Textile Design Graduation Exhibition

Please join us for the opening of the Textile Design Graduation Exhibition.

Friday, December 7th 4-7pm.

DEC Building - Studio 211/212

Knit garments by Leah D'Ambrosio Exhibited in Japan

Last month Shima Seiki, manufacturers of electronic knitting machinery, celebrated their 50th anniversary with an exhibit of fashion knitwear at their head offices in Wakayama, Japan, designed by their customers from around the world.

Included in the exhibit were these two garments designed and produced by Leah D'Ambrosio.

Leah graduated from the MS Textile Design program in May 2012.
Congratulations Leah.

Tractor Loom

PhilaU Textile Design alum Kylie Baker created this tractorloom, using an award from the Arts Council of the Southern Finger Lakes.  Kylie's loom allows her to be outside, mobile, while she is weaving.  She may bring her tractorloom to campus in Fall 2013.  Stay posted for more details.

Natural Dyeing Day of Service

Textile Design students joined the Philadelphia Guild of Handweavers for a little fun and service outside, organized by Wendy Anderson, a guild member and Print Design Program Assistant at Philadelphia University. The Philadelphia Guild of Handweavers is located on Main Street in Manayunk, Philadelphia and works to foster the art and craft of weaving and and the fiber arts. 

In conjunction with Weaver's Way Farm, the guild has built a few raised beds specifically for plant dyeing located at Awbury Arboretum. Students helped plant daffodils and hyacinthus bulbs in preparation for some beautiful springtime colors. Guild members shared their secrets on plant dyeing and students were able to dye their own fabric samples from black walnuts collected earlier that day. 

Information on guild membership and events can be found at their website. We can't wait to have many more collaborations with this knowledgable group!

Nike Visits Philadelphia University Textile Students

This week two Nike employees paid a visit to Philadelphia University's textile design students. Andrew Croll, Product Design Recruiter, and Nate Van Hook, Senior Footwear Designer and 2003 Industrial Design PhilaU Alum joined the graduate and undergraduate students for a presentation about the company. This was a rare opportunity for students to speak personally to the Nike representatives about the internship program, employment opportunities, what Nike looks for in a candidate, and life at their headquarters just outside of Portland, OR.

In the past, Nike has recruited several Textile Design students for their 12-week paid summer internship program and many eventually turned into full time offers. Nike seeks out Philadelphia University students for their passion for design and innovative ideas.

"We want to see how you go to the next level. How can you guys challenge and introduce tensions to our company," Andrew Croll asks as he explains what drives Nike's quest for fresh ideas and creativity. "Nike is always in motion."

"I think what I find so cool about working for Nike is that I'm kind of seeing the future. I'm wearing the shoes that I designed two years ago," PhilaU industrial design alum says as he shows off his colorful kicks.

PhilaU student redesigns and produces curtains for Rodin Museum Library renovation.

Before deciding to pursue a graduate degree at Philadelphia University, Ingrid Johnson spent four years working in the Costume and Textiles department at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The Rodin Museum recently re-opened after a large-scale renovation project left it closed to the public for several months. The museum's collection is now arranged the same way it was when it first opened in 1929.

Last May, Dilys Blum, the Senior Costume and Textiles Curator approached Ingrid to help create digitally printed reproduction curtains for the Rodin Museum Library.

A photo of the library was found in the Art Museum's archives showing curtains made from fabric printed with a bold, geometric design. Ms. Blum consulted decorative magazines from the time period and, despite the poor quality of the photograph of the room, was able to positively identify the fabric used for the curtains. It was Oak Leaves, designed c. 1928 by Ilonka Karasz, a Hungarian-born textile designer who became famous in New York City, and manufactured by Lesher-Whitman. A small sample of the fabric belongs to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and they were able to supply a high-resolution photograph of the fabric.

Ingrid color reduced the file and after many test prints, perfected the color. The curtains were originally printed on mohair, but it was decided to use linen for the reproductions, due to both printing limitations and the possibility of moth infestation. After the fabric was printed, the panels were coated with a flame retardant after-treatment in order to pass fire safety code. The fabric was then given to Beth Paolini, the Museum's seamstress, who created curtains that matched the originals. The curtains were hung with the original rods and hardware.

Many thanks to Wendy Anderson, EJ Herzczyk, Nancy Howard, Gwen Marks, Mark Sunderland, and Hitoshi Ujiie  for all their help. 

PhilaU Alum Interview: Anum Malik

Anum graduated from Philadelphia University in May 2012 with a BS in Textile Design and now works at Nike as a Footwear Material Designer. We caught up with her this past week to ask her for some insight with her experience at Nike as an intern, then as a full-time employee and how PhilaU has affected her work experience. Here's our Q&A:

Tell me a little bit about the Nike Internship experience: Was it project based? Was it job shadowing? Is it collaborative? 

The internship was project based, but pretty conceptual. Projects ranged from trend research, material construction, a collaboration with a footwear design intern, and an intern group project relating to sustainability. 

Is there anything that surprised you during your internship experience? 

