Studio 3D 05: Unravelled

Studio brief

"If we want to speak to people, we need to know their language. In order to design for understanding, we need to understand design."

Erik Spiekermann, Typographer, German

We as a studio fervently believe great design requires great understanding. Our aim will be to untangle, demystify and decipher the extremely complex and ever changing world of design. Thus providing you, our students with the most realistic and industry-ready educational experience.

Guided by a professional team of lecturers and practitioners active within the professional realms of Textiles, Fine Art and Fashion, you will engage across all supported textile specialisms of your choice, in a solid research practice, hands-on workshop skills, experimental development techniques, abstract thought processes and the ability to present your ideas to the world.

Studio Unravelled will assist you in three principal points of focus to establish a form of communication between you the student and the design world you are to become a part of.

Research 
We in Unravelled believe creative innovation is in direct correlation to the depth of research that we undertake. That the ability to take diverse and disparate visual research, ideas, concepts and arrange them in such a way as to make stimulating and thought-provoking connections is the key to creating successful design. You will be directed in obsessive, extensive and exhaustive research in all its forms. From archive visits, group gallery tours, personal exploration and research trips in Paris and London enabling you to build a solid starting point for each project. To know what has gone before, what is happening now, gives you the ability to leap into the future.

Process
For Unravelled this is not a study of the pristine perfect outcomes available for us to see in Design Museums, on the Catwalk or in Art books, but an in-depth reveal of the inner workings of many a designers practice. The very guts of design. Through visiting relevant speakers from the design world, engaging in Live Projects with real clients, assisting at London Fashion Week, International trade shows in Paris and Florence, manufacturing visits and tutorial guidance in personal case studies. You will develop a real understanding of the design process, your materials and material properties, make and maker. In Unravelled this is all about finding the right process for you.

Context
We believe investigating, questioning and documenting your personal creative process in relation to that of the world around you will be key to building your personal design vocabulary. Not only to understand where you position yourselves as designers and change-makers but also to identify new design spaces to occupy. Who are you as a designer? What is your DNA? What do you want to say? Where do you want to land? If you want to speak to people you need to know their language. In Unravelled we will assist you in this creative dialogue, enabling you to design in a way that not only seduces and shapes but most importantly, evokes an emotional response. Not designing products, but creating worlds.

Welcome to Unravelled.

The ponytail on the back of the woman's head

Details

Course Textiles BA (Hons)
Fashion Accessories and Jewellery BA (Hons)
Tutors Karen Coughlan
Sam Wingate
Marianne Forrest
Simone Ten Hompel
Where Calcutta House
Studio 5, fourth floor CM4-21
When Tuesday and Friday

Cass Studios archive by year