Searching for ways to develop the field of textile design, this research aims to explore and introduce abstract design variables in surface pattern design processes. Workshop experiments with design students were used as a practical method. The purpose of the workshops was to introduce rules as design variables, and to understand the roles that they play in design processes and how they affect a design outcome, in order to open up for unexpected and unpredictable results. Another aim was to provide a foundation for reflection and critical discussion about using unconventional means for developing methods in pattern design and how that can influence the design process. The results shows that the students’ design solutions were clearly influenced by the provided rules and opened up for another approach and awareness to alternative design methods. The analysis utilised a phenomenographic approach, wherein the intention was to study and describe the different types of experiences that can occur when designing surface patterns with these design variables, and to catalogue examples of the ways in which the participants interpreted these in their design processes. The implication of this research is in-depth knowledge of the field of textile design and surface patterns, and the highlighting of an area that is rarely in focus within design research. The main purpose has been to contribute to a broadening of the understanding of the design of surface patterns; to open up, develop and change design processes.

With a starting point in defining space through materials, colours, planes, and surfaces, the aim of the work presented in this thesis was to explore and introduce spatial concepts as design variables in textile design. Another aim was to explore surface patterns in terms of their possible functions as spatial definers, and to make spatial properties (which here take the form of implicit knowledge) explicit in design processes in order to increase awareness of spatial concerns in surface pattern design.Workshop experiments with design students and professional designers were used as a practical method in this work, and played a major role in the investigations. The objectives of the workshops were to explore the use of spatial concepts as design variables, and to understand the roles that they play in design processes and how they affect a design outcome. The analysis utilised a phenomenographic approach, wherein the intention was to study and describe the different types of experiences that can occur when designing surface patterns and making hidden design variables explicit, and to catalogue examples of the ways in which the participants interpreted these in their design processes. An exploratory design example was created to complement the workshop experiments. The main contribution of the research is categorised into three types of results: 1) examples in the form of students’ design outcomes, 2) knowledge gained from the workshops, and 3) feedback regarding responses to the overarching questions that framed the research presented in this thesis. Another contribution is in-depth knowledge of the field of surface patterns, and the highlighting of an area that is rarely in focus within design research. The main purpose has been to contribute to a broadening of the understanding of the design of surface patterns.

In this research, the aim was to explore the materiality of light through a textile design perspective. Print designs were developed with textile printing methodology, using multiple screens and blending ink colours through mixing and overprinting. This is in contrast to existing electroluminescent panels, which typically use single-colour prints with clear graphic shapes.

These electroluminescent prints consist of a transparent electrode, printed first in pattern with a phosphor paste, then a ceramic dielectric layer, and finally a second electrode. When alternating current is applied through the electrodes, the phosphor illuminates.

Sample one emphasises the clarity of a single screen phosphor print, but is printed using a blend of two colours of phosphor ink, usually used unmixed. The scratchy detail of the knit pattern adds texture and depth.

Sample two takes advantage of the blue phosphor’s translucency, creating a three-colour print using only two screens through overlapping and blending. The design is based on a twill weave, and, rather than the clean edges of typical electroluminescent printing, embraces the speckled background as a pattern element. The alignment of the two layers of the printed pattern lends a visual depth to the result, in contrast to the flatness of sample one.

The pattern in sample three is created by rasterising and combining images of two knitted textiles. The use of two complementary colours in the print amplifies the raster, creating a visual vibration that keeps the eye moving over the pattern surface.

Spatial definers in surface pattern design – introducing alternative design variables as tools in the textile design process

Within the field of textile design, the understanding of surface patterns is fundamental knowledge and a somewhat specific professional skill. The purpose here is to report on experiments explicitly introducing abstract spatial definers, such as “above”, “behind” etc., in the textile design process as basic surface pattern variables.

This idea was tested out in student workshops on four (five) different European art and design universities during a period of three months. The primary focus of the workshops was to test surface patterns as spatial definers, by introducing a design variable that answers the question “what is the pattern doing as a space definer?”.

The results of the workshops demonstrated a potential of using conceptual spatial determinations as design variables, as the design solutions were clearly influenced by the introduction of these variables. In addition to adding to the knowledge of the field, the results can be used by designers who seek alternative working methods, or as material for reflection and inspiration when teaching surface pattern design in design education programmes.

Using workshops in teaching is a means of gaining valuable insights and learning in creative practice. Transforming this knowledge into teaching methods and pedagogical tools would allow methods and ideas to be re-thought, and unconventional ways of surface pattern design thinking to be explored. This paper contributes to the development of design methods and provides an alternative perspective on surface pattern design. It also highlights a small area that is rarely in focus in textile design research.

What is the function of a surface pattern? What does it do when we use it?

They have practical and decorative functions depending on the context in which they appear; they may be used on a carpet, incorporated into wallpaper, or placed in a car interior. Surface patterns are also carriers of form, colour, and narrative, and are able to affect rooms, spaces, and surfaces – an important consideration. On a more abstract level surface patterns act as spatial definers; contributing to define a space with its directions, planes and perspectives. This introduces a design variable in the design process that answers the question “what is the pattern doing as a space definer?”.

 This workshop introduces spatial determination as a design variable. The question is how this affect your way of working in the process of designing a surface pattern?

This licentiate thesis focuses on surface patterns, spatiality, and pattern relations in textile design, and aims to explore surface patterns as spatial definers and what they mean in the context of surface patterns. A secondary focus relates to applying conceptual spatial determinations as alternative design variables in design processes, and exploring how these could be used to define and analyse pattern relations.

Through a series of exploratory design experiments that used printed and projected surface patterns in a three-dimensional setting, which were documented using photographs and film, the notion of pattern relations, wherein scale was used as a design variable, was explored. The outcome of the experiments showed the expressional possibilities that surface patterns may provide in a defined space, and how these are connected to pattern relations. In order to encourage an accompanying discussion regarding alternative methods of analysing surface patterns, the construction of a theoretical model was initiated. Workshops with design students were used as another practical method in this work.

The results showed that there is great potential in using conceptual spatial determinations to define pattern relations by viewing surface patterns as spatial definers, rather than taking a traditional perspective on their functions. Another outcome is the theoretical model, which proposes a specific approach to pattern relations.

This research demonstrates how conceptual spatial determinations can benefit the textile design process, as well as design teaching, which could in turn provide the field with new expressions that may lead to a change in or fruitful addition to the practice.

This workshop introduces an alternative design method to increase the understanding of using abstract, spatial design variables in the design process. How does it affect the way of working? In what way could an abstract design variable influence the physical designed outcome?

The aim of the workshop is to explore how concrete and abstract design variables is interpreted, understood and applied in the design process, as well as providing a discussion concerning this.

Surface pattern is a fundamental component of human expression, especially in textile design. It is often influenced by patterning in nature, structures that are also often easily described by mathematical principles. This paper presents the workshop as a method for exploring the relationship between rules and pattern. A workshop was conducted with textile- and fashion design students to test two assumptions: Design guided by rules would create a recognisable pattern, and, Visual patterns would easily be reducible to rules. The aim was to explore the relationship between pattern and rules in design processes, and to provide a foundation for reflection and critical discussion of this relationship. The results of the workshop could not reliably prove either assumption because, as was discovered through the workshop, the concepts of pattern and rules are neither universal nor obvious, and as such cannot be so simply tested. Pattern and rules are varied and nuanced phenomena and their relationship equally so.