Abstract
This research frames colour and print as responsive strategies to challenge entrenched aesthetic norms and empower diverse bodies. It explores how dynamic visual patterns and colour psychology can disrupt static perceptions of body shape, moving beyond the confines of normative ideals. Through an iterative, research-through-design process, the study develops motifs and colourways that foster aesthetic agency, self-confidence, and vitality. By treating surface design as an embodied material interface, dynamic visual elements (such as moiré effects and gradients) are integrated to sustain novelty and reduce aesthetic fatigue. This approach re-frames emotional durability not just as longevity, but as the capacity for a garment to facilitate an ongoing, fluid, and playful human-garment relationship. This study demonstrates how design can address sustainable goals by using psychological and perceptual strategies to support a more inclusive and critically engaged relationship with our clothing.
Keywords
Body shape perception; colour psychology; dynamic visual patterns; emotional durability
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.524
Citation
Xiao, H., Zhang, D., and Zheng, Y. (2026) Re-configuring Body Perception: Colour and Dynamic Pattern Strategies to Challenge Aesthetic Norms, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.524
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Re-configuring Body Perception: Colour and Dynamic Pattern Strategies to Challenge Aesthetic Norms
This research frames colour and print as responsive strategies to challenge entrenched aesthetic norms and empower diverse bodies. It explores how dynamic visual patterns and colour psychology can disrupt static perceptions of body shape, moving beyond the confines of normative ideals. Through an iterative, research-through-design process, the study develops motifs and colourways that foster aesthetic agency, self-confidence, and vitality. By treating surface design as an embodied material interface, dynamic visual elements (such as moiré effects and gradients) are integrated to sustain novelty and reduce aesthetic fatigue. This approach re-frames emotional durability not just as longevity, but as the capacity for a garment to facilitate an ongoing, fluid, and playful human-garment relationship. This study demonstrates how design can address sustainable goals by using psychological and perceptual strategies to support a more inclusive and critically engaged relationship with our clothing.