Understanding the complexity of designing dynamic textile patterns

Abstract

Through a smart textile design project we have identified\ntwo sets of complex issues generally relevant for design\nwith state changing materials. Specifically, we show how\nthe temporal dimension of smart textiles increase the\ncomplexity of traditional textile design variables such as\nform and colour. We also show how the composite nature\nof smart textiles creates a series of interdependencies that\nmake the design of the textile expressions additionally\ncomplex. We discuss how these forms of complexity\nprovide opportunities as well as challenges for the textile\nexpressions, and we show how we dealt with them in\npractice.