Strategic Creativity Series #01: Social Fabric

Strategic Creativity series

SOCIAL FABRIC The Readership in Strategic Creativity at Design Academy Eindhoven

Michelle Baggerman

Collaborating with: Eindhoven University of Technology, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, V2_, Waag Society, Textielmuseum In the CRISP project Smart Textile Services Research period February 2012 - March 2013

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SOCIAL FABRIC Michelle Baggerman

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Contents The Social Value of Craftsmanship 5 Editorial, Michelle Baggerman

A Patchwork for Debate 7 Introduction, Daniëlle Arets

The Social Fabric 11 Michelle Baggerman (Daniëlle Arets, Kristi Kuusk, Bas Raijmakers, Oscar Tomico)

Smart Textile Services 22 Oscar Tomico

Three Perspectives on Smartness 25 Crafting Meaningful Smart Textiles 27 Kristi Kuusk

Tinkering and Tailoring 33 Collaborative Design Research with Students

Crafting with Technology 39 How I was introduced to electronics, Betsy Greer

FabLabs as Exploratory Spaces 43 Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Wearable Technology, Piem Wirtz

Knitic 47 Soft Digital Fabrication, Varvara Guljajeva, Mar Canet Sola

Open Design Spaces 51 Thinking through Making

Embedding Research in Design Education

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Open Design Spaces as Research Tool

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Innovation through Patchworking

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It All Starts with Trust, Daniëlle Arets, Ellen Zoete Michelle Baggerman Michelle Baggerman

The contribution of Social Fabric of Smart-Textiles to CRISP 69 Bas Raijmakers

Contributor Biographies and Glossary 72 Further Reading and Viewing 76 Colophon 78

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The Social Value of Craftsmanship Editorial Michelle Baggerman

Crafts have been passed on from master to apprentice for hundreds of years. Learning a craft took practice and required help from more experienced craftspeople. It was also learned in a social setting where knowledge and experiences would be shared. The field of textiles includes many ancient crafts; spinning, weaving, knitting, crochet, lace-making, embroidery, braiding, tapestry, dyeing and netting, to name a few. The tools and techniques used in these crafts have evolved over time and have long since been mastered by machines. This is the only way textiles could have been eventually mass-produced, but ­because of these changes a lot of tacit knowledge has been lost while the machinery becomes ever more complex. One could say that textiles have shifted from being low-tech and high-craft to being high-tech and low-craft.

In the recent past, the high-tech involved in textiles has gone beyond machinery. With the development of new materials, techniques and technologies it has become possible to literally interweave textile and technology to create fabrics that are sensitive and reactive. ­Textiles are now becoming ‘smart’. This is a great opportunity for two players: the Dutch textile industry currently struggling with fierce competition from low-wage countries, and technology companies in the Netherlands that are in a global leading position. They can potentially strengthen each other and sustain a competitive edge and develop highly innovative products – together.

Since these developments are still in their infancy, the new smart-textiles are yet to be developed into commercially viable products, which can one day become part of complex Product Service Systems that will affect us in a significant way. The possibilities seem limitless and very promising for the future – just imagine how different life would be if electronic devices were freed from their hard plastic shells and became soft and tactile? But there is a real danger of focussing too much on the novel technology of the products and remaining in the realm of gadgets 5

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without their having much meaning or depth. It is important to start defining the narrative of smart-textiles early and listen to (potential) users for their take on these new possibilities.

In the world of crafts, meaning and depth have always been inherent because of crafts’ very social character. Crafting itself was a reflection of culture and community and a way to share stories and knowledge.

Part of the value of a hand-crafted product is comprised of skill, time and intention. To give meaning to smart-textiles we could learn from craftspeople and the way they teach, learn and evolve rather than how they design or engineer their products. Therefore in this publication the focus lies not only on smart technology, but also on the smartness of craft, and it responds to the question: “How can the social context of traditional textile crafts advance the development of meaningful smart-textiles?”

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A Patchwork for Debate Introduction Dani谷lle Arets

Clothes that keep you warm adapting to the outside temperature; a red-carpet gown that lights up, or an apron with integrated buttons to ask for medical assistance when needed. These are just a few examples of smart-textiles also called eTextiles. The intersection of textiles and technology is a growing field of interest, and not only in the textile or 足fashion industry. The potential of smart materials is also being 足explored in the sports and health markets.

For the Dutch research programme CRISP (Creative Industry Scientific Programme) the topic is extremely interesting because of its multi-足 disciplinary opportunities and challenges. What happens if smart-textiles can become part of larger Product Service Systems (PSS)? This opens up a vast field of opportunities for textiles developers and product and service designers to combine their disciplines in the application areas of productivity, lifestyle and care.

CRISP was set up in 2011 to respond to this opportunity (along with seven other challenging projects) with a large scale four-year research programme partly funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. More than 60 organisations, including Design Academy Eindhoven, the Technical Universities of Delft, Eindhoven and Twente, VU and UvA universities in Amsterdam and more than 50 design companies and service providers are participating. The goals of the programme are to develop knowledge on the strategic role designers can play in service innovation, and to make innovators in economy and society more aware of the special contribution designers can make on strategic levels. Around the topic of smart-textiles, a multi-disciplinary collaboration was started focussing on Smart Textile Services (STS), with knowledge institutes Eindhoven University of Technology, Delft University of Technology, Design Academy Eindhoven and Saxion University of Applied Sciences and the following industrial and societal partners: Audax Textiel Museum, V2_, Waag Society, Modint, Contact Groep Textiel, Unit040 Ontwerp, Metatronics and De Wever.

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For Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE) the collaboration with technical universities is a wonderful opportunity to better understand how the different institutes undertake design research and can benefit from each other. Within the framework of CRISP, DAE set up the Readership in Strategic Creativity in 2011 to explore how DAE-trained designers can create knowledge for academia and industry by using their unique ways of what we call ‘thinking through making’. Exploring materials, conducting workshops, making prototypes, telling stories and many more of these designerly methods and approaches can all be tools to create knowledge and lead to new ways of communicating knowledge, beyond text. Introducing such tools is an important role for design researchers in multi-disciplinary research teams. To gain a deeper understanding of these contributions, the Readership established ­Research Associateships: part-time research positions for a year, where DAE-alumni participate in one of the CRISP research projects.

In February 2012, Michelle Baggerman, graduate of the bachelor ­department Man & Leisure of DAE in 2009, was hired as a Research Associate for the CRISP project on Smart Textile Services. Michelle graduated with Precious Waste, a textile made entirely out of used plastic shopping bags that had been spun into yarn and were then woven. The shopping bags were recycled using old crafting techniques to create a beautiful and strong textile, suitable for a wide range of new purposes.

When this textile is eventually worn out it can still be recycled in the conventional way, because it’s not a mixed material, and can become a new product once again.

When starting as a Research Associate, Michelle was intrigued by the ontological question of what a smart-textile really is. Academic articles on the topic and initial collaborations with various researchers of the STS project gave her the impression that there might be too much of a focus on technology in the concept of smart-textiles. Could the ‘smartness’ not also lie in the service and social components of textiles?

During the Research Associateship project, Michelle conducted various workshops to get a better understanding of what came to be called the Social Fabric of smart-textiles. Together with the researchers and partners in the CRISP STS team she took a course on lace-making and facilitated workshops on ‘beta-textiles’ and ‘hypercrafting’. The 8

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Precious Waste

by Michelle Baggerman.

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lace-making workshop in particular brought Michelle to the idea that the way in which knowledge is shared within this field of crafts might be a crucial notion to sharing knowledge in the field of smart-textiles.

This resulted in a scientific paper on Social Fabric (p. 11-12) which stresses the importance of the craftsmanship model.

An element of each Research Associateship position is to set up an Open Design Space and to translate the research into an educational programme of one month, giving DAE students a better understanding of what it means to do research through design. The Open Design Space also focussed on the concepts of smartness. Over four weeks student-teams, each a mix of both Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and DAE students, experimented with materials and technology to create a ‘warm winter wearable’ with smart-textiles.

The results of this research, as you will find in this publication (p. 35), proved to be very satisfying in many ways. It showed that students experimenting with textiles and technology gained a good insight into the potential of smart-textiles, and that by working within multi­disciplinary teams they were also able to gain a better understanding of their own preconceived ideas, frameworks, tools and methodologies­ (p. 33–37, Tinkering and Tailoring).

This publication presents the idea of a social fabric for smart-textiles in a range of ways, through the Open Design Space student projects, ­academic writings on smart-textiles, on social fabric and on service systems around smart-textiles and, last but not least, the design research of Michelle over the past year. Additionally, this publication exemplifies what the Readers in Strategic Creativity calls a ‘thinking through making’ approach to academic design research.

We hope you enjoy this publication of the Readership in Strategic Creativity, and we hope even more that the reading encourages you to further explore design research by doing it. On page 61–67, Innovation through Patchworking, you will find the results of Michelle’s research: a patchwork at the intersection of textiles and technology that acts as a conversation piece. Through making the patches, a platform to share and create knowledge is formed on which social fabric can thrive.

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The Social Fabric Michelle Baggerman (Daniëlle Arets, Kristi Kuusk, Bas Raijmakers, Oscar Tomico)

Shortened version of original paper as published in http://www.nordes.org/nordes2013/pictures/Nordes2013Proceedings.pdf

Services are created by and for people, a fact that guarantees social relevance but also introduces social complexities in both creation and delivery. Experts in many disciplines need to cross borders and should collaboratively design and develop in order to reach valuable results.

This is not always an easy task: habits, vocabulary and culture often vary from discipline to discipline. A manager, an engineer and a designer could be from the same country, but when it comes to their professional expertise they may each as well speak Chinese, Greek and Welsh.

Crafting together in a workshop, family or group setting used to have an important social function, which could help cross these so-called cultural boundaries. The social context of craft may offer us an interesting method to reflect on services.

Within the Smart Textile Services (STS) research project the development of Product Service Systems (PSS) is researched both as a design field and a craft. The STS research is conducted within Creative Industry Scientific Programme (CRISP), a collaboration between knowledge institutes and over sixty industry and social partners with a joint aim to develop academic and applied knowledge in the field of PSS. We chose to experiment in a traditional craft setting to learn and practise bobbin-lace making under the instruction of a master, with our group taking on the role of a group of apprentices. We explored how service design in the field of smart-textiles might benefit from and ­contribute to the social context of craftsmanship.

Service design

The concept of Product Service Systems in this context is where goods, services and the systems that connect them are part of one whole, and where they cannot be perceived separately. Within STS we have called such PSS simply ‘services’ because that is how most people perceive 11

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PSS. Service providers shape the service together with their users, who in turn become part of the production process. Tangible and intangible aspects of services are linked, where the tasks of a designer go beyond the traditional focus on form and function, to include notions such as interaction.

Service design cannot operate on its own. To create an optimal service experience, specialised competence from other design disciplines and a range of different stakeholders should be involved: service providers, managers and marketers, users and experts such as psychologists and anthropologists all bring specific knowledge, experience and objectives. However, coming from varied backgrounds they often speak­­ a different ‘language’ and may have difficulty understanding each other.

Here, designers can add value in the process of designing PSS by playing different roles (for example leading, facilitating or producing). As such they form the ‘glue’ between disciplines[1].

PSS are developed in an iterative process: using tools and methods from various disciplines PSS development goes through many cycles of tweaking and adjusting. It could be argued that services undergo an evolution rather than that they are designed, similar to the Service Design field itself. A service cannot be designed, produced and then supplied in the same way a product may be. Depending on the demands of the context in which the service is implemented, the process of tweaking and adjusting continues in practice. Designers are well equipped to intuitively steer and accelerate this evolution as they can imagine desirable futures and pave the way towards them by connecting disciplines, methods, materials and tools on the spot – which is why they are invaluable to service design.

