Tuesday, 8 February 2011

Technical advances in Textile Printing

In the 21st century, technology has significantly taken over. Since the development of computers in the 20th century, the term ‘digital’ has been applied to everyday life from mobile phones to broadband.

The production industries have been greatly revolutionised since the 1980s, when Computer-aided design (CAD) was first introduced. Firstly, it was mainly used for engineering, but it has now taken over other areas, becoming a must-have for designers and architects.

Craft practitioners have also become CAD users; endless opportunities can be input into Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) software which then becomes automatized. CAD/CAM is the heart of the digital production process.

This can be subtractive or additive manufacturing:

·         Subtractive such as laser-cutting, water-jet cutting or CNC routing.
·         Additive where materials are deposited to gradually build up and object

For some the words digital and craft do not gel together. Computerised processes are thought to be too lineal, mathematical, … too perfect. While craft is associated with hand skill, chance, charm and value.

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