Explanation

A series of lectures introcuded me to applications of vector math in Processing and the use of data in fashion, art, and secrets throughout human history. We were to make a bag that embodied the human desires indepence and ownership. The first weeks we recreated existing bag models in paper and carton to explore how they were constructed. For midterm we made our own versions that explored conceptualizing human desires. We documented our findings in an annotated portfolio that we used to present and discuss. In the second half, we realized our midterm concept and explored the use of data for digital crafting techniques; 3d printing, laser cutting and digital embroidery. Our final concept and prototype was met with enthusiasm and got graded very well.

Reflection

In the design process I found a way of working that stopped me from overthinking; create first, conceptualize after. Andersen noted that I was great at analyzing the core lecture theme's and advised that I should use this to make others aware of key values in their concept. A great synergy within my team allowed me to pinpoint the strength and weaknesses in their concepts and find a relation between the most intriguing ideas; the structure of a shoulder bag, pockets for phones, humans as owners of our body.

Through extensive exploration of preparing textiles for the lasercutter (such as applying conditioner, sanding, stiffening)  we found a way to give jeans material the texture of skin. With previous experience in Processing, I explored different ways of using data and math to find a way of image processing a picture of skin. I based my code on what I learned from the lecturer Loe Feijs and open-source code. I made it my own, by re-structuring into modules. This made the code part of the concept, by using personal data (skin pigmentation) to customize the output. This structure also allowed for creating an aesthetic abstraction of skin that we laserengraved on our bag.