One thing that stood out to me most is how willing Nike employees are to meet with you. It’s part of the culture here to network and listen to ideas, which makes it a really collaborative environment. 

How was the transition into your full-time position? Is it related to your internship experience? 

It’s related and different at the same time. My internship covered the basics and helped me conceptualize around footwear materials, and my job now involves applying what I learned to products-specifically Jordan Basketball footwear. 

What kind of knowledge that you gained from Philadelphia University did you apply during your internship/employment at Nike? 

I can honestly say that every aspect of textile design that I learned in school has been put to use here and given me a competitive advantage. I feel incredibly lucky to have had a balance of textile design and technical classes. My advice to students is to not take the technical classes for granted, in the long run they help you fully understand products which in my opinion makes you a better designer. 

How is textile design a part of footwear design? 

Simply put: Materials can make or break a shoe. 

Would you recommend this internship for PhilaU student and if so, what type of student would be best suited for the culture at Nike? 

I absolutely recommend this internship! I’d say be a storyteller. Have an opinion, and don’t be afraid of it. Take risks. Collaborate. Someone who is curious about designing the uniform of modern sport. And of course, have fun with your passions. 

Thanks Anum!

Digital Textile Design Workshop

Philadelphia University is offering a workshop in May 2013. This is an opportunity to learn the fundamentals of digital surface imaging and printed substrates. Digital Surface Imaging and Printing for Textiles is taught by members of the faculty of the Kanbar College of Design, Engineering and Commerce. 

To register for this workshop, please download the PDF and mail to:

Philadelphia University

Kanbar College of Design, Engineering & Commerce

School House Lane and Henry Avenue

Philadelphia, PA 19144-5497

or fax to: 214-951-2651

Professor Hitoshi's new iPhone App

Professor Hitoshi stopped by our Advanced CAD class to snap a few photos with his new iPhone App - the images that are tiled together can create an instant pattern of the graduate textile students! We have classes, but we always have fun!

The Design Center at PhilaU Featured on Tumblr Spotlight for Design

The Design Center at Philadelphia University was recently selected as a top design blog on Tumblr.com. The Center, which houses PhilaU’s historic and rare fashion and textile collection, regularly posts photos of prints and other patterns that play an influential role in the world of fashion.

The Design Center’s blog was selected as one of a handful of blogs to be featured on Tumblr’s Spotlight page on design:www.tumblr.com/spotlight/design. The Spotlight page is curated by Tumblr editors to bring the most creative and interesting blogs on the site to a wider audience.

The Design Center Tumblr blog logo textile (pictured here) is a design called Agate by David and Dash. David and Dash specialized in hotel textiles and wallpapers for South Beach, Miami during the 1960s.

“Being featured on Tumblr places The Design Center’s blog right next to established publications, such as Wallpaper Magazine and WGSN,” said Sarah Moore, collections curator for The Design Center. “Using social media, we have been able to give textiles that spend their time in archival storage a new life as digital files.”

With a visually interesting catalogue of textiles, The Design Center has actively cultivated on online presence through many social media platforms. In addition to the Center’s Tumblr page, you can also follow The Design Center on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

“Digital curation is a growing trend for museums and archives, and I think this will shape humanities outreach and education in the future,” Moore said. “Our newest foray is Instagram, where we are able to share some behind the scenes snapshots from our work in the historic textile and fashion collection.”

The Design Center houses more than 200,000 objects related to textiles and fashion and is located across from The Gallagher, Athletic, Recreation and Convocation Center at 4201 Henry Ave. In addition to the Center’s social media presence, followers of The Design Center can look forward to the release of an iPhone and iPad app sometime in the spring of 2013 that will allow users to browse a database of more than 9,000 historic textile swatches. The app is being funded with the help of a grant from the Barra Foundation.

IKEA: Textiles - a part of Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuxRg2iMI5I

Fashion Night Out & PhilaU Collaboration featured on Urban Outfitters blog

Check out features on Fashion Night Out celebrating the launch of garments designed by PhilaU students on Urban Outfitters blog.

Adrienne and Marjan celebrate their designs for UO!

http://blog.urbanoutfitters.com/blog/uos_night_out_recap

http://blog.urbanoutfitters.com/blog/art_school_adrienne_larsen

http://blog.urbanoutfitters.com/blog/art_school_marjan_gartland

Plus WHYY Newsworks - 

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/component/flexicontent/item/44350-philadelphia-university-urban-outfitters-

Student Work Featured in PatternBase

A few months ago, textile design students submitted work for a chance to be showcased in a new kickstart project called PatternBase: A Collection of Contemporary Textile and Surface Design. This is a collection of contemporary textile, surface, and print designs from around the world and a great source of inspiration. See work from our students and pre-order your copy of PatternBase here!

EJ Herczyk Exhibition opens at Cabrini College this week!

Opening Reception:
Thursday, September 13, 5–7 p.m.
Artist Talk:Thursday, September 27, 4:30 p.m.