Moreover, while a service may be designed, it can also be crafted. Let us compare this design approach to a craftsperson’s approach. According to Metcalf, “Each of the craft disciplines has a multicultural history that is recorded mostly as objects, many from societies that have long since disappeared. (…) A huge body of objects serve as an enormous reference library for craftsmen. (...) Craft looks to the past for techniques, visual cues, meanings and ideas.”[3] Here lies an interesting difference, but also an opportunity for the imaginative designer and the highly specialised craftsperson to meet and support each other.

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Craftsmanship is taught hands-on by passing on knowledge and ­traditions, by telling stories, and it requires a great deal of practice and focus on every last detail. Craft knowledge and skills have been passed down through generations in as many different ways as there are crafts, and depend on a social context to be preserved and to evolve to keep their relevance. As such, the transfer of crafting skills and knowledge could be considered a service.

The social side of craftsmanship

Some refer to craftsmanship simply as highly skilled manual work.­ In The Craftsman Richard Sennett describes craftsmanship as a b ­ asic human impulse, an engagement and a very balanced connection between hand and head. He also quotes Karl Marx, “who framed ­ craftsmanship in the broadest possible terms as ‘form-giving ­activity’”.­ Sennett emphasises that self and social relations develop through ­ ­making physical things, which enables an “all-round development of the individual”[4] In saying so, he makes an interesting point about the social value of craftsmanship.

This social aspect is also beautifully expressed by Betsy Greer, who writes in Knitting for Good! “I began to understand that there are benefits to knitting with others beyond just teaching them something new and then setting them free. We can have conversations that unfold just like the knitting itself. Instead of only speaking for a minute in passing, when you are knitting with someone else, you have a chance to see where a conversation takes you without having to rush. Just as your knitting has a rhythm, so do the ­conversations you engage in while you work. The ease of conversation prompted by craft helps us connect with others beyond our own racial, economic, or social backgrounds, allowing everyone involved to learn about someone new and foster a sense of belonging.”[2] Throughout history master craftspeople have shared the secrets of the trade with their apprentices in their workshops. The relationship between a master and his apprentices is important, but the service of proliferating craftsmanship is not only delivered from master to ­apprentice. The interactions between the apprentices themselves are also vital, as they help, challenge, and may share or even compete with 13

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Smart-textiles capable of measuring stretch developed in STS project, hooked up to a LilyPad Arduino micro-controller.

Experiments of dyeing yarns for 足bobbin-lace making with 足thermochromic and UV ink.

STS team members 足practicing bobbin-lace making with master lace maker Rinie Verhaegh.

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each other in order to advance in their craft. By sharing expertise, the body of knowledge remains in motion, helping both the craft and the people practising it to develop. We call this social construction of craftsmanship ‘social fabric’.

Context of application

Textile crafts have been practised for many centuries, starting with very simple tools and techniques to create fabrics, and gradually became more complex in nature. Innovations took generations to mature. ­Today most textile production has moved from low-tech and high-craft to high-tech and low-craft. Textiles were once valuable possessions passed down for generations, carefully mended as they wore out and were even used as a way to show off status and wealth. Now they have become mass-produced consumption goods. Machines have taken over manual labour and much tacit and explicit knowledge, tradition, symbolism and meaning have been lost.

New technological knowledge is emerging rapidly and is leading to the development of ‘smart-textiles’. These are still in their infancy. For smart-textiles to develop into products and services, they may benefit from a craftsmanlike approach to become a meaningful addition to our daily lives.

The small scale, local approach of crafts may help reduce difficult issues resulting from globalisation and mass-production such as environmental damage, poor working conditions and unfair prices. It could allow for a deeper involvement of end-users in the production phase, generating a greater sense of value and attachment through participation and personalisation. Here we return to Bruce Metcalf who writes: “self-expression needn’t be the highest goal of the craft practitioner. In a secular world, craft can serve others by offering a ­medium for personal meaning—a receptive screen upon which to project significance. Instead of conveying total self-absorption in expression, a craft object can perform a service. (…) Craftspeople can move into areas of subject matter that art and design have declared to be irrelevant for almost a century, and in so doing, they can actually become socially ­responsible.”[3] With this, he points towards the social meaning that stems from the culture and community in which crafted objects are produced and used. This could be a­ pplied to the field of smart-textiles where meaning and purpose could also be created from the bottom-up, which would help to build new narratives.

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Explorations in bobbin-lace

To experience and test the principles mentioned above the STS 足research group (in the role of apprentices) worked with an experienced craftswoman to study the historical craft of bobbin-lace-making over the course of several workshops. None of the participants had any prior experience with lace-making, meaning everyone would start at the same level. The goal was to learn the basics of the craft, but also to get an understanding of the concept of craftsmanship and how that could be useful for creating Smart Textile Services.

Bobbin-lace-making has a long history and its forms and styles 足differ from region to region. As such cultural and historical meaning is embedded into the patterns. The bobbin technique is one of many techniques for lace-making; others are needle-lace, tatting and forms of crochet and knitting. However, most lace-makers only master one.

The pure pleasure of making is the main incentive to practise this craft 足today, as it is nearly impossible to sell handmade lace commercially and compete with modern machine-made lace.

The lace-making workshops took place in March 2012 at Museum De Kantfabriek, a museum devoted to hand and machine lace-making and its history. To keep the craft alive, the museum hosts courses in lace-making and offers experienced lace-makers a place to socialise and practise their craft.

Experiment and tradition

Our teacher, Mrs Verhaegh, was an attentive woman with a great passion for her craft, which she has been practising for over thirty years. She gained her formal training at a traditional school for handicraft, followed by many advanced/expert classes from experienced lace-makers. After she had thoroughly studied the theory and history of lace-making and mastered the traditional techniques of bobbin-lace she started experimenting with modern forms of lace, which is exceptional. She explained that many if not most lace-makers are concerned with preserving the traditions for the future and only few try to create new work from the old techniques. After many years of practising 足traditional bobbin-lace-making she was convinced that the only way to 17

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preserve the craft is by building on tradition – to show that lace needn’t be old-fashioned and can still have contemporary relevance.

As designers experienced in ‘research through design’ (i.e. reflecting while making as a research method), we immediately started to experiment with new materials and tried to control and transform the techniques. This intrigued (and somewhat shocked) our teacher. We tried making lace with conductive yarns, creating a plus and a minus side to our lace, which could be used in a soft-circuit (electronic circuit built up using soft materials such as fabric and yarns). Another experiment involved using yarns dyed with thermochromic ink, so the colours of our lace would change with temperature.

Lessons for lace and life

We were soon confronted with our lack of skillbase when our concepts became too complex. The dyed yarns for instance were less flexible than the special linen and cotton yarns provided, making it extremely difficult to follow the pattern or get a smooth result. Basic knowledge and some practice with the lace-making technique had inspired us, but it did not suffice to create the products we imagined. The difference between our designerly and our teacher’s craftsmanship approaches was clearly illustrated, and also showed exactly where we might complement each other in developing new applications for lace in smart-textiles.

Learning crafts from a master is different from learning on your own.

Many of the instructions in our lace-making workshops contained life-lessons our teacher had acquired while studying lace-making. For instance she stressed the importance of working meticulously. “You cannot learn how to fix your mistakes, until you’ve learned how not to make them”, and, “In both lace and life carelessness will show”. This may seem inapplicable to the iterative process of service design, where failures early in the process are welcomed and expected to lead to a better end-result, but is in fact a valuable lesson about knowing what you’re doing before diving into the unknown.

Hidden stories such as these contribute to the social fabric that has come into existence while practising craft together. And not just in these particular lace-making workshops, but throughout craft history.

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Knowledge in motion

The teacher and part of the group and were native Dutch, whilst the ­others had a limited understanding of the Dutch language. Therefore, all participants spoke English. Because English often proved too difficult, our teacher explained many things in Dutch, relying on the other group members to translate. This resulted in different ways of comprehending the instructions between the Dutch and non-Dutch speakers. And it presents an interesting opportunity to compare how the language of craft relates to the social context of spoken language.

Where the non-Dutch speakers learned by doing and copying, stories from experience were shared with the Dutch speakers that were sometimes hard to translate or did not seem relevant, and only made sense later. This deepened the understanding of the craftsmanship. Not having to focus on listening, however, made the non-Dutch speakers more focussed on themselves and their movements.

Practising crafts in a group evokes sharing on different levels, from the very practical to the philosophical, which was confirmed during the workshops. When working/making together, it is easy to talk about each other’s goals and how to reach them. It could be a simple trick on how to tie a knot so it disappears into the work or a way to deploy the crafted object to benefit a charitable cause. Everyone in the group adds to this knowledge with craft as a tool for conversation. This connects to the co-creation of services with the people who use these services: Service Design could take inspiration from craft’s co-creation. Getting into a flow the craft project can become a metaphor for the service that is being created. Crafting can serve as a common language to share expertise and experience between the different stakeholders involved in the service. Just as sketches or prototypes are used to discuss product design, different steps in the crafting process could be used to discuss different phases of a service.

Changing social structures

Craft is closely linked to identity. It has religious, mythical, social and economical layers and can be a tool to cross boundaries between them.

Craft has the potential to change social structures and can – even today – be more than functional and aesthetic; in India Gandhi used crafts 19

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to educate people about self-reliance and democracy. The social fabric of crafting creates a sense of belonging and of ownership, which is important when working with multiple stakeholders. Practising crafts can bring people of different backgrounds together and facilitate the required collaboration.

Since all participants were trying to learn the same basic skills in the lace-making workshop, it was easy to compare each other’s work and estimate how everyone was progressing. This led to a sense of friendly competition, which encouraged everyone to try harder. At the same time the person who was progressing the most would assist those lagging behind. The relationships were in constant flux, but everyone was moving forward, since it was in our mutual interest to make progress and move on to the next part of the instructions. The teacher drove this further, by taking the most developed item from the group as the ­example to introduce the next step. It works in a similar way to a team mental model describing how knowledge is constructed and shared to reach a common goal[1], which is used in another part of the STS ­research. In the context of craft, however, it was a natural by-product.

Reflections on experiments

Experiments between traditional crafts and new techniques or technology can preserve these crafts and continue their evolution ­ ­instead of making them obsolete. This is valuable for the development of smart-textiles, which can borrow from craft’s age-old knowledge, symbolism and traditions.

When learning from a craftsperson and by crafting in a group, richer­ information is shared. This richness can lead to new insights and ­directions. Regardless of their level of mastery, all apprentices can continuously contribute to the group’s knowledge through their ­ ­personal experience and reflections. This kind of co-creation could complement existing co-creation and co-design practice. Crafting could even be used as a way to facilitate collaboration, co-creation or co-design and become a service itself. In reflecting upon the workshops, we have seen that craft may continue where design cannot.

The interaction between customer and service provider shaping the 20

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service will change depending on factors such as location, time, mood, ­personality etc. The designer does not have full control over this.

It is worth considering the approach of a craftsperson to potentially improve the service delivery under changing circumstances because of crafts’ very evolving nature. The iterative cycles in designing a service take place before production, while in crafts the iterations happen at the same time as production. The repetitions in crafting a service may help to create social consciousness and expertise and could thus be applied to refine the service as it is being performed.

Another valuable lesson from craftsmanship is the way skills and knowledge are shared. Sharing creates a narrative, a context and a foundation for the craft in a community. It generates interaction and relationships, which are enormously important in service delivery. ­Systems and products depend on interactions to become a comprehensive Product Service System.

