Hi, I'm Phnam.
Hi, I'm Mardis.
And we're the hosts of Future Future, where two designers talk about the future of everything.
We're in the business of turning science fiction into reality for a better future.
And today, we're going to talk about materials.
We generally dedicate a designer specifically trained in colors, materials, and finishes
to help us select the appropriate materials for products we create.
Now right now, we're in a really interesting time in human history with the pandemic.
People are actually going out and they're buying a lot of different products for their home space, for their garden space.
Believe it or not, all those material things, what they do is they bring comfort to us.
It's not just the functionality of, "I need a desktop."
You have a personality, and you're going to select something that evokes what you believe is comfort.
You're going to connect to this. You have to live with this on a regular basis.
Is it a material that is very trendy that I'm going to like for a short amount of time?
Or is it something that is still going to look good in fifty years when it's still living in my living room?
So really think about why those materials exist, why designers put them in the products that they design,
and the relationship we have with them.
For the most part, they're made out of the same fifteen-ish materials.
So, you have basic plastics like PP, P, PVC.
And then you have elastomer.
Things made out of silicone.
You have wood - different types of wood.
You have metal - you have steel, you have brass, you have copper.
People use the same limited number of materials.
So how can we as designers influence you to consume better, to reduce and throw away less,
and really build a relationship with the things that you buy?
I think we have to ask ourselves when we're designing products, when we consume products,
"what is that material story? What is that that makes me want to own this or buy this?"
Well, from a designer's perspective, we're looking at lots of things.
One of them is stability. How is it going to perform over time?
Will it break down in the sunlight or outdoors? Will it break down with oils from your hand?
We want to make sure the plastic that we use is high performance enough that it lasts.
And then next, we have new materials.
There's a subset of material science where they're creating really, really interesting, very specific materials that look differently,
that have different properties, that have wonderful stories.
For example, you have milk plastic.
Or, different types of plastic made from cow dung, for example.
And they have these...it looks very beautiful and very unique.
And we want to use more of these materials in people's lives
because then you build a relationship with these objects made out of these materials,
and you're less likely to throw them away after using them a couple of times.
We have to be really cautious about what is really "eco-friendly."
When we talk about PLAs...well, PLA is a plastic that is corn-based.
And what they're doing is, they're using this to replace some of these petroleum-based plastics
like PET or ABS or something like that.
It's great because now we're using an easily-grown material - corn - and we're refining it and processing it,
pulling out the oils and creating a plastic out of this.
It's absolutely better than petroleum-based plastic in many ways,
but at the same time we can't stop and have a conversation about PLA without looking at its carbon footprint.
So here we're going to talk about how designers make material choices,
whether they're industrial designers, architects, or anything in between.
So think about all the materials around you, all the products that you own.
A lot of them are made from plastic.
And, ask yourself, "why are they made from plastic?"
Well, they have a lot of really high performance properties that make them very very capable of using in mass manufacturing.
Some of those properties might be: it's very durable, it lasts over time.
It might be: it's very elastic or rubberized so that it works for a different use case.
And all these materials are very, very important to be aligned correctly with the right type of use.
And on top of this, we have to consider costs.
Costs are very, very important when you're making millions of products.
If you make a phone that you have to have one million copies of it, and you've advertised it that it's going to be exactly like this,
you'd better make sure the first copy is exactly the same as the ten millionth copy.
And part of doing this is using the appropriate materials.
And we call these high performance materials.
You can't just use your standard metal or standard stone to build bridges
that are under the constraints of modern day use and cars and things like that.
We have to use really highly modified steels and alloys that are high performance.
Think about the space station, or something that goes under great duress.
That isn't your typical aluminum.
It has to have certain properties that allow it to be used in that use case.
On the opposite spectrum of that we have natural materials.
So, think about - again - the materials you surround yourself with.
The pieces of furniture made out of wood.
The glass that's on your window.
The clothing that you wear made out of cotton or linen or wool.
All of these come from natural materials.
And to give you an example about the emotional connection that we have with them...
for example, if you have a speaker that is made out of wood.
Then, you're connected to the craft that that wood was put through to create that object.
And then the wood modifies the sound that comes out of that speaker to give it some warmth and some roundness.
And so, your connection to it is multi-sensory.
So another aspect of choosing materials is the conversation of non-toxicity.
For instance, they've removed BPA.
And we've probably all heard about this from water bottles to make them less toxic
so we can drink water from them over and over.
So when we do baby bottles, when we do toys and whatnot, we try to make them non-toxic.
And that means non-toxic paints and coverings and materials themselves.
The next is authenticity and desirability.
So here we're going to take the example of luxury goods.
A lot of us think of luxury goods as these very fancy brands that only rich people can afford.
But really, luxury is about taking natural materials and transforming them in a way
where they look artificial and very beautiful, very well crafted.
So let's take the example of jewelry.
Jewelry uses metal that you extract from the earth, and then you put it in a shape that is very beautiful and well crafted.
Same for the stone that you set into that piece of metal.
When you think about a very nice leather bag, the leather comes from the skin of an animal
that's been tanned and dyed in a very specific color.
It has that suppleness and it also ages with a certain type of patina, right?
So it's obvious that we have lots of different material choices. More now than ever.
And we have lots of different material application. We can do so many things with them depending on what you want to do.
Do you want your device to be easily held?
Do you want it to fly through the air quickly?
Do you want it to be durable?
Whatever these properties are, make sure they're honest.
Because good design is using appropriate use of materials.
Be honest in the use.
Be authentic in your use.
And try to create a desirability in it when you give it to the consumer.
So let's look the future.
And the future should be a place where our needs as humans are being met
- emotional or physical or anything -
but also the earth's need in terms of what do we throw in the ocean is not harming it so much.
Think about that product you want to buy.
Think about the materials and the application of those materials and what makes it really special.
What's really connecting to you as a consumer and making you want to buy that and even desire that?
And put those in the comments below. We'd love to know more.
And with that, we thank you for joining us today and look forward to seeing you again.
Bye!