“My current body of work investigates the invisible information conduits that fill our environment. We are constantly and completely engulfed in transmitted data spewing from wireless technology. In my work, this invisible landscape of data becomes an underworld of interpolated images and garish colors intertwined with the omnipresent lucid brushstroke.

“The pixel-based and hand-painted imagery both interact with and repel one another. Organic and artificial identities emerge and begin to create their own societal narratives.”

—EJ Herczyk

Marjan Osman Gartland for PhilaU x UO Cold Shoulder Shirtdress launched in Urban Outfitters catalog.

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=25332339&parentid=SEARCH+RESULTS

PhilaU Collaboration with Urban Outfitters launched at New York Fashion Night Out

A collaboration between Urban Outfitters and the knit and print design students at Philadelphia University resulted in two designs going into the Fall '12 UO collections.

PhilaU X UO by Adrienne Larsen Lurex Sweater - currently available 

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=25328915&parentid=SEARCH+RESULTS.

A print dress designed by Marjan Gartland will be online shortly.

The Transformation of Ideas: From Textile Print Surface Design to Emerging Field of Surface Imaging through Digital Printing Technology

Hitoshi Ujiie presented a Keynote Presentation of "The transformation of ideas: From Textile Print Surface Design to Emerging Field of Surface Imaging through Digital Printing Technology" for Design Forum Surface at Sao Paulo, Brazil in August, 2012. 

Video is available online:

Work Honored in Small Expressions Exhibition at Long Beach Museum of Art

Marcia Weiss, Coordinator of  the Textile Design B.S. Program and the Harold Neuman Textile Design Chair, has been honored with the Juror's Choice Award for her double cloth ikat artwork "Dialogue II" in the Small Expressions 2012 Exhibit at the Long Beach Museum of Art.  The show will be open through August 12, 2012.

Hitoshi Ujiie keynote speaker at Symposium In Aukland, New Zealand.

Hitoshi Ujiie, Professor of Printed Textiles and Director of the Center of Excellence of Digital Inkjet Printing for Textiles at Philadelphia University, will be the keynote speaker at  the symposium 'Innovations in Printed Textiles' to be held at AUT University, Aukland, New Zealand, June 26th. 

Hitoshi will also conduct workshops and lectures prior to the symposium

PMA hosts craft nights

Are you spending the summer in Philadelphia? The Philadelphia Museum of Art will be hosting a series of craft demonstrations.

Art Star Thursdays

Location: CraftLAB, Exhibition Gallery

Free after admission

The Museum has partnered with Art Star, a gallery and leader in the Philadelphia craft scene, for Art Star Thursdays, a series of afternoon drop in demonstrations by the region’s leading craft experts.

• Leslie Pontz, Fiber Sculpting
  
  • Thursday, May 17, 2012, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
• Janell Whysock, Knitwear
  
  • Thursday, May 24, 2012, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
• Jurgita Cenkute, Wool Felting
  
  • Thursday, May 31, 2012, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
• Insung Kim, Quilting and Sewing
  
  • Thursday, June 7, 2012, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
• E Bond, Bookmaking
  
  • Thursday, June 14, 2012, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
• Maureen Duffy, Jewelry
  
  • Thursday, June 21, 2012, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
• Marianne Dages, Bookmaking and Letterpress
  
  • Thursday, June 28, 2012, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
• Gretchen Diehl, Jewelry
  
  • Thursday, July 5, 2012, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
• Ed Bing Lee, Knotting
  
  • Thursday, July 12, 2012, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
• Megan Auman, Jewelry
  
  • Thursday, July 19, 2012, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
• Rachel Sherman, Textile Design
  
  • Thursday, July 26, 2012, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
• Amber Kane, Weaving and Crochet
  
  • Thursday, August 2, 2012, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
• Monika Krol, Jewelry
  
  • Thursday, August 9, 2012, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

ITMA Competition Winners from PhilaU

We are happy to announce that two of our textile graduate students have won places in the Virginia Jackson ITMA Design Competition in Print!

Congratulations to Grace Chen for winning 1st place and Ingrid Johnson for 2nd place!

Grace Chen's winning design

Ingrid Johnson's print design

Peace Quilt

During the spring semester, Wendy Anderson, technical associate in print design, together with a group of volunteer students worked with students at the local Thomas Mifflin Elementary school to make a 'Peace Quilt' along with a collection of printed pillows.

Before making the quilt, students participated in two months of lessons on violence prevention, working with leaders from The Peaceful Posse, a Philadelphia peer-group mentoring program which teaches students how to build social and emotional skills. 


Wendy and the volunteers helped students to create individual quilt block designs, which were then printed digitally and assembled into the final quilt. A tour of Philadelphia University's design studios and Senior Design Exhibition was also organized for the students at the end of the project.

A ceremony was held at Thomas Mifflin, opening with a rendition of Bob Marley's "One Love," sung by a group of elementary students. 

It was a peaceful celebration of sorts at the East Falls school for the official unveiling of the quilt created by students to represent anti-violence efforts at the school. 

Great job Wendy and all the Philadelphia University volunteers.