Summary: This program documents the Spanish Civil War from the point of view of the Spaniards who went into exile as a result of it. Firsthand accounts of that brutal conflict and the cruel realities of life as a refugee are movingly described by a broad cross-section of survivors. Graphic newsreel footage accompanies their stories of destruction at home and escape to other countries: tales of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: What wheat is to bread, cotton is to textiles. But the "white gold" that has lined the coffers of cloth manufacturers for centuries has also brought about economic and environmental harm. This program examines the global impact of cotton production and its effect on vulnerable populations. Viewers learn how pesticides, insecticides, and irrigation systems used to grow cotton have increased...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: After the fall of France in World War II, the hardships of the Spanish Civil War refugees grew worse. In this program, survivors from those desperate days openly talk of their ordeals and victories: repression and reprisals in Franco's Spain; suffering in French internment camps; deportation to Nazi concentration camps; meritorious service with the French Resistance and Allied forces; and,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: The sound system that goes into a hand-assembled Aston-Martin sports car must be special indeed. In this program, designers at Linn, a precision-engineering company specializing in state-of-the-art sound reproduction, draft and build a compact stereo for this elite automobile. Project leaders demonstrate the use of 3-D CAD in the drafting process. The outsourcing of a component provides a good...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Graphic designers with the consulting firm Navy Blue must produce a new corporate identity for Digital Animations Group, a Scottish company on the cutting edge of 3-D technology. Their task is to create a logo that captures the company's spirit and works across different formats, such as on paper, signs, windows, and Web pages. This program follows the entire process, from sitting down with the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: While human technology has produced a range of useful fibers, the world of textiles continues to value nature's magnificent materials. This video introduces students to the differences between natural and synthetic fibers, then divides the first category into animal, vegetable, and mineral. A range of protein-based fibers are discussed, including their herd-animal sources and the methods by...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: If the average consumer only knew the mind-boggling process behind the yarn in a sock or sweater! This video illustrates yarn production methods and the various properties of woven and knitted fabrics. It explores the reasons for twisting yarns, discusses S and Z twists and plied yarns, and shows fibers being prepared for spinning as well as finished slivers. Students witness fancy yarn...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: What makes a good design? What must a designer do to develop a fresh, original approach to a product? This program explores those questions as it investigates one of the main factors that influence design: innovation. Identifying the basic concepts of innovation with help from an engaging host, the video visits design studios and workshops to see innovative practices at work. Viewers meet the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
View online at AVOD
Summary: Cut-price garments not meant to last for more than a year or two make up nearly half the clothing market, resulting in a rising tide of textile waste. This program profiles clothing designers who are turning consumer demand for green products into fashion trends. The Junky Styling team searches thrift shops for vintage fabric which it then uses to create outfits for their high-profile...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing has replaced the old-fashioned screen process of transferring designs onto fabric, giving textile artists more flexibility while reducing overhead costs. In this program designers at RA Smart demonstrate how CAD and CAM technology is used for joining, engraving, printing, and cutting fabrics. The video also investigates computer-aided...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Information and communication technology is changing the fashion industry by helping make design, development, and sampling of textiles more efficient. This program takes viewers inside Coppernob, a London-based fashion house, where designers use ICT tools-sketching and visualization software and digital pattern-makers, plotters, and printers-to easily explore different color and style...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program looks at the creation of two products as it explores the visual, tactile, and aesthetic factors that inform the design process. The 321 Water filter is an attractive personal water purifier aimed at health-conscious women. Tear Lab is a non-invasive medical tool for measuring salt levels in tears. Sharing prototypes and drawings with the camera, the designers of these products talk...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
View online at AVOD
Summary: Retailers go to great lengths to ensure the garments they sell live up to certain standards of quality-anything less would mean returned purchases and the risk of losing repeat business. This program shows technicians conducting a variety of performance and physical-wear tests on fabrics. Jackets are assessed for waterproofing, breathability, windproofing, and warmth. Tee-shirts that promise to...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Working on schedule and within a budget is crucial in the fast-paced world of design, where success often depends on timing and products must be priced affordably. This program shows how the factors of time and money affect the design process. Case studies for the Apple iPad wall-mount and a go-kart sticker manufacturer highlight cost issues in the design process, including productivity,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
View online at AVOD
Summary: A new generation of industrial materials may change how we think about textiles. Many components of airplanes, including the wings, are already made using carbon fiber composites-a type of technical textile-and the ability of a Formula One racing car to crumple upon impact rather than crushing its driver is due to the properties of these materials. This program examines the construction of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Computerization has taken fabric-printing to new levels, allowing for more designs, more colors, and softer fabrics, all at a lower cost. This program explores technological advances in printing and dyeing, giving viewers a detailed look at flat-bed, carousel, roller-screen, and transfer methods of producing patterns on cloth. Digital color-matching, use of an atmospheric jet machine for...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Depending on the scale of production, manufacturers use different techniques to make garments, as this program shows. Viewers meet a "cool Britannia" tailor who constructs men's suits by hand as well as a designer using CAD technology to create sportswear-and both methods provide a custom fit. The video also goes inside a textiles factory to compare large-scale batch production with smaller-run...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Section one of this program examines the prodigious volume of products created by Tapio Wirkkala, including the 1963 cutlery set called Composition-a testimonial to the artist's love of nature, knowledge of ergonomics, and refined sense of taste. In section two, the sensational Swatch-a pop culture phenomenon-is featured, showing how its styling has helped the Swiss watch industry fight...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Section one of this program features probably the most celebrated American package of all time: the Coca-Cola bottle, which has retained its essential shape-as easily recognizable to the touch as to the eye-since 1916. In section two, artisan Gerrit Rietveld's Red and Blue Chair, a furniture style debuted in 1919 in the pages of the influential Dutch magazine De Stijl and symbolic of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: In section one of this program, London's massive subway system is described in conjunction with the stylized map-the brainchild of an electric circuit diagram designer-that since 1933 has made sense of it. Section two focuses on Ferdinand Porsche's people's automobile: the Volkswagen Beetle, an emblem of industrial Modernism supported by Adolf Hitler and adored by drivers on both sides of the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Decades ago, Volvo's famous safety features were the least appealing part of their cars, at least from an aesthetic standpoint. Now designers work with engineers from the beginning of the development process to make sure that Volvo remains competitive on all fronts. In this program Volvo representatives address the issue of combining safety features with good design while maintaining brand...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
View online at AVOD
Summary: By working closely with potential customers as well as suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors, designers can optimize the products they create while keeping tooling and assembly costs down. In this program designers from Britain's Kinneir Dufort employ market research and model-making technology to redesign a peak flow meter, used by people with asthma to measure lung function. To keep up...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
View online at AVOD
Summary: When Samsung realized older customers were ignoring many of the features on their cell phones, they commissioned inclusive design specialists to find out why. Observing that older adults in focus groups were looking to the box for instructions, the specialists came up with an innovative, book-style package for the phones that doubled as a how-to guide. In this program viewers learn how...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
View online at AVOD
Summary: Using recycled materials makes sense, but also presents designers with a unique set of challenges, because they must work within the parameters of the materials' properties. This program profiles two companies who have successfully created products from recycled goods. London-based Pli Design produced a stackable chair made from recycled Sony PlayStations, after feeding shredded game consoles...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011