Since entering into this digital world over a year ago I’ve been keen to learn new programmes and discover the power of what they can create. The idea of learning coding to improve my design experience and open up creativity would never have occurred to me whilst working in previous design/pattern cutting roles. But I now feel free to explore, make mistakes, learn and see where it may take me.
I’ve been working my way through a course on Future Learn (see link below) and to be honest it’s been challenging, and I find it difficult to fully understand the coding processes, terminology and order for instructions but I’ve managed to understand some basics and can turn off and put parts of the code on and make some alterations to the provided code. This is the second attempt at this course as I felt I had other areas of learning I’d prefer to start but now I’m back learning and I’m happy to say I’ve progressed further and I’ve been excited and encouraged with what I have learnt and created and I’m starting to appreciate the power of what working with code can do.
My initial thinking for wanting to learn to code was to explore it’s use in replicating 3D structures using research around Biomimicry but i’m discovering that I’m able to leverage the assets to create prints and obj’s which I can then use in other softwares like Adobe illustrator/Photoshop and CLO3D.
The images above show my learning on bone structures, adding shapes, points, randomisation and how to create patterns whilst using the provided code with alteration being made to the scale and position.
The below images show my exploration in using randomisation and the factor of inputing different start points and dimensional outputs which resulted in the shapes below.
When the patterns were created I was excited by the output and started to consider how I might use them. I really wanted to explore how I could use them to create prints and I’m also considering the possibilities of using the shapes to design garment pattern from by mapping the shapes around the form, but this is something I am still to explore.
The images below show how I use the information (shape) created in Rhino and I used it to created a repeat print using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, I was then able to see how the print might look on a garment by using CLO3D on a Zero Waste garment I had created previously. I was able to play with the scale, placement and proportion to find something I was happy with. I also experimented with the concept of making changes to the skins of the avatar by including the graphics onto her legs. This was new learning to me and I was able to include this by opening the avatars leg jpeg from the property editor into Photoshop, positioning the graphics accordingly, saving and selected the newly saved jpeg.
As the course progresses I am starting to be introduced to how to add colour and how to create shapes that are 3D.
Below is a selection of cones that have been created by inputting two sets of placements for circles and then using randomisation of sizing, with an additional input for adding a colour variation. As the cones are created the variation in sizing means that some of the cones will interact or overlap with others creating unusual patterns.
I further explored colour combination by exporting the file into Photoshop and adjusting the hue/saturation and also the colour balance.
Moving on from the cones I was able to input a sphere as a shape and adjust the variation in size, and quantities by adjusting the outputs across the x,y,z axis. I was really excited by this finding and I was keen to explore how I could use this newly created colourful spheres within my garment creation. In Rhino I firstly played around with the positioning with some of the spheres and then saved the file as an obj. I was then able to import the sphere obj into CLO3D where I played around with placing them around the avatar, adjusting the scale and position accordingly. I was happy to realise that I was able to further alter the spheres in CLO3D by using the property editor and adjusting the look of individual spheres using the material properties.
The below show how I have used the fur and iridescent properties which become evident only whilst in the render window.
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