Hole seam hem process book

HOLE SE A M + H EM JAY D E C H A N G | V I C TO R I A L EE | M I G U EL I TO B U EN AC R UZ

+ TH E CO L L A B O R ATI O N C O M M U N I C AT I O N D E S I G N E R

jayde chang

C O M M U N I C AT I O N D E S I G N E R

victoria lee

M A R K E T S T R AT E G I S T

miguelito buenacruz

is a repair movement that encourages and empowers everyday people to decrease textile consumption by repairing their torn clothes.

H O L E S E A M + H E M

TH E M I S S IO N

The purpose of this project is to focus on reducing textile waste and this is how we’re making a difference. We’ve designed the Tear and Wear First Aid Manual to educate everyday people about the benefits of textile repair and encourage them to participate in the movement.

We’ve provided the basic tools and tutorials to get them started. By teaching them how to make simple repairs, we believe that textile waste and consumption can be reduced. We want to inspire a culture of repair and this manual is just the beginning.

There was a variety of challenges that immersed us into the collaborative process. The main challenges were learning about the similarities and differences in business and design thinking and the integration of both design and business processes. This challenged us to participate in an in-depth collaborative process to progress the initial ideation phase.

Our different perspectives enabled us to effectively bounce ideas off of each other.

CHALLENGES

Bouncing ideas off of each other and having different perspectives was a positive contribution to this process. During the process we were also able to learn a little bit from each other. We were able to exchange business and design ideas, and teach each other about the different steps along the way.

It was insightful to figure out how the two disciplines operated.

S PACE: + TPEROX TIB LLEM E WA S TE Our large problem space concerns textile waste generated in Vancouver. After discussing the issues around recycling, reducing, and reusing we decided to focus on a common interest; textile waste. After researching consequences related to textile waste we found that textile material ends up in landfills and the chemicals used in the dying process end up polluting water and oceans. It is also a result of cost reduction in both production and retail, leading to over consumption by consumers and overproduction by producers.

L ARGE PROBLEM

Textile waste in Vancouver is not only generated from the retail space, but in other areas of the textile industry as well such as the manufacturing and production industries. Having done secondary research, we concluded that both consumers and producers are large contributors to pre consumer and post consumer textile waste.

Consumers desire cheap products and fast fashion, and producers want to fulfill that demand in order to maximize profits.

This project is an opportunity for our team to identify and help solve a smaller problem within the large problem of textile waste and identify the problems related to the needs and behaviours of consumers and producers.

Having examined our primary and secondary research, we’ve discovered that much of Vancouver’s consumers are disposing their unwanted textile products due to their lack of knowledge and limited resources available to repair and sustain them.

We are aiming to educate and motivate consumers about the benefits of sustaining their textile products.

SPECIFIC PROBLEM

Having researched various precedents, we have found that there are numerous projects focusing on reusing textile wastes to create new products. Although this approach reuses or prevents waste temporarily, many of the products end up in the landfill. Therefore, we propose to further examine how we can slow down over consumption or increase the lifetime of textile products in order to interrupt the textile waste cycle.

+ S ECO N DA RY R E S E A RCH Textile waste can be classified as either pre-consumer or post-consumer textile waste. Pre-consumer textile waste is the leftovers or byproducts from textile, fiber or cotton industries. Post-consumer textile waste is the waste of materials such as fleece, corduroy, cotton, and nylon, which have already passed through the consumer market and are recycled and re-constituted into a product for the consumer market. Textiles in landfill biodegrade to form methane gas which is released into the air and is not suitable for human consumption. The three options for textile waste include recovery centers, incinerators, and landfill. Soiled and wet clothing is usually sent to the landfill because of the lack of drying facilities.

Consumers generally donate, sell, or dispose of clothes. Textile waste is not limited to the consumer level, waste occurs at the manufacturing and retail levels as well. Some companies such as, patagonia will recycle their own products after customers are finished with them.

