Sustainable Design: Design to Dematerialise and Develop Systems & Services

This strategy confused me at the first I learnt about TED's Ten. However, after lecture and my own research, I have got some knowledge and was inspired. It is better to understand this strategy by some key words, lease, share or repair. It is a concept about sustainable design systems.

Repair it yourself[1]

Repair it yourself is a graduation project of Eugenia Morpurgo. He introduced us a pair of shoes that we can repair by ourselves. The soles and uppers of this shoes could be easily separated, and easily repaired. The repair process is fairly transparent. People could learn repair knowledge, which means repair services might no longer be needed. Besides, the repair kit come with this shoes can be the key for other broken goods.

Repair it yourself [2]

The concept of repairing objects inspired me to do more research in this area, and I think I might apply this concept to my own project. It might be difficult to combine knitting with repair it yourself. But every design begins with a rough idea, research and experience would help to develop.

Fabric Pen[3]

Why fabric can be a pen? The designer of fabric pen, Ingrida Kazėnaitė, explains, "With fabric pen you can scan the type of fabric material your clothing are made of along with fabric color then print a patch of the same fabric on the damaged area."[4] She was inspired by Spray-on Fabric, and created a pen that can repair any broken part of your garments. This design fits the idea of Dematerialise and Develop Systems & Services. The way Kazėnaitė got the inspiration is very good. I learnt that exploring other designers' work is a good way to study.

References

[1]Eugenia, M. (2011) Repair it yourself. [online image]. Avaiable at: <http://www.dezeen.com/2011/12/16/repair-it-yourself-by-eugenia-morpurgo/> [Accessed 21 November 2014]. 

[2]Eugenia, M. (2011) Repair it yourself. [online image]. Avaiable at: <http://www.dezeen.com/2011/12/16/repair-it-yourself-by-eugenia-morpurgo/> [Accessed 21 November 2014]. 

[3]Fabric pen. (2014) [online image]. Avaiable at: <http://www.ecouterre.com/3d-printing-fabric-pen-is-the-clothing-repair-kit-of-the-future/> [Accessed 21 November 2014]. 

[4]Jasmin, C. (2014) 3D-Printing “Fabric Pen” is the Clothing-Repair Kit of the Future. [Internet]. Available from :<http://www.ecouterre.com/3d-printing-fabric-pen-is-the-clothing-repair-kit-of-the-future/> [Accessed 25 October 2014].

TED's Textiletoolbox exhibition

By observing the works of TED's Textiletoolbox exhibition, I got some further understanding of sustainable design.

The idea of sustainable design can be applied in different cultures and materials. It will be more interesting and inspiring to consider some other elements during developing project.

This collection above impressed me deeply in the exhibition. For me, weave is combination of wide range of materials. This woven collection applied traditional weaving skills in discarded materials.

Collecting recycled materials would be a strategy I select most during designing. People might put more attention on new things, therefore those discarded objects will be a heavy load for our earth. Reusing and recycling become pretty important for sustainable design.

Lifecycle Map

As a knit student, I will put more attention on 'Raw Material' and 'End of Life' in the Lifecycle map.

Yarn is the main material I used for current project. After discussing, I will consider to use less unnecessary yarn to reducing cost. Organic yarn would be a good choice for material.

When a knitwear get on the step 'End of Life', it will be interesting to develop some new ideas for it. For the future project, manipulating an old knitwear could be sustainable and recycled.

Sustainable Design: Design that Explores Clean / Better Technologies

What is the first idea in your mind when people mention fashion fabric? We may think about knitting or weaving. But there is a new technology would overthrew our ideas.

                                                                            Video spray-on t-shirt [1]

It is spray-on fabric, which like a magic, you can create a garment in a quick and unique way. It offer designers much more freedom while designing. Designers might use less energy with this new technology. It can also be used to repair an old or broken garments, as a result, clothes could be reused. 

By inspired of this technology, I have got some idea for my project. I might fill the can with dye instead of fabric liquid to dye the yarn or samples, even I can spray patterns on fabric. 

Reference

[1]Fabricanltd (2011). Video spray-on t-shirt [Internet]. Available from: <http://www.fabricanltd.com/index.php> [Accessed 9 November 2014].