posted on 2019-01-17, 09:46authored byOwain F. Pedgley, Bahar Sener, Debra LilleyDebra Lilley, Ben Bridgens
Imperfection is not a usual aim within the context of industrialized product design. Under general norms, products are manufactured as
clones of a ‘perfect’ original and product surfaces are prized for their ‘perfect’ flawless state. The mass production of products against
these principles seems counterintuitive. Yet within the world of materials, and especially considering material surfaces, imperfection is
widespread. This research set out to identify and scrutinize circumstances when material imperfection in products is appreciated, from
mass manufacture to artisan practices. By synthesizing literature with analyses of material and product samples, five sources of surface
imperfections are characterized: inherent material properties, production effects, workmanship of risk, planned and foreseen events, and
everyday wear and tear. Following this, a research-focused concept design project is reported, leading to eleven product designs that
exemplify how to design for, and with, imperfect material surfaces. A significant challenge facing designers is one of persuasion: of
designing products where imperfect material surfaces are regarded as contributing to rather than detracting from product value. To this
end, the paper culminates in a visual guide to embracing material surface imperfections in design practice.
Funding
The authors would
also like to thank the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC) who provided funding for parts of
the reported work through the Closed Loop Emotionally Valuable
E-waste Recovery (CLEVER) project (EP/K026380/1).
History
School
Design
Published in
International Journal of Design
Volume
12
Issue
3
Pages
21 - 33
Citation
PEDGLEY, O.F. ... et al., 2018. Embracing material surface imperfections in product design. International Journal of Design, 12(3), pp. 21 - 33.
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 2.5 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.5) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/
Acceptance date
2018-05-30
Publication date
2018-12-01
Notes
This is an Open Access Article. It is published by the International Journal of Design under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 2.5 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.5) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/