SDC book titles: SPECIAL OFFER

Earlier this year, the SDC repositioned a number of its book titles, including the all exclusive CD-ROM that contains all the most recent editions of the world-renowned SDC textbooks – from student textbooks to laboratory handbooks, the 6000+ pages of content of these books covers topics such as textile dyeing, fibre coloration and dyehouse management, and much more. When coming up with a new title for this CD, we decided to run a Wordle of all our book titles - and this is the 'word cloud' that we came up with: -

--

--

--

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

--

-

This is a great visual illustration of the topics that are covered within the SDC books portfolio. And so, a new name for the SDC Textile Dyeing Dossier was borne. The dossier contains electronic versions of the 20 textile dyeing books published by the SDC since 1992 and, for the next month (until 10 Oct 2010), we are running an exclusive special offer in relation to this.

SPECIAL OFFER: Receive a choice of 4x selected SDC print titles free of charge with every order of the SDC Textile Dyeing Dossier. Orders must be placed before 10 Oct 2010. Free titles can be selected from:

• Batchwise Dyeing of Woven Cellulosic Fabrics • Blends Dyeing • Cellulosics Dyeing • Colour for Textiles – A User’s Handbook • Colour in Dyehouse Effluent • Engineering in Textile Coloration • Giles’s Laboratory Course in Dyeing • Instrumental Colour Formulation • Theory of Coloration of Textiles • Wool Dyeing •
-
For more details of this special offer, see the SDC website here. Please quote reference SDC01 with your order and contact: sales@sdc.org.uk. To view the SDC online shop, where all the SDC publications can be ordered, visit: www.colourclick.org/shop.aspx (free registration is required to access the shop).

For any enquiries relating to books that are not specifically sales-related, please email: editorial@sdc.org.uk.

by CMcN

We are pleased to say the new issue of the SDC members' magazine The Colourist. This issue has a 'textile machinery' theme and features information about the UK manufacturer of quality knitwear, John Smedley Ltd. It is a Smedley design that is featured on the front cover and if you want to see who else is wearing 'a Smedley' these days, check out their company blog, here.

Also in this issue is more information on the SDC one-day wool conference Textiles-UK (taking place in London next month), along with a feature on our competition finalists!

To view the issue, click the image above.

by CMcN

SDC design competition finalists for 2010

"With awareness and understanding comes responsibility"

The finalists in this year’s SDC design competition, sponsored by Clariant, have once again impressed the judges with their awareness of the issues facing the textile coloration industry in terms of social responsibility (as summarised in the above quote from the Australian finalist). As outlined previously, the brief this year asked for the students to demonstrate socially-responsible thinking in their approach to their designs, as well as having colour as a main focus. Heats for the 2010 competition have been held around the world and the many expert judges have cogitated over which collection was deemed to be the most innovative and creative of all the entries, showing the student’s understanding of social responsibility and the issues which surround the fashion and textiles industry today.

The nine country finalists were recently announced and all will now go on to compete for the SDC Colour Design Award 2010 at the grand final in London this October.

Finalists
Australia: Anna Langdon (Sydney Institute)
China: Shihao Bai (Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts)
Hong Kong: Kwok Wai Liu (Hong Kong Design Institute)
Ireland: Sinead Geraghty (National College of Art & Design)
India: Swaroopa Adusumilli (College of Home Science)
Pakistan: Mariam Mobeen Shah (Iqra University Islamabad)
Singapore: Meng Jing (Lasalle College of the Arts)
South Africa: Laduma Ngxokolo (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University)
UK: Kelly Taylor (De Montfort University)

Finalists (pictured in rows from L-R): Australia, China, India, Ireland, Pakistan, South Africa and the UK:

(Photo of the Singapore finalist will be added here when available)

-

Designs
The finalists in this year’s competition have been inspired by many and varied factors. Examples include the trip to Nepal that inspired Sinead Geraghty (Ireland) to produce materials made from local fibres and resources commonly used in textile production in developing countries and Swaroopa Adusumilli (India) who was inspired by working with local weavers in rural communities on eco-friendly textile solutions. Traditional weaving techniques inspired Shihao Bai (China) in his designs, Kwok Wai Liu (Hong Kong) was influenced by rainforest ecology, and Anna Langdon (Australia) took her inspiration from Scottish and Bavarian national costumes. The fabrics utilised ranged from mohair, chosen by Laduma Ngxokolo (South Africa) for his knitwear because of its of durability, warmth, flame resistance and colour fastness, and the fine-knitted samples produced by Kelly Taylor (UK). The remaining two finalists, Mariam Mobeen Shah (Pakistan) and Meng Jing (Singapore), also had an eco-focus in their designs. On reaching the final, Meng Jing comments, ‘The SDC competition is a great platform for designers to be seen in the eyes of the creative scene. I am truly honoured to have participated and be representing Hong Kong at the grand final in London.’