G E N E R A L T E X T I L E WA S T E

There are also many misconceptions about textile materials. Cotton is one of the important apparel fibers used globally. Cotton is a natural cellulosic fiber, comes from a renewable resource, and is intrinsically biodegradable. Therefore, many consumers believe it is an environmentally responsible product. Although modern techniques can produce transgenic cottons with better insect and fungus resistance, the growth of conventional cottons demands heavy use of pesticides and fungicides.

It is estimated that cotton uses only 3% of the world’s farmland, but about 25% of the world’s pesticides.

During the past several years, companies have collaborated to design new fabrics that strive to balance customer satisfaction with environmental responsibility by using recycled materials. For example, the ability to generate textiles from soda pop bottles, from recycled PET chips, or from reclaimed wools. Currently, there are still difficulties associated with the recycling of complicated post consumer textile waste, and the reluctance of the industry to use the recycled post consumer fibers.

If one slows down the speed—goes the theory—many problems sort themselves out.

S L O W FA S H I O N This is the idea around that the consumer should identify with an article of clothing over long term, feel more responsible for it, take care of it, treasure it. Producing less fashion, less frequently but higher quality is regarded as a means of preserving resources both in the production chain and in clothing care.

Developing products that are easy to take apart (for example, by avoiding glues) and recycling by promoting pure (non-composite) materials that have a high resale value.

This process is a great example of DFR (designing for recycle) principles in action is the German outdoor gear company, vauDe. vauDe has created a holistic ecosystem by putting together a palette of materials that allowed their designers to develop garments that were 100 per cent polyester. This included the fabric, zips, snap fasteners, labels, thread, cords, cord grips, etc. The product could then be recycled (similar to PET bottles) to make polyester resin for new products, and involves no sorting for metals or other recycling contaminates (Fletcher 106).

D E S I G N F O R R E C YC L I N G + D I S A S S E M B LY

Although various types of textiles are recyclable, the promotion of cheap, mass produced textile goods are encouraging mass consumption which is contributing to the increase of textile wastes.

I S R E C YC L I N G T H E S O L U T I O N T O S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y Consumers and producer prioritize recycling over sustainability because it fits in with how things are done today. Yet recycling in its own will never bring big change. It is ultimately a transition strategy, useful while society is transformed into something more socially aware and less energy intensive (Fletcher 107).

R I M A RY R E S E A RCH : + PENT H N OG R A P H I C

INTERVIEWS

Having examined the results of the interviews, we found

that the participants do not have accessibility to proper education about environmental and ethical issues. They also don’t feel that there is enough brand transparency to generate trust between companies. When we addressed the topic about repairing and reusing products, the participants stated that they lacked the knowledge and motivation to learn the skills.

Many of the participants thought that living an eco-friendly lifestyle was too expensive. Many of our participants such as the economical consumers purchase products based on the popularity of large brands.The participants were more enthusiastic to help and support social causes rather than environmental issues. A lot of economical consumers had basic knowledge of repairing particular clothing, but lacked knowledge in repairing other garments. Initially, we assumed that brand obsessed consumers were not interested in repairing clothing, but during interviews they showed an interest in repairing their clothing.

E V O C AT I V E O B J E C T S When the participants were asked about why they have kept and not thrown away certain objects, many spoke about their sentimental values. For example, one of our participants had a pillow given to her by her mother when she was 3 years old. She found her pillow evocative as her mom bought it and therefore, emanated love. She took the pillow and started using it everyday, whether it involved watching tv on the couch, sleeping over, and even family trips. It became an object of comfort.

R I M A RY R E S E A RCH : + SPTR EE T I NTERV I E WS

G E T T I N G P E O P L E T O TA L K

Initially, we interviewed people near

Commercial Drive because we assumed that our target audience included young “hipsters.” It also took us a while to getting comfortable in starting to talk to people as they were either in a rush or didn’t want to be interviewed. We managed to talk to four people but the data was not large and varied enough to help with our research. Therefore, we decided to do an online survey.

We found it helpful to get people more interested in what we are doing by invite them to our opening. We wrote invitations to show our apperciation to thier participation.

