Inkjet4Tex: Creative implications of 3D inkjet printing

technologies for textiles

CAMPBELL, J.R.
Available from Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive (SHURA) at:
http://shura.shu.ac.uk/519/

This document is the author deposited version. You are advised to consult the
publisher's version if you wish to cite from it.
Published version
CAMPBELL, J.R. (2009). Inkjet4Tex: Creative implications of 3D inkjet printing
technologies for textiles. In: Undisciplined! Design Research Society Conference
2008, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK, 16-19 July 2008.

Repository use policy

Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the
individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may download and/or print
one copy of any article(s) in SHURA to facilitate their private study or for non-
commercial research. You may not engage in further distribution of the material or
use it for any profit-making activities or any commercial gain.

Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive

http://shura.shu.ac.uk
Undisciplined! Proceedings of the Design Research Society Conference 2008. Sheffield, UK. July
2008

Inkjet4Tex:
Creative implications of 3D inkjet printing technologies for textiles.

J.R. Campbell, Centre for Advanced Textiles, Glasgow School of Art, UK

Craig Whittet, Glasgow School of Art, UK
Helena Britt, Glasgow School of Art, UK

Abstract
This project expands future applied-design capabilities for textiles as a
function of inkjet deposition technology. The project investigates 3D inkjet
rapid-production tools’ potential, focusing on creative gaps in the developing
technology in its application to the textile design process. As such, the
research investigates future design possibilities for inkjet printing technology in
the creation of 3D textile structures and surfaces. The research “demonstrates
how tacit knowledge can be employed, observed and created in a
methodical way, with new artefacts playing a role in provoking insights based
on tacit understanding”… [with a ] focus on developing and employing tacit
insights that would not be revealed in situations where nothing has been
changed.” (Rust, 2007)
As inkjet textile technology evolves past a rapid prototyping tool into a series
of responsive manufacturing techniques for textile products, designers, textile
technology developers and soft goods industries will be able to use the results
of this research to maximize their creative development. By developing and
employing modified 2D/3D textile design processes with the technology future
creators will be assisted to conceptualise and manufacture locally, creatively
and with more accessible technologies.

Keywords
3D textiles, surface design, technology-driven design process, inkjet printing,
fused deposition modelling, novel textile design

Research Context
In the last ten years a surge of new technologies have filtered into the broad
range of craft/design disciplines. Many of these technologies are applicable
across disciplines as they employ the capabilities of digital imaging. Several
digital prototyping and production techniques enable the designed object to
transcend traditional material properties, constraints and disciplines. The
creator of the “One Shot Stool” shown in figure 1 completely dispensed with
the need for separate joining elements such as bolts or nails to connect
components; instead the twist-folding stool is created in one step using rapid
prototyping (RP) tools (http://www.materialise.com).

168/1
Undisciplined! Proceedings of the Design Research Society Conference 2008. Sheffield, UK. July
2008

Figure 1. ONE SHOT STOOL by Materialise

Increasingly, the relationships between the act of designing, prototyping,
producing and consuming have become more symbiotic through the
application of computer-driven RP technologies. In our society of design
conscious consumers, the flexibility of design and computing technology
reinforces the trend for customization, personalization, experience and
exclusivity to be built into the design of products (Pine & Gilmore, 1999). How
can we creatively apply new technologies to integrate these concepts into
design? For the technology-driven designer, the boundaries between the
craft/design disciplines have drastically blurred (Treadaway, 2004). Selecting
computer-driven manufacturing processes functions similarly to selecting
drawing tools from a palette. The physical outputs are now a direct extension
of digital imaging technologies.
Developers such as Microfab and Dimatix have recognised the potential for
inkjet technologies to be used as a manufacturing process, but often are
unaware of how to translate the capabilities into creative applications that
can become (or be incorporated into) products (VTT PUBLICATIONS 635, 2007).
It is likely that the true innovations will occur in discipline-specific applications
of the tools. The use of these tools could be described as an intervention to
traditional textile design processes, as they provide entirely new possibilities in
both process and product for textiles. An innovative approach to integrating
3D inkjet technologies into a textile design process needs to be developed.
As a deposition technology, inkjet printing provides a wealth of alternative
applications that allow for the development of completely new products and
categories in fabric design and textile product production. Previous research
(Author & Co-Author, 2005. p. 10) suggests that the technology can be
approached in a very holistic manner to incorporate complex design effects
into manufactured textile products. From a textile printing perspective, inkjet
printing is unique as the only non-contact printing process for fabric. Droplets
of ink are released from a printhead mechanism that travels above the textile
surface, thus functioning as a ‘deposition’ process (Author, 2006). This process
in textiles has traditionally been a two-dimensional (2D) design process, but
through manipulating inkjet heads to also traverse on the Y and Z axis, three
dimensional (3D) printing necessitates the development of a 2D/3D textile