Ultimately it is the deliverer of the service who plays the role of experienced craftsperson and the designers of the service should cater to him or her and offer the best tools to create a desirable end-result. Looking at craft as a service, combining high-tech with high-skill, we expect to achieve more profound results than when only technology leads the way.

References [1]

[2] [3] [4]

en Bhömer, M., Tomico, O., Kleinsmann, M., Kuusk, K., Wensveen, S. T Designing Smart Textile Services through value networks, team mental models and shared ownership. In ServDes 2012, Third Nordic Conference on Service Design and Service Innovation, (Helsinki, Finland, 2012).

Greer, B. Knitting for Good! Trumpeter Books, Boston, 2008.

Metcalf, B. Replacing the myth of modernism. Originally published in American Craft, February/March 1993, Volume 53, Number 1.

Sennett, R. The Craftsman. Yale University Press, New York, 2008.

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Smart Textile Services Oscar Tomico

In recent years the role of products and the design process has changed tremendously. The transitions from the industrial economy to the experience economy, and currently the transition from a knowledge economy to the transformation economy[2], require businesses to keep adapting and revalidating their value propositions[6]. In management studies this is also visible in the transition from goods-dominant logic to service-dominant logic[7], which changed total value proposition services. Because of these transitions, companies have to adopt new, networked innovation methods, which requires people coming from different disciplines, organizations and companies to design together[1].

This too is the case in the Smart Textile Services (STS) CRISP project.

Within the framework of the Dutch Creative Industry Scientific 足Program[3] we have started to create the structure that will support the development of innovative Product Service Systems (PSS) in the context of smart-textiles. The European textiles and textiles-related industries have been dealing with increasing price competition coming from lower cost regions. STS could give the industry added value, which may enable it to keep its competitive position in the world. The goal of STS within CRISP is to combine existing knowledge from the separate domains of textile (soft materials), technology and services, in order to design, produce and deploy Smart Textile Services in the Netherlands.

For the development of Smart Textile Services we initiated a bottom-up approach, focussing on collective creativity[4] of creators and users of smart-textile products. The main reason being that when users and stakeholders share the feeling of ownership it can become a factor of engagement. It enables stakeholders and users to become co-authors[5].

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References [1]

ergema, K., Valkenburg, R., Kleinsmann, M. S., & de Bont, C. Exploring B networked innovation; Results of an exploration and the setup of an empirical study. in Proceedings of ServDes 2010. (Linköping, Sweden, 2010).

[2] Brand, R., & Rocchi, S. Rethinking value in a changing landscape.

(Royal Philips Electronics, Eindhoven, 2011), p. 30.

[3] About | CRISP, 2013. Retrieved 30 July 30, 2013, from CRISP platform: www.crispplatform.nl/about.

[4] Mattelmäki, T., & Sleeswijk Visser, F. Lost in Co-X: Interpretations of Co-design and Co-creation. in Proceedings of the 4th World Conference on Design Research. (Delft, Netherlands, 2011).

[5] Mongiat, M., & Snook, K. Exchange Pieces: Tools and Strategies for ­Engagement In Design. in Proceedings of Include 2007: designing with people.

(London, United Kingdom, 2007).

[6] Morelli, N. (2009). Service as value co-production: reframing the

service design process. In Journal of Manufacturing Technology

Management, 20(5), 568–590.

[7] Vargo, S. L., Maglio, P. P., & Akaka, M. A. On value and value co-creation: A service systems and service logic perspective. European Management Journal, 26(3),2—8, pp. 145-152.

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An example of a 足garment that incorporates 足tech足nology that allows 足 it to sense and react or respond to its environment.

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Three Perspectives on Smartness Academic The term Smart-textiles is interpreted in many different ways. From an ­academic perspective it can be described as “textiles that are able to sense stimuli from the environment, to react to them and adapt to them by integration of functionalities in the textile structure. Both stimulus and response can have an electrical, thermal, chemical, magnetic or other origin.”* In other words the textile incorporates technology that allows it to sense and react or respond to its environment. The difference between responsive and reactive smart-­ textiles­is whether its behavior to certain stimuli is fixed (reactive) or adjustable / programmable (responsive). * Extract of study program E-Team (Autex), Ghent University, prof. dr. ir. L. v. Langenhove, introduction, V04 / 2009

Material Electronic technology can be used to create intelligent and interactive textiles.

From a material point of view textiles could be considered smart by their natural properties. For instance, when developing textiles for insulation you could think about how humans and animals keep warm in nature. When we feel cold our skin gets goose bumps that make your hair stand up, which creates a layer of thermal air insulation. Characteristics of insulation and reaction to temperature change can be found in many materials in nature. Horsehair is an excellent example. Its hollow fibers make it a natural insulator. Smartness could also follow from the way the material is engineered. Aerogel, initially developed for aerospace industry, is made out of 95% air, making it extremely light and insulating.

Use Smartness can be considered in broader terms still. Technically speaking both horsehair and Aerogel are not smart materials, because they do not respond to input, but their specific properties allow for smart use. Through the integration of technology, textiles can behave intelligently by responding to input, but this behavior has to be programmed in order to create that smartness. One could go as far as to say that the smartness in smart-textiles depends entirely on the way humans interact with it and that the user defines how smart a textile is.

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Crafting Meaningful Smart-Textiles Kristi Kuusk

This text is partially extracted from “Crafting Smart Textiles a Meaningful Way Towards Societal ­Sustainability in the Fashion Field”. Kuusk, K., et al, in The Nordic Textile Journal 2012.

It has been a struggle for the fashion and textile world in recent years to recognise and start to change some unsustainable dogmas that have been dominant the past few decades. Together with new technologies and collaboration-focussed mind-sets in related fields there is a ­generation of textiles emerging, able to react to the environment and its users. Smart-textiles can process information and inspire wearers in many ways. These applications carry the potential of embedding meaning into the textiles field and are able to transform the product-focused industry into a service-minded economy.

As 18th century craftsmen held a very specific attitude towards detail, individualisation and quality[4], nothing was wasted. When garments were crafted in each village and home for the community’s use, they carried the warmth and meaning of the maker. Long winter nights spent knitting were not only about new socks and mittens; they were just as much about social sharing, discussions and life lessons. Clothes had exceptional qualities and could clearly be traced back to their makers.

When mechanical production processes for textile and garments were standardised, due to the shift towards a consumerist mindset, they became extremely wasteful. In the industrial age “the m ­ achine intro­ duced a new element in the relation between quantity and ­quality,”[4]: the reversed relationship between the two was expressed through waste. Not only post-consumer waste, but also pre-consumer­ waste. And production waste started growing in uncontrollable amounts. ­Garments go through systems that are invisible to the consumer, creating a lack of value and appreciation for the products. ­Combined with the contemporary mind set where “the function of culture is not to satisfy existing needs but to create new ones while simultaneously maintaining needs already entrenched or permanently­ 27

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unfulfilled”[1] we have achieved a fashion industry proud of low-quality, cheap, disposable clothing.

This was the polar opposite to the production based on one person, stitch-by-stitch, day-by-day and year-by-year. Handicraft used to be an important part of it. “Just one hundred years ago a woman’s worth in Setu was judged by her skills in handicraft. There couldn’t be any small mistake for the girl to be seen as a good future mistress. It was thought to be her mother’s fault when a girl could not manage handicraft”.[5] In fact, part of a girl’s dowry preparation was to weave all the material needed for her future husband’s clothes. This was seen as a preparatory step into independent life. And the care for each detail in handicraft was seen as one’s ability to craft life in general. Today we are overwhelmed by new emerging technologies and tools, such as laser cutting, 3D printing and smart materials such as conductive textiles, yarns, thermochromatic dyes, Arduino, etc., that are increasingly ­accessible and easy to handle.

We have different problems and priorities than we had in the 18th century. Technological developments have given us new insights and tools to play with. We like to be connected and belong to a community, similarly to how we used to be – but in a new non-geographical way. Yet, there seems to be a nice synergy between craftsmanship with its drive for detail and quality and values applied through tradition and rituals, and the modern culture of sharing and connectedness.

Also combining craft techniques and the hands-on approach with knowledge and emerging tools, we have the potential to achieve a very sustainable, combined value of old and new. Maybe some of our decisions in pursuing efficiency in production lines and the developments that shaped our ideas of ‘the way it’s done’ could be questioned or changed. Fashion designers are inventing and proposing new ways for sustainability, but since this means asking questions about speed and ‘fast fashion’ principles, it also doubts our economic structures.

Those alternative emerging directions take time to mature, get adapted and appreciated. When talking about crafting smart-textiles we do not necessarily mean applying the skill of handicrafts, but rather, the attitude to make things ourselves, give personalities to products and to appreciate the value created by combining time and attention – our most valuable resources.

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The rapid prototyping tools and digital technology can be seen as a key element here. “In response to the excess of globalisation and ­extreme industrialisation, there’s a renewed interest in local traditions and crafts. Since the eighties Van Slobbe has been a passionate champion of the value of crafts and says it is the ‘new luxury’ the world is in need of”.[2] Joining the new luxury of slowness, time and attention provided by craft, together with possibilities provided by the advancements in technology and ways of communication and living, there might be an idea to move towards a more sustainable (fashion) world. The aim for efficiency and standardisations killed older and long-standing principles of quality, the individualised approach and value of handiwork in the mainstream textiles market. Crafts, however, incorporate many value layers: these have to be made explicit. The textiles industry is heading towards smart and interactive garments that value our need for ­connectedness and sharing. With the craftsmanship approach of passion for detail and quality and values applied through tradition and rituals, craft techniques and the hands-on approach may make this next stage ecologically, socially and economically more responsible.

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‘Bedtime stories’ augmented-­ reality woven linen developed by TU/e, Unit040, Johan van den Acker Textielfabriek and Studio Toer within STS, CRISP.

‘QR coded traditions’ embroidered pillowcase, developed by Kristi Kuusk at TU/e, ­within STS, CRISP. 30

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Bedtime Stories ‘Bedtime stories’, is one example developed within CRISP Smart Textile Services in a collaboration between TU/e, Unit040, Johan van den Acker textielfabriek and Studio Toer. It focuses on enhancing connections between people, generations, digital and physical, past and present. In a craft-inspired project embroidered QR codes by Kristi Kuusk[3] were integrated and transformed into woven textile augmented-reality fairytales. Both the realisation and the concept of the sheets support the craftsmanship concept interweaving new technologies with connectedness between people. The project supports drive for detail, individual s­tories within broader network of values and aims to provide new opportunities for the old and durable weaving technique, in a combination with digital interaction.

References [1] [2] [3]

[4] [5]

Bauman, Z. Culture in a Liquid Modern World. Polity Press, Cambridge, 2011. irvonen, P. Songs and Stories: Inspiration for New European Identities.

H Tallinna Raamatutrükikoda, Tallinn, 2009.

Kuusk, K., Tomico, O., Langereis G., Wensveen S. Crafting Smart Textiles – a Meaningful Way Towards Societal Sustainability in the Fashion Field? in The Nordic Textile Journal, 1/2012.

Sennett, R. The Craftsman. Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 2008.

Summatavet, K. Folk Tradition and Artistic Inspiration: A Woman’s Life in Traditional Estonian Jewelry and Crafts as Told by Anne and Roosi.

PhD thesis. University of Art and Design, Helsinki, 2005.

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Experiments with tufting during the Tinkering & Tailoring Open Design Space.

