Our latest newsletter and press articles

October 2020

Short course graduate applying newfound skills

Semi-retired banker, Christine Smith, has been putting her newfound digital design skills to good effect having attended our Photoshop Basics for Textile Design short course earlier this year. ‘I loved the course and have been using Photoshop to amalgamate my digital drawings to create prints for scarves and textile accessories’, she says. Christine’s intention is to market her work to raise money for charity.

^{Some of Christine’s digitally printed scarves}

November and December short courses and workshops

Places are still available on our upcoming 2-day short courses and workshops, which include the following subjects:

• Introduction to Textiles
• International Textile Development and Sourcing (Online)
• Photoshop Basics for Textile Design
• Digital Textile Design – Repeating Patterns
• E-Textiles
• Introduction to Woven Textiles

Our courses and workshops present a great opportunity to network with like-minded people who share a passion for textiles. The courses are designed to up-skill and educate participants with a minimal time investment.

Read more for full details and registration

Increased research and development activity

This year’s unusual events appear to have sparked an upturn in research and development projects amongst local businesses based on a recent increase in enquiries from the commercial and government sectors. The lab is currently working on a range of projects for knitted, woven and non-woven materials and products. ‘We have always encouraged companies, designers and product developers to collaborate with us on R+D related projects and we envisage further interest and growth in this field’, says manager, Peter Heslop. ‘We can also offer advice on funding opportunities for commercial partners’, he adds.

Textile Design students excel

AUT Bachelor of Design final year students exhibited their work earlier this month prior to graduating in Textile Design. Many of the students worked with the Textile and Design Lab throughout their final year to create their knitted and printed pieces as illustrated below.

^{Final year B Design (Textile Design) students’ work from L to R:  Aloisa Ngata, Ella Augusta and Jess Hadwin)}