MIAD SEM 2:
Industrial Design:
"Feelin' it"Knitted Gloves Mixed-Media
Approximately: 3'x 1.5' (finger length and width) January 6, 2020 Exhibition text: "Feelin' It" was inspired by local nursery and arthritis gloves seen in stores like Walgreens or Walmart. I wanted to plan an cotton fingerless (stretchable) so it can easily fit around his fingers and shape his hand movements. In public, he would often be questioned why he wears gloves in stores/public places, so I thought this would relieve the amount of ridicule he receives. My piece is meant to comfort my father's hands, since he feels cramping from time to time without raising any suspicion. |
WE MET:
A 55 year father completing physical work while dealing with arthritis.
WHAT WE WERE AMAZED TO FIND:
He secretly hopes to reduce the amount of stares he receives in public due to him wearing gloves all the time.
IT WOULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE IF WE COULD:
Create a special set of gloves to match his skin tone.
A 55 year father completing physical work while dealing with arthritis.
WHAT WE WERE AMAZED TO FIND:
He secretly hopes to reduce the amount of stares he receives in public due to him wearing gloves all the time.
IT WOULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE IF WE COULD:
Create a special set of gloves to match his skin tone.
Planning:
Inspiration via Stores I looked at:
I decided to look more into products from public stores, for example Walgreens, Walmart, Target etc. Those were my first encounters with finding gloves that look towards my standards. I wanted to see which store had the right pair gloves for my product.
I decided to look more into products from public stores, for example Walgreens, Walmart, Target etc. Those were my first encounters with finding gloves that look towards my standards. I wanted to see which store had the right pair gloves for my product.
Inspiration via Glove design:
The white pair of gloves are elastic, and the black gloves next to it are cotton. I wanted to incorporate an elastic cotton base type of glove, so not only is it flexible, but it is warm to wear. Seeing how the hand shapes with the elastic glove, I realized that this would be the best type of glove to reference from. Looking to the glove on the right, I thought that fingerless gloves would also help lower the suspicion. If the elastic gloves bend in with the shape of the hand, then the fingertips wouldn't really make much of a difference. I was looking at several hand poses to reference from, so I went on Pinterest and sketched the first few I saw. |
Below is my basic thought process towards the project. I was trying to weigh the ups and downs, improvements, or successes. I created mind maps (both are connections towards materials I thought during drawing), sketches of what the hand would look like in the glove, and an empathy chart describing my dad's reaction towards the project (All of the following below is featured in the MIAD planning board).
Mind Map:
To the right is my mind map my I drew about the product I'm making. I wasn't sure on what I should do, but this was more of a sloppy sketch. I basically wanted to branch as much ideas as I could think of, and forming it into a basic mind map. I wanted to use different colors (like orange and blue) to differentiate what ideas I'm confident in, and what I need to think more about. One thing I was surely confident in is making the gloves stretchy and fit around the hand. I wasn't sure what kind of fabric I wanted to use, or was I just going to by gloves and paint them a brown shade. I plan on painting at least two to three coats. I also wanted to establish what type of pant I'm using (acrylic paint) and I didn't want the color to fade, so I thought of just buying a paint sealer so the colors wouldn't fade.
This image farthest right instead is more of a final decision on my mind map, but instead I wanted to add some sketches in the mind map itself. I sketched basic proportions of how the gloves shouldn't be noticeable. I also decided to just by gloves that are medically approved. I decided to make every bubble in orange detailed and branch off from there.
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Planning Models Sketches:
Design 1:
To the left here, this is the sketches I was planning out for my dad. I was going for some type of elastic glove so it can take shape of his hands better. The sketches with the green spots were his favorite gloves to wear. He wears this gloves when he's either shopping, driving in his car, or just sitting in the house watching TV. |
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(small sketches I made while knitting my gloves, giving myself an idea on how they would look)
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Process:
*Click to enlarge slideshow process*
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Process:
I firstly gathered my mannequin hand along with my yarn and knitting needles. I decided to mark each section of each finger, then I started placing yarn where I was going to knit. I wanted to start from the bottom of the hand, and make my way up to the fingers. The mannequin resembled my father's fingers well, so no extra adjustments were really needed. unfortunately during this process, I accidentally broke my knitting needles in order to form the gloves together (I tried using a sewing needle, but regardless the yarn refused to fit within the hole). Luckily, I found an tutorial on how to knit gloves without using any particular tools (it mainly involved using your fingers for the yarn to wrap around creating knots). Looking at the video tutorial, I started with the first step which is slowly wrapping bits of yarn around my hand and fingers, making sure they aren't tangled. After each section of my fingers were wrapped around, I started creating more loops towards the top of the fingers (second section of the knuckle). Although this technique feels tight around my fingers (at some points my entire hand went numb for how tight I was tying the knots) this technique is quite effective in it's production. While I was fixed on the fingers of the sculptor, I've noticed that I need to start filling in the hand area of the mannequin hand. I decided to wrap around using the finger knit style, and I've started filling in the palm area of the mannequin. After I finished the palm area and the back hand, I added more yarn to areas of the fingers that needed to be filled. Although the final product is slightly lose and unstable, the glove aspect is still present (and the size of the glove still matches my father's). |
Experimentation:
Sadly when I trying to knit together my gloves, my knitting needles broke recently which stop my process of making them. I've been trying to use a sewing needle, but it doesn't work the same. Instead, I found this tutorial online on how to knit gloves only using you're hands and a pair of scissors. At first I thought this idea was ridiculous, but when time passed on, I started to enjoy this process more than actually knitting gloves together. Starting off this process, I had to replay the video several times as I kept losing track of what finger I should connect the yarn with (overall the first couple of days learning how to do this technique was challenging). Although this process is more tedious and takes a large amount of time and effort(and finger strength as if you're not careful, you're fingers can feel numb for how strong the pressure is), I still enjoyed the end result of the first pair of gloves. This felt more of an relief and gave me more confidence in my skill. |
*Click to enlarge slideshow experimentation*
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Compare & Contrast
Similarities: (The similarities between each of the works will not be evaluated by art movements).
