The Canada-based training company InfiniteSkills Inc has developed a 27-hour training video series on the newest version Rhinoceros 3D, the popular NURBS-based design and modeling suite developed by Robert McNeel & Associates. With both a beginner-targeted and more advanced course, the company has launched its two titles individually on DVD-ROM for $99.95 and as a discounted bundle for $149.95 USD.

InfiniteSkills Rhino 5 Training Video Bundle – Product Info

“We had an overwhelming response from the community to our first video series on product design with Rhino 4,” said the company’s sales director Colin Boyd. “We wanted to build on our success with an up-to-date release that filled the same needs and price point.”

Authored by Rob McColloch of the Studio Red5 design firm, The beginners Rhino 5 Training introduces the basic concepts and techniques for curve-based solid modeling and surfacing as they can be applied to product design and rapid prototyping. McColloch includes central product modeling examples such as a tire and rim, a grooved plastic safety razor with grips, and a mobile phone. Topics covered include drawing and editing NURBS curves, extruding and blending surfaces, booleans, transforms and basic texturing and rendering.

In the advanced course, McColloch builds on the introductory lessons and also moves into new features introduced by McNeel in Rhino 5. Viewers learn techniques such as the shell polysurface command, object grouping and alignment, dimensioning, and working with block instances. The advanced course features more intricate product modeling exercises, including a desk lamp, a car hood, a ring, a boat hull, and a power drill. Viewers also get an extended lesson in 3D rendering using the KeyShot plugin.

Rob McColloch has taught Rhino, product development, and interaction design courses for 14 years, first at the University of Michigan and currently at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan. His video training lessons for InfiniteSkills are adapted from his classroom courses to meet the needs of computer-based, self-paced learning.

In addition to Rhino, InfiniteSkills also offers comprehensive tutorials on AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Inventor, and MicroStation. All of the company’s DVD-ROM courses may alternatively be purchased as a DRM-free instant download. More information on the Rhino 5 training series, including free demos, can be found on the InfiniteSkills website.

About the author: Chris Johns is the content coordinator for the training company InfiniteSkills. In addition to handling social media and marketing duties, he works to build relationships with software manufacturers and enthusiast sites through sharing content, hosting contests, and doing the occasional giveaway. He lives and works in Austin, Texas.

In a recent article, BU99 outlined some of the key qualities of particularly productive creative types. We’re inclined to agree with the skills they’ve identified and wanted to share them with you – along with some real life examples where Crucible Industrial Design has demonstrated those skills with incredible results. If you’re looking to outsource a product design project, then these are certainly four qualities that you should be looking for in your product designer.

1. Communication skills

Albert Einstein said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” The ability to communicate clearly and concisely is essential during a design project, especially as there are usually a number of parties that need to be involved. Finance, planning, production, design, marketing, sales and customer care are all vital roles in any new product. We see project managing the process as an important part of our job  – we ensure communication channels are open and there’s always a clear agenda. That way we can make sure all aspects of the project are on track and all issues are de-risked in a timely manner.

2. Pro-activeness

People tend to judge other people based on their experience. This is, of course, the whole basis of a resumé. Yet, while a product designer’s portfolio might look impressive, it’s also important that they are willing to take the initiative and put potential new ideas on the table. As Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company famously once said, “If you do what you’ve always done you’ll get what you’ve always got.” It’s worth digging around a little to find out how proactive a potential product designer is going to be.

A couple of years ago Crucible Industrial Design suggested a new innovation for Codelocks and went on to design a small cabinet lock for them:

Our new design of the PondClear was a huge success. PondClear had wanted to reduce assembly time and by creating a vacuum formed casing we reduced TMC’s manufacturing costs by 26%. Sales also doubled in the first season.  You can read the case study here.

4. Curiosity.

The French philosopher, Voltaire said, “Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.” As anyone who’s had a eureka moment knows, daring to ask a new question goes a long way toward finding the right solution. What’s more, a high level of curiosity – the hallmark of an inquiring mind – is typically indicative of other good qualities, such as inventiveness and resourcefulness. We see asking questions and digging deep as part of our role in the product development process. Take a look at our briefing paper,‘Ten Essential Questions for Anyone Developing Their First Product’  to see where we always start.  You can also email us to request a copy of our briefing paper, ‘Project Specification’ (very useful checklist of issues that need to be considered).

About the author: Mike Ayre has a number of roles in innovation, industrial design and manufacture, and over twenty five years’ experience of bringing successful products to market.  He began working as an independent consultant in 1990, and established Crucible Industrial Design in 2001. 

With 3D printing growing at a rate that is much faster than many people expected, the idea that the consumer market will be greatly impacted very soon by 3D printing isn’t a thought that is too far fetched. With the ability to print in a rage from gold to abs plastic, many consumer goods fall under the printable category. As 3D printing goes in the direction of the everyday consumer, there is an obvious gap that will need to be bridged.  Where will everyday consumers who do not have the ability to design the products they would like to print.