168/2
Undisciplined! Proceedings of the Design Research Society Conference 2008. Sheffield, UK. July
2008

design process. Organisations such as the Information Management Institute

(IMI, 2008) have supported symposia on “Inkjet as a Manufacturing Process”,
but to date no published literature or organisation has suggested a cohesive
design-process approach to creating 3D flexible textures for surface effect.

Research Question
This project expands future applied-design capabilities for textiles as a
function of inkjet deposition technology. The paper focuses on one strand in a
series of lateral investigations by the authors with existing inkjet technologies
employed in the design and development of textiles. The project investigates
the tools’ potential, focusing on the creative gaps in the developing
technology that are either too risky for the industry to invest time in, or apply
the technologies in a manner not directly related to its intended purposes. As
such, the research investigates future design possibilities for inkjet printing
technology in the creation of 3D textile structures and surfaces.

How does this work relate to previous research in this area?

In 2003, a design firm called Freedom of Creation (FOC) conceptualised and
developed new structures for three-dimensionally printed textiles
(http://www.freedomofcreation.com). Their research resulted in a series of flexible
textile-like structures, like the one shown in figure 2, that were ‘printed’ using
Selective Laser Sintering technologies. The designs resembled chain-mail-like
fabrics, created using fairly rigid polymer interlocking rings and chains. The project
demonstrated potential for new applications in responsively-produced textiles, but
were limited in usability by their weight, scale and relative cost. 3D inkjet deposition
technologies have begun to show greater potential for continued development in this
area, due to the reduced cost to produce and greater flexibility in substances that can
potentially be printed, but there are some limitations to their applications in textiles.
Investigations into reducing the scale of 3D textile structures, improving the designs
for usability and producibility need to be undertaken and will help to enhance design
for this area.
This project responds to 3D textiles created by FOC, but focuses development to
inkjet-only output possibilities, primarily for surface effect as opposed to structural
textile designs.

168/3
Undisciplined! Proceedings of the Design Research Society Conference 2008. Sheffield, UK. July
2008

Figure 2. Freedom of Creation – Laser sintered textiles.

What makes this interesting from a research perspective?

As an early stage investigative project, this research has straddled a wobbly
balance between design-led and practice-based research. Through
investigating the technology’s potential we sought to “illustrate how designers
can act as provocateurs in the early stages of interdisciplinary work, indicating
a wider role for their work in taking responsibility for the genesis of a project as
well as, or instead of, its conclusions. (Rust, 2007)”
We do not claim the potential for the research to lead directly to marketable
products; instead we have removed many standard design constraints
(indeed possibly even reason) as a means to freely investigate and expose
non-linear opportunities in their application to new modes of textile design.

Aims and objectives

The research goal was to use practical testing and development as a means
for investigating and generating a 2D/3D textile design process. Much
theoretical research has gone into developing software to approach 3D
design of textiles, mostly focused on replicating existing textile structures in 3D
visualisations such as those of Dong and Chantler (2005), but little research has
demonstrated design principles that can be applied to enhance the physical
creation of 3D textile concepts through the application of rapid production
technologies. This research is not simply about creating working samples; it
follows on a program of research previously demonstrated by the authors
(Author et. al, 2002) about developing appropriate methods for integrating
new technologies for continued design development. Through the project we
have embodied a type of design research described by Chris Rust (2007, p. 73)
in a recent International Journal of Design article:
This set of practices developing in design, in both research and practice
settings, demonstrates how tacit knowledge can be employed,
observed and created in a methodical way, with new artefacts playing
a role in provoking insights based on tacit understanding.
To borrow Rust’s description of Bowen’s work (2007, p. 72), our goal is to
“develop new methods for designers of physical products that embody
computer-mediated functions, … [with a] focus on developing and
employing tacit insights that would not be revealed in situations where
nothing has been changed.”
The overall aim of the research was to work together to build a
comprehensive picture of potentially significant ‘breakthrough methods’ for
future design applications in the use of inkjet technology for textile design. This
paper presents initial results of the following objective: To design and print
both 3D textile structures and topographical surface effects that can be
adhered to a fabric base, focusing on evaluating the technology’s potential
for changing the scale of 3D structural textile designs.

