Designing for Data through Smart Textile Thinking

With funding and support from the Connected Innovators Programme we have been exploring the creative use of data to find alternative ways to design for smart textiles. The project started with a focus on collaboration with theatre and performance experts to extend our thinking for the design of light-emitting lace for a theatre environment, however through the process of research we have been informed more broadly by creative practice within smart and e-textiles and beyond. The project has provided the opportunity to scope and learn from creative practitioners and develop an understanding of working with data as part of the creative process. In essence our goal was to use our findings to extend our use of data within the design process for smart textiles, creating new ways and experiences to engage with an audience.

We used raw data from MYB Textiles a lace manufacturer in Ayrshire, particularly thinking about how Covid-19 had impacted the production at the mill. We interpreted data from a weave notebook kept by Charlie, one of the specialist Scottish madras weavers. Charlie notes down all the yarn used across the madras looms and the amount of cloth woven, we had the records from early 2020 to now. The large scale sketch we produced of the notebook records is pictured below, through the piece we hoped to highlight the impact of Covid on heritage manufacture, visualising the intangible aspects of the textile industry. For more detail about the project please see our blog.