Raw Color: Cryptographer & Encoded Textiles

Using an elaborate machine, the Dutch studio translate personal, digital messages into shapes and ever-changing patterns bleached into fabric, giving physical impact to what is often intangible.

Dutch studio Raw Color has recently completed the Cryptographer project, which was first presented earlier this year at the Dutch Invertuals: Untouchables Retouched exhibition during the 2012 Salone del Mobile. The Cryptographer generates patterns by translating the content of text messages into shapes, creating scarves which are determined by a personal message. The designs are derived from letter frequency in english ("etaoin", "shrdlc", "umwfgy", "pbvkj" and "xqz"), starting with the most commonly used ones. The scarves are bleached with a pen attached to a print head.

Bleached into fabric, the message becomes tangible, and a virtual message with invisible words attains a physical impact. The project transforms each character from the text-message into a specified iconographic shape. The resulting, ever-changing patterns depend on the users' input.

The final software and interface was developed in collaboration with Remon van den Eijnden and Peter Bust. The elementary programming and direct control elements of the engines was done by Bart van der Linden. Studio Watt worked on engineering and electronics.
Raw Color, <em>Cryptographer & Encoded</em> textiles
Raw Color, Cryptographer & Encoded textiles
Raw Color, <em>Cryptographer & Encoded</em> textiles
Raw Color, Cryptographer & Encoded textiles
Raw Color, <em>Cryptographer & Encoded</em> textiles
Raw Color, Cryptographer & Encoded textiles
Raw Color, <em>Cryptographer & Encoded</em> textiles
Raw Color, Cryptographer & Encoded textiles
Raw Color, <em>Cryptographer & Encoded</em> textiles
Raw Color, Cryptographer & Encoded textiles

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