Katherine Townsend

Dr Katherine Townsend is a Reader in Fashion and Textile Crafts and Lecturers in Textile Design for the MA Applied Design Futures pathway and supervises PhD students in the textile field. She is a specialist in hand and digitally printed textiles.

Current projects

2005 to present, Body Aspect UK, on the aesthetic design potential of body scanning technology.
Dr Townsend is interested in supervising PhD students, if you are interested please select the Research tab to see more information about her research field.

Career overview
Practice-led/theoretical research in the following areas:

The translation of image, space and movement into printed textiles.
The integration of print design (2D) and garment shape (3D).
Hybrid design approaches for fashion/textile design.
Innovative uses of CAD and digital printing technology for fashion/textiles.
Conceptual/digital textiles.
Research areas
Dr Townsend's textile design background has focused on transforming shape through simultaneous approaches to the body, cloth and print for garment and textile design. She has used the body form as a positive influence within the surface designing process, affecting a hybrid practice reversing the traditional 2D-3D stance adopted by textile designers.

The incorporation of garment modelling methods has been used to provide a new basis for image generation. The aesthetic integration of surface imagery directly with the 2D contour and 3D form of a garment introduced a new sculptural approach to image generation that empathised with the natural body shape.

Dr Townsend's ongoing research interests include: the potential of body scanning as an integral component of printed garment design; exploration of the aesthetic possibilities of CAD and digital textile printing through it’s synthesis with traditional and non-traditional textile technologies; the broader significance of printed pattern within contemporary Western fashion cultures.

External activity
2010-present, Editor for peer reviewed journal Craft Research
2006, Invited speaker, Shaping Print: Sculptural, Architectural and Crossover Forms, Designskolen, Kolding, Denmark.
2006, Invited speaker, ‘Fabricating Technology’ Symposium, Edinburgh College of Art, with Vibeke Riisberg, Jane Harris, Lauren Moriarty and Rachel Wingfield.
2005, Invited speaker, ‘Fabriconversations’ Textile symposium, Nottingham Trent University, with Shelly Goldsmith, Susie MacMurray and Jane Harris.
2004, Invited speaker, Creativity: Designer Meets Technology USA, conference, University of Philadelphia.
Sponsors and collaborators
Lectra Systems (Fr)
Stork Digital Imaging Technology (N)
Body Aspect UK
Press expertise
Dr Townsend's areas of expertise include:

Design (sustainable design)
Textiles (digital and hand crafted approaches)
Postgraduate opportunities (in fashion, textile, knitwear, and craft related subjects)
Textile exhibitions
Textiles