(Same here, the differences between each of the works will not be evaluated by art movements).
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Reflection:
Critique:
In the end, this project was challenging for me to complete in the long run, but overall I learned new skills from this experience. One of the main skills being learning how to knit using my fingers. This comes with caution however, because doing this method for a long period of time made my fingers numb, and leave my fingers sore for a while. Another con is the process, considering this would take a much longer time rather then just using knitting needles (although sadly my knitting needles broke during this project). In the end, I think this planning phase turned out quite success. Although this was a long process, I still enjoyed how the final product turned out. For having limitted access to tools, I still felt as though I did a half decent job recreating a pair of gloves just using my fingers. I feel as though the finger knitting technique can be useful in the future, and I can use this style in other projects. I felt that I was able to successfully design a type of cotton/yarn glove that my dad would find useful (as it's soft and would feel more comfortable around his fingers).
In the end, this project was challenging for me to complete in the long run, but overall I learned new skills from this experience. One of the main skills being learning how to knit using my fingers. This comes with caution however, because doing this method for a long period of time made my fingers numb, and leave my fingers sore for a while. Another con is the process, considering this would take a much longer time rather then just using knitting needles (although sadly my knitting needles broke during this project). In the end, I think this planning phase turned out quite success. Although this was a long process, I still enjoyed how the final product turned out. For having limitted access to tools, I still felt as though I did a half decent job recreating a pair of gloves just using my fingers. I feel as though the finger knitting technique can be useful in the future, and I can use this style in other projects. I felt that I was able to successfully design a type of cotton/yarn glove that my dad would find useful (as it's soft and would feel more comfortable around his fingers).
ACT Responses:
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
For the inspiration, it was related around latex (elastic) and cotton fingerless gloves. I wanted to incorporate one pair for the summer (fingerless) and another pair for the winter (full coverage).
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author didn't necessarily have a topic towards making arthritis gloves besides trying to ease the pain with people who have arthritis.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc, while you researched your inspiration?
Relating towards the people aspect, I can see from my experience that my father wants to feel "normal" and the same as others.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
This project didn't necessarily meet my theme. I was able to branch off of the idea of "fear" since my dad of being ridiculed in public for the way his hands look, but I fel it didn't connect as well.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
During my research, I can infer that that the most efficient type of glove to wear in the summer is elastic gloves because their slick and smooth. It doesn't make the hands sweaty and too hot.
For the inspiration, it was related around latex (elastic) and cotton fingerless gloves. I wanted to incorporate one pair for the summer (fingerless) and another pair for the winter (full coverage).
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author didn't necessarily have a topic towards making arthritis gloves besides trying to ease the pain with people who have arthritis.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc, while you researched your inspiration?
Relating towards the people aspect, I can see from my experience that my father wants to feel "normal" and the same as others.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
This project didn't necessarily meet my theme. I was able to branch off of the idea of "fear" since my dad of being ridiculed in public for the way his hands look, but I fel it didn't connect as well.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
During my research, I can infer that that the most efficient type of glove to wear in the summer is elastic gloves because their slick and smooth. It doesn't make the hands sweaty and too hot.
Bibliography:
“Upcoming Stores: Target Corporation.” Target Corporate, corporate.target.com/about/locations/upcoming-stores.
Timmullaney. “This Is What's behind Walmart's Staying Power That Could Outmaneuver Amazon.” CNBC, CNBC, 29 Aug. 2019, www.cnbc.com/2019/08/15/walmarts-secret-weapon-in-its-quest-to-outmaneuver-amazon.html.
Wolf, Liz. “Drugstore Chains Adapt New Real Estate Strategies to Compete with Online Sellers.” National Real Estate Investor, 14 June 2018, www.nreionline.com/retail/drugstore-chains-adapt-new-real-estate-strategies-compete-online-sellers.
“Comfort/Relief Arthritis Gloves.” Neo G USA, www.neo-g.com/products/comfort-relief-arthritis-gloves.
“Latex vs Nitrile vs Vinyl Gloves...Which to Choose?” B4 Brands, 29 July 2016, b4brands.com/blog/latex-vs-nitrile-vs-vinyl-gloves-which-to-choose/.
Timmullaney. “This Is What's behind Walmart's Staying Power That Could Outmaneuver Amazon.” CNBC, CNBC, 29 Aug. 2019, www.cnbc.com/2019/08/15/walmarts-secret-weapon-in-its-quest-to-outmaneuver-amazon.html.
Wolf, Liz. “Drugstore Chains Adapt New Real Estate Strategies to Compete with Online Sellers.” National Real Estate Investor, 14 June 2018, www.nreionline.com/retail/drugstore-chains-adapt-new-real-estate-strategies-compete-online-sellers.
“Comfort/Relief Arthritis Gloves.” Neo G USA, www.neo-g.com/products/comfort-relief-arthritis-gloves.
“Latex vs Nitrile vs Vinyl Gloves...Which to Choose?” B4 Brands, 29 July 2016, b4brands.com/blog/latex-vs-nitrile-vs-vinyl-gloves-which-to-choose/.