On the Mend: A designer's experience of sustainable fashion practices
Deliverable: Artist's book
Role: Designer & Qualitative Researcher
Project Type: Graduate thesis project
Specifications: Hand-bound publication with laser-etching and colour laser printing on recycled paper and vellum paper, 8.5 x 5.5 in.
Tools: Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Trotec laser-etch machine, and wire-o binding machine
On the Mend: A Designer’s Experience of Sustainable Fashion Practices is an artist’s book about my experience as a communication designer engaging in everyday sustainable fashion practices of reusing, repurposing, and repairing. Taking a cue from 1960s conceptual artists who used artist's magazines and publications as a way to exhibit their work, I used the artist's book as an alternative space for the On the Mend gallery and pop-up installations to exist in. In this way, I think about the book as an object and as a space for the installation to happen beyond the temporal limits of the physical installations. I expanded on the installation in the artist’s book by sharing observations, curiosities and questions about thrifting, clothing swaps, and signs of sustainable practices in retail clothing stores. Further, I share lessons learned and reflections on the frustrating aspects of repair, reuse, and repurposing. However, I also share the exciting and meditative qualities of engaging in these fashion micro-practices, to inspire climate action.
The making of the On the Mend artist’s book consisted of: Six iterations of the editorial design layout; three rounds of content edits; nine prototypes/tests of binding and printing; and, fourteen laser etching tests for the cover. During the process I focused on design through texture, paper choices, and typography (please see below).