Design by Laduma Ngxokolo (South Africa)

-

The Society acknowledges the support of all the judges, sponsors and volunteers who were involved in the regional and country heats, without whom the competition would not be possible. Each of the global finalists’ work will be exhibited following the Textiles-UK conference and the winner (recipient of £1000 and Veronica Bell trophy) will be announced at a ceremony in the magnificent Clothworkers’ Hall on 5 Oct 2010.

-
The 2011 has now been launched to colleges, with the theme ‘reduce, recycle, reuse’. For details, contact: marketing@sdc.org.uk

-
by CMcN

New speakers announced for Textiles-UK

Image: Colourful, high quality knitwear from John Smedley Ltd

The latest speaker to be added to the programme for the SDC conference taking place this autumn - Textiles-UK - is Andrew Caughey, the managing director of John Smedley Ltd - a company, with roots in the Derbyshire countryside, known for its high quality knitwear and a 225-year heritage.
-
Andrew joins the keynote speaker, Malcolm Campbell (of Retail & Textiles Co.), along with a whole host of experts:
- Peter Ackroyd, Campain for Wool
- Peter Duffield, Global Textiles Associates
- Bill Macbeth, Textile Centre for Excellence
- David Lewis, University of Leeds
- Rebecca Sharpe, Australian Wool Innovation.
-
The conference chair is Eric Musgrave, director general of the UK Fashion & Textile Association. Within the fantastic programme for this event which is taking place, there will be a strong focus on best practice, sustainability and the many benefits of using wool. The future will also be a main focus with the innovations and potential for wool.
-
For the full programme, visit: http://www.textiles-uk.org.uk/.
-
by CMcN

Early bird rates for Textiles-UK: book now!

The SDC is pleased to announce a brand new event this autumn, co-hosted by the SDC, Dyers' Company and Clothworkers' Company: Textiles-UK. This one-day conference will take place in London on 5 October 2010 and will focus on wool. This event will look at:

- The vital role of the wool industry in the UK, including the impact on the UK economy

- Its technical properties and diversity of uses

- The many benefits of using wool including its role in sustainability and as an environmentally friendly fibre

- The future - the use of technology, the innovations and the potential for wool.

-

This innovative fibre has been featured highly in 2010, being the focus of the HRH Prince Charles' Wool Project (which was launched at the start of this year) and the theme of the SDC's magazine The Colourist in April (to view this issue, click here). The 'year of wool' will culminate with the SDC's Textiles-UK.

-

An impressive line-up of speakers will talk about the technical innovations of wool and developments facing the wool industry. Full details available on the event website: http://www.textiles-uk.org.uk/.

-

The venue for the event is the outstanding Clothworkers' Hall in the City of London, which - following the full day's conference - will be the backdrop for the grand final of the SDC International Design Competition 2010, for which all the country finalists have been chosen and will be announced in the next blog installment.

-

by CMcN

-

World Cup colours

As football mania sweeps the world, it is timely to plug a recent article in our online journal. Have you ever caught yourself wondering during any of the World Cup matches exactly what you concentrate on the most when watching a football game (or any team game for that matter)? Let's say there is a World Cup match on and you aren't too bothered which team wins, do you think the colour of the players' football strips will influence how long you watch a certain team? And will the colour of their shirts have any impact on the end result?

These are the sorts of questions that are raised in a recent article in Colour: Design & Creativity (see http://www.colour-journal.org/ in issue 4) by a team of scientists at Kyoto University of Technology (Japan) working with colleagues at the University of Leeds (UK). Research has shown, that colours used in sportswear and sport goods have been have been found to get more and more saturated over the years. This may be due to commercial reasons, such as the demand from sport sponsors to get the attention of viewers.

-

But perhaps a more important reason is that players need to easily distinguish themselves from the other team on the field and thus increase their chances of winning the game. If the football strips of both teams are similar in colour, the players will find it difficult to distinguish between their team mates and their opponents. But, if the colour of a uniform has a high contrast colour against the background colour, say red uniform against green grass, the high colour contrast may improve the team's performance.

-

Interesting stuff! To read more about this study, pelase click here to read the full article online here. And don't forget that if you wish to know when new content is published in the journal, you will need to sign up (for free) here. Also, did you know that you you can now view the full contents of the journal in a searchable 'at-a-glance'' document? Click here to view (PDF).

-
by CMcN

Latest issue of The Colourist published

We are pleased to say the new issue of the SDC members' magazine The Colourist. This issue has a 'social responsibility' theme and features the colourful work of textile designer Akihiko Izukura on the front cover. To view the issue, click the image above.

by CMcN