R E S E A RCH : + OP RNI ML IANRY E SU RV E Y

A RY P ER SO N A : + JPOR INMATH A N CH U N G

AG E

21

Vancouver, bc Facebook Intern in Seattle, Washington E D U C AT I O N Bachelor of Design-Interaction Design Student at Emily Carr University of Art + Design LIVES IN

O C C U PAT I O N

J O N AT H A N C H U N G is about to join third year interaction design at Emily Carr University of Art and Design next fall as he has taken two years off interning for Facebook. He is an extrovert who likes to voice his opinions.

He is an avid participant of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Jonathan can also be seen pinning his latest interests such as the cold brewed coffee at his local coffee joint, Revolver on Pinterest. He blogs daily about his travels and the latest technological gadgets and science fiction novels. His recent trip to the community garden near his workplace, inspired him to support local produce and goods.

“In between my hours of blogging and updating my Twitter fans about my weekly travels, the latest tech gadgets and sci-fi novels, I think about the good old days with my nudie jeans. Ripped or over washed, they’re sitting in my closet just waiting for me to fix them.”

Although ripped and over washed, Jonathan secretly puts on his skinny, blue Nudie jeans during his spare time. He has tried fixing the rips in his pockets numerous times, but finds them torn apart within three wears. He’s currently trying to find new effective ways of repairing his jeans so that he can wear them with confidence in public instead of buying new jeans.

P R I M A R Y P E R S O N A Initially, it was a challenge to decide on our primary persona for the solution we are creating. It was helpful to write down a statement first. From there, we developed a more specfic and appropriate persona to our solution.

I N ITI A L TA RG E T + AU D I EN CE / P ER SO N A S after presenting, we discovered that our initial target audience was to broad so we deiceded to interview more people to get a clearer picture of our persona.

M O O D B O A R D S 

M A R K E T R E S E A RCH : + CO M P E TITO R S

NUDIE JEANS

is a well-known jeans company that educates their consumers

about textile wastes and the benefits of repairing jeans. Nudie Jeans provides their customers with a free repair kit as an incentive to personally repairing their damaged clothing. Once a customer creates an account with the company and uploads an image of themselves wearing their damaged Nudie jeans, the company mails them a free repair kit. Nudie Jeans’ promote and encourage their customers to take care of their jeans because they believe that jeans go through the same experiences as their owners do. Nudie Jeans also promote textile recycling and have a program dedicated to recycling a customer’s expired denim.

promotes sustainable practices and values long lasting quality products. The company encourages their customers to purchase less products that they don’t need, but is able to generate revenue. The company provides an ethical repair service for all of their products. They also have a recycling program as a convenience for their customers to recycle their textile products.

PATA G O N I A

provides high quality sewing kits for their customers.

They breathe in the craft of sewing and their values and beliefs in the craft has influenced and encouraged a range of beginner to advanced seamstresses to repair their garments. They provide a compact beginners sewing kit for those who are eager to learn how to repair.

MERCHANT & MILLS

+ T H E B U SI N E SS MO D EL MISSION

To divert textile waste from our landfills and change consumer

behavior by targeting people who value their clothes and teaching them how to make their own repairs.

Hole Seam + Hem’s instructional manual is a convenient tool for our users to learn basic textile repairs. Users of our product will be able to repair and wear their damaged clothes. They will either be able to gain or further emphasize the sentimental value in their clothing by repairing.

F O R T H E C U S T O M E R O R U S E R

The product comprises of simple and provides user friendly tutorials for our customers. Ten basic textile tutorials are integrated into the book and users have access to everything in one place. The instructional manual is a direct access to tutorials, tools, and canvas to practice the sewing techniques before they attempt to repair their own clothes.

SOLUTION

U N I Q U E VA L U E P R O P O S I T I O N

We are providing textile repair tutorials and

the basic tools and materials needed to do it for people who want to repair their favorite clothes, but don’t have the tools or knowledge to do so with a product that integrates fabric and patterns to practice on.

Our product is easier to use and simpler than the other products on the market. Other than providing the necessary tools to implement clothing repair, our product includes 10 basic textile repair tutorials with steps illustrated by text and photography, practice patterns printed on end of the roll canvas fabric, and durable needle, thread, and fabrics. It is designed to be more convenient, practical, and easy to approach.

