One always wants to work on things that interest them. I did the same. I made a list of all the things that I would be interested in and to work with. I narrowed it down to three main interests. Out of that I took one which was related to playing games.
I wanted to give a different dimension to the games using textiles. Traditional Indian games interested me. I was thinking of how to incorporate it into textiles and use the cloth as the board or how to make an interactive game using textiles. My initial target audience was children which shifted to young adults aging from 20 to 25 years. This was a challenge since this age group, with the rapid technological advancement was mainly interested in virtual games and virtual world. So unless and until the game was not challenging and mind boggling, it would be of no interest to them.
I was looking at making a simple game complicated. I looked at transformation and came across M.C. Escher’s work. This triggered a thought. Since I would be using cloth, there could be various ways in which the board could be folded that ends up making different boards which in turn gives you the freedom to make your game.
Looking at folds, I came across origami. It is a traditional Japanese technique of paper folding without cutting or gluing paper. I was always interested in and fascinated by origami and how simple series of folds make complex forms. So here was my chance to use it in textiles. It is interactive and creates curiosity within as to how it was folded to form the required shape. So not completely taking away from my initial idea of an interactive game, I thought of using the origami technique and making my products.
My idea was to use origami folds on cloth instead of paper and give the fabric a dimension. There are many garments and products that use origami as an inspiration. They use patterns of origami on fabric or attach the pieces in that way. It is not folded out of one piece in the traditional way to make garments or accessories.
The aim is to use one piece of cloth to make the products.
I want to use origami as an accessory. My final products would be 2 stoles and 1 clutch bag. These will accentuate the body. Making the entire stole with origami in the given time is tedious. Hence, I will incorporate other techniques like printing or shibori along with folding, to compliment it.
The target audience is 20 years and above. It will be a classy theme. The Stoles and bag will be worn for evening occasions.
Time line
| Date (17th March – 23rd April 2010) | Activity |
| Week 1 | Ideating. Thinking of a project to work on. Researching simultaneously. Conceptualizing. |
| Week 2 | Finalising the idea and an in-depth research on it. |
| Week 3 | Exploring and experimenting the idea with fabric. Sampling. |
| Week 4 | Finalising the technique and fabric that works best. Working towards the final outcome. Iterations for the products. |
| Week 5 | Work in progress. |
| Week 6 | Completing the final pieces and making ready for presentation. |
