1. State of the art, project management and documentation¶
Research & Ideation¶
This week we met with the Woolshed team to learn more about the sheep in the Alpine region and the characteristics of the wool and why it is not being used by the fashion industry.
From the 4 pillars from Fabricademy, what I believe are most directly tied to this problematic are: sustainability and the innovation narratives such as alternate business models and circular symbiotic future.
As a native from a semi dessertic area, I was not very familiar with wool. Except I studied in France during winter 2016, was cold all the time and a friend from Finland told me they survive their harsh winter with wool garments. I've been collecting wool sweaters ever since. I hope I can bring a fresh perspective on the current problematic and propose viable solutions.
References & Inspiration¶
Although I am not sure what my final project will look like, I have been using Pinterest to collect creative concepts I want to explore further. I'm sure I will be referencing them as the program goes on and most likely will coome up with more to add to my personal collection.
Some of them are:
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GridWorld by Alexander Miller - an essay in which he discusses the invisible "grid" that is underneath all reality by which pixels, patterns, objects are arranged. I started noticing how ceramic tiles, pixel art, cross stich, chains, etc are all based on a grid or form one when connected. Eventually, I found Alexander's page and I've been obsessed since. Luckily, wool is a great medium for weaving and knitting so the applications are endless.
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Molded/Frosting - a technique in which material is piped to create shapes and ornaments, mostly used in baking (cakes) however I've been thinking on how can we bring it to textiles besides the traditional techniques of fabric manipulation. For wool, I believe it could be mixed with another material to be able to 3D print it or mold it to a solid form. Some work I found of what I exactly imagined it to be by Sarah Hambly and the famous Balmain leather dress Zendaya wore in Venice.
- Cases - I've been thinking on how we buy things and then we buy cases to protect them. Usually these are clear, in plastic materials and it's interesting to think about how much we want to protect these things and how does that translate to the protection of our own feelings, minds, relationships, etc. Last week, at Philadelphia International airport I found this work by artist Christina P. Day. While she comes at it from a different angle, it's similar to what I had envisioned. Not sure how wool can fit here, except for being in between other softer materials such as when used as filling for jackets, but we'll see.
Tools¶
- MacOs Image Tools
- Markdown
Documentation workflow¶
I've been thinking about how to make this documentation feel mine. Although I would love to play around with the layout I don't want it to take too much time from the actual creation. So I've looked into what are different forms of documenting things:
- Photo - I will try to post as many photos as possible. After all, I brought 4 cameras with me to another continent.
- Video - I've been planning to launch a project on instagram regarding fashion & technology. This could be a great opportunity to share my Fabricademy Journey as it happens. I will post the links here if it comes to life.
- Text - this documentation page + my journal entries that will be uploaded.
- Song/Music - I don't think I have this skill haha.
- Illustration - It's a skill I would love to explore but I'm still a newbie. I will try to make some things on my iPad.
During my work as product manager, I discovered my love for documentation. It was my biggest pet peeve when things were not fully explained or when it was too technical for most people to understand. I looked into it and realized I have a love for taxonomies, templates and guides that describe workflows. I will try to come up with a final product like this that can be useful for future generations.
This is how I plan to work a bit faster for the following weeks:
Outline¶
- I find it easier to write when I have a structure of what I want to write and then fill out the rest. So I always start with an outline.
- Prepare all images. I created a folder on my computer, labeled it Week 01, gathered, renamed and optimized all images Then I drag them to Gitlab. I found that using my Mac's tools for image resizing it's super simple:
Open image, tools
- I copied code snippets in my notes with a title so I can insert any time needed.
Things Learnt in Markdown¶
We were lucky to have Diane Wakim mentor us, so I didn't face much issue with markdown.
- When having images inside bullet points, just add spaces before the image code and it will go inside the indentation.
- For me, it's easier to do 1 collage of all photos and upload as 1 image instead of struggling with alignment.
Look and Feel¶
I will leave this at the end, prioritizing content. For this first week: - I kept the same font to maintain accesibility. - Changed the colors on the mkdocs here
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