168/4
Undisciplined! Proceedings of the Design Research Society Conference 2008. Sheffield, UK. July
2008

Approach
The investigations used inkjet fused-deposition modeling methods for ‘printing’
three-dimensional (3D) fabric structures and surfaces. Two approaches were
employed to design 3D inkjet textiles: a) building up the surface texture of an
existing textile by conceptualizing, designing and printing 3D elements that
adhere to the fabric surface; and b) printing 3D textile structures that are
novel variations on knit and woven structures. The experiments focused on
evaluating the technologies’ potential for changing the scale and structural
elements of 3D textile designs, as a means for finding the most workable and
flexible structures for use as actual fabrics. To conceptualise methods for
‘capturing’ or generating the 3D designs, the team employed a design
process of 3D scanning and reverse modeling techniques devised by one of
the authors.
The research group developed criteria for visual and structural concepts to be
explored in the testing of 3D surface structures. The goals were as follows:
• Attempt to investigate 3D surface structures that are novel
developments for textile design effects. For example, the team did not
want to spend time trying to replicate existing fabric structures for 3D
effect; i.e. we would not attempt to create surfaces that mimic known
weave/knit/non-woven structures or to imitate yarn or fibre structures in
3D as this type of research has been previously attempted, primarily by
material scientists and textile engineers, and mostly focused on
creating algorithms for generating randomised visualisations of woven
or composite fabric textures in three-dimensions (Quinn, McIlhagger,
and McIlhagger, 2003) (Texture Lab, Heriot Watt University).
• Determine methods for creating and predicting 3D surface structures
that would enhance (or at least not excessively inhibit) flexibility of the
substrate.
• Combine goals for flexibility with an ability to create structures that
would not collapse or crumble with flexing or bending of the substrate.
This involved a visual investigation of the types of geometric and/or
organic shapes or motifs that are optimal for these criteria.
• Develop design approaches and techniques that focus on the
advantages of 3D inkjet fused-deposition modelling printers. This
involved determining an approach to the technology’s need to
include lattice or structural supports as part of the 3D ‘build’ process, as
well as investigating methods for taking advantage of the rigidity of the
nylon-based polymer used as the printing medium. Future investigation
will include comparison of these approaches to possibilities and
constraints that exist in other rapid prototyping techniques, such as
selective laser sintering, stereolithography, etc.
• Experiment with creating 3D designs from existing images that have
been used by the authors in investigating potential for other digitally-
driven output technologies for textiles, such as laser etching, digital
printing and digital embroidery. This allows for the researchers to
visually demonstrate the transformation of a designed image/idea as it
is re-represented in multiple output technologies.

168/5
Undisciplined! Proceedings of the Design Research Society Conference 2008. Sheffield, UK. July
2008

Results
Investigations involved analysing and developing textural constructs that
could be re-represented through 3D technologies, yet be used functionally as
an extra-dimensional surface of a textile. Structures inspired from images like
the electron microscope photograph of carbon nanotubes shown to in figure
3 functioned as a starting point for the designs. From these, a series of 3D
designs were created. The designs were printed while testing a series of
techniques for adhering the dimensional print to existing fabric structures, as
well as attempting to generate an embedded textile-like ground within the
body of the 3D printed file.

Figure 3. Inspirational image of carbon nanotubes

Initial results were variable, but provided excellent artefacts for visual and
structural evaluation, leading to refinement of the designed-effects.