U N FA I R A D VA N TA G E

C U S T O M E R S E G M E N T Our customer segment focuses on individuals who want to repair their clothes, but do not necessarily have the tools or knowledge to do so with the objective of wearing their favorite piece of clothing again.

They are people who live active lifestyles, but enjoy relaxing at a coffee shop and spending time on social media platforms. They are influential on those platforms among their peers, and are active users. They are a younger generation of university students and young professionals who care about style, and would prefer to repair their clothes over buying new ones. They are young people who already care about their textile waste footprint and care to make a difference. People who are going to school, but work too.

They have a connection with certain articles of clothing and they want to preserve them, and continue to wear the clothes they have had so many experiences in. A ripped pair of jeans is more than just a pair of ripped jeans, to our target it’s a culmination of memories and experiences.

W I C K E D P R O B L E M Our wicked problem is the overlooked massive amount of textile waste in our landfills. We want to make a small difference by diverting a portion of that waste from the landfill by educating and motivating people about, and implementing the methods of fixing their clothes. People who actually care about their clothes and want to keep wearing something even though it isn’t perfect because they get attached to their clothes.

We will be measuring our success by the number of units we sell. We are aiming to sell 5 units of our product to measure our success. We will also be measuring our success by conducting a follow up interview or questionnaire of our original customers asking if they really have changed their behavior, if they repaired any of their clothes, and if they are now more knowledgeable or if they care about textile waste.

METRIC S/ME A SURES OF SUCCESS

C H A N N E L S We will be focusing on social media messages where our customers are very active. We want to use Facebook to reach a broader audience by sharing when and where we will be during the Chinatown Experiment. We have also created a Facebook page that will provide more details about Hole Seam + Hem which will educated users about our project if they want to learn more.

We also want to utilize direct messaging to reach our target consumers.

We will also be giving personalized invitations via Facebook, e-mail, and by word of mouth, to those interested in textiles repair and their acquaintances.

COST STRUCTURE

Printing costs (ink) = $100 Black and White Toner Printouts = $5 Materials Cost Fabric = $4 Blender Pen = 2($3.50) Total = $11 Research & Development Laser Cut = $12.50 First Instructional Manual Prints = $147 DOC Transfer Printouts = $4.60 Cooking Tray & Needles = $4 Blender Pen = $3.50 Spray Paint = $12

Sponge = $.80 Gloves $1 Total = $185.04 Total Costs = $301. 04 Per unit cost = $20 All printing and material related costs are forecasted to decrease with greater production. Printing and material costs will decrease in correlation with the number of units being products.

Labor hours will also decrease with production and increased amount of experience with creating the product.

VA R I A B L E C O S T S ( L O N G -T E R M )

Hole Seam + Hem revenue will be generated off the number of units sold in the longer term. Currently, 5 units have been produced. The product’s retail price on opening night will be $15 whereas on August 16 and 19, it will be $20. We will be operating at a loss. We tried to keep our costs below $12 in order to meet the $20-$25 price range that our target was willing to pay, but printing costs at a small scale were extremely expensive.

We believe we could reach our target price per by producing a greater number of units. Estimates for printing cost start at 30 units and decrease until 500 units.

REVENUE

We will be attempting to sell at least two units at the Chinatown Experiment.

S M A L L B E T

I N T E L L E C T U A L P R O P E R T Y A G R E E M E N T For the duration of the course Hole Seam + Hem will split ownership between the 3 members of the team. After the course, Mig will be leaving the project and full ownership will be split between Victoria and Jayde. They can then decide what they would like to do regarding ownership if they decide to carry the project forward.

