1. State of the art, project management and documentation¶
This week, we discussed the main Fabricacademy subjects, vision, objective, and overall expectations for documenting our research. We talked about why documentation is so important to the program, and displaying our results, explaining our design process, what we’re thinking, and including our mistakes, and accomplishments.
Cover Art- Nadia Attmore
Research & Ideation¶
My primary goal for week 1 was to create my Fabricacademy website, a digital portfolio for my work that helps to express who I am as an artist, designer, and a storyteller.
Coding was completely unknown to me. I’d never used a coding editor before, yet alone written HTML or CSS.
At first, everything seemed totally overwhelming, having to understand a new “language” such as commands, tags, and syntax, pushing uploads and committing changes to my page, and most importantly a new style of thinking with logic first rather than a visual approach.
References & Inspiration¶
I looked for websites that matched my personal aesthetic.
Harlem Fashion Row gave me the editorial, polished, and strong visual storytelling I was also looking to achieve. Nike gave me the modern and tech forward approach that I also wanted to include.
These websites inspired me to create a digital platform that is strong, purposeful and thoughtfully designed, just like my physical work.
Tools¶
- Markdown
- Google
- Bracket
- W3Schools
- MKdocs
- YouTube
Documentation workflow¶
The quickest thing I noticed was that the “language” wasn't so straightforward, because every change required perfection, one missing bracket or extra slash could break an entire section of the site.
There were days when the whole page would fail and zero of my commits would change on my site. Images wouldn't load. Or the text overlapped or went into another section I didn't want it in. These continued errors lead me straight to the internet finding any tools possible to help me gain an understanding.
I had to install Python, which was totally new to me, in order to run MkDocs locally and preview my website. I learned the basic steps needed for running my website offline after committing changes.
Step 1: Installing MkDocs¶
You need Python installed.
pip install mkdocs To install your theme (usually "Material"):
pip install mkdocs-material
Understanding Markdown (The language)
Markdown = simple text that converts to formatted webpages.
Basic Markdown Tools- Headers:
1 (#) # Title 2(#) ## Subtitle 3(#) ### Section
Images:
![alt text] (path/to/image.jpg)
Live Preview:
Allows you to preview your site while editing.
Publishing (Deploying/Committ)
When you’re ready to publish:
mkdocs gh-deploy
This pushes your site to GitHub Pages.
Launching the terminal in my project folder is how I update the website locally and push it to my GitLab repository.Get the latest version by using GitLab git pull. Add any updated files or modifications using git add Commit the modifications with a clear message.
Git commit -m "Updated Week 1 documentation"
Push everything to my git push repository on the safari.
Use this loop to maintain version control and update my/your website:
pull, modify, commit, push.
It also made me realize how crucial it is to keep a tidy repository structure and backup your work.
Step 2 Editing the Index File¶
Editing the index.html file
site_name: NADAE by Nadia Attmore
site_description: Your name Fabricademy site
site_author: NADAE by Nadia Attmore
copyright: Copyright 2024 NADAE by Nadia Attmore - Creactive Commons Attribution Non-commercial
site_url: https://class.textile-academy.org/2026/nadia-attmore/
repo_url: https://gitlab.fabcloud.org/academany/fabricademy/2026/students/nadia-attmore
repo_name: fabricademy/2026/nadia-attmore
Step 3: Setting up Your Theme¶
Experimenting with fonts, colors, and how I wanted the layout of my page.
theme:
# The name of the theme, needs to match your requirements.txt file
name: material
# Material theme options:
palette:
# try other colors from https://squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-material/setup/changing-the-colors/
primary: black
accent: red
font:
# See available fonts from https://fonts.google.com/
text: Bodoni Moda
code: Bodoni Moda
icon:
# Read about icons at https://squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-material/setup/changing-the-logo-and-icons/
logo: material/library
repo: material/gitlab
features:
- navigation.tabs
- navigation.footer
...
Step 4: File Size Reduction¶
Uploading big photos was one of the first problems I encountered because GitLab loaded images slowly heavy in mb/kb and flagged specific images that were anything larger than a particular size. I began optimizing every image before posting it in order to address issue.
My approach:
Mac preview:
-Launch the picture → Tools → Modify Size
-decrease the width by 800–1200 pixels
-output as JPEG with a quality of 60–70%
-Images are reduced to about 250–300 KB as a result, which is perfect for web speed.
-This process keeps my repository neat and speeds up the website.
Step 5: Knowing the Lab Rules¶
Booking System for Machines:
-All equipment, including the laser cutter, vinyl cutter, 3D printer, CNC, and embroidery machine, needs to be booked in advance.
-In order to prevent crowding, students choose a time slot on the lab schedule.
-Making a reservation guarantees that a staff member will be available in case troubleshooting is required.
-Rules for General Fab Lab Safety:
-Avoid wearing loose clothing and tie your hair back.
-Keep your hands away from cutting mechanisms and laser pathways.
-A machine should never be left alone.
-Avoid putting food or beverages close to cutting beds or devices.
-Prior to cutting, always inspect the materials (particularly when using a laser cutter, as certain plastics emit harmful gases).
-If necessary, wear goggles, particularly while working with resin, sanding, and 3D printing.
-Before you leave, tidy your workspace.
Documentation Must:
-Since the Fab Lab is based on open source sharing, every test, error, and ultimate outcome must be captured on camera and uploaded. Clear documentation is regarded as an essential component of the safety procedure.
Although this week seemed like nothing but chaos, confusion and frustration it made me realize that this was a form of logical design. I’m so used to expressing myself through textiles, patterns, prints, and movements. I know I still have a lot to learn and know the errors aren't stopping after this week but I am hopeful in the future that by the end of this I will be a technology wiz.