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Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Symmetry, ratio and proportion in Scottish clan tartans
T2 - Templates for modern designers
AU - Hann, Michael
AU - Wang, Chaoran
N1 - Copyright©2016, The Costume Culture Association. All rights reserved
PY - 2016/12/31
Y1 - 2016/12/31
N2 - It is common knowledge that a conventionally woven textile consists of two assemblies of parallel threads (warp and weft), one interlaced with the other at ninety degrees. Where each of the two assemblies is arranged in a particular colour sequence, a check design, known as a ‘tartan’, may be created. Although similar check-type cloths have been produced worldwide, it is the tartans of Scotland which have received most attention and it is here that a complex set of rules evolved and tartans of different types became associated traditionally with different regions, family groups or 'clans'. There is an impressive array of publications focused on the identification of tartans and their clan associations. This paper explains the nature of tartans, analyses typical surface structures, ratios and proportions, and suggests possible avenues of use for modern designers. The principal sources of data were a collection of tartans held atULITA - An Archive of International Textiles (University of Leeds, UK) and Stewart's 1974 publication The Setts of Scottish Tartans. Based on the observation that divisions into halfs and thirds were dominant, a series of templates is presented with the intention of developing an awareness among designers that ratios and proportions used in familiar or traditional frameworks can be employed in a modern context. Keywords: tartan, check, ratios, proportions, design templates
AB - It is common knowledge that a conventionally woven textile consists of two assemblies of parallel threads (warp and weft), one interlaced with the other at ninety degrees. Where each of the two assemblies is arranged in a particular colour sequence, a check design, known as a ‘tartan’, may be created. Although similar check-type cloths have been produced worldwide, it is the tartans of Scotland which have received most attention and it is here that a complex set of rules evolved and tartans of different types became associated traditionally with different regions, family groups or 'clans'. There is an impressive array of publications focused on the identification of tartans and their clan associations. This paper explains the nature of tartans, analyses typical surface structures, ratios and proportions, and suggests possible avenues of use for modern designers. The principal sources of data were a collection of tartans held atULITA - An Archive of International Textiles (University of Leeds, UK) and Stewart's 1974 publication The Setts of Scottish Tartans. Based on the observation that divisions into halfs and thirds were dominant, a series of templates is presented with the intention of developing an awareness among designers that ratios and proportions used in familiar or traditional frameworks can be employed in a modern context. Keywords: tartan, check, ratios, proportions, design templates
KW - tartan
KW - check
KW - ratios
KW - proportions
KW - design templates
U2 - 10.7741/rjcc.2016.24.6.873
DO - 10.7741/rjcc.2016.24.6.873
M3 - Journal article
VL - 24
SP - 873
EP - 885
JO - The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
JF - The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
SN - 1226-0401
IS - 6
ER -