Faculty Contact: Dr. Jessica Ridgway Clayton or Dr. Sherry Schofield
Equipment: Muthoh 1938TX Digital Textile Printer, Steam Jet Fabric Finisher, Washer & Dryer.
Training: This equipment requires specialized training and a faculty member's supervision.
Scheduling/Utilizing the Space: This equipment is used for teaching and research. The schedule is coordinated by faculty members who use the space.
New product design and development in the textile and apparel industry is optimized when an innovator utilizes their own unique fabric design creations. Designers who are limited to existing product styles often struggle to create a truly unique garment. Digital textile printing is changing this restriction. Designers are now empowered to take part in the entire product development process, beginning with textile design. Using this technology, students will have the ability to create their own one-of-a-kind artistic fabric design.
Furthermore, the use of a digital textile printer affords students the ability to incorporate technology into the product development process. This not only emulates current trends in the industry, but also allows for further exploration of product development. For example, digital textile prints can be engineered to have a continuous printed pattern across seam lines, which allows for greater visual impact and intricacy in patternmaking. This ability to engineer the print across all pattern pieces also provides a reasonably sustainable process of fabric creation. By eliminating having to print large quantities of yardage, fewer resources are wasted in the production process.