Fabric Applications

            Fabric application will always been needed and used.  As designers, it is our job to pick the best possible fabric for each application.  There are six major applications that fabric is used for which include flooring, window treatments, wall coverings, seating, panel applications, and fiber-based art. Flooring and window treatments are used very extensively and often; however, the most popular fabric application is seating. Yet, for the purpose of this assignment I have chosen panel applications which are not very common and still are very important.

            I chose some panels that were covered in fabric in the Texas Tech Library lobby.  Right now these panels are displaying various forms of work from students and faculty. So it can be determined that the fabric is functional in the sense that the displays of work are still hanging well and look decent enough and the panels are sturdy from withholding the fabric and work. The fabric is a grey polypropylene loop pile carpet. Immediately after realizing this I was taken back since I am only familiar with seeing carpet on the floors. Apparently they have found a way to use carpet as a panel application fabric and it functions well.  The company who created these panels is Pro Panels. They specialize in creating new art display systems that are “elegant, affordable and lightweight way to display art,” according to their website at propanels.com. I would agree that this application is an inexpensive way to create dividers and a soft backdrop to display work but a softer fabric would probably look better and still function just as well as this loop pile carpet.

            In addition, there are visible seams in the fabric application. You can see works of art and then a visible seam on the same panel. Perhaps the seams should have been displayed on the edge of the panel versus one third into the main viewing side. The color is very bland considering is it grey, but it is functional in that it doesn’t take away for the things displayed on top of it.  It is a functioning back ground but perhaps a cleaner grey and different fabric would be more aesthetically pleasing. Overall this fabric application is still at a tie for me, it functions well but is not appealing to the beauty of what a panel fabric could be and look like.