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­Tinkering & Tailoring Collaborative Design Research with Students What is a ‘smart’ textile? It’s a crucial area of investigation for the CRISP research on Smart Textile Services (p. 23-24) by Research Associate Michelle Baggerman. Granted, it is only one Gosia Pawlak: of many questions that was posed to the students “Smart-textiles are during the Open Design Space, but one that may be a great ­example of how one craft can be answered in many different ways by various experts in influenced by another. the field – such as Simone de Waart (Three Perspectives During our research on Smartness, p. 25), visiting tutor to the first Open Dethrough design we experienced how the view sign Space. Therefore, this is the question we indirectly on textile changes­when wanted to ask students from Design Academy Einconfronted with new dhoven and those at Eindhoven University of Tech­possibilities delivered by ­electronics.” nology doing their own research in our Open Design Space, themed Tinkering & Tailoring. Indirectly, because we wanted there to be room for the students to form and answer their own questions, as they experimented with textiles and technology and chose their specific directions.

The aim of this Open Design Space was to introduce the students over four sessions to undertake ‘research through design’ within the context of the CRISP STS research. Their brief was to come up with a ‘warm winter wearable’, and by doing so explore the possibilities of smart-textiles. The students were to work in multi-disciplinary Leonie Tenthof groups consisting of both DAE and TU/e students, to van Noorden: create their warm w ­ inter wearable concepts, whilst “I believe that society working on individual research reports to ­ reflect should be introduced to smart-textiles slowly on the group work and explain their personal inand fluidly. By taking sights. They were asked to consider different kinds small steps in the integration of smartof ‘smartness’ while working toward a final concept.

Programme

Over the course of four Wednesdays, the students were given the o ­ pportunity to work with textiles 33

textiles in products and garments, people will become more aware of the opportunities in a fluid manner.”

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Punch card for knitting machine.

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and technology with the help of external experts. We started off at V2_ Rotterdam with a workshop on Smart Social Crafting by Betsy Greer, known from her book Knitting for Good! and for coinJos Klarenbeek: ing the term ‘craftivism’. (p. 39-45) The workshop was “The good thing about part of the ‘eTextile Sweatshop’ a whole week devoted this collaboration was that it took away the to smart-textile experiments, at V2_, organised by 'fear' I had about eleceTextiles expert and project manager of V2_lab, Piem tronics immediately.

Wirtz (p. 43-45) and supported by CRISP, as well as By simply being forced, I learned a lot in a short the Design Debates program, where Betsy Greer gave period of time. I could a lecture. even see the beauty of it; I started to see it as a kind of craft.”

The workshop was a great way to dive head-first into the world of smart-textiles, working with punchcard knitting machines, soft-circuits and all the machines available at the FabLab. The assignment for the day was to work in groups to make knitted swatches that could exist on their own, but which could also enhance each other when connected. It was a great way to practice, show off, share skills and start to collaborate hands-on. The second Wednesday was devoted to tinkering. Students formed Anne Ligtenberg: groups based on their interests and fascinations, and “The concept of on what they had learned in the previous workshop. smart-textiles is not just to make a textile Each group quickly determined their direction, ensmart. In our approach thusiastic to start making things as soon as possible. we take a textile and They were stimulated to learn by making and let the work with its smart characteristics.” process of experimentation guide them.

To support and inspire the students, Kristi Kuusk, PhD candidate at TU/e (Crafting Meaningful Smart-­Textiles, p. 27-31) and Laura Duncker: member of the STS team, showed her work with ther“The human body can be seen as an intelligent mochromic ink and helped the students who wanted system: adding to experiment with it. Materials expert and tutor at technology to the body both DAE and TU/e, Simone de Waart, creative direcis pointless when the body can take care of tor at Material Sense, (Embedding Research in Design itself. However, when Education, p. 55-58), brought with her all kinds of malfunctions of the body samples of materials that could be considered smart appear, technology can in different ways. She discussed how to take varying be an outcome.” levels of smartness into account in the students’ concepts. Martijn ten Bhömer, another PhD candidate at TU/e in STS, was also present to assist with electronics and programming.

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Students interviewing artist Varvara Guljajeva over Skype.

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The students spent the third Wednesday tailoring their concepts. They were forced to work fast and make quick iterations, as the previous weeks’ experiments needed to be focussed to form a comprehensive concept to present on the last day. Simone was present Lotte Oude Weernink: again as well as Bas Raijmakers, reader at the Reader“In my opinion textiles are way more suitable to ship in Strategic Creativity at DAE (The contribution of become emotional Social Fabric of Smart-Textiles to CRISP, p. 69-70), who artefacts than for discussed with the students how they were generating example phones, as they knowledge through the act of making. We also had an are in the first place nicer to touch and feel inspiring Skype interview with artist Varvara Gulja(more comforting) and jeva who, with her partner Mar Canet Sola, (Knitic, p. secondly, they can tell 47-50) hacked an old electronic knitting machine to more of a story through become an open-source knitting platform. the use over time (wear and tear).”

Every day started and ended with a group discussion on the progress the students were making with their concepts, touching upon the insights they had gained by working together in this pressure-cooker style of multi-disciplinary collaboration. Many interesting topics were brought up, such as similarities and differences in the approach and mindset between DAE and TU/e students, their views on technology as craft and the future of design and the role of the designer in general.

The last day, every group used the morning to put the finishing touches on their warm-winter-wearable and to create a short video in which they explained the concept (for links see Further Reading and Viewing, p. 76-77). These were presented in the afternoon, Lisa Hu: followed by feedback, and a final ­discussion. To our “‘Technology follows function’ might not contentment, most students felt a sense of dissatis­ make for the optimal faction at the end of the day. They were eager for use of the scientific more, and wanted to keep on tinkering and tailoring principle we aimed at; we overlooked the to take their work beyond this early concept phase. A possibility of this range of tantalizing new directions to explore were optimal use lying at a discovered by the groups, such as the possibility to point of merging rather draw with electricity using conductive yarns and than of addition.” thermochromic ink, and it was difficult for them to have to round off so soon. The students generally felt very positive about the experience and saw how this approach could work in their regular studies as well.

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Betsy Greer demonstrating the results of the Smart Social Crafting Workshop at V2_.

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Crafting with Technology How I was introduced to electronics Betsy Greer

Whenever you hold a workshop there’s always an element of uncertainty­­involved. Will anyone show up? Will they be bored? Will they learn something? Will they leave the day more inspired than when they came?

These are the questions that you ask yourself as you prepare, and begin to wonder what’s in store, as, after all, the possibilities are limitless.­ I was more than pleased to find out that my workshop called Smart Social Crafting was full, and ecstatic that I was going to be working with students who had varying experiences and areas of expertise in the fields of technology, textiles, and design.

I had stitched two swatches of two birds facing each other, which had metal snaps at their beaks and feet, which matched up with one another.­ Stitched with conductive thread, once the snaps were closed, they completed a circuit and lit up a LED on one of the birds. Having been something I had knitted on the plane trip over from the US, they were not, shall we say, fancy. However, once presented with the idea and split into groups, the students immediately began sketching and talking and thinking and planning. All around the room, there was movement as they began to spread out amongst the knitting machines, laser cutter, yarn, and assorted sewing supplies.

At first it seems like craft and technology would be polar opposites, one beckoning to the future, the other to the past. The latter making the former obsolete, with its ever-faster-producing machines and better-faster-quicker methodology where handmade seems both sappy and silly when a machine can do the same thing in a fraction of the time. But, once you realise that it’s this split in time (i.e. one future, one past) that joins them together instead of divides them, the possibilities expand rather than contract.

Craft has a past of thousands of years, millions of stitches and practitioners from anyone who mended a button or hemmed a pant leg 39

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to anyone who knitted a sweater or quilted an afghan rug. Similar to folk tales, its tricks and tips have been passed down for generations in the oral tradition, so much so that I’ve heard stories of people who instinctively knew what to do when they picked up needle and thread or yarn and hook, as they felt the process in their veins. Its trail goes back almost as far as the beginning of humanity, looping and fluttering and wrapping around the world’s events.

And technology extends in the opposite direction, but in a similar, ­spidery way… going toward directions unknown, spreading both outwards into areas yet unexplored and inwards as we digest what we read on our screens and process it. Unlike craft, it’s intangible, providing invisible threads for us to grab onto, threads that seem to disappear just as we’re about catch them. Like craft, it too opens up stories to be told, although instead of being passed down in person, they’re passed down through fingertips on a keyboard.

So, when these two rich veins come together, when the world wide web meets a web of stitches, when their social and literal aspects combine, a whole new world comes into play. It was this world that was played out in microcosm at the workshop that day at V2 [the kick-off of the ­Tinkering­ & Tailoring Open Design Space workshop]. These two elements don’t just help connect ideas, they also help connect people. The aim of my two little birds was to have students create something that existed alone and apart (as the swatches did), yet better together (as the swatches lit up a LED). One swatch could be held by one person, and the other by someone else, and once lit, they are forever connected. If one swatch is destroyed, the other is rendered useless. The purpose was to show how we can make with our hands and connect with our hearts using seemingly disparate things like crafts and technology, and weave a social aspect into their mesh.

While the students already knew what they were doing (working like little wizards away on their projects, so diligently they barely stopped for lunch, even though we gave them an hour), I was hoping to provide them a context from which to create. I was worried that my two little swatches were too simple an example. However, through the lens of this observation, the workshop taught me a few lessons along the way, to which I give thanks to the students themselves: 40

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Never underestimate two little birds knitted on a plane

Although they looked near barbaric in comparison to what the students ultimately came up with, I was reminded (by some of the participants) that it doesn’t matter how fancy something is, all it matters is that it ­provides inspiration for either yourself or others to do more and move forward. So, therefore, it’s important to remember to start. Even two little bird swatches knitted in near sleep deprivation can turn into a jumping off point for someone else.

When in doubt, join a group

Even if it’s a randomly assorted one. At the end of the day, each of the randomly formed groups came up with vastly different projects, from rings that when connected formed a circuit and lit up, to oroboros-like snakes whose eyes illuminated when touched, to a ring and a bracelet combo that lit the jewel in the ring, and even a sweater/scarf set that lit the LED when two people hugged. These results served as a wake-up call of what can happen we leave our bubbles and ask someone else for their thoughts on our work.

Don’t be afraid to be nerdy and test out things

What was fascinating to me was to see the various execution styles of the projects, how scribbles kept being improved on during the day, swatches kept being felt and pulled and twisted, colour combinations kept being changed, a knitting machine was manufactured out of sticks and a plastic cone. Before me I was witnessing testing in action, and was reminded of its importance in the creative process.

At first the limitlessness of both craft and technology seems daunting and well, scary. So much! It’s too big! I’m never going to come up with something different and unique! That’s where those lessons come to play, in remembering to do just that: play. Craft and technology are the two poles around which you wrap your work. By bouncing in between them, you can create a playground instead of a vast, infinite, scary space. By likening the zeroes and ones of the internet to the knit and the purl stitch in knitting to capturing what it means to be social in both worlds, you find yourself in a liminal space of creation that is there to guide as much as it inspires.

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Students at work during the Smart Social Crafting Workshop at V2_.

Piem Wirtz demonstrating one of the results from the eTextile Sweatshop at V2_.

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FabLabs as Exploratory Spaces Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Wearable Technology Piem Wirtz

Research strands in wearable technology often have their origin in Do-It-Yourself (DIY) communities. Since many exciting innovations in textiles and textile production stem from research in wearable technology, it is important that the textile industry acknowledge this pioneering role of the DIY community. At the same time, the DIY community will benefit greatly from the knowledge and expertise available within the academic and professional arenas. If only these worlds could meet.

