Welcome Back Meg! Textile Design Student Reflects on time at Massey University in Wellington, New Zealand

- I am in a shipping container swing here. Wellington is so cool, that they have all these shipping containers everywhere around the city! Coffee shops, performances, swings, literally anything could be happening in a shipping container! You just need to find them around the city, and there is always something fun to do with them!

After spending the spring term in "Windy Wellington" at Massey University, Meg Onuskanych spent a few moments reflecting about her experience.

The first picture is of me ay Massey University. This is at the back of the building where the textile department is located. (in an old museum!)

1. What courses did you take?

I took, a Wallcoverings/Wallpaper course, Textile Materials, Embroidery, and then a           Communications class to fill a general credit.

This is one of the wallpapers that I did while at Massey. It had to be textured, so I used the embroidery skills I had learned to make one of my wallpapers textured. 

2. What was the workload like for those courses?

The intensity of work at Massey was much different from past classes I've experienced at PhilaU. It was definitely more concept based. Starting with one idea at the beginning of the semester, and just developing upon that the whole time. Basically, there wasn't really a time that I ever felt overwhelmed.

This is one of the projects that I did for embroidery. The embroidery was influenced from 1900 embroidery of Lady Cory. We got to look at her work first hand, on reserve at New Zealand national museum, Te Papa. It was a very cool project, and we got to learn a lot about the history of Lady Cory, who I otherwise would have never known about!

3. How were the classes structured similarly/differently compared to classes at PhilaU?

I would say the way in which they developed the single project that was assigned for the whole semester. For each of my design classes, they wanted to see where the idea developed from, how you planned to execute it, actually execute it, change it, develop it, and then finish with something that became more specific and intriguing than your original idea.

4. How has this experience changed your perspective as a designer?

I definitely think that it is cool to see how people are doing design work other places, and being there first hand. A lot of the textile girls were influenced by faces, and you could see how their own color choices and handwork made it their own, even though they all had similarities.  

5. What surprised you about your learning experience in New Zealand?

A lot of times I would be in studio and be thinking, "Wait, what am I supposed to be doing right now?" That was because I was used to working at a fast pace at PhilaU, but there would be multiple classes spent on just one small aspect of a project.

6. How do you expect your experience in New Zealand will impact your work?

Well, since I think I am now destined to live in Wellington, I think all the culturally rich parts of the city will influence me in my work, but also just how I go about everyday life now too. 

Here is a selfie that I took when swimming with wild dolphins!! So cool! and the coolest part is that PhilaU uses the most amazing company, IFSAButler to help you acquaint yourself with New Zealand. The best part is you get to hang with their amazing advisors and go on free trips and dinner. Seriously the best company ever!

The next image is when I went to Homegrown, one of the largest music festivals in NZ. It was right in Wellington, and it was awesome to see some bands that were from NZ. I actually saw many of the artists around Welly after seeing them play there!

I was visiting Fran Josef Glacier here. Really cool, and also just a fun little hike on the way up to check it out. High-fiving the cardboard cutout of a Park Ranger. 

Here is a picture, of what I loved to do for fun in NZ! Hiking!! I am a very outdoorsy person, so being in NZ gave me opportunity to hike as much as possible. Even if it was a causal outing, the hiking and and any outdoor activity was amazing there! I am on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing here with come friends. 

Textile Students win First Prize in 2015 Fabric Graphics Competition

Winning textile by Sarah McMahon and Sarah Haas

Sarah McMahon, M.S. Textile Design and Sarah Haas, M.S. Textile Engineering were recently awarded first place in the 2015 Fabric Graphics Student Design Challenge.  Their submission, entitled ‘Antimicrobial Artwork,’ brought together functionality and aesthetics to textiles.  In their research, they found that  “ healthcare-acquired infections are an ever-growing problem that hospitals face, regardless of the socioeconomic status of the country. Textiles imbued with antimicrobial characteristics are being sought for their ability to kill and/or inhibit the growth of microorganisms. We found that both tea tree essential oil and eucalyptus essential oil, combined with a binding agent, inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium well known to cause healthcare-acquired infections. “

In looking for an end-use, textiles with antimicrobial finishes currently exist in hospitals in the form of separating curtains and chair coverings.  Colorful artwork is already on display in children’s hospitals, but serves an aesthetic purpose. The design is unique in that the two elements of function and design are combined into one product to serve both the antimicrobial and aesthetic needs in the children’s hospital setting.  Adding art is an essential element to this product because the end goal is to brighten a space that often has a negative connotation.

