1. State of the art, project management and documentation¶

Research & Ideation¶

I am not yet set on a final project as I want to use Fabricademy as an opportunity to learn and discover new things and I'm sure that new inspirations will come each week.

However, one potential path I have in mind is to use inflatables/soft robotics to make ergonomic clothing and accessories.

I suffer from back pain and am prone to disc injuries, so I am constantly thinking of how to make my life more comfortable and how to make my day to day actions more safe for my back. This includes some pretty major lifestyle considerations, such as making sure my bag is never too heavy or one-sided (see ergo bag) and using a special ergonomic seat cushion when sitting for long periods of time.

One potential idea is to continue to work on the ergonomic bag using soft robotics, in order to relieve pressure on my shoulders and better distribute weight.

Another project I'm excited about is a puffer vest that helps provide back and neck support by inflating different squares / rows of squares. This is something I dream about using on long train / car / plane rides as when its not fully inflated its small and easy to carry, when its inflated its wearable like any other puffer vest and when inflated in the right places (lumbar for example), it can provide the support I need to withstand long rides in uncomfortable seats!

References & Inspiration¶

There has been some amazing work with inflatable technology in wearables intended for safety, helping people with disabilities or just for fashion.

Airbag Helmet by Hövding Sverige¶

This amazing inflatable helmet captures a lot of elements I have in mind. It has a very practical use (safety!) while remaining beautiful when in use and understated and is sleek when not inflated. I haven't researched the technology they use yet, but I'm excited to learn more about how this helmet works and especially how they trigger the inflation in case of an accident.

Inflate¶


Louis Vuitton Monogram Inflatable Gilet Ready To Wear '21	Craig Green FW '22 London Fashion Week	Ash Tray Nick Crosbie, 1995

Inflate is a design and production team that develops inflatable fashion, furniture and more. I love the way they use inflatables to make beautiful everyday items that are new and interesting while also remaining wearable and practical. This is a goal that's important to me when I create a wearable inflatable piece.

Documentation workflow¶

This week was focused on building our documentation websites. This included adding our previous work and an intro, sharing some of our inspirations and also documenting the process of making this website. This was my first time using gitlab though I've done some coding and basic website building in the past so it wasn't totally new to me.

Step 1: Familiarize myself with GitLab¶

I first familiarized myself with the coding by reading through all the code in the example page setup on my Gitlab site. I copied code that I thought would be helpful into a Google Doc so that I could easily reference it later. For example, how to add photos, how to format photos and how to add hyperlinks (see the code of my website here to see the code behind this website)

Step 2: What do I want to say?¶

I then focused on what I wanted to express, on the content I wanted to document and share. The important questions I wanted to answer were: - Why do I want to do Fabricademy? - What excites me about the work I will be doing? - What work have I done in the past that I'm proud of and why is it important to me?

This was the hardest part of this week's assignment as I find it vulnerable to describe / introduce myself and my work. But this is also something I want to practice and that I think will get easier as I document my work week to week.

Then I focused on sharing my photos. I wanted to put all my photos together into one collage so that I could practice using Inkscape. I practiced spacing the photos using the X, Y placements and width and height, so that all the spacing would be consistent between photos. I practiced ordering the layers. I tried to use Gimp to delete the background of my photos, but since there was so much detail in the back of the photos it was more complicated and time consuming than it was in the intro with the photo with a white background. I want to improve my photo documenting, using a more neutral background, better composition and better lighting and I think that will make the editing process easier and more fun.

Tools¶

- [TinyPNG](https://tinypng.com/)
- [Markdown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown)
- [MkDocs](https://xxx)
- [Upsplash](https://unsplash.com/)