The design of textiles is flexible. The soft, pliable nature of textiles means that their expressiveness and physical properties can be altered long after the material has been produced, by e.g. adding or removing colour, pattern, density, or by printing, laser-cutting, etc. This transformability means that the design of textiles can be further developed in another design process in relation to a specific product or context. In the emerging field of textiles produced using 3D modelling and additive manufacturing, structures can be defined in detail and, later, altered or completely redesigned in CAD programs. However, the designs of these textiles are generally fixed when the structures emerge from the 3D printer. This paper describes a practice-based project that explores the transformability of 3D printed textiles, considers the question of whether some of the openness that characterises their digital form can be introduced to their physical form, and then explores what form this could take. It begins by describing the project which forms the basis for the exploration, the outcome of which thus far consists of two experimental 3D printed textiles with changeable physical structures. It then discusses the considerations and decisions involved when designing for such transformable textiles, proposing ways to understand and describe what is taking place: First, by relating them to the considerations made when defining open design systems; second, by introducing two types of design decisions, which together define which aspects of the textile’s design are closed to further development, and which are open for others to develop. 

Textile materials and textile design are a part of countless products in our surroundings,as well as diverse design fields and industries, each of which has very different materialtraditions and working methods. The aim of this thesis is to add to our understandingof the relationship between textiles and products in the design process, and to explorehow textiles enter and influence product design processes and how products functionin textile design processes. A further aim is to examine the effect of new textiletechnology, such as smart textiles and 3D printed textiles, on this dynamic.

This thesis is the result of an interplay between theoretical work, experimentalpractice-based projects, and observation of design practice, and it presents two typesof results: Firstly, descriptions of how the relationship can manifest itself in the designprocess, which give a broad picture of the relationship between textile and productand in so doing add to our understanding of textiles as design materials and highlightsome of the additional complexities and possibilities for the design process that comewith new forms of textiles. Secondly, this thesis presents ways of describing thedynamics between textiles and products in the design process, with the intention ofopening up for reflection on how we design, and can design, with textiles. Here, themain outcome is a theoretical framework which examines the relationship from botha product design and a textile design perspective, and includes methods and questionsthat can be used to explore and define how textiles and products meet in the designprocess.

Textile materials and textile design are a part of countless products in our surroundings, as well as of diverse design fields and industries, with very different material traditions and working methods. Textile materials and industry have undergone many changes during recent decades, in terms of how and where textiles are produced, and what textiles can be and do; in much the same way, the design practices that textiles are involved in have also developed. What these diverse and evolving design contexts in which textiles are involved in have in common is that textile materials and textile design decisions somehow meet the rest of the design during a design process. The aim of this thesis is to add to our understanding of the relationship between textiles and products in the design process, and to explore the roles that textile design plays when designing textile products, the roles they can come to play when textiles become more complex and offer new means of functionality and expressiveness, for example through smart textile technology. This thesis presents two types of result: Firstly, descriptions of textile product design processes that highlight the wide range of roles that textiles can play in the textile product design processes of today, accentuate how textile materials and design decisions can influence both what can be designed and the design process, and describe some of the additional complexities that come with designing and designing with smart textiles. These examples are presented in the appended papers, and are the outcome of an observation of students who were designing textile products and collaborative, practice-based design research projects. Secondly, this thesis presents a theoretical framework which aims to offer a broad perspective on the relationship between textile design and the product design process, with the intention of opening up for reflection on how we design, and can design, with textiles. The framework focuses on how textile design decisions and textile materials participate in the process, and to what degree they influence the development of the design; this includes methods, questions, etc. that can be used to explore and define this dynamic. One of the main points of the framework is the importance of the textile influence in textile product design processes; the specific qualities of textiles as a design material - the considerations, possibilities, and challenges, which influence both the design of the product and the process of designing it. This includes not only the textiles in the final design, but also the textiles that, in other ways, feature in this process.

No longer is it sufficient to add ‘smart’ to textiles to secure interesting research results. We have surpassed the initial stages of explorations and testing and now need to raise the bar. We have thus specified a research program in which we investigate what it means to design with smart textiles. What can we design with smart textiles? And how do we design with smart textiles? We now explore how these complex, often abstract, materials can enter traditional design practices and what role smart textile can play in the design of our environment. In this paper, we discuss the challenges we see at present, we outline our new research program and we qualify it through three examples of our ongoing projects: The smart textile sample collection, Dynamic textile patterns, and Bonad [tapestry]. The paper is as much an invitation to join forces, as it is a description of a maturing process within design research. We are over the first love, now what?

No longer is it sufficient to add ‘smart’ to textiles to secure interesting research results. We have surpassed the initial stages of explorations and testing and now need to raise the bar. We have thus specified a research program in which we investigate what it means to design with smart textiles. What can we design with smart textiles? And how do we design with smart textiles? We now explore how these complex, often abstract, materials can enter traditional design practices and what role smart textile can play in the design of our environment. In this paper, we discuss the challenges we see at present, we outline our new research program and we qualify it through three examples of our ongoing projects: The smart textile sample collection, Dynamic textile patterns, and Bonad [tapestry]. The paper is as much an invitation to join forces, as it is a description of a maturing process within design research. We are over the first love, now what?

What if your furniture expresses appreciation when you sit on them? Or what if they call for attention if they have been empty for too long? Textiles always change expression over time due to use and exposure to sunlight, moist, etc. The textile on these pouffes changes expressions in a dynamic interplay with their use. A bright pattern is gradually revealed when someone sits on them but hid again when they stand idle by. In other words, their patterns are recurring in both space and time.

What if your furniture expresses appreciation when you sit on them? Or what if they call for attention if they have been empty for too long? Textiles always change expression over time due to use and exposure to sunlight, moist, etc. The textile on these pouffes changes expressions in a dynamic interplay with their use. A bright pattern is gradually revealed when someone sits on them but hid again when they stand idle by. In other words, their patterns are recurring in both space and time.

Two pieces of interactive furniture were exhibited in the exhibition "Like Textile" as a part of Milan design week, 12-17 of April 2011. The print on the surface of the furniture can change its expression over time, or in relation to someone touching or sitting on the surface. The prototypes were developed in a project called Recurring patterns, where we explore the process of designing dynamic patterns over time.

Two pieces of interactive furniture were exhibited at the Stokholm furniture fair, 8-12 of February 2011. The print on the surface of the furniture can change its expression over time, or in relation to someone touching or sitting on the surface. The prototypes were developed in a project called Recurring patterns, where we explore the process of designing dynamic patterns over time.

Through a smart textile design project we have identified two sets of complex issues generally relevant for design with state changing materials. Specifically, we show how the temporal dimension of smart textiles increase the complexity of traditional textile design variables such as form and colour. We also show how the composite nature of smart textiles creates a series of interdependencies that make the design of the textile expressions additionally complex. We discuss how these forms of complexity provide opportunities as well as challenges for the textile expressions, and we show how we dealt with them in practice.