“We're so honored with the recognition and are excited to travel to Anaheim to present our work.”

Congratulations to Sarah and Sarah upon this well deserved award.

Textile Design bringing a Brighter Future: Abeer Seikaly, Weaving a Home

Photo by Abeer Seikaly,
You can see her inspiration from snake skin and weaving in the construction of these tents

A mobile living space that folds easy for transport, collects rainwater and solar energy, and is 4 season capable? It seems like an impossible dream, but for Abeer Seikaly, a mission she has made a reality. 

Since graduating from RISD in 2002, Seikaly has worked with organizations worldwide to bring innovation and beauty to the realms of architecture, textiles, fashion, and art. 

Photo by: Abeer Seikaly, energy stored from solar panels allows for illumination at night

Follow this link to One Million Women's website to read about this incredible textile innovation!

This link will take you to Abeer Seikaly's website to see her other inspiring works.

Tell Us About Your Internship, Andrea Mata

Andrea working to organize the Custom Design Fall 2015 Line

Andrea took a moment to tell us about her experience at Echo Design this summer.

A. Describe a typical day at your internship

Everyday was different depending on how close to market week the week was. However some of the daily activities where the following:

Assist in sending out samples with factories following direction from designer – process involves organizing tech packs with detailed instructions, flat sketches, CADs, color cards, pitch sheets, swatches, and trims; assist in colorations of styles, assist in checking in samples (under supervision of designer) and organizing, creating, and setting up presentation materials and showroom visuals in preparation for design meetings.

Andrea continuing to work on the Fall 2015 Custom Line

B. Is there something about your internship/internship/company that surprised you?

I was amazed how fast the turn around time of a product from a foreign mill was, as well as, the quality, construction and color of the scarfs was so accurate to the Pantone colors and tech pack requirements of a specific style.

Group photo of the whole CUSTOM team division for Echo's 92nd Anniversary Party

C. How do you anticipate this internship experience impacting your graduate work?

 My team was very knowledgeable and hard working. I learned a lot about color, quality and construction of a printed scarf using different printing processes such as rotary, screen and digital printing. I also acquired more knowledge on the different qualities or fabric constructions and how they reflect the printed image that decorates the scarfs. I believe that excellent quality in color and construction of a fabric is something that will determine how successful your end product will be. 

Picture with Custom Team and Dorthy Roberts, daughter of original founders of the ECHO brand.

Textile Design Students Receive Awards in Alpaca Design Competition

Two PhilaU Textile Design students received awards in the 2015 Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association Design Competition.  Natasa Kovacevic and Morgan Jefferson were awarded 3rd and 4th places respectively in the Textile Design category for their knitted samples.  Both were guests of AOBA at the national conference held in Denver, Colorado.  Congratulations to Natasa and Morgan for their great work!


Morgan and Natasa with other winning students and sponsors. 

Morgan's winning entry

Natasa's winning entry

Textile Design Alumni in newly released book: The Pattern Base

Newly released book The Pattern Base: Over 550 Contemporary Textile and Surface Designs, Thames and Hudson, 2015, includes the textile designs of four PhilaU Textile Design alums.  Congratulations to Sarah Wothers (Textile Design B.S.), Liz Weissert (Textile Design M.S.), Andrea Purcell (Textile Design B.S.) and Ingrid Johnson (Textile Design M.S.) for having their work selected for this great new book!  Grab a copy and check out all the wonderful work.  Congratulations again to our alumni!!

Textile Design Internship at Wesley Mancini, Ltd.

Textile Design M.S. student Zhiwen "Joan" Wang had a great summer internship with Wesley Mancini, Ltd.  in Charlotte, NC.  Joan shared the following with us:

I interned at Wesley Mancini, a jacquard design studio for home fabrics. I started my work as an archivist, organizing both fabrics and art work created over the past thirty years. After that I edited design graphics on EAT software, making sure the art work had limited colors and the edge of each section was not too flat. Sometimes I worked with plains, designing woven construction patterns.

One thing that surprised me a lot was that this company hand draws almost all the designs, in repeat, in the studio. [Following the internship], I will apply EAT skills learned here to my design studio courses and also keep better order of my design files and sketches.

Joan at work at Wesley Mancini, Ltd.