Patagonia

Merchant & Mills (booklet) Merchant & Mills (rapid repair kit) Amazon Sewing Kit DIY Sewing Kit

Hole, Hem + Seam Nudie Jeans (repair kit)

HIGH

AVERAGE

Varies

22$

15$

Cost of purchasing individual pieces FAIR (ethical repairing prices)

HIGH

HIGH

LOW

FREE

19$

HIGH

Quality

N/A

Price

X

X

X

X (encourage you to take care of your jeans)

X

X (pocket sized) X

X (focus)

Sentimental Message

X

Compactness

X (send it in for repairs and it’s back in 10 days)

X

X

X

Convenient

X

Customizable

Competitor Quality Table

X (recycle their old products)

X (take back jeans to be recycled)

Textile Recycling

X (users do not have to repair)

Labor Free For Users

X (prevent waste from going to landfill)

X

Landfill Free

X (instructional booklet)

X (instructional booklet)

X (focus)

Educational

X

X

X

X

X

Stylish

+ I D E ATI O N I N S P I R AT I O N   We researched various projects based on their relevance to repairing as one of our purposes was to design an aesthetically pleasing and gender neutral repair solution.

COM B I N I NG S ECO N DA RY A N D PR I M A RY R E S E A RC H

  During our first two

weeks, we brainstormed different factors that impacted textiles waste and consumption. We came up with various issues such as lack of education surrounding textile wastes, lack of convenience, and cheaply mass-produced clothing that ends up in landfill.

We also looked into how the companies promoted and identified themselves with their verbal and written language.

  Each of us developed sketches for various solutions in mind. We focused on three main themes: hand sized objects (personal), furniture (interactive objects within environments), and environments (interaction amongst people, objects, and place).

SOLUTION SKETCHES

  The storyboards illustrated different product scenarios the user would experience. For example, a scenario based on a repair kit design, and one on service design.

S TORY BOA R DS

+ P ROTOT Y P E S I T T E R AT I O N S

  Each of our prototypes came from different angles we

observed and explored from our primary and secondary research. We explored a variety of mediums such as bamboo rolled and compact boxed repair kits, and two instructional manuals. Initially, we deviated from our original intent which was to use the theme of first aid to communicate that clothing was a part of the user’s physical entity and held sentimental values. We also wanted to solve the user’s problem of finding accessible and educational material about textile waste and repair, and thus, not necessarily a repair kit.

  This design was inspired from expandable repair kits made from organic and sustainable materials. We explored differen methods of rolling and attaching materials and tools with materials such as needle, thread, canvas, buttons, and techniques such as cutting.

BAMBOO ROLLED

  This design was inspired from travel sized and compact repair kits. Many of our users emphasized that they preferred to have repair kits that were held in a solid and compact casing. However, the process in creating this design would require tools and wood working tools that we didn’t have access to.

C O M PA C T B O X

I N S T R U C T I O N A L M A N U A L   The concept of this design was inspired from journals, diaries, and instructional manuals. It was created to revisit our original theme of first aid. We wanted to reflect this design as the first aid manual to repairing clothing. This prototype included a foldable repair kit that is accessed at the back of the book. It is secured with an easy to pull and tie, one sting ribbon.

FINAL PROTOT YPE

  We experimented with different ways of putting together

the instructional manual. We experimented with coptic binding, safety pins, and metal rings as ways to bind the book. The issue with coptic binding was that we did not have enough time to bind it well enough to present. For example, the stitches would come off or the paper would rip apart due to lack of margin spaces. The issue with safety pins was that users found it hard to flip from page to page and that it would create small tears where the paper was hole punched. In the end, we resolved the issue with metals rings as our binding material as it sat nicely within the hole punches and was light and smooth enough to not rip the papers apart.

+ We experimented with laser cutting patterns onto cover stock paper with spraying and sponging paint.

Unfortunately, the results were blotchy and created unreadable text and imagery.

+ The unfavourable results from laser cutting led us to discovering an easier and more efficient method of printing. We printed our practice sheets onto toner paper and imprinted them onto canvas with blender pens.

+ Testing sewing on fabric

C O P T I C B I N D I N G   This method of binding required us to organize the instructional manual into signatures (sheets of paper printed with several pages that upon folding will become a section or sections of a book). This was especially challenging because we had to think about where the small sheets of tutorial introductions would be placed and how they would be threaded with the rest.

+ Left photograph by Maia Rowan

+ Above photograph by Brandon Ling