‘Chromarama’ is a textile colour study that examines colour perception by people with a colour vision deficiency – better known as colour blindness. The work was born out of a desire to raise awareness about colour blindness in the design field. How can we take visual limitations into account in both functional and aesthetic design?
Following extensive research, Laura Luchtman (design studio Kukka) developed a series of tapestries that are designed to be visually appealing to people with different types of colour blindness. Most people who are colour blind can see colour but have difficulty distinguishing between certain colours. So, Luchtman first selected colours and colour combinations that people with colour blindness struggle with. She also researched various weaves in which several coloured yarns are combined to form a dominant visible colour. By putting specific colours and shades next to each other, she was able to create designs that are always visible, regardless of the viewer’s form of colour blindness.
Wanting to understand how weaving works and how the threads are combined, Luchtman first investigated the weaving technique. With the product developer, she researched colour – the most important element of her project – selecting very specific colours that are visible to people with certain types of colour blindness. She also made abundant use of colour transitions, using the results of her research to incorporate these transitions into the fabric in a highly subtle and appropriate way.
Textile and pattern designer Laura Luchtman is the creative mind behind design studio Kukka in Rotterdam. After studying communication at Hogeschool Inholland Rotterdam and fashion styling at Akademie Vogue Amsterdam, Luchtman took a course at the Waag’s Textile Academy in Amsterdam in 2016, adding textile design and bio design to her skillset.
She focuses on experimental colour and material research, often taking social or cultural issues as her starting point. By dissecting these issues, she appropriates and translates them into graphic simplicity and abstraction. Her work is always layered in some way while managing to balance visual calm and stimulation.
Through Kukka, Luchtman has taken part in many (inter)national events and exhibitions, including Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, London Design Festival, MoPOP (Seattle), Franz Mayer Museum (Mexico City) and Fuorisalone (Milan). She is also a frequent speaker and panel member at international symposia, where she talks about bio design and the future of fashion and textiles.
Link to article of Kukka's Chromarama: Gudy Herder. ‘Vibrant Tapestries Designed For People With Color Vision Deficiency’.
