Cho, KyeongSook

Form Follows Subject: Design Begins with an Intent        

Representation of a form juxtaposes the dual aspects of concrete and abstract aspects of reality. The Italian word “Designo” means intent. It is the intent--the truth or essence of the thought--that constitutes the real values of a designed object. The abstract concept is the essential: more real than physical reality. 1)

The two creative dresses, “Hidden beauty” and “The life in your eyes,” demonstrate the theory that form follows subject. Creation of “Hidden…” emanated from the question of where beauty is. The emphasis on outside beauty results in neglect of the whole person. This design reveals a message that a person cannot be considered truly beautiful without inner beauty.

“The Life…” conveys that only eyes with truth, goodness, and beauty allow us to stand firmly in the middle of the complex journey of life. The circular shapes incorporated in the dress represent the physical reality of the human eyes. The light color palette utilized is symbolic of the bright side of life.

These fabrics were developed using free motion stitches, creating a soft yet sharp contrast of textures. The variation in stitch density resulting from this technique reveals the wearer’s skin, a hidden beauty. Through the projects, she acknowledged the necessity not only to observe the appearance of an object but also to extract its true nature into a form.

1) Acevedo, C., Blossom, N., Melcher, M. (2005). Engaging meaning in the built environment through the design process. Unpublished manuscript.

Heinkel, Jenny

Diffusion of Drugs Through Human Skin via Transdermal Patches

Manoranjan, Valipuram S.

The permeability of human skin has been studied for many years and yet it is still incompletely understood. The skin is a unique organ in that it acts as a shield to the body protecting it from environmental toxins. This shield, so to speak, is made up of three layers; the stratum corneum, or horny layer, the epidermis and the dermis. The upper most layer, the stratum corneum is the most impermeable of all the layers. It is suggested that once a drug can diffuse through the stratum corneum layer the drug will easily diffuse through the other two layers.  Thus, the topic under study is that of diffusion through the stratum corneum.

Each drug has a different chemical structure to it. Some of these structures are more permeable than others. For example, drugs of high water and oil solubility tend to be more permeable to the skin than drugs with low water and oil solubility. The permeability of skin is also highly pH dependent. Due to these unique characteristics of the skin, diffusion of drugs through it has become a difficult process.

The diffusion model described in this research can, and has, been applied to several different types of drugs, such as nicotine, herbal supplements for weight loss and hormones for contraceptive purposes. The end result of this research project is to design a transdermal patch which releases insulin at the precise rates necessary.