Pia Bjørnstad: Technological Developments within the weaving industry seen from a Design Perspective.
Textile Designer MA/Textile Engineer NITO/Own practice: Pia Bjørnstad.
The paper looks at the introduction of the jacquard machine in a historical perspective and the emerging of the professional designer from Bauhaus.
The main body is concentrated on the development within computer aided design linked to new improvements of modern textile machinery and how this has turned the daily work of the weave designer more in control of the whole design process, not just someone delivering the artwork to a weaving shed.
The link between the actual drawing of the artwork and reproduction of it in the loom has come closer as designs can be visualised on the computer screen, thus the designer is more in control of the process and can concentrate more on the conceptual part of designing. Decisions can be made from screen images and mistakes avoided before weaving starts. This saves both time and money and the economical gain of this is obvious as an important factor in a competitive market.
Bespoke design is much easier to undertake at reasonable cost as the physical course of action is a lot quicker once the more analytical part of the design development is done. It is easier to let the customer in on the progression as simulations of fabric are nearly photoquality.
Colour is still the most difficult field within computer aided design and physical references are needed when discussing colour from a screen image.
The conclusion is however that the benefits of CAD are enormous both for the designer and the whole industry. It has made possible the globalisation of the fashion and textile industry with designers in one part of the world and most of the production in another.