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.

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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.

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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/.

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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.

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by CMcN

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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

Design competition - UK final

The SDC design competition heat winners (previously announced here) from the SDC regions across the length and breadth of Britain - London Region, Midlands Region, N England Region, Scottish Region and W England/S Wales Region - came together for the UK final which took place at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) last week.
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Judging
Each of the five finalists had the opportunity, individually, to meet the judges and talk about the inspiration for their designs and, in particular, their focus on colour and social responsibility. The judges included, pictured L-R below: Chris Sargeant, SDC Board trustee for fashion and design; Saloni Sachdev, design expert visiting for the occasion from India; Laura McCafferty, textile artist and designer; and Kathy Dickinson, senior tutor at NTU School of Art & Design.
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Judges talking with Lauren Chiu, London Region finalist (Lauren not pictured)

Kelly Taylor, Midlands Region finalist, talking with the judges

Workshop
As part of their experience in the UK final, each of the students also had chance to take part in a unique dyeing workshop with renowned Japanese textile artist Akihiko Izukura - a highlight for many, particularly as the students were also lucky enough to be invited to a private view of Mr Izukura's Life in Colours exhibition at NTU (outlined in this previous blog post).

Mr Izukura in the workshop with Laura Dowey, the N England Region finalist (front left) and Lauren Chiu, London Region finalist (front right)

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Sarah Finlay, Scottish Region finalist, in the workshop

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During the workshops, the finalists worked with natural extracts from plants and insects to dye silk garments following an ancient traditional practices followed by Mr Izukura that have at the route a zero-waste concept.

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Reception

Next the finalists had the opportunity to exhibiting their own work at a reception where SDC members and colour experts had chance to view their designs and talk with the students.
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All the finalists at the reception are pictured above, with Chris Sargeant, pictured L-R, and below with their work:

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-Kelly Taylor, De Montfort University (Midlands Region)
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-Laura Dowey, University of Huddersfield (N England Region)

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-Sarah Finlay, Duncan of Jordanstone (Scottish Region)

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-Lauren Chiu, Central St Martins College of Art & Design (London Region)

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-Olivia Goss, Plymouth College of Art & Design (W England/S Wales Region)

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During the reception, each of the finalists were presented with gifts sponsored by NCS and the UK winner was announced as Kelly Taylor from De Montfort University. The judges deemed her entry to be the most innovative and creative, outlining a clear understanding of social responsibility and the issues which surround the fashion and textiles industry today. Commented Kelly, who is in her final year studying textile design, 'In my designs, I was influenced by the pattern, texture and colour of worn ancient oriental armour and I combined a variety of fabric weights, textures and techniques to create the collection.'

UK final winner Kelly Taylor

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Thanks to all the judges that were involved in the final, and the heats thus far, as well as to all the SDC regional committees for organising the heats, judging and regional prizes. Kelly will now go on to the grand final in London in October, along with all the other country winners from Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Pakistan, Singapore and South Africa. The Hong Kong finalist has already been decided and we'll be announcing all the country winners by the end of June, so watch this space!

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by CMcN

UK heats of the SDC design competition

Image: Entry in the N England heat (design by Saarah Mughal)

The global heats in the SDC International Design Competition 2010 - open to fashion and textile undergraduate students - are well underway. By the end of this week, the student who will be representing the UK at the grand final in October will be known. And by the end of next month, all the country finalists will be announced!

Over the past few months, competition heats have been held over the length and breadth of the UK and we are pleased to announce the regional winners and runners-up here. In regional alphabetical order:

LONDON REGION
Winner: Lauren Chiu, Central St Martins College of Art & Design
Runner-up#1: Rebecca Alexander, Chelsea College of Art & Design
Runner-up#2: Davjot Kaur Bamrah, London Met University

MIDLANDS REGION
Winner: Kelly Taylor, De Montfort University
Runner-up#1: Emily Whitesmith, Loughborough University
Runner-up#2: Harriet Foster, Nottingham Trent University

N ENGLAND REGION
Winner: Laura Dowey, University of Huddersfield

SCOTTISH REGION
Winner: Sarah Finlay, Duncan of Jordanstone

W ENGLAND/S WALES REGION
Winner: Olivia Goss, Plymouth College of Art

Thanks to all the judges that have been involved thus far, as well as to all the SDC regional committtees for organising the heats, judging and the regional prizes.
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Image: Entry in the Midlands heat (design by Emily Whitesmith)

As blogged last month (see here), the UK final takes place in Nottingham within the next couple of days. On Thursday, the winners of all the regional heats will meet the judges, they will take part in the unique Akihiko Izukura's dyeing workshop on Friday morning, they will be exhibiting their work in front of SDC members and colour experts, and they will attend a reception where the UK winner will be announced on Friday evening. More news on the UK final, with images of all the finalists' work, soon!

by CMcN

'Life in Colours' exhibition

Image: textile by Akihiko Izukura

A colourful exhibition by Akihiko Izukura, opens this week at Nottingham Trent University, UK. The practice of this renowned Japanese textile artist, which is always based on 'compassion for life', involves minimal waste during the process of dyeing, spinning and weaving, and 'sun and water circulation', using the natural power of the sun and water to save energy during design. His approach to fabric production includes natural dyeing, weaving, netting, braiding and entwining to create textile objects and fashion garments.

Zero waste concept
Based on a zero waste concept, Akihiko's work is based on the idea of 'appreciation for the life given to use from nature.' Some might consider this approach to his designs encompasses social responsibility at its core, ensuring that sustainable methods are pursued in all aspects of design.

Very apt then that Akihiko will be running a workshop for the UK finalists in the SDC International Design Competition in Nottingham next month, as the competition has social responsibility as its theme this year (it's all about colour too). A full list of UK finalists will be released soon; watch this space!

Colour conference
Akihiko is also the keynote speaker at the SDC COLOUR CONFERENCE, taking place at NTU on Friday 7 May. Spaces are still available for this exciting event; more details about the conference (and some other colourful events taking place that day too), plus information about booking, click here (PDF).

The LIFE IN COLOURS exhibition in NTU's Bonington Gallery opens on 22 April and runs until 14 May; for more information, click here (external link).

by CMcN

Can you own a colour?

The latest article published in the SDC online journal Colour: Design & Creativity (www.colour-journal.org) looks at colour ownership. This is not the first time such a topic has been looked at in an SDC publication; some years ago, an article published in The Colourist (see here) asked that very question - can you own a colour?

Any attempt to regulate or claim ownership of particular colours calls into question the nature of colour itself: what exactly is it that is to be regulated or owned? This is certainly an interesting debate and one which the author expands on, putting forward the argument that there are at least seven different kinds of colours. To read the full journal article in issue 4 of Colour: Design & Creativity, click here.

The author, Paul Green-Armytage (Curtin University of Technology), will also have a contribution in the next issue of the journal (issue 5), which is a special issue in association with AIC. Included will be a number of papers based on presentations given at the AIC Colour Congress 2009 which took place in Australia last October, with one review article, two galleries and 13 research papers all pre-selected by the guest editor (Nick Harkness) and the special issue committee. This issue will open soon; watch this space for the full content listing!

If you would like to hear more about this journal in the future, you can email editorial@sdc.org.uk or visit the journal website to subscribe. All content published in Colour: Design & Creativity is currently free to access and subscribers receive regular e-alerts when new content is available online.

by CMcN