Material design focus on product development of semifinished goods such as composites, textiles, board material, blends, surfaces, production techniques etc that later can be used when creating an artifact such as a car, a building, a sports shoe etc. It is a process aiming at speeding up effective material development.
Material Design is a combination of manufacturing knowledge, brand owner needs, research expertise, design and sustainability (social, ecological, economic) thinking. Often projects stretches over value chains involving Consumers, OEMs, Tiers, Recyclers, Research Institutes and/or Specifiers (designers, architects, procurement etc) to analyze, speed up time-to market and reduce risk. Sometime customised Material Challenge teams of specialists and representatives are set up for effective integrated product development.
By crossbreeding knowledge, material and/or manufacturing solutions innovation is made possible. Especially combining existing technologies from different markets. The process philosophy is need-driven and production compatible solutions based on high TRL-levels (6+). Working close to the production floor, iterating results by combining white and blue collar knowledge.
Collaboration is either based on consulting, royalties, IP or a combination.
Material Design Session with Automotive designer Anders Bergström