3DLT bridges this gap. 3DLT.com is an online marketplace for 3D printable templates. We provide content for 3D printing by partnering with industrial designers. Like an iStockphoto for 3D printing, 3DLT provides consumers with a web site where they can discover and purchase 3D printable designs. Buyers can download files and even have them printed through  growing 3DLT network of local and industrial printers. With a large network of 3D printers, 3DLT is able to push the price of 3D printing down while making it available to the general public.  3DLT is not just a marketplace. It is an innovation accelerator that allows individuals to develop their product much faster than in traditional methods.

3DLT will be Launching at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York City on April 29th and is looking to expand their marketplace and community of designers. They are Offering designers who would like to sign up before the launch the two commission reward plans below.

COMMISSION PLAN

3DLT has an aggressive marketing strategy that includes giving away thousands of $10 site gift cards each month for the remainder of 2013. During this time they’ll be paying designers 30% commission on all sales. But designers who upload two files per month from March through the remainder of 2013 will receive 70% commission for life, beginning January, 2014*.

*Terms & Conditions apply. See 3DLT Author Agreement for details.

FAST START BONUS

3DLT.com will officially launch at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York on April 29, 2013. They are expecting a significant amount of traffic at launch and think it will only grow from there. 3DLT needs your help to fill out their catalog now. Upload 25 files or more by the end of March, 2013, and they will waive the two file per month requirement. You’ll receive 30% commission through the remainder of 2013, and be locked in to receive 70% commission for life, beginning January, 2014.*

*Terms & Conditions apply. See 3DLT Author Agreement for details.

ACT NOW by Registering!

To learn more, please register here. 3DLT will set up a video chat or phone call to learn more about you and share more about their program.

3DLT has the ability to change the industry and the potential to change the world. This is a great opportunity for Industrial Designers to get started by attacking a niche. If you have a passion to design in a certain area then go for it. Whether it’s Jewelry, toys, glasses, aftermarket car parts, or tools, this is your chance to take over your niche.

About the author: Macon Speed is a student at The University of Arkansas (studying Finance and Entrepreneurship) who has started and operated a collection of online businesses. He is now part of the 3DLT team.

After three days of deliberations last summer, a jury in northern California found Samsung had infringed several of Apple’s design and utility patents, awarding Apple over one billion dollars in damages (Verdict Form #22). Yet the decision is just one small piece of a mosaic of related intellectual property disputes between the tech titans that spreads across four continents and over twenty countries.

While many of the design and utility patents in the US litigation relate to graphical user interfaces or more broadly to user experience—underscoring a larger dispute between Apple and Google’s Android operating system—a lot of the litigation has been directed to more traditional industrial designs. The most commonly litigated (e.g., US & EU designs) and perhaps most contentious design relates to what Apple sells commercially as the iPad.

As one of the first UK Design companies to establish ourselves in China the experiences and adventures
over the years have been exiting and at times bewildering but always memorable. We first decided to
drive ourselves in China after years of scary taxi rides, the crunch came when we were trying to return
to Shenzhen from Guangzhou one evening 2009 and found the last train had already left. Stuck at the
station at just ten in the evening we only had the choice of a private taxi so took the best price we could
negotiate to get back home. This was one of the more dangerous journeys in the back of a clapped out
little car with no seatbelts and an inventive view of traffic law. We had both experienced frequent near
misses and accidents since moving to Shenzhen in 2004 and it was clearly just a matter of time before
one of us came of worse from the terrible driving. This time we made it back home in record time and in
one piece but it was no longer fun. We had been talking about getting our own vehicle in China for at
least five years but never quite had the courage to do it. Maybe now it was time.

After some research our car of Choice was the Greatwall ‘Hover’. The Greatwall Motor company was
setup ten years ago and is the biggest SUV maker in China. With a sturdy box section chassis, overweight
and underpowered many of the models are made for tough driving conditions and the occasional
accident! The ‘Hover’s predecessor the Greatwall ‘Safe’ says it all, this is a vehicle which can handle a
front or rear end collision and still drive away. So this is how our life of China Driving began and a whole
new experience and View of this vast country was reviled to us.

Being independently mobile without having to rely on a local driver opens up many new possibilities and
opportunities. Arriving at a local client’s office or factory by your own steam is often greeted with
surprise and delight. Entertaining and transporting visitors becomes a new experience with a ???at
the wheel instead of in the back seat. And a western style life of shopping for groceries for a whole week
becomes possible again. So with this new found freedom it seemed a good idea to explore beyond the
indistinguishable train stations and airport terminals which define so much of the China traveller’s
experience.

China now has the world’s largest motorway network with over 50 thousand miles of road built in the
last ten years alone, many of these new roads transverse dramatic landscape and scenery with fantastic
views. With around 18 million new cars built last year one would expect the roads to be heavily
congested but in reality much of the connecting motorways between the cities are far less congested
than Europe and better quality too. A first journey took us out of the city and into the karst hills of
Yangshou along the Li river to Xing Ping the famous scene depicted on the 20 RMB note. To arrive here
with so little effort and in the comfort of your own car is a great feeling and one example of how car
travel beats taking a bus hands down.

