How do you work through 10 different colour ways or logo designs without having to guess which will be the best? How do you enthuse and excite your stakeholders about your design before a sample has been made? How can you test multiple aesthetic variations… Read More »Virtual Samples
Gross National Happiness (GNH) is used in Bhutan as an alternative measure of a country to Gross Domestic Produce (GDP)
“Describe it….don’t infer interpretation” Amber Butchart’s advice to police officers
Angelica Dass: Humanae Project
Mussels are able to cling on in the face of waves that ought to overwhelm….
It was known to ancient Chinese traders as mermaid silk and mentioned on the Rossetta Stone. Those who weave it swear a Sea oath to never profit from its production….
The idea of darning up a missing piece of skin…
Chloe Ball-Hopkins isn’t like most of us….
…but for the rest of us we rely on our waterproof jackets to stay dry in the rain. Unfortunately….
Most of us would rather not consider the possibility of sustaining a serious burn…
Thread Loves Edna Mode in The Incredibles.
Assuming you’re happy that yeast is definitely not an animal (it’s a fungus….I double-checked) then Zoa is an animal-free alternative to leather. as far as I understand it there’s a bit of DNA cut-and-shut which is re-homed into little yeast cell factorys which grow the… Read More »Nobody’s skin…
I find saddle points (or hyperbolic paraboloids as they’re mathematically known) a deeply pleasing shape. This little hook was developed as part of a large project we’ve been collaborating on. It’s strong and safe as it has no sharp edges. For more hyperbolic paraboloid and… Read More »No exaggeration, I think saddle points are amazing..
Wouldn’t it be nice to have even natural light in a room regardless of the position of the sun in the sky?
This glove may look cumbersome but it could seriously reduce the communication burden for thousands of sign language users.
Gobag 2 clip detail Gobag 2 waist strap detail Gobag 2 shoulder strap detail Gobag 2 When James from Gobag approached us to help him build on the success of the original Gobag, we leapt at the chance. The new design was to be a… Read More »Bag is Go
We produce beautifully finished prototypes of concepts for our clients to use in many different ways; we work hard to create prototypes that work right and look great.
As a child Dr Franz Freudenthal visited indigenous communities in the mountains of Bolivia with his doctor grandmother. On these trips she would quote a snippet of Rudyard Kipling “Something hidden. Go and find it.
Exosuit gives athletes proprioceptive feedback to help improve posture, stability and feeling of power.
It’s possible that future computers could have memory devices based on eggshells
A focus on frugality and a willingness to explore unlikely mechanisms has led this team of Stanford bioengineers to develop an incredibly low cost ‘paperfuge’ – a centrifuge made of paper that requires no electricity – as a diagnostic tool to serve the one billion… Read More »A playful solution to a serious problem
Wishing all our clients, suppliers and collaborators a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. We look forward to working together in 2019!
We’re always interested to come across materials that meet particular requirements. In this case a leather alternative that is not an animal product. Muskin is a material based on a large parasitic fungus that grows on trees in subtropical forests. It is similar in appearance… Read More »Fungus based leather alternative
I have an ongoing fascination with bats, bat wings and bat flight and so was delighted to come across this bat-based aerobatic robot.
Apparently bacteria can be engineered to produce thermoplastics….
A big theme in textiles and materials development at the moment is sustainability and recycling so this story about egg packaging made of eggs has scrambled our minds. Researchers as Tuskegee University added egg shell nanoparticles (350,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair) to… Read More »A cracking idea
This morning we were discussing how hot a roomful of 30 people doing tap get in the summer (not a theoretical discussion but a pressing one after a very hot tap class). Another person in the class had a cooling towel which was as cool… Read More »Hot tap, cold tap
…on saturday he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle……and 184mg of supermaket plastic shopping bag.
Merry Christmas from Thread!
We’re delighted that the GoBag 2 Kickstarter campaign has launched and already exceeded its £10,000 goal
Georgie is a textile prototyper with a background in costume construction, tailoring and bridal. Georgie’s interest in costume was born out of a desire to explore different and unusual materials, construction techniques and the chance to create something visually exciting and that communicates to its… Read More »Georgie Leigh
This month we’re back in Thailand, finalising the production set-up for a product launching later this year.
I’m British. It’s over 30 degrees centigrade. Today I want to be covered in this cooling film
Great to see all the hard work that went into this product being recognised Website link: reddot award winner 2017 – N-Pro scrum cap
Great to see Nike have launched a sports Hijab. In 2014 we worked with the pioneering and inspirational Iranian triathlete Shiz Gerami
Interesting to chat to Hal Watts from Unmade at a reception for The 1851 Commission (an amazing organisation who funded both Hal and me to study at the RCA) about knitting as the earliest form of Additive Manufacture. In knitting you take a continuous material… Read More »Knitting as the first additive manufacturing
Tackling head injuries for all rugby players The Rugby world is growing increasingly aware of the effect of head injuries on players long term health so N-Pro determined to create a product that could reduce the risk of head injuries. We helped N-Pro to realise… Read More »N-Pro: the world’s safest scrumcap
We’ve been helping N-Pro develop their new rugby headguard which launched today
How can baby product design save parents time? Reduced mess = less tidying
Concept gloves by Layer
Thread attended a consultation workshop for the UK textile community exploring textile R & D priorities for 2017-2020 organised by the Knowledge Transfer Network. One of the main themes was development of textiles that can integrate with data gathering equipment for monitoring purposes eg medical. Another strong theme was… Read More »The future of textiles R&D in the UK
On Monday, Thread is off to Munich for ISPO, the sports industry trade fair….
Chris is a product designer who became passionate about specialising in products with textiles after designing a technical jacket for hand-cyclists.
Inspiration can come from many places and often seems to come from seemingly unrelated fields. I was recently at the Science Museum’s Cosmonauts exhibition and found the clothing particularly fascinating. (Frustratingly for me there was almost no information on what the garments were made of… Read More »The wrong trousers went into space in 1971!
We develop and incorporate mechanical and functional features such as mechanisms and moulded fixtures into products we design, and can develop moulded components, mechanisms and internal structural elements.
We work closely with our clients to realise their aims. Some know exactly what they want their product to be like, and others come to us with a problem to solve. Collaborative sessions are a great way to find solutions, generate ideas and drive innovation:… Read More »Industrial design
Making is at the heart of all projects at Thread. We prototype to explore, develop, test, communicate and sell ideas, concepts and products. This important with all design projects, and is especially important with textiles. Our prototyping studio is well equipped with industrial sewing machines,… Read More »Prototyping
Books, Google, primary research, user research, inspiration; all these help to bring understanding to a design project. Insights drive projects and facilitate successful design. Research, and particularly user research helps generate insight. We also use research to identify manufacturers, suppliers, new technologies and materials, processes… Read More »Research
