Above: Sarah Taylor’s Fiber optic paper and cloth developments: ‘optical fibres within woven textiles and design-led artefacts. I use traditional, craft-based processes in conjunction with digital technologies to create novel, time-based aesthetics’  /

Sarah Robertson: Thermochromic liquid crystal materials (TLCs) heat detection properties

Sarah Roberston working with Lynsey Calder on chromatic sequins : lenticular inspired photochromic sequins, which can be activated by the integrated UV SMD LED or by natural sunlight.  The sequins also respond to changing light conditions they go from almost colourless to coloured in daylight. There will also be a UV LED integrated within the petri dish that will activate colour change.

See video for effect:  https://mtc.cdn.vine.co/r/videos/4966D0FE911093175699126288384_2a1271f46a2.0.4.9931891125463993127.mp4?versionId=dEfec6MPhm76iMBZ3c1owny0OQlh5sUj

Sarah Robertson is a  Researcher in Craft Innovation and Smart Materials with a background in printed textile design chromic materials and thermochromic dye systems /

Photo above: Sarah Robertson’s work (top) & Sarah Taylor’s (below) /

Digital/Interactive/Jamie’s Lace:  An interactive table runner – combined efforts of Sarah Taylor (optical fiber technology) & Sarah Robertson (liquid crystal dye technology) /Expert Workshop 2014 organised by Plymouth College of Art.

‘Our aim is to recreate the sense of tracing the process – to create something that reveals our practice with fibre optic and thermochromic materials on textiles.’

‘We experimented with white-scattering liquid crystal dyes which are not yet commercially available. Traditional leuco thermochromic dye systems change from colour to colourless on temperature change (black to white).  These liquid crystal dyes do the reverse (white to black). This offered us a completely new way of working with thermochromic materials and one that hadn’t been explored before.  We were able to design with positive and negative imagery and create reversible colour-changing shifts within one print. This created the illusion of printed lace disappearing and reappearing in different phases across the piece.’

‘Both the optical fibre and liquid crystal dyes are understated (plain) until they are activated through light or temperature change. We would admit that bringing these technologies together to create an interesting and responsive surface was harder than we anticipated. However, through the creative process of making, we have discovered really exciting things that we couldn’t have anticipated by this interaction of colour-change and light interplay. As textile practitioners, it is important to be reminded of this phenomenon and of the need to be flexible and spontaneous in designing with new (material) knowledge!’  The Sarah Robertson.  Text from the Open College of the Arts site.  http://weareoca.com/textiles/digital-material-concepts-a-collision-of-craft-technology/ see also  http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/artists/sara-robertson-and-sarah-taylor/