1. State of art, Project management and documentation¶
Research and Ideation
Fabricademy is an innovative course merging fashion, biodesign, and digital fabrication, which deeply resonates with me as fashion is central to my life. Running my own crocheting and knitting business, I’m excited by how Fabricademy explores sustainable, cutting-edge approaches to textile creation, like bio-materials and computational design. This program teaches eco-conscious techniques that could enhance my craft while aligning with my values of waste reduction and sustainable fashion, equipping me with skills to push my business forward in meaningful ways.
Week 1 overview: Laying the foundation for success in Fabricademy
In the first week of Fabricademy, we delved into the fundamentals of project management tools and documentation methods. The week was filled with introductions to fellow students, setting up crucial software such as Visual Studio and GitLab, and establishing workflows that will support us throughout the program. This documentation outlines the activities, installations, and key learnings achieved during this foundational week.
State of Art & Inspiration
Janvi Gohel is a contemporary, sustainability-focused fashion designer from India, with a degree from the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in Mumbai. Originally from Silvassa, near Mumbai, she initially pursued a medical path, giving her a science background. Her interest in sustainable fashion emerged during her final year at NIFT, where she created a collection inspired by natural textures, particularly jellyfish. For this collection, she used sustainable materials like merino wool, felting techniques, and natural dyes made from food waste. Her goal was to design biodegradable, wearable garments that minimized waste.
Janvi’s research into sustainable fabric options led her to explore bio-materials, eventually discovering Fabricademy, a course that merges biodesign with advanced fabrication techniques. Her ambition is to develop a socially and economically sustainable design practice by integrating biodesign, computational design, and compostable biomaterials. Janvi envisions a new production framework for the fashion industry, incorporating living organisms and innovative technologies to promote sustainability.
For more on her work, visit her website: text
Introduction to nodes and neeting fellow students
The first week of Fabricademy kicked off with an engaging introduction to the Fabricademy nodes, where students from various labs worldwide came together. This session provided a valuable opportunity to meet fellow students and explore how the nodes function as collaborative learning environments. Emphasizing the importance of global knowledge exchange, we discussed how working across different labs can foster innovation, enhance skills, and contribute to a richer learning experience throughout the course. This initial activity laid the groundwork for future collaborations and highlighted the importance of interconnectedness in our creative journeys.
Installation of Vs code and Git lab
To begin with, we installed two key tools: Visual Studio Code (VS Code) and GitLab. VS Code, a versatile code editor, is essential for writing, editing, and debugging code across multiple programming languages. We downloaded and installed it directly from the official VS Code website. Alongside this, we set up GitLab, a platform for version control and collaboration, to streamline our project management and documentation processes.
To install GitLab, which is a version control system that helps us manage code changes and collaborate with others, we followed the steps provided on the official Git website. After completing the installation, I used Git Bash to run the command git --version to confirm that Git was installed correctly and functioning as expected.
Installation of vector design softwares
The next task was to install vector design software, which will be essential for creating digital models during the course. We installed the following tools:
MakeHuman: A software used to create realistic 3D human characters. Adobe Illustrator: A popular vector graphics editor commonly used in the design industry. Slicer for Fusion 360: A tool that transforms 3D models into 2D plans, complete with animated assembly instructions. I followed the setup instructions and successfully installed each of these programs.
Documenting with GitLab
As Fabricademy is an open-source program focused on sharing knowledge among all participants, it’s essential for us to document everything we do. To accomplish this, we use GitLab and Markdown.
GitLab
GitLab is an online repository platform that offers both free public and private repositories, along with tools for issue tracking and wikis. It supports teams in handling all project-related tasks, from planning and managing source code to monitoring and ensuring security. Configuring an SSH key was important for securely connecting to my GitLab repository, allowing access without needing to re-enter login credentials repeatedly.
Markdown language
In GitLab, we use Markdown to build our personal websites. Markdown is an open-source tool that converts text to HTML, designed specifically for web writers.
The Fabricademy page offers an excellent tutorial covering all of Markdown’s features, and here you can find more in-depth documentation on the GitLab website.
Setting up my webpage on GitLab
As a final step, I created my personal webpage on GitLab to document and showcase my projects during Fabricademy. Here’s a summary of the process:
a) I cloned the GitLab repository assigned for the course using Git Bash: git clone git@gitlab.com:your-username/your-repository.git
b) After making edits to the webpage locally with VS Code, I staged and committed the changes: git add . git commit -m "Initial setup of webpage"
c) Lastly, I pushed the changes to the GitLab repository: git push origin main
My Challenges with images
In Markdown, there are several ways to add images.
First, you need to upload the image to the GitLab repository. Each webpage in GitLab has a unique location in the directory, like this page, which is stored as week01.md and can be edited directly. GitLab also uses a folder structure where you can upload documents and images. To keep things organized, it’s best to upload an image intended for week01.md to the folder docs/images/week01.
Screenshot
To embed an image within a link in Markdown, you essentially nest the image code inside the link code, placing the square brackets for the link around the entire image code.
My goal, however, was a bit different: I wanted to display an image with a caption and make both the image and caption clickable. I tried various methods to achieve this, but after several hours of experimenting and reading up on Markdown, I discovered that it’s not possible. You can either have an image with a caption or an image with a clickable link, but not both together.
The only way to accomplish this is by using a table structure. Without a table, it won’t work. Here is a helpful resource explaining how to create tables in Markdown.
References and Links