We have now explored West to Nanning, Kunming and the fabled Shangrila on the Tibetan boarder. We
have driven down across the tea-clad mountains of Puer, and deep unspoiled forests through the
boarder at Mengla and into Laos. The crossing from China to Laos is a breeze compared with the cues
and crowds of the Lo Wu crossing from Hong Kong. Exploring Laos by Chinese car is indeed another
fascinating experience and by no means unusual judging by the hotels and tourist attractions we saw
clearly geared towards the Chinese. Crossing into Vietnam however has so far defeated us and remains
on our great journey to-do list.

Having seen all the major cities intermittently over the past ten years it seems clear that a true view of
China is impossible as the changes take place faster than one can keep track of, and any impression one
has is purely historical. Much of our professional work now requires us to identify the trends and
dynamics of Chinese consumer society and habits. In Europe little has changed in the past five years but
we have to work much harder to monitor the Chinese market, things really do change in the space of a
year in a way no other market currently does. Part of this knowledge is to actually go out and experience
the real China on a regular basis and this has now become part of our annual routine. So we saw our
recent engagement in Shanghai to attend the British Business Awards as a good chance to catch up on
the Eastern Port Cities and make a journey by Car to see as much as we could along the way.

Our journey took us around four thousand kilometres and five provinces, along the coast to Shanghai
across to Nanjing and back inland along another route to Shenzhen. We wanted to visit Second and
Third Tier Cities on our trip as well as the First Tier and to get a feel for the China of right now.
Our first stop was Shantou, still in Guangdong province and around 350 KM from Shenzhen , one of the
original Treaty Ports and an Special Economic Zone in the 1980’s. The city is still quite underdeveloped,
it has not boomed and expanded the way Shenzhen and most of the other coastal cities have. It’s
notable for its reputation as ‘toy town’ which is why we visited. There is a lot of specialisation in small
toy manufacture much of these carved by hand with great skill.

Our next stop was Xiamen in Fujian Province. Another Treaty Port (originally called Amoy) now seen as
one of Chinas best leisure cities with high living standards and a large population of overseas Chinese.
Xiamen has had a lot of investment and has built much dynamic infrastructure since our last visit, it has
a more relaxed feeling than Shenzhen but still supports some leading industry and companies.
Next we stopped at Ningde city, Fujian. This is a prefecture level city of around three million people. It
has no great history as a treaty port or SEZ but is a typical Third Tier City. It was interesting for us to
meet some locals and see what shops and facilities were there. There is still no major industry or
infrastructure investment in NingDe from what we could see; we met some students from the local
university here.

We travelled though Ningbo and around the Yangzi River Delta to Hangzhou the capital city of Zhejiang
Province. Hangzhou has an impressive history with its location on the Qiantang river and Chinas Grand
Canal, it has been an important trading port and is now a city of about six million people. It has an
impressive Hi-Tech Zone where there used to be agricultural fields just a few years ago. We visited a UK
company working in the Energy sector before heading on to Shanghai.

The changes in Shanghai were breathtaking, especially Pudong. The new road infrastructure which was
put in around the 2010 expo is amazing. There is a whole new city we simply had never seen and
another one we hunted for but had vanished. The real impression from driving extensively around such a
large city is the scale of the urban sprawl, it becomes possible to see how over 23 million people can
function, and how well developed the transport systems and planning has been. This is really highlighted
by a visit to the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center which shows a scale model of the city
together with the changes and planning that went into making them. It seems clear that Shanghai really
is the number one city now in China both in population and development.

Our next stop was Suzhou only a short drive away and famed for its Silk and Beauty. Our last visit was
2006 and although the development had already started it was a real shock to see its present state. The
expansion and economic success has really transformed this City which reputedly has now outpaced
Shenzhen in GDP and growth. Despite the impressive transformation it seems something has been lost
here which will not return.

We continued on for meetings in Nanjing, crossed the Yangtze River on the famous double-decked roadrail
bridge towards the north then headed south stopping at little known towns and cities for the
reaming 1400KM to get back home.

Setting out on our journey and promoting British Design and Creativity along the way we were amazed
and inspired by both the people we met and the changes we saw. Having visited most of these cities
previously it can be a wakeup call to see the transformation that has been made and at times difficult to
accept. But we are actually part of the development in China; the fastest industrial revolution ever
known which is now in the process of moving from engineering to innovative design and strategy which
is set to play a significant if not dominant role in the world over the coming years. Our journey is really a
reminder to us that it’s a great privilege to be witnessing and actually taking part in such exciting and
dynamic times.

About TECA Studio:
TECA Studio is a British Design and Innovation company with Design Offices in the United Kingdom,
Hong Kong and China We work internationally with a highly Multicultural and Interdisciplinary group
across our different locations and we are able to offer and wide-ranging and tailored project team for
each project we undertake.

Innovation is the heart of what we do. We believe that innovation within new product development is
the key to creating a successful market leading solution. We provide Award Winning Design from an
international design team and can combine this seamlessly with Engineering and Production. Our
strategic location allows us an in-depth experience in Chinese