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Pigment Biosynthesis

Changing the world at the intersection of Design and Biotechnology

Changing the world at the intersection of Design and Biotechnology

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The Project Crux

Problem + Inspiration

Exploration & Research

Insights

Design Application (Output)

Design Lens

🔍 Challenge: Synthetic dyes are harmful to the environment.
🍃 Inspiration: Nature’s vibrant microbial pigments (e.g., carotenoids, flavins, violacein) offer eco-friendly alternatives

🔬 Observation: How do microorganisms produce brilliant colors without ecological harm?
🔄 Approach: Exploring pigments like carotenoids, flavins—a diverse, sustainable color palette

💡 Color has emotional and communicative power.
💡 Nature’s pigments can replace harmful synthetics while enhancing environmental health.
💡 Microbial pigments hold functional benefits—antimicrobial, antioxidant properties.

🎨 Ideation: Integrate microbial pigments into textile dyeing processes.
♻️ Goal: Create a circular design system that is vibrant, sustainable, and chemistry-free.

👁 User Needs: Users want color-rich, sustainable textile solutions.
🔄 Iterative Process: Research-driven material exploration feeding into design decisions.
📖 Storytelling: From natural science to textile experience—connecting environment, design, and emotion.

benign components

Bright &
Vibrant colours

Microbial Pigments

ANTI- microbial,
bacterial, fungal
properties.

Earth Friendly

Microbial Pigments are the future Dyeing solution.

To dive deeper into the project, click on these sub pages.................

Orchestrating Breathing Pigments

Fabric Archive

Exuberant Contours

Material Lib.

Probably 100 years later we wouldn't be there but textiles would be there to narrate our stories on our behalf. It's the power of this medium to drive us back to the past and straight to the future; absolutely omnipotent. Textiles have traveled from stone-age to the information age, and it has additionally endured race, statement of faith, position with all of this it helped elevate humankind. Textile can help as a powerful medium to create and manifest the "future".

Today's world is a lot more about bringing out diversified solutions and having to look in all directions.

My work is at the intersection of Design and Biotechnology; where with the assistance of organisms we plan and orchestrate designs onto fabric bringing about an astonishingly coordinated effort with microorganisms.

A better future begins when we all work together from different fields, addressing common challenges.

Pigment Biosynthesis

Very-Peri

Purple & Blue Pigment

We live in a world where colour is crucial. Colour has the power to influence our thoughts, alter our behaviours, and elicit responses. it also acts as a means of communication. Human civilizations, relationships, emotions, and memories are shaped by colours. Colours are irreplaceable.
Man has known the technique of colour application to improve our personality and the environment around us for thousands of years. Natural colours derived from plants, fruits, flowers, and some insects have been used to dye textiles. The standout feature of any textile is its colour. W. H. Perkins breakthrough of synthetic dyes in 1856 resulted in a wide spectrum of dyes that are colourfast, come in a larger colour range, and have brighter colours. As a result, “dye application” has grown into a huge multinational business; which runs even today.
Today we are paying the price for 150+ years of synthetic dyes consumption. These colours cost lives, not only human lives, but also the lives of the planet's inhabitants. These vibrant colours have a dark side since the colours have a detrimental influence on the environment.

So does that mean we stop using colours ? 

We look at how nature produces colours....
Observing how nature generates such brilliant colours without polluting the water or causing any ecological damage. In the absence of hazardous solvents, the microorganisms produce the same compounds that are synthesised in industrial settings today. Rather than exploiting resources, the goal is to integrate the production of Bio- dyes into a circular system that works in harmony with the natural ecology. Microscopic life also produces several different pigments including carotenoids, flavins and melanins as well as quinones and monascins along with violacein. Their uses include antibacterial, antioxidants, colour intensifiers, among other factors. Hence Microbial pigments is a promising answer to this global problem.

© 2020 Copyright by Diveja K. All rights reserved. 
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