ABSTRACT
By introducing a material dialogue into a contemporary design process, the designer will retrieve information by interacting with the physical material intended for the actual design: the design will be inspired, informed and restricted by a material reality. This kind of design process will, like most other design processes, include both analysis and synthesis, and be concerned with framing, imagining and developing a new design, but the presence of the material for production alters the different activities. Framing a design will include studying and exploring potential materials: the source, the historical use and connotations related to tradition and culture, as well as learning about the composition of the material and suitable manufacturing processes. Imagining what does not yet exist will take place framed and inspired by a material reality, and the design is developed through a process of material experimentation and iterative prototyping. Although these activities are described in some detail, there is no one recipe to follow for designing with materials. To exemplify different approaches, two interviews with designers, who share insights into their design process and how they learned to design with materials, are included at the end of the chapter.
