Locally go from digital to garments

Abstract

The maker culture has created a dynamic in which designers are less responsible for the design and quality of the final product, but instead for the tools the consumer uses to create their own. While additive manufacturing (AM) is gaining acceptance among the general public, it is still seen as a prototyping tool instead of a high quality production technology. This limits its acceptance within co-design and maker culture. The research question is: How to create greater acceptance among the general public regarding the AM technology and its products? In order to achieve this a product category needs to be selected that can benefit greatly from the capabilities of digital design and manufacturing. For this clothing was selected as it hold both great design and cosmetic possibilities for personalisation. One way to create greater acceptance of digital design and manufacturing is to apply co-design principles on a local scale. By this means the public will be exposed and included in the design and production process, which will ensure the end product is has value to the consumer. In time this could help spark a maker movement within the community. To validate these assumptions a test case was developed in which local design and production of simple wearables played a major role. This took place in a local urban context. In order to facilitate this a digital design tool combined with a mobile digital knitting machine was developed to allow for a rapid co-design track. The wearables would be produced by the consumer themselves. The final design of the garment depends on the consumer’s choice of material, shape and pattern. A mobile setup provides the means to test the principle at different locations and allows the consumer to be intensively involved in the making of their own product. In the future this might take place in the maker movement in their own neighbourhood. A small and low-cost knitting machine was developed, the Wally 120, and tested outdoors in a local park in Barcelona. By making bespoke hats/ beanies, the response of the park visitors to the technology could be gauged and their perception of it positively altered. The results of the test case can be summarized as: increased engagement in the production process,greater acceptance of digital design and increased exposure of the technology. The public present during the test was engaged in the exposition of the technology. While some only observed, others actively engaged in conversation about the machine and its possibilities. The actual test garments where well received, even tough the machine did not perform without flaw. As such it can be concluded that local exposure would help create greater acceptance of AM technology. Concluding, even though the maker culture changes the role of the designer, their importance to the design process will remain. Not as a creator of designs but as a guide to the making of consumer products.