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1. State of the art, project management and documentation

IDEATION + RESEARCH

ID :: I am joining the Fabricacademy Alum to build an in-depth understanding of the tools, technology and equiptment necessary to develop within the accelerating environment of sustainability and biodesign. My background includes an extensive relationship with natural dyes, bioplastics, SCOBY growth, algae cultivation and bacteria growth through creative experimentation. This foundation of interactive biological growth and spontaneous chemical interaction has progressed a desire to apply technical application. Developing the basis of CNC milling, laser cutting, 3D rendering and, for my personal pleasure, crystallazation growth will allow me to learn alternative processes that can apply to delicate materials.

RE :: For the last 2.5 years, my research on oceanography has been the foundation of my world building. This investigative depth comes from my relationship with algae through innoculation growth and field research. I developed a bio-composite glue for garments with bio-plastic recipes during my time at Genspace, where I proposed that the color expression of Nannochloropsis, Rhotophyta and Chlorella algae would shift based on bio-electric communication of light. Although this intitial intention did not come to fruiton, I was able to collect and catolgue algae growth.

⤷CLICK HERE FOR MY RESEARCH

INSPIRATION + REFERENCES

ID :: I am inspired by texture and structures within the natural world. Skylines, deep roots, liminal space. My culture, upbringing and ancestry. From an aesthetic point of view, my designs appear organically (no pun intended). These themes are traditionally revealed through creating maps of organic formations, shapes and colors that change due to their interactions with the surrounding environment. Fibrous construction as a regenerative mechanism are the base of my exploration into geographical, cosmological + biological processes emphasizes organic energy conduits, alternative sustenance and synthesized thought.

RE :: References from previous Fabricademy Alumni websites due to their originality, style and documentation process:

⤷ Louise Massacrier ⤷ Catherine Euale ⤷ Mahavir Singh ⤷ Nanditha Nair

Documentation workflow

I am using the Notes App and Obsidian to track my notes. I often have side ideas and need a structured linear system to track my process, internal thoughts and remember all of this information, as it is new. I have personal goals to attain which is to remember, apply, create then teach. To build my website, I wanted a “sister” site to my own. I built my website on Cargo last month so this documentation will display the acquired skills I am building for my professional and entrepreneurial development.

I used ChatGPT as an assistant tool to trouble shoot, as a lot of this language is new to me. Learning it at the pace that we are and with the intentions that I have, I need to make sure I am truly understanding this information. I used it to adapt code and ask questions from funcitonal perspective. I am still learning Markup language so AI is very useful but understanding how to ask the right questions is what I am building.

[NOON website on left, TEXTILE ACADEMY on right]

Website Construction

My website workflow is mainly writing the markdown text, linking images and files, learning what to add into the extra css, getting adjusted to MKDocs language, while checking the outcome in the browser using the mkdocs serve command. I have no experience coding, just basic exposure so learning the indentions, commands. Our introductury tutorials were quite insightful but most of the learning comes through mistakes and help from Asli + my cohort mates.

The easiest part was collecting all of my assests. I had to pay a lot of attention to the file size but initially uploaded them to remember what I wanted in place. I created collages in Canva. I would pay for this later - I learned its best just to get the size right initially. Now it would be double work to resize

Visual Design Direction:

  • background color scheme: slate , black primary: black accent: purple

  • font text: Gruppo code: Gruppo

  • logo logo: images/NOON_II__white_.png

Background Shift: - learning code: I wanted a black background to be consistent with my website but desired the gradient for differentiation.

.md-main { background: linear-gradient(to top right, slategray, black); color: #ffffff;

  • learning formatting: There is a wide space for a header on the very top of the site, where my logo is placed. I tried to hide it but learned to become more at peace, more of a stylistic choice than a necessity.

Extra CSS for the 'children' to inherit the 'parent' background, which was getting rid of the glitch box and creating shadows/hiding it.

  • insepecting websites: This was great to understand what code was actually used on the site and understanding how to tweak it.

Inspect code for Navigation Boxes:

  • troubleshooting for visual seamlessness: The Most Challenging part was being able to trouble shoot. I needed a lot of support from my team to understand the extra css that was needed for stylististic approaches. Thankfully the mark down code was imperitive to understand what kinds of symbols were needed. I changed the text font to Ubuntu from Montserrat.

Personal Mentality Shift:

  • ORGANIZE INFORMATION FOR WORKFLOW [I CAN SEE CLEARLY]: Collecting personal work was easy since I have them organized but as I have different expectations and flows, resizing was something to consider. All of my work is concentrated on my website and Instagram but for this, I want to show process so that requires more emphasis on my actual research.

  • MACROLEVEL COMPREHENSION [ARE YOU TALKING TO BE HEARD? OR UNDERSTOOD?]: there is a lot of detailed information communicated since people have been doing this for a while and have had to trouble shoot a lot. I find myself asking a lot of questions and thankfully, the team is patient but I do experience guilt because I am listening for how to learn as well as the info itself. I am learning to have a big picture point of view to get the flow, the essence and the message communicated so that the details that are directly shown have a place. Going from an abstract, artist brain to a technical, detailed one requires a bridge and learning how to learn is a signifigant one.

  • LEARN THE BASICS, APPLY THE SKILLS [F*CK HOW IT LOOKS]: I am looking to level up my skillset, and since the basic setup is set, I am consistently updating to make sure the formatting is aligned. I am paying more attention to the details of what is needed. Learning the language, understanding when something is wrong and understanding how to be specific with the AI assistants I am using. The look is an ideal but knowing what I'm talking about it most important.