Bloomsbury Digital Textile Printing (Textiles that Changed the World)

About the Author Susan Carden is an award-winning textile designer and Associate Lecturer at Northumbria University, UK' Product Description The development of digital textile printing at the end of the twentieth century has had a profound effect on the design, creation, use and understanding of textiles. This new technology - combined with advances in fabric and dye chemistry - has made it possible to produce complex images on fabric comprising millions of colours, quickly, inexpensively and in flexible quantities; a revolution that has led to a rapid increase in demand, which is predicted to rise still further. This book is the first to describe the historical and cultural context from which digital textile printing emerged, and to engage critically with the many issues that it raises: the changing role of the designer in the creation of printed textiles; the ways in which the design process is being transformed by new technology; the relationships between producers, clients and the textile industry; and the impact of digital printing on the wider creative industries. At the core of this study are two key questions: what constitutes authenticity in an age when printed textiles are created through the combined agency of the artist/designer and the computer? And how can this new technology be put to work in a sustainable way during a period of spiralling demand? Review This book provides a welcome overview of digital textile printing, encompassing an insightful investigation of the history and theory of the subject, along with the practice and research it has engendered. A wide-ranging and engaging text that will be of interest to anyone with an interest in this area. --Hilary Carlisle, Dean of Arts and Design at Norwich University of the Arts, UK From the Back Cover The development of digital textile printing at the end of the twentieth century has had a profound effect on the design, creation, use and understanding of textiles. This new technology - combined with advances in fabric and dye chemistry - has made it possible to produce complex images on fabric comprising millions of colours, quickly, inexpensively and in flexible quantities