Pliability/Flexibility
The researchers discussed ways in which we might approach the creation
and/or retention of flexibility of material while using the 3D FDM printer. Since
the material printed is an ABS Nylon, which is melted for inkjet deposition and
then hardens after cooling, the team had to explore the potential for
maintaining flexibility with the rigid material. Our initial approach was to think
in small modular units that could be adhered to a flexible textile substrate,
such as the concept shown in figure 4.

168/6
Undisciplined! Proceedings of the Design Research Society Conference 2008. Sheffield, UK. July
2008

Figure 4. Modular tubes desgn for 3D FDM printing.

While the tubes shown in figures 5 and 6 represent a possible solution, visually
they are of minimal interest in their application to a fabric, and would certainly
have been producible through other cheaper means (such as cut segments
of extruded tubing). The cylindrical shape did allow for a high degree of motif
density with moderate flexibility (only in the concave or outward direction).

Figure 5. 3D FDM-printed modular tubes.

168/7
Undisciplined! Proceedings of the Design Research Society Conference 2008. Sheffield, UK. July
2008

Figure 6. 3D FDM-printed tubes on fabric; side view.

Mixing flexibility with structural integrity

As a means for mixing flexibility with potential for 3D textile surface designs that
could only be created using RP technologies, one of the most complex tasks is
creating dimensionally effective designs that are structurally able to deal with
the requirements for either being adhered to a fabric surface or printed
directly onto a flexible substrate design. Figure 7 shows our initial attempt at a
novel and potentially flexible structure. The goal was to create a structure
that could move with the fabric, made up of modular elements.

Figure 7. 3D ‘coil’ concept as it intersects with a flat plane (textile substrate).

While conceptually the design idea had good potential, the type of FDM
inkjet printer that we used provided an obstacle that couldn’t be solved. The
printer we used printed a ‘support’ material of a slightly more brittle polymer
substance, which normally would be snapped away from the design after
printing. Because this design had floating elements in almost every angle
internally, the support structure was so entangled that it could not be
removed without the entire structure crumbling. Figure 8 shows the printed
effect with the support structure. Future variations on this concept will likely
involve creating more supporting linkages manually (to minimize the
automatic support structure added by the RP software) and printing the
structure directly onto an RP-generated ‘textile’ substrate as a means for
support. Variations in scale and complexity will be attempted to determine
thresholds for sustainability. With further testing, the research group will also
print this design with a version of FDM printing that allows the substrate to be
dissolved in solution.

168/8
Undisciplined! Proceedings of the Design Research Society Conference 2008. Sheffield, UK. July
2008

Figure 8. 3D printed ‘coil’ showing the inseparable nature of the “support”

structure added by the 3D printer’s software.

Dealing with lattice/support materials

While dissolving the support material in an FDM printed structure may help to
solve some of the design constraints, it creates added levels of complexity
and environmentally challenging chemicals into the design process in such a
way that the designer/researchers involved in the project deemed to be
undesirable. In slightly stubborn defiance, and in suspension of quick
reasoning, we are continuing to explore means for using basic FDM printer
technology to create structures that minimize the need for entangled support.
The goal is to determine an approach that can inform recommendations for
creating future structures effectively.
A textile-like structure, such as the one shown in figure 9, could potentially
have very different requirements for support material when printed at different
scales. If this type of structure could be effectively repeated at a very small
scale to create the substrate, then a structure such as the own shown in figure
7 could be more intricately fused to this one, reducing the need for support
lattice. Attention will need to be given to retaining flexibility. This type of
investigation will form the next phase of the research, as the team becomes
more adept at manipulating and mixing structures in 3D software applications.

168/9
Undisciplined! Proceedings of the Design Research Society Conference 2008. Sheffield, UK. July
2008

Figure 9. Textile-like structure for use as a 3D substrate.

3D designs from existing images

In order to visually explore the changes to a textile design concept as it is
translated through different types of digital output technologies, we selected
an image developed by one of the authors that had previously been
explored through digital printing, laser etching and digital embroidery design
processes (shown in figure 10). The original image was imported into a 3D
software design package and then extruded into a 3D shape using a filter
algorithm in the software.

