Eye Magazine

Each year, Professor Niklaus Troxler and his colleagues from the Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design invite six designers from around the world to hold workshops. In 2009, writes Tania Prill in Eye 72, I was invited to run a thee-day workshop.

For my workshop, I didn’t want the students to work with their computers; they do this enough for the rest of the term. I wanted them to think directly and to build something. My theme was based on the idea that there is no ‘definitive alphabet’ – there are thousands of variations.

I wanted the students to be ‘true craftsmen’ and to gain experiences with different materials and fabrics. The students translated typography into fashion and developed different solutions for each letter, which we discussed as a group in terms of movement, readability, materiality and creativity. Could we find harmony between the sounds of speech and garments made from letters?

The next day the production began. The students had to organise everything properly to make sure that the fashion show would go ahead on the third day. Sound and choreography had to be designed. Working in a team and making decisions together was a very important component. The workshop and show were successful and a lot of fun.

See ‘An alphabetical catwalk’ in Eye 72. Tania Prill runs her own studio, Prill & Vieceli (prill-vieceli.cc).

Learn more about Niklaus Troxler at his website www.troxlerart.ch.

Website for the Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design, abk-stuttgart.de.

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