Anyone who encounters several young people in eye-catching T-shirts at Hof University of Applied Sciences in the future should not be surprised: They are the team from the MakerSpace, the facility for tinkerers in the university’s machine hall. In order to strengthen team cohesion and to increase awareness of the facility itself, they have now produced the outfits in collaboration with the textile design course at the Münchberg campus.
The idea for the T-shirts came from Prof. Dr.-Ing. Anke Müller, head of the BMBF StartupLab@FH project, and has another, very practical use: Those who do not yet know where the MakerSpace of the StartupLab at Hof University of Applied Sciences is located can orient themselves by looking at the print on the back of the shirts – the coordinates on them refer to the exact location. Admittedly: It’s probably easier to simply search for room C018a.
3D printer as motif
The students developed a total of three different designs for the front print, all of which are directly related to their work in the MakerSpace: One of the shirts features the “BigRep,” the MakerSpace’s resident 3 printer with a cubic meter printing volume:
“Its dimensions inspired our first design: an initially unrecognizable object gradually unfolds and slowly takes on the unmistakable shape of the large printer. This design is based on the very idea of the MakerSpace, to move through initial considerations and model-like constructions to a prototype.”
Anton Senik, Larissa Händel and Tim Reichert (textile design students)
Sustainable production
The second design is based on the new university logo and uses a three-dimensional version of the H logo. The third design was created with the help of a linoleum roller and embodies the experimental craft approach that is encouraged in the MakerSpace. The designs were implemented with the support of textile design lecturers Prof. Martina Ziegenthaler, Dipl.-Des. Christine Scholl and Kirsten Gebhardt. The new screen printing carousel, which is particularly useful for printing large quantities, was also used for the first time at the Münchberg campus. In line with the university’s sustainability strategy, it was a matter of course that the shirts were of vegan, ecological, climate-friendly and fair production.
Information on textile design at the Münchberg campus
The variety of textile materials and products is almost unlimited and their innovative further development constantly requires new creative achievements. The bachelor’s degree program in textile design at Hof University of Applied Sciences/Münchberg Campus trains specialized designers with the aim of enabling them to independently apply their creative, technological and business-oriented knowledge and skills in their professional field.
Experiments with materials such as textiles, metal, glass, ceramics, plastics, concrete or intelligent fibers result in new materials, material combinations and areas of application. Studying the interrelationships of form and color, material and technology, society and economy, as well as the convertibility of a design into a marketable product is an essential part of teaching.
In the course of the 7-semester textile design program, students learn basic design processes and ideation methods, textile technologies, CAD systems, and interdisciplinary design understanding
