Jhonnatan Ortega Betancourt, Sourabh Garg and Professor Gloriana Gonzalez Rivera

Designers

Sourabh Garg

PhD Student in Curriculum and Instruction

College of Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Illinois, USA

Biography

As a team of three math education researchers, we share a common mission to transform the perception of math for children, making it engaging and meaningful beyond rote calculations. We recognized fashion as a powerful medium to engage students in math thinking, and decided to dive in the experience themselves. Inspired by the captivating asymmetry of Penrose tessellations, we brainstormed ideas and experimented with different concepts. While our initial plan involved using LED lights, we ultimately chose glow-in-the-dark ink to reveal intricate patterns on our T-Shirt. The small team engaged with a larger team of 8 people in multiple iterations of prototyping and sought feedback to refine our design to its current stage. The choice of textile and colors was strategic, with visual communication as our top priority. For the base color of the T-shirt, we selected our university's orange jersey color. We color-coded the shapes of the Penrose patterns—kite and dart—to blue and yellow, creating a visually appealing contrast that highlights the patterns within patterns. Furthermore, we used the ink to reveal a completely different pattern based on the same shapes, adding depth and intrigue to our design.

Looks

About the look

The Math party t-shirt

Cotton textiles (Orange, blue, yellow and black), glow-in-dark ink

2024

Introducing the Math T-Shirt, where mathematics meets artistry in a mysterious and beautiful display of Penrose tiling. During the day, admire the interaction of two quadrilaterals (kite and dart) based on the golden ratio, forming a beautiful blend asymmetric pattern. Penrose tessellations feature irregular shapes and arrangements that never quite repeat exactly. In the dark, a new dimension unfolds. The new patterns with the Penrose tessellations emerge and glow. These patterns are the circular arch joining the mid-points of the sides. Each semicircle delicately placed within the quadrilaterals played a crucial role, contributing to the creation of both internal and external patterns. Whether you're a mathematics enthusiast, an art aficionado, or simply someone who appreciates the fusion of creativity and science, the Math T-Shirt is a must-have addition to your wardrobe. Step into the realm of mathematical elegance and artistic brilliance with every wear, as the Math T-Shirt takes you on a journey through the wonders of Penrose patterns. Acknowledgements: We created this design as part of an internal competition in our research group which studies intersections between design, social justice, and mathematics. The design was partially supported by a National Science Foundation’s grant to Gloriana González (Principal Investigator) and Saadeddine Shehab (Co-Principal Investigator) for the project, “Engaging Teachers in Integrating Human-Centered Design for Geometry Problem-based Instruction,” Grant No. DRL-2300689. Opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.