Figure 10. Original image captured from a photographed element in a

stained-glass window (on left), translated through digital textile printing and
laser etching (in middle) and with the additional translation of digital
embroidery (on right).
Figure 11 shows two views of the extruded image as it appears in 3D
visualisation. The image was selected partly for its use of a circular motif, as it
relates to its use for flexibility once adhered to fabric. Issues of resolution and
complexity of the extrusion had to be dealt with so the file could be prepared
for 3D printing. Ultimately, the number of ‘peaks’ for the texture housed inside
the circular motif had to be reduced. In addition, the extrusion process
creates just a mesh without thickness, so a method had to be devised for
creating a wall thickness that did not inhibit the visual aesthetic and yet

168/10
Undisciplined! Proceedings of the Design Research Society Conference 2008. Sheffield, UK. July
2008

provided a degree of structural integrity needed to be able to print the file.

The initial attempt to generate the file to be sent to the FDM printer failed, so
the printed output could not be completed within the timeline for the project.

Figure 11

Potential applications and benefits

As inkjet textile technology evolves past a rapid prototyping tool into a series
of responsive manufacturing techniques for textile products, designers, textile
technology developers and soft goods industries will be able to use the results
of this research to maximize their creative development. Though we are early
in the investigative stages of the project, many possibilities have presented
themselves for further exploration. The authors hope that by employing
modified 2D/3D textile design processes with the technology future creators
will be assisted to conceptualise and manufacture locally, creatively and with
more accessible technologies.

References:
Author, 2006. Controlling Digital Colour Printing on Textiles. Chapter in Total
Colour Management. Edited by Dr. John H. Xin. Woodhead Publishing Ltd.,
Cambridge, England. ISBN 1 85573 923 2. Chapter 9, pg. 160 – 190.
Author et al., 2002. Collaborative Integration of a New Technology in the
Textile and Apparel Design Process. Design Research Society: Common
Ground. Edited by Durling, Shackleton, Rust and Robertson. ISBN:1904133118
Author et al., 2005. Taking Advantage of the Design Potential of Digital Printing
Technology for Apparel. Journal of Textiles and Apparel, Technology and
Management. Volume 4, Issue 3, Spring 2005
Dong, J. and Chantler, M. J., 2005. Capture and Synthesis of 3D Surface
Texture. International Journal of Computer Vision (VISI), 62(1-2), pp177-194.
Information Management Institute. http://www.imiconf.com/
Pine, J. and Gilmore, J. 1999. The Experience Economy, Harvard Business
School Press, Boston, 1999.

168/11
Undisciplined! Proceedings of the Design Research Society Conference 2008. Sheffield, UK. July
2008

Quinn, J., McIlhagger, R. and McIlhagger, A. T. 2003. A modified system for

design and analysis of 3D woven performs. Composites Part A: Applied
Science and Manufacturing. Vol 34, Issue 6, June 2003, Pages 503-509
Rust, C. 2007. Unstated Contributions – How Artistic Inquiry Can Inform
Interdisciplinary Research. International Journal of Design. 1(3), 69-76.
Texture Lab projects. http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/texturelab/projects/ Accessed on
27th March, 2008.
Treadaway, C., 2004. Digital Imagination: The Impact of Digital Imaging on
Printed Textiles. Textile; Journal of Cloth and Culture, Vol. 2, Issue 3, p. 256-273
VTT PUBLICATIONS 635, 2007. Intelligent Products and Systems. Technology
theme – Final report

J.R. Campbell
Campbell has been researching, designing and creating artwork with digital
textile technology for over ten years. His work pushes the limits of imaging
technologies as they relate to clothing, our environment and the human form.
Campbell's work has been shown in over forty national or international
exhibitions, receiving twenty awards, including the Lectra Outstanding Faculty
Award for the International Textile and Apparel Association Design Exhibition in
2002.
Following are Campbell's continuing research interests:
Digital Textile Design; Printing and Media; Surface Design Applications; Inkjet
Deposition Technologies for Textiles; Mass Customization of Textile and Apparel
Products;
Ethnicity in Clothing Design; Colour Theory & Colour Management in Digital
Textile Printing;
Textile Art
Craig Whittet
Whittet is Head of Department in Product Design Engineering at Glasgow
School of Art.
Helena Britt
Britt is Programme Leader - Printed Textiles in Glasgow School of Art's
Department of Textiles.

168/12