a demonstration of applying product design process on the material collection. In order to achieve the whole process in this project, the exploration structure as follow will explain it step by step. (Table 3.1)
(Table 3.1) Exploration Structure Table
Steps Formation 1. the Information of Paper ,Textile and Plant
2. Organize the Information
3. Decide Experiment Concept and Brief
4. Pre-experiment
5. Analyze Pre-experiment
6. Create New Exploration Directions
7. Produce and Record Process
8. Analyze all samples
9. Apply Material Collection to Product Design
10. Discussion :
Critic the Whole Experiment Process
Character Analysis
Experiment Concept
Pre-experiment Samples
3.1 Exploration Structure
First of all, in order to figure out clearer exploration concept, the first and second steps are by starting the research and analysis of paper and textile overview including culture background, materials, techniques, texture images and artworks.
Step 3, this organized information becomes a new subject - Plant Texture, the representation of paper and textile craft.
Step 4, according to the concept, the pre-experiment takes place by creating some texture samples through the usage of paper and textile materials to sketch images from plant imagination. This step is repeated around 3 times to get enough samples. Step 5, these samples are separated into several parts according to their texture images. Then step 6, these separated parts is given new definition from the relationship of plant figures and textile techniques. The new definition is organized into a matrix as further exploration directions. Step 7 continues to make texture samples to finish the emptiness of the matrix. After that, step 8 becomes a material collection after all the texture making and analysis.
Step 9, this material collection is applied to a product design, glass sleeve, which is a proper product nicely representing its texture. Step 10, finally comes the discussion of the whole exploration process.
3.2 Character Analysis and Pre-experiment
This section contains character analysis of paper, textile and plant, and the pre-experiment of creating materials by using these characters.
3.2.1 Character Analysis
According to the foregoing observation, some characters of the relationship between paper, textile and plant have been discovered for texture representation.
On the one hand, for representing plant texture with paper in textile way, textile construction is the most important consideration in developing ideas. Its structure and arrangement may decide the identity of every texture design. For example, weave is not only a skill that provides the structure when making fabrics but causes a strong impression in texture; while the beauty of repetition talks about arrangements in textile design. On the other hand, plant image transformation will be the representation subject. For example, a leaf shadow under the sun is about a natural phenomenon, veins climbing up the tree are a kind of growing structure, or
the petal shape is a plant’s appearance. However, the subject influences the usage of material and technique, even the structure and arrangement when designing.
Depending on the analysis, this project experiment starts from three classified plant image characters, growth structure, nature phenomenon, and plant appearance. Growth structure means the patterns of plant growth, such as branch systems, leaf arrangement or inflorescence. Nature phenomenon is the effect of plant combining other things such as sunshine, water, or some destruction such as scar or scratch. Plant appearance is about the shape or form of plants such as petal shape and leaf margin. Three examples are shown in Fig 3.1. Plant texture representation will be designed by using these images with paper and textile techniques.
Growth structure Nature phenomenon Plant appearance
Fig 3.1 Plant image characters
3.2.2 Pre-experiment
In the very beginning, through the inspiration of plant images, most of the samples are made displaying plant features roughly and freely. The purpose of pre-experiment is widely exploring idea concepts of texture imagination. On the other hand, being familiar with materials and techniques in this step aims to express the imagination from the brain more easily.
The pre-experiment samples are shown in Fig 3.2.
Fig 3.2 Pre-experiment samples
3.3 Exploration Directions
Exploration directions have been created for the purposes of understanding more about textile construction and exploring more idea concepts. Apart from that, they will help to develop a collection of materials.
3.3.1 New Definition of Textile Techniques
Samples are classified according to textile techniques. There are 12 different techniques namely: weave, insert, sew, pile, squash, string, bind, twist, penetrate, button, roll and fold. These techniques are given new definition by transforming original ones into an imagination of plant texture such as leaf shadow under sunshine, group flower petals or branch structure. The relationship of textile techniques and plant texture becomes a new direction of further experiment. The description of technique definition and photo overview is as follow: (Figure 3.3~3.4)
Weave
Weave means forming something by passing lengths or strands of material over and under one another. Its construction brings the image of plant growth rhythm with regular pattern.
Insert
Insert is to put something inside something else, or to add something. Structural arrangement is going to be function or pattern in design.
Sew
Sew is a technique of joining two pieces of cloth together by putting thread through them with a needle. Its texture is something like parasite stuck on a surface. Furthermore, it feels like leaf scars or imprints.
Pile
Forming a pile with many elements makes something rich and thick. It represents gradation like leaf shadows under sunshine or piles of book pages.
Squash
Squash means pushing a thing into a small space. There is some phenomenon in plant growth like this technique, such as a flower bud starting to development and grass growing up from ground.
String
String is a way of putting something through a number of objects. This method is related to plant structure such as leaves aligning along a stalk.
Fig 3.3 Technique description 1
Bind
Bind is to tie something tightly or to fasten. It shows the feature such as veins creeping onto trees and binding it tight to breathe.
Twist
Twist is a technique of turning something, especially repeatedly, or to turn or wrap one thing around another. It is also related to the image of tree growing up towards the sky.
Penetrate
Penetrate means something moves into or through others. It is like an action of destroying objects, making corrosion, or causing scratches.
Button
Button talks about fastening something, usually a piece of clothing, using buttons.
This technique contains the relationship between pieces such as flower petals joining together.
Roll
Roll is turning over onto itself to form a cylinder or a sphere. The layers of the round side become the kinds of texture such as a rolling tobacco leaf. Furthermore, it may be the new idea of creating layer forms.
Fold
Fold is a skill of bending something, especially paper or cloth, so that one part of it lies on the other part. It is a skill used for forming everything with many layers and related to transformation of rose or mushroom structure.
Fig 3.4 Technique description 2
3.3.2 Unit Shape
The structure of ready samples is composed of tiny units which are dot, line and surface in shape. (Fig 3.5) Unit shape will be the identity of every sample texture. Therefore, it will be used for new texture making as well.
dot line surface
Fig 3.5 Unit shape
3.3.3 Restriction
In order to display texture in the sense of touch rather than the sense of vision, colors will not be used in this exploration. Different tones of white paper will be the material for the design. Every design concept will be done by a main technique combined with other minor ones.
3.3.4 Further Exploration
For this exploration, the way of exploring imagination is reorganizing these techniques and unit shape to create a matrix (Fig 3.6). Ideas can be explored gradually by filling in the empty space of this matrix. Therefore, when it is completed, there will be a new collection of 36 material samples. (refer to chapter
For this exploration, the way of exploring imagination is reorganizing these techniques and unit shape to create a matrix (Fig 3.6). Ideas can be explored gradually by filling in the empty space of this matrix. Therefore, when it is completed, there will be a new collection of 36 material samples. (refer to chapter