The Digital Zone:
 Philadelphia University
By Kim Anderson, Ph.D., writer/reporter for [TC]²

Hitoshi Ujiie is a consummate artist and educator specializing in digitally printed textiles. Ujiie was inculcated into the world of textile printing at an early age. Growing up in Kyoto, Japan, Ujiie developed an early appreciation for beautiful textiles while working in the family business designing and printing kimonos via a wax resist process.

After acquiring a BFA and MFA, Ujiie worked with some of the best—a stint designing at the Jack Lenor Larsen Design Studio and teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design. Hitoshi Ujiie, now Assistant Professor and Director of the Center for Excellence of Digital Ink Jet Printing for Textiles at Philadelphia University, is well aware of the implications digital printing is having on the textile and apparel industries.

In a paper to be published this summer, Ujiie outlines the numerous benefits of the emerging technology. The ability to quickly and easily produce strike-offs and short run samples, as well as drastically minimize inventory are just a few of the logistical benefits.
 
For the designer, the implications are both massive and exciting. As Ujiie points out, design styles that are impossible or extremely difficult to achieve with existing conventional printing technologies can now be produced using digital printing. The technology allows designers to manipulate and print patterns containing millions of colors for over-the-top detail with perfect registration.

Equipped with printers capable of handling reactive, acid, disperse and pigment inks, the Center for Excellence of Digital Ink Jet Printing for Textiles is a creative haven for the serious design student. Under the direction of Professor Ujiie, students are turning out some printed designs worth checking out.

Patricia Ferrera’s piece illustrates what Professor Ujiie refers to as extreme tonal with diminutive effects. A conventional designer might peg this intricate design as a warp print. However, with digital printing technology, a talented designer can create the look on any fiber—unlike traditional warp prints that require a synthetic or synthetic-rich warp, specialized equipment and a hefty amount of yardage.

Patricia Ferrera
Courtesy of the Center for Excellence of Digital Ink Jet Printing for Textiles at Philadelphia University

Through photographic manipulation, Elizabeth Tuva has created a wonderfully intriguing design. Tuva’s piece is reminiscent of a discharge print, except that it’s produced without finicky dye formulations and specialized equipment.  

Elizabeth Tuva
Courtesy of the Center for Excellence of Digital Ink Jet Printing for Textiles at Philadelphia University

Heather Ujiie’s design appears to be filled with luminous energy. Professor Ujiie explains that the design was achieved by using special digital effects.

Heather Ujiie
Courtesy of the Center for Excellence of Digital Ink Jet Printing for Textiles at Philadelphia University

Designers can now explore the world of gargantua. Images can be large, very large. In conventional flat-screen or rotary screen printing, the lengthwise design repeat is subject to limitations of the screens or rollers. In digital printing the only size limitation is the width of the printing machine.

Hitoshi Ujiie
Courtesy of the Center for Excellence of Digital Ink Jet Printing for Textiles at Philadelphia University

Hitoshi Ujiie
Courtesy of the Center for Excellence of Digital Ink Jet Printing for Textiles at Philadelphia University

As with any new technology, digital printing has a few kinks to work out. Professor Ujiie points out that printing reliability; speed; cost of machines and supplies; a sufficient color gamut; and penetration and fastness of the inks are some of the issues that need a little fine-tuning. Regardless, there is no doubt unbridled creativity will continue to stream from the Center for Excellence of Digital Ink Jet Printing for Textiles at Philadelphia University.

http://www.philau.edu/textiledesign/center.html