Wearable technology (or eTextiles) incorporates the world of fashion, product design and engineering. The people who typically work with eTextiles have broad interests and come from various backgrounds, ranging from fashion designers with a love for technology, to software developers who like to get away from the screen and explore what craft has to offer. They meet each other in the middle – within the field of wearable technology. Networked communities such as the eTextile Workspace in Rotterdam provide a meeting point to share skills and ideas, and another aspect of equal importance is easy access to production facilities. Since both groups tend to work in a completely different environment, there is a need for shared workspaces that offer the equipment to cater for their needs. Especially in eTextiles production, you need digital fabrication tools and an electronics workshop along with the more traditional textile production facilities, such as sewing machines. Facilities to produce both textiles and electronics professionally are not often found together, making it difficult for artists to coordinate eTextiles creation. This presents a problem, since bringing the mix of people and necessary tools to one place is of vital ­importance! Indeed, artists and engineers should share a space and conduct experiments together to come up with truly innovative ideas. Skype works well for conference meetings over distance, but working together on hands-on projects requires all partners to be physically present.

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So what kind of workspace do we need to bring these worlds together?

FabLabs are a good example of shared exploratory spaces, but at the moment the rapid prototyping machines in FabLabs (laser cutter, 3D printer) do not include textile production machines, although there is growing interest. Aside from offering a creative environment, rapid prototyping as practiced in FabLabs presents another opportunity for eTextile designers. To perform proper user tests on new designs, small series are desired. Combining craft and rapid prototyping techniques can stimulate the production of small series instead of creating single prototypes of wearable tech pieces. In most eTextile projects, smallscale production is not customised. As open source ideals regarding small-scale production in 3D-printers and electronic devices in the DIY culture are becoming increasingly popular, this momentum should be used to encourage the growing cluster of eTextile designers and artists to explore the possibilities that rapid prototyping has to offer. With regards to innovation, another important reason to stress the importance of small-scale manufacturing is the notion that some DIY crafting techniques pose serious challenges for reproduction on industrial machines. If for example a DIY-er creates an extraordinary sample that is manually produced, the industry might feel challenged to find new ways in which it can be industrially reproduced. In this way, a FabLab dedicated to DIY exploration in textiles could lead to innovation in the textile manufacturing industry. eTextile Sweatshop

At V2_Institute for the Unstable media, inter-disciplinary ­exchange is­ common practice. Within the V2_Lab, artists work closely t­ogether with scientists, researchers and software developers to r­ealise ­various projects. The refreshing and often unorthodox ideas of a­ rtists challenge the technical developers to think outside-the-box and find solutions for unusual problems. Vice versa, the technical expertise of the developers is of crucial importance for artists. With the endless possibilities that technology has to offer nowadays, it is virtually impossible to embody all know-how in one person.

You need an inter-disciplinary team to accomplish the best results.

During our participation in the CRISP project – aimed at facilitating an exchange between the DIY community working on weara44

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ble technology and the textile industry – V2_ installed a temporary workspace dedicated to the production of eTextiles, bringing together rapid prototyping machines and textile-oriented equipment. We ­organised a ­Research-in-Residency project and offered a condensed program of workshops, masterclasses and community gatherings in that workspace, the eTextile Sweatshop. In this program, leading artists, expert ­users, and creative communities dealing with eTextiles transferred their skills and expertise through meetings, demonstrations, and hands-on production of new work. The results were presented in a special edition of Test_Lab on 29 November 2012. This edition of Test_Lab, which marked the end of the week long eTextile Sweatshop, demonstrated how opening access to facilities and promoting the sharing of skills can stimulate innovation and good practice in the arts and design. All workshop results were discussed, in the context of CRISP. The work of Ebru Kurbak, Irene Posch and Karla Spiluttini is especially worth mentioning, since their artistic research focussed on knitting electronic­­components with the use of coated copper wire and a punchcard knitting machine (a kind of knitting machine whose pattern stitches are selected by punchcards). Posch & Kurbak knitted a radio transmitter, by replacing as many electrical components of a standard radio transmitter (such as resistors, capacitors and coils) with a copper-knit possessing equivalent behaviour. Spiluttini knitted a pair of audio speakers, in a similar fashion. All these components are documented online, allowing anyone – from student to industry – to reproduce them. Closing the eTextile Sweatshop was Betsy Greer who, with her expertise on social crafting, led a workshop on making personal connections using textile crafts combined with simple technology to quickly visualise the results of combining ‘old’ crafts with ‘new’ technology.

One of the most important conclusions of the eTextile Sweatshop event is that without great partnerships none of this would have been ­possible. To enable the DIY community to meet with FabLabs, industry, education, science and research they must all closely work together,­ share physical spaces as much as possible and develop a shared ­vocabulary. Only in this way the different worlds can truly meet and exchange knowledge and skills. I am confident that inter-disciplinary skill-sharing and an open approach to knowledge exchange will set an inspiring example for future generations of designers.

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Figure 1. SPAMpoetry.

Figure 2.

Brother electronic knitting machine.

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Knitic Soft Digital Fabrication Varvara Guljajeva, Mar Canet Sola

We started our research on knitting machines in early 2012 through our art project SPAMpoetry (fig. 1). We purchased an old Brother electronic knitting machine (fig. 2) to hack its uploading system and knit poetry constructed from spam emails. This research into knitting ­machines made us realise that the electronic knitting machine (which was essentially the first electronic manufacturing tool available for use at home) had been completely overlooked in recent digital fabrication development in the industry, from which equipment such as 3D printers and laser cutters have emerged. We decided to develop Knitic hardware and integrate knitting machines into the field of digital fabrication.

Knitic is an ‘open’ hardware application (fig. 3) for an obsolete Brother knitting machine from 1980s: the open hardware is the new ‘brain’ of the knitting machine, giving the user real-time control over the needles.

It is controlled using Arduino, which is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It can sense the environment by receiving input from a variety of sensors and can affect its surroundings by controlling lights, motors, and other actuators. It means that one can knit patterns as long as ­desired and can modify the pattern on the go.

Digital fabrication is steadily gaining importance and recognition.­ The number of FabLabs (which are fabrication laboratories – a global movement to make digital fabrication tools accessible to everyone; of these labs there are globally currently around 200 and counting) is ­increasing rapidly as well as the number of people who own digital fabrication tools. Accordingly, the development of open hardware keeps expanding into different fields. Furthermore, the number of start-ups and small-scale companies that use digital fabrication devices as their core business increases as does the number of individual makers, designers and artists, who invest in buying a 3D printers and/or laser cutters. People are even making their own versions of the machines 47

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Figure 3. PatternUploader’s user interface.

Working with knitting ­machine using Knitic.

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to sell them off, which fast-forwards the availability of such machines.

However, all this innovation is focussed around only a few manufacturing fields. So far, textile fabrication has been overlooked. We believe it would be a shame to forget these early manufacturing methods. Therefore, we would like to adjust the textile industry’s tools and machines for the needs of the digital age.

We believe that the results of digital fabrication could gain currency if textile fabrication were added to the available methods that open manufacturing has to offer. There could be more creation and business possibilities for individuals who experiment with the technique and make their living from digital fabrication practices. More importantly, people who are skilled in handcrafts, such as knitting and sewing, could be involved in this new industry: introducing this overlooked manufacturing process into the field of digital fabrication will certainly bring innovation, as well as create novel business and collaboration models.

From our point of view, open code, hardware, and design are reasons for the success of the digital fabrication field. This has been an important aspect for the recent surge in home factories and one-person industries.

Open-source hardware and software and an active community around the raising paradigm have lent validity to such claims. Now in 2013, prices for 3D printers have dropped to about € 1.000, making them available to a larger creative community. Obviously, an industrial machine will have better specifications than an open-source 3D printer, but a self-assembled RepRap (a low cost open-source rapid prototyping system) could easily be used for prototyping or small-scale and customised production (possibly also self-replication). And since the RepRap is an open hardware machine, the features keep improving.

‘Open design’ and ‘software play’ have both played an extremely important role in the advent of digital fabrication. In online databases such as Thingiverse.com, one can find a huge number of 3D models that can be adjusted to each specific user’s needs. As such, even amateurs can start experimenting and producing objects. Our future goal for Knitic would be to construct an open-source knitting machine that can be produced completely through laser-cutting and 3D printing its own parts. Knitic will then not even depend on the availability of an old Brother machine.

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We believe that digital textile fabrication has a huge potential in the age of digital fabrication and mass customisation. Moreover, knitting is a skill that has been around for ages. There are still many experts in the field, as well as a wide availability of knowledge, tools and production material. The distribution of knowledge and 3D printing tools are only just beginning to emerge. Introducing craft to the desktop manufacturing communities and FabLabs will engage more people with the practice and will improve the gender balance of these networks.

In our opinion it is impossible to talk about the paradigm shift of production and novel (open-source) developments by observing the FabLab phenomenon, without taking all areas of manufacturing into account. It is indeed curious that the electronic knitting machine, the first digital manufacturing tool widely available in homes, has so far been overlooked in this context.

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Open Design Spaces Thinking through Making Project brief Create a warm winter wearable by using textile in a ‘smart’ way.

We want you to work in groups to make prototypes of a small winter garment (e.g. hat, gloves, scarf ) and by doing so explore the possibili­ties of smart-­ textiles. Try to incorporate technology in a way that it b ­ ecomes more than functional. Start tinkering with textiles and tailoring technology and share your knowledge and skills as you go. With this project we’re aiming to create new knowledge through design. So when creating your concepts and prototypes, try to answer questions like: ‘In what ways can a textile be smart?’

Think about what a warm winter wearable means to you. How can something that’s worn on the body hold, create, send or show warmth, for instance? ­Imagine a garment that tells you when your body temperature is too low, a ­garment that will help you warm up, a garment that reacts to temperature changes… What does it mean when a pair of socks can control the heater?

Could you make a scarf with the warmth of a lover?

We expect strong concepts that address the topic ‘warmth’ in different ways, explorations with textiles and technology as equal parts, and prototypes to demonstrate your views and findings. Remember to document the process for your personal research report.

Results

Andrea Brena, Lotte Oude Weernink, Velia Genovese The challenge to communicate warm feelings over a long distance arose: how do you communicate a non-verbal thought to a loved one?

The group started applying areas of thermochromic (heat responsive) ink on fabric and conductive yarn, based on the idea that warmth in this way can be made visual. Normally you would apply current to the ends of the conductive yarns to heat them up and change the colour of the ink. By experimenting, Andrea, Lotte and Velia discovered that it is also possible to apply current by stroking the yarns with electrodes and heat them up that way. Between the electrodes heat is generated and a 51

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‘Drawing’ on textile with electricity.

Experiments with inflatable textile.

Prototype of self-pleating textile.

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pattern appears on the fabric. By moving the electrodes you can draw, as it were, on the fabric. The drawing slowly fades when the current is removed and the material cools.

The group started by exploring the technology, but also wondered what interaction it could evoke. They proposed a garment on which someone could draw a pattern when thinking of their faraway lover, that pattern would also become visible on the receiver’s garment when the conductive wires inside heated up, allowing them to share an intimate moment over a long distance, in a tactile way.

Anne Ligtenberg, Gosia Pawlak, Leonie Tenthof van Noorden, Lisa Hu Beginning with an extensive discussion on their ideas about textiles, technology, smart materials and craft, this group took its time before actually experimenting with materials. It was a way of working that set them apart from other groups; however, with regard to content, it was also very interesting to the other workshop participants.

Their starting point was to find a way to design a warm winter wearable using the scientific principle of insulation by trapping air. A fabric with lots of air inside is much warmer than one with none. How can you create pockets of air inside a fabric when warmth is needed and release the air when it is not? Here the context became very important to the group. They questioned when you would need a fabric to decide for you how warm it should be, instead of putting on a warmer garment yourself. Anne, Gosia, Leonie and Lisa therefore focussed on passive states, when a wearer or user was not in full control, such as sleeping or in a state of paralysis.

They created a blanket that, by pleating, creates insulating pockets of air between the pleats. Little motors were added to pull the pleats tight or loosen them, controlling the trapped air principle and making the fabric more, or less insulating. By trying to balance scientific principles with craft and technology the group gained new insights in how textiles and technology can enhance each other when they are integrated into the design process from the start.

Jaap van der Schaaf, Jos Klarenbeek, Laura Duncker When your hairs stand up, your body is trying to warm you, but it is 53

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also a visual signal to others that you’re feeling cold. This group chose a very physical approach to warmth and used goosebumps as a bodily reaction to cold, for creating a garment that invites you to share your warmth.

It was the tufting technique that inspired Jaap, Jos and Laura to exaggerate the effect of goosebumps. Their approach was to focus very much on the technique and new ways to apply it, rather than going immediately for technology to get the desired effect. Tufting was a technique none of them had tried before and therefore interesting for all of them to explore in this context. By tufting through two layers of fabric instead of one, and leaving space between the layers, they were able to move the layers over each other, making the ‘hairs’ on the outside stand up or lay flat. In a garment this would serve as a signal and an invitation to share warmth with someone else – by giving each other a hug.

Julian Jay Roux, Myrthe Varik, Orfeas Lyras This group immediately took a very experimental approach to the project. It consisted of students with very different backgrounds, views and interests in smart-textiles. Before settling on a specific direction, they conducted a wide range of material experiments with fabrics, inks, electronics and even balloons, which led them to a lively and on-going discussion on the purpose and meaning of using smart-textiles for ­designers.

They finally decided also to use insulation with air as their main focus, but in a very different way to the other group focussing on air. Julian Jay, Myrthe and Orfeas were interested in the communicative aspects of the garment and discussed how a change in temperature could also affect its shape, to send a different message to the outside world.

A good way to change the insulating properties and also affect the shape, was to make an inflatable textile. By using balloons and inner tubes, the group could adjust the amount of air in the garment, making it more insulating when inflated and at the same time more prominent and visible. The barrier of air thereby also served to make the wearer look and feel more protected.

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Embedding Research in Design Education It All Starts with Trust Daniëlle Arets, Ellen Zoete

Multi-disciplinary research is quite a challenge; conflicting voices, expertises and mindsets have to merge into a coherent frame and ­ preferably valuable design outcomes. Especially when there is time pressure, like the Open Design Spaces (ODS) that only consist of four meetings, and the teams have to start making from the start. Students from Eindhoven University of Technology, Design Academy Eindhoven and tutor Simone de Waart reflect on how different voices and talents can merge into highly effective teams.

“I was very curious how it would be to mix the students,” Simone de Waart comments. She teaches at the department of Industrial Design at Eindhoven University of Technology and at Design Academy Eindhoven, and was involved as a tutor in the Open Design Space Tinkering &Tailoring with Smart-Textiles. “Though students from the two institutes differ from each other in background and approach, the common ground became visible too; students shared the same interests and fascinations.”

For Simone, the main challenge within collaborative research lies in the individual confrontations each student faces during the process.

“They suddenly realise that they have a specific take on the process, use a specific language and tools and they might realise that there are more appropriate tools to use. But all students were very open towards the other students. They came with a professional working attitude: what does the other offer and how can I benefit from that and how could I add that to my expertise? That is the main challenge.”

The students of the Open Design Space agree with Simone. Lotte Oude Weernink (TU/e student): “For years I was fascinated by the Graduation Show of DAE but I never really understood what it was about. Now I realise that DAE students do thorough research, but with a different approach, that there is more than only concepts.

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For Anne Ligtenberg and Jos Klarenbeek (bachelor students at DAE), the ODS cleared some preconceived ideas: Anne: “I always wanted to test whether we were actually that different. I can only say, we are even more similar that I expected.” Jos adds: “We really share the same passions but we definitely use a different vocabulary and approach. At DAE we usually dive immediately into a topic, using our intuition and skills.

There is not a huge part of time dedicated to analysis or reflection; that comes at the end. TU/e students seem to have a clearer picture of what process they will follow from the beginning.”

Research through design

The ODS evolved around a thinking through making approach; students were required to tinker with textiles and tailor technology and reflect on it simultaneously; an approach not entirely new for both institutes. Gosia Polak (bachelor student DAE): “I really like to reflect while making; I always go back and forth in my decisions and actually made better choices by making and exploring.”

Laura Duncker (TU/e): “Doing, doing, doing, doing, you make something and reflect on the spot. For TU/e students this is not a new ­method, but we’re not used to going through processes at this speed.

Because it’s this fast, you have less time to think.” Anne explains: “At DAE we work with the first ideas that we keep on changing until the idea of the project is perfect. That is part of the design process. After that we try to link the right materials and design to the idea. At Design Academy Eindhoven the design process is seen as an exploration in materials.”

For Simone the thinking-through-making approach it is definitely a proven method. “Every exploration offers new insights that you can use for further explorations. For me that is a very logical design principle. I think at DAE it is not always clear how this principle contributes to research; how each step in the process influences the next steps. It would be good if we train students to get a better understanding of that.”

Simone emphasises that in four meetings you cannot really complete research through design process: “We only took some first steps to getting introduced to this methodology as well as the world of eTextiles, social crafting and so on. We certainly need more time to get into the depth of this and explore its full potential.”

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Smart-textiles; different vocabularies

On commencing the course the students weren’t given a standard definition of smart-textiles. There was a reader with articles dealing with different takes on the concept but the course mainly aimed at letting students explore smart-textiles – to come up with their own definitions.

Gosia explains that she definitely got a better understanding of the ­potential of this growing field, specifically through the collaboration with the TU/e students. “At DAE we always just say: ‘and here I would use technology’, but we don’t talk about which technology, how to make it or if it’s at all possible.” Anne adds, “DAE students want to learn everything about materials, but we don’t see technology as material. We have one goal we strive for, and everything needs to fit that. We should have the perfect material, the perfect shape, and the perfect technology.

But because we do not test if it could work like that, our projects only stay conceptual: it doesn’t need to fit the real world.”

Phase change material; fleece fabric with Aerogel thermal insulation (95% air).

Loose horse hair and horse hair incorporated into fabric: a smart-textile by making use of the material properties.

For the TU/e students, who already had more understanding of the developments in the field of smart-textiles, the course opened up new definitions: Lotte: “We used to see smart-textiles as a textile with added technology, but now I see how for instance textiles with thermochromic ink can also be smart, because they can change and adapt. In that way I got a broader perspective on smart-textiles.” Laura acknowledges that the course changed her perception too. “You first think about a textile with sensors and technology but now I can also think of a smart-textile as what we created during these four weeks, which had nothing to do with technology, but its reaction and the way it was manufactured could also make something smart.”

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Anne (DAE): “I had the idea that a smart-textile is not specifically smart if you can do something extra with it. If you would really look at what the textile does best and if you use it for that function, like for instance wool: look at the properties of the material and how it works and then really use it only for that, then it is the smartest textile you can use for keeping people warm. So then it is in itself already a really smart-­textile.”

Joint research or dividing tasks?

Although all groups collaborated form the beginning, Simone saw a lot of differences in the groups; one group discussed every step they would take, whereas other groups were very smart in dividing tasks and roles using each other’s skills and expertise. “The students are all in the same position and have specific interests; they share ­curiosity, interest in the profession and skills in a specific field. They can certainly­ trust each other to want make the best out of it, because they joined this voluntarily.”

To be continued?

As for the students there definitely should be more of theses courses. “It’s of great value for us,” says Leonie (TU/e), “to get acquainted with both design worlds.” Gosia (DAE): “There was a good knowledge exchange in this course, but not enough time to really finish the project. Leonie (TU/e) made the electronics, but there was no time for the others to learn it. But the course did teach me that it’s possible to learn this: it’s much closer than I thought it was.” Laura (TU/e): “The multi-disciplinary teams did enhance the collaboration. This helps to bring the discussion to a higher conceptual level.” Simone agrees that these courses and the collaboration between the different design institutions should be continued. “These quick explorations certainly generate valuable ideas. I think the speed of the course is a great asset because you are challenged to try things out. Quickly use the material on your own body to see what happens. You really use the movement of your own bodies. Very short intense explorations are great to generate ideas. But, if we were to do longer courses we could really dive into the subject matter of smart-textiles and that would be very valuable too.”

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Open Design Spaces as Research Tool Michelle Baggerman

Setting up and hosting this Open Design Space was no easy task. ­Together with a team of people involved in CRISP STS, I tried to come up with a program that I would have liked to participate in myself while I was a DAE student and that would have given me an experience­ I would have liked to have before starting to work as a Research Associate­in CRISP. It was important for me to stimulate the students as much as I could, by facilitating collaboration, providing exciting materials, inspiring experts, an appealing assignment and interesting background information to support this very brief encounter with the CRISP STS project and design research.

I was hoping the participating students would take this all and run with it, and in my opinion they really did. A lot was asked from the students on top of their already very demanding schedules so it was great to see such motivation and also to see that once they got going they hardly needed any further encouragement from me. The students were very eager to try out and invent new methods and approaches and quick to adopt them. The outcomes from just four sessions were very original and inspiring (Thinking through Making, p. 51-54), both from the group work and the students personal conclusions, and helped me to rethink bits of my own research as well. Most importantly having these Open Design Spaces made me realise how much design research and education belong together and how much we still have to discuss.

For example how do we make students more aware of how intuitive explorations can help frame and support bigger ideas by critical reflection, and how do we relate these ideas to those of others in the field?

I am very glad to be part of this ongoing discussion and to be part of it on behalf of Design Academy Eindhoven, because a few years ago, before I graduated, it would have never occurred to me that this role for a designer in academic research – generating knowledge through ­making – was possible. During my studies a lot of attention was focussed on the 59

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process, not just the outcome, but mostly because the process was considered important for personal development. Now I see on how the process in itself can become a tool to generate knowledge, a tool that can be shared and exchanged with others and it’s something I’m very excited to develop and share!

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Innovation through patchworking Michelle Baggerman

Bedsheets that monitor our health during sleep or clothes that communicate with each other with light; sound and even movement are easier to imagine for future scenarios, than to believe they might come to be in the short term. For ages textiles have been comforting, safe and predictable, so when a textile suddenly acquires ‘behaviour’ it feels somewhat intimidating. We are used to being surrounded with hard technology, but recently technology has started to take on soft textile forms as well.

This is not surprising, but a great leap nonetheless. The possibilities of these so-called smart-textiles are vast but the realms of textiles and technology are still far apart, as is our perception of them. It will take some getting used to, for the industry as well as for end-users, but could offer great advantages to both. To help smart-textiles achieve their ­potential, we should explore them in a playful manner. By approaching­new technological possibilities as if they were a craft, playing with electronics as if they were raw material and tinkering with textiles as if they were technological components, meaningful applications can be created bottom-up – driven by users. We can design and facilitate the conditions that stimulate this process and take inspiration from different ways of exchanging insights about textiles and technology.

The CRISP Smart Textile Services project (Smart Textile Services p. 23-24)­ aims to build bridges between industry and end-user and between high-tech companies and textile manufacturers. By bringing these groups closer together in multi-disciplinary collaborations, new opportunities for the development of smart-textile Product Service Systems (PSS) are created, which are important for local industry to ­remain competitive with low-wage countries and can shrink the distance from innovation to end-user. These kinds of collaborations are complex and involve many stakeholders with different goals, expectations and cultures. There are examples of such collaborations, but relatively few.

Textiles and technology largely remain two separate fields, sometimes combined, but not often truly integrated. Historically, textiles have been developed in communities, families and workshops – very social environments – and within their social context have been given pur61

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pose and both functional and societal meaning and evolved gradually.

Through making and talking a bond develops between people, but also with the textiles being made. As expertise is exchanged with words and with hands this simultaneously creates something I like to call a ‘social fabric’. I believe applying this concept of a social fabric in the creation of smart-textiles, can lead to better integration of hard (technology) and soft (textile) and earlier adoption.

In The Social Fabric (The Social Value of Craftsmanship, p. 5-6) I argued that the way knowledge is transferred in traditional crafts could be framed as a service and could be used to cross boundaries between different disciplines and facilitate collaboration. The evolving nature of craft is similar to the iterative process associated with designing services in which multiple stakeholders are involved. But where design stops when the service is produced, craft can allow the evolution to continue­ after the service production – and may therefore be very ­ valuable in the development of smart-textile PSS. If end-users play a role in the creation of personalised smart-textile PSS, this can give them a sense of ownership and control, which is important for a sustainable relation­ship with the product(s) and the service provider(s), and a more ­valuable user-experience.

Skills and knowledge exchange in traditional textile crafts used to depend on direct personal contact of people in workshops, families, crafting circles and so on; making things together. Later, books have of course also played an important role but they can never answer questions or demonstrate techniques quite like an experienced craftsperson can. Nowadays through the global connectedness of the internet, new ways of sharing skills and knowledge are available to us. Video tutorials, discussion forums, free pattern libraries, inspiration boards and so on are contributing to the renewed interest in textile crafts like knitting and crochet. Crafts that were formerly regarded as stuffy and oldfashioned are once again enormously popular thanks to the internet, though more complex textile crafts like weaving or lace-making seem not to benefit from this as much, and rely more on physical communities to be shared.

From these digital developments a new kind of ‘craft’ is also emerging.

With new digital production techniques now becoming commonly 62

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available through for instance FabLabs, and soft- and hardware based on open-source principles, code and electronics are becoming media for sculpting, stitching or moulding. For instance with the ­Arduino­ electronics prototyping platform, working with electronics and ­programming them has become much simpler and less intimidating.

For this too, there are many tutorials, guides, free code etc. to be found online. Because the platform is open-source, sharing is self-evident and new developments happen fast. What used to be the domain of geeks only is now much more accessible, allowing even more rapid developments to take place. The way knowledge is shared and exchanged in a social context is similar to that of traditional crafts, but in the realm of technology-craft, the social fabric emerges more often in virtual than in physical environments. This social fabric is less intimate, but can stretch across the whole globe.

Just as textile and technology industry are starting to carefully ­approach each other, some creatives from both the traditional and the newly emerging crafts sides are starting to connect to each other and play with textile and technology together, which is exciting, but the movement is still relatively small. There are similarities in the age-old direct ways and modern virtual ways of exchanging skills and knowledge, but people who are comfortable with either way don’t seem to come together other optimally if even at all. On the one hand, highly skilled craftspeople from older generations don’t often take part in virtual ways of sharing, even though they may be more than willing to pass on their knowledge. And on the other hand, the younger generation, also eager to learn and share, does not join the craft networks of their older counterparts. Many different communities of people exist who could inspire and learn from each other and could potentially drive innovation in smart-textiles, if they just started entering each other’s domains! The industry with its resources and the highly skilled craftsperson lacking online presence should meet the crafters and tinkerers and textiles professionals and explore innovative applications for smart-textiles, together.

The social fabric arises when people informally make and talk together, and thus support an exchange between the different crafts and tech communities. What would happen if a quilter learned about programming to add behaviour to a piece, or if a programmer could find ways 63

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to connect a circuit through intricate embroidery? Or if a designer were inspired by a material developed for hardware but applied it to a garment? When knowledge is shared openly it is possible to go broad and deep at the same time. As more people input their knowledge and skills, more connections can be made and new angles can be found and explored in depth by these skilled experts, just like in the open-source movement. This could create a two-way exchange where industry, manufacturing textiles with possible smart applications, and future ­users of smart-textiles PSS (including crafters, tinkerers, designers etc.) invent endless purposes for these new textiles, by building on each other’s ideas.

To start an exchange like this I arrange for people from different backgrounds in textiles and technology, including textile manufacturers, technology experts, designers, traditional craftspeople, students, craftivists and tinkerers to work together to create an interactive patchwork representing different pieces (or patches) of their expertise while at the same time literally forming a social fabric. All possess specific knowledge, insights and opinions valuable for themselves and others, which can be shared through this patchwork. By capturing these pieces of knowledge with and from people with relevant experience for future smart-textile applications, we can literally stitch them together and connect them while contemplating and discussing how all these pieces relate to each other and what ‘smart’ things we can do with them.

The different pieces together will make up the patchwork. Each patch has a story to tell by itself that contributes to the overarching story.

The story however is not strictly defined but leaves room for personal interpretation and meaning. The story is fluid and may change over time or when new patches are added, keeping knowledge in motion and inviting play and exploration. The patches can show different m ­ aterials; ­traditional or innovative, different manufacturing techniques; hightech or low-tech, different degrees of smartness; like sensors or a quick trick to attach a button and so on. They are connected in a way that tries to link them so that they allow new combinations of materials, techniques etc. to form easily.

These connections are made hands-on, with groups of contributors. By playing around with the pieces, trying them out, touching, pointing, 64

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interactive patchwork

semi-industrial beta-textile ready for use with electronics?

connecting old and new techniques and technologies and hight-tech and high-craft skills

luminescent handwoven cloth? knitted fm-transmitter?

conductive fabric thermochromic print changes color with different temperatures

pressure sensor filled with conductive wool

buzzing textile can be connected to sensors

hand-knitted stretch sensor extremely waterproof textile?

hand crocheted traditional “granny tiangle� recycled PET fleece with hand crocheted led flower

woven graphic fairytale tells a story through augmented reality

digitally embroidered quick response (QR) code

macramĂŠ wire? fabric with integrated solar cells?

rip-stop fabric

soft-switch?

hand-felted battery pack?

Interactive patchwork that connects old and new techniques and technologies, high-tech and high-craft skills.

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TU/e students discussing smart patches they created to become part of the patchwork during pilot session.

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feeling, rearranging them; new insights can be created and captured.

The patches that are added and the ideas they inspire will be documented to become part of a meta-patchwork. A digital resource can reach a bigger audience and show all the changes to the patchwork and the progressing story that it tells. The physical patchwork serves as a tool and a method and the digital patchwork is the database that can be browsed for making further connections, tracing the history of the patchwork and finding additional resources.

The patchwork is not meant to become a functional object, but will serve as a conversation starter that invites a discussion both with words and hands, and facilitates knowledge exchange between different groups in an informal way inspired by the concept of the social fabric. Without a fixed pattern or design, the piece may grow in any direction and proliferate or perhaps wither over time, illustrating ­opportunities and challenges for smart-textiles. As more people start playing and experimenting with their own technological or textile skills and ­exchanging them, the more opportunities there will be to find ­valuable and meaningful ways to integrate smart-textiles in our lives that the industry can supply and users can inspire.

Several pilot sessions have already taken place in which students from Saxion in Enschede (textile engineering) and TU/e (industrial design) have created smart patches. Even though they are not yet experts in the field, the students from both institutes came up with very interesting new smart-textile concepts. Their concepts offered solutions on different levels, ranging from constructive – a way to felt wire onto fabric by cleverly looping it; to functional – ways to tag designer garments with invisible identification marks inspired by bank-notes; to conceptual – a patchwork within the patchwork to show the ‘brightness’ of the different participants through LEDs that burn brighter when more are ­connected.

These sessions will be continued and will expand from students to ­industrial and cultural partners of the Smart Textile Services project and eventually to a larger community of contributors interested in learning, sharing and connecting. As the patchwork grows, the changes and outcomes will be documented on seaminglysmart.tumblr.com.

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The contribution of Social Fabric of Smart-Textiles to CRISP Bas Raijmakers

The power of Product Service Systems: design and delivery on several levels simultaneously

The CRISP programme focusses on Product Service Systems (PSS).

This focus is a way of acknowledging that we live in a society where the big challenges like our ageing societies require us to redesign healthcare systems, rather than merely designing hospital waiting room chairs. We must think of and work on almost everything - at the same time. In such an environment, ‘just’ creating a smart-textile is not sufficient. Contributions to the design of the circumstances in which these textiles are created and used are needed just as much. The ‘narratives’ of smart-textiles must be designed, all the way from the personal to the global. Who creates and uses these smart-textiles, in what environment and to which purposes? How do national and global industries and networks participate in this? Designers cannot answer such questions alone, but they do have a strategic role to play in creating answers.

Social Fabric of Smart-Textiles does exactly that, as this publication demonstrates.

CRISP aims to strengthen society and economy by making them more creative

One of the aims of CRISP is to strengthen Dutch society and economy by making them more creative. The Netherlands is a knowledge economy and society with over 70% of GDP coming from services, like most European and North American economies. Creating new knowledge is important, we also need to find new ways of applying such knowledge in our (service) economy. One may call this effort innovation, and that is where creativity can make a big strategic difference. Developing new technology is still beneficial, but we have now so much technology available to so many companies that the big differentiator is how the technology is applied. What value is created for companies, people and 69

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eventually society? Are new meanings created through smart-textiles?

It is in this area where designers can make their contributions, and where Social Fabric of Smart-Textiles intervenes.

Designers have a strategic role to play

With her CRISP project, Michelle Baggerman shifts the attention to how the creation of smart-textiles can bring together the tradition of textile crafts and the global open-source technology movement. This is one of those strategic shifts that allow us to look very differently at how smart-textiles can contribute to society (e.g. by involving older people in their creation) and economy (e.g. through local design and production). These are examples of how society and the economy can grow stronger by becoming more creative. Involving those who are prospective users of a technology like smart-textiles – for instance older people depending on care services – in creating these textiles becomes a concrete possibility through the ideas raised in Social Fabric of Smart-Textiles. And by making such textiles together, the stories will positively flow about what they can do and the services they could help provide. Not only as part of the conversations that flow during the making itself, but also on the open-source networks where the project is documented and discussed.

Within the larger CRISP programme, Social Fabric of Smart-Textiles shows how a mostly technology-focussed field of smart-textiles can become more human-focussed by making a connection to social practices like crafts. In doing so, Michelle Baggerman created a service model that allows those who will use smart-textiles in the future (that would be pretty much all of us) to co-write the story of what these textiles will do and what they will mean to people and society. As a designer, how much more strategic can you get?

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Contributor biographies and glossary Daniëlle Arets

Associate Reader (Associate Lector) in the Readership (Lectoraat) Strategic Creativity, Daniëlle Arets also possesses a key role in communicating the knowledge that results from CRISP to creative industries and education as a Knowledge Transfer Officer for CRISP. Danielle has a strong record in organising debates for a wide array of public, educational and commercial institutes, and through this experience she has become an advocate for inter-disciplinary research and design.

As Associate Lector and Knowledge Transfer Officer, Danielle aims to bridge academic and design thinking through strategic, creative tools and techniques, and of course, many debates.

Michelle Baggerman

Michelle Baggerman is a Research Associate in the Smart Textile ­Services project within CRISP, and combines her research with design work at her studio Bureau Baggerman. She studied at Design Academy Eindhoven in the Man & Leisure department where she graduated (BA) in the end of 2009 with Precious Waste, a project in which she explored the extreme low-tech side of textile, using plastic bags as a raw material with a ‘research through design’ approach. She uses her fascination with textile crafts to form the starting point for explorations into the Social Fabric of Smart-Textiles. She brings together old and new techniques and technologies and high-tech and high-craft skills in an interactive patchwork of knowledge to find new meaningful applications and contexts for smart-textiles through social interaction.

Mar Canet Sola

As an artist and researcher who likes to write software exploring new ways of playfulness and expression, inspired by the digital age, Mar Canet Sola’s work is in computer games, data visualisation and new media art installations. He is a co-founder of the art collective Derivart, which works on the intersection of finance, art and technology and is co-founder of Lummo, a small studio of new media architecture. He regularly collaborates with partner Varvara Guljajeva.

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Betsy Greer

She’s been called a lot of things: a crafter, an activist, an unsung hero, the godmother of Craftivism, but Betsy Greer is perhaps best known for Knitting For Good!, her first book published by Roost Books in November­ 2008. Knitting For Good! is a guide on how to use your knitting and creativity to improve your life, the lives of those in your community, and the world at large. Greer got her MA in Sociology from Goldsmiths College in London in 2004. Her masters dissertation was on knitting, DIY ­culture and community development.

Varvara Guljajeva

Varvara Guljajeva is an artist working in the field of art and technology.

Varvara has exhibited her art pieces in a number of international shows and festivals. She is a PhD candidate at the Estonian Art Academy and has presented her research work at several international conferences.

Her work is concerned with new forms of art; thus, she applies and challenges technology and traditional production methods in order to explore novel concepts in art. Varvara works with Mar Canet Sola as an artist-duo.

Kristi Kuusk

It is at Eindhoven University of Technology, Industrial Design, where PhD student Kristi Kuusk bridges textiles with technology. She has a MA in Fashion Design (Estonian Academy of Arts) and BSc in Informatics (Tallinn University of Technology). Having practical experience in both fields she merges the two otherwise separate and even controversial areas together in order to discover new opportunities for societally relevant applications in the emerging smart-textiles field. She is interested in how crafts can contribute to and inspire this are of expertise. Kristi is part of the Smart Textiles Services project within CRISP. Bas Raijmakers

Dr Bas Raijmakers PhD (RCA) is Reader (Lector) in Strategic Creativity at Design Academy Eindhoven and leads the in-house CRISP research team. Bas has a background in cultural studies, the internet industry, 73

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and interaction design. His main passion is to bring the people for whom we design into design and innovation processes, using visual storytelling. He holds a PhD in Design Interactions from the Royal College of Art, in London. He is also co-founder and Creative Director of STBY in London and Amsterdam: a design research consultancy specialised in design research for service innovation. Bas works for clients in the public sector and industry, around the globe.

Oscar Tomico

The main research topic of Dr Oscar Tomico, Assistant Professor of the Designing Quality in the Interaction Research Group (Department of Industrial Design) at Eindhoven University of Technology, is to develop situated practices allowing for a constructive confrontation between the designer’s rationale and societal motivations and values (co-reflection). Current projects focus on involving stakeholders in the design process to foster co-operation and reflective practices between participants in order to frame the design space, collaboration space and reformulate their design opportunity. He gained his PhD in 2007 from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Barcelona, in Innovation Processes in Product Design. Oscar currently leads the Smart Textile Services project within CRISP. Simone de Waart

Simone de Waart has a background in industrial design and design management. She is creative director at Material Sense, a platform connecting design, research and industry to enhance material innovation and applications of new materials. She works for industries and institutes to create value from the use of materials by research, design, training, workshops, exhibitions and publications. She is a tutor at ­Eindhoven University of Technology and at Design Academy Eindhoven.

Piem Wirtz

As project manager at V2_Lab until the end of 2012, Piem Wirtz ­supervised inter-disciplinary teams of artists and developers, often ­becoming a personal coach for the artist. Besides managing the ­creative process from concept to working prototype, she assisted hands-on in 74

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the production of the prototypes and organised workshops, exhibitions and public events to present the resulting works. Currently, she is passing on this knowledge to Industrial Design students from TU/e and TU Delft.

Creative Industry Scientific Programma

The Readership is embedded in CRISP (Creative Industries Scientific­ Programme). CRISP is a Dutch national ­research programme of more than 60 organisations, in which Design ­Academy­Eindhoven collaborates with the Technical Universities of Delft, ­Eindhoven and Twente, VU and UvA in Amsterdam and over fifty ­design companies and service providers in The Netherlands. CRISP is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. For details about all CRISP projects, see www.crispplatform.nl.

Open Design Spaces

Open Design Spaces is an initiative of the Readership S ­trategic Creativity at Design Academy Eindhoven. The team of Research ­ ­Associates­of the Readership works on collaborative projects within CRISP. The Open Design Spaces extends this collaboration to students and tutors at the academy to introduce what academic design research entails. These short workshops are a way for students to participate in this research programme. They are a bridge between the Readership in Strategic Creativity and the educational programme of the academy.

Readership in Strategic Creativity at Design Academy Eindhoven

The Readership explores how design and creativity can play a strategic role in society and the economy in general, and in service innovation in particular. Academic knowledge is created through ­designing, within the strong design culture of Design Academy E ­ indhoven. The results of the programme are used within the educational programme of ­Design Academy Eindhoven by way of Open Design ­ Spaces: ­ a four-week design research module for students around a topic r­ elated to the research of a Research Associate. Furthermore results are disseminated through public debates, conferences, workshops and publications. You can follow the work via several digital channels. See more details at www.designacademy.nl/strategiccreativity.

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Further Reading and Viewing Websites

http://www.crispplatform.nl http:// www.designacademy.nl/StrategicCreativity http://dqi.id.tue.nl/sts/ http:// www.kobakant.at/DIY/ http:// www.youtube.com/user/LynneBruning http:// arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardLilyPad http:// craftivism.com/blog.html/ http:// www.knitic.com/ http:// www.fashioningtech.com/ http:// www.iheartswitch.com/ http:// blog.ted.com/2012/11/15/4-talks-on-making-electronics-fun/ http://v2.nl/events/etextile-sweatshop

Papers and books

Guljajeva, V. and Canet Sola, M. The development and role of perso­­nal­ manufacturing. In Open Knitting. MutaMorphosis, (Prague, Czech ­Republic, 2012).

Greer, B. Knitting for Good! Trumpeter Books, Boston, 2008.

Kuusk, K., Tomico, O., Langereis, G., Wensveen, S. Crafting Smart Textiles – a Meaningful Way Towards Societal Sustainability in the Fashion Field? The Nordic Textile Journal 1. pp. 7-15.

De Lille, C., Roscam Abbing, E., Kleinsmann, M. A designerly approach to enable organisations to deliver Product Service Systems. In Leading Innovation through Design – DMI 2012 International Research Conference, (Boston, USA, 2012).

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Metcalf, B. Replacing the myth of modernism. Originally published in American Craft, February/March 1993, 53 (1).

Sennett, R. The Craftsman. Yale University Press, New York, 2008.

Ten Bhömer, M., Tomico, O., Kleinsmann, M., Kuusk, K., Wensveen, S. Designing Smart Textile Services through value networks, team mental models and shared ownership. In ServDes 2012, Third Nordic Conference on Service Design and Service Innovation, (Helsinki, Finland, 2012).

Tharakan, M.J. Neocraft: exploring smart textiles in the light of traditional textile crafts. In Ambience ‘11 Conference, (Borås, Sweden, 2011).

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Colophon Social Fabric The Readership in Strategic Creativity at Design Academy Eindhoven Editor:

Michelle Baggerman

Editorial team: Daniëlle Arets, Ré Dubhthaigh, Bas Raijmakers, Ellen Zoete Writers:

Daniëlle Arets, Michelle Baggerman, Mar Canet Sola and

Varvara Guljajeva,Betsy Greer, Kristi Kuusk, Bas Raijmakers,

Oscar Tomico, Simone de Waart, Piem Wirtz

Proofreader:

Jane Hardjono

Graphic design: Eric de Haas Printed by:

Lecturis, Eindhoven

Edition:

700

CRISP Smart Textile Services research group:

Oscar Tomico (Project leader), TU/e; Kristi Kuusk (PhD candidate), TU/e; Martijn ten Bhömer (PhD candidate), TU/e; Christine de Lille (PostDoc researcher), TU Delft; Michelle Baggerman (Research Associate), DAE CRISP Smart Textile Services project partners:

Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE), Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), Saxion University of Applied Sciences, V2_, Waag Society, Textielmuseum, Unit 040, Metatronics, Modint, Contactgroep Textiel, De Wever Open Design Space guest tutor: Simone de Waart Open Design Space participating students:

Andrea Brena (DAE), Laura Duncker (TU/e), Velia Genovese (DAE), Lisa Hu (DAE), Jos Klarenbeek (DAE), Anne Ligtenberg (DAE), Orfeas Lyras (TU/e), Lotte Oude Weernink (TU/e), Gosia Pawlak (DAE), Julian Jay Roux (DAE), Jaap van der Schaaf (DAE), Leonie Tenthof van Noorden (TU/e), Myrthe Varik (DAE) Open Design Space special thanks:

Marina Toeters (Saxion/By-Wire); Wilma Korenromp (textile workshop DAE); Maartje Tavenier (textile workshop DAE)

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Publisher:

Design Academy Eindhoven Emmasingel 14, Eindhoven, The Netherlands www.designacademy.nl/strategiccreativity email: opendesignspaces@designacademy.nl ISBN/EAN: 978-94-91400-05-6 Price: € 10 Readership Strategic Creativity, 2013 Reader (Lector): Dr Bas Raijmakers PhD (RCA) Associate Reader (Associate Lector): Drs Daniëlle Arets Visiting Research Fellow: Ré Dubhthaigh MA (RCA) Research Associates: Michelle Baggerman BA, Alessia Cadamuro MDes,

Heather Daam MDes, Maartje van Gestel BA, Susana Cámara Leret MDes, Karianne Rygh MDes, Mike Thompson MDes, Jonathan Wray MDes The Readership Strategic Creativity is partly funded within the bounds of the Creative Industry Scientific Programme (CRISP). CRISP is ­supported by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-­ NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. © 2013 Michelle Baggerman et al

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80

The world of crafts is rich in meaning and depth because of crafts’ very social character and its firm position in culture and society.

To give similar meaning to smart-textiles we can learn from craftspeople about how they share and evolve their practice.

Social Fabric identifies ways to bring the age-old skills and wisdom of craftspeople together with the new technology and ingenuity of engineers, creating new narratives for smart textiles.

Social Fabric is a project by Michelle Baggerman, Research Associate at Design Academy Eindhoven, and part of the Smart Textile Services project within CRISP (Creative Industry Research Programme). CRISP focuses on Product Service Systems, requiring designers to think and work more broadly in response to large-scale societal challenges. ‘Just’ creating a smart-textile is not sufficient in such a situation. By exploring ways to create meaning, Social Fabric aims to make a contribution to the knowledge and practice of digital craft.

This book is part of a series of publications of the Readership in Strategic Creativity at Design Academy Eindhoven. The Readership explores how designers trained at Design Academy Eindhoven can create academic knowledge through design.

Bas Raijmakers PhD (RCA) Reader in Strategic Creativity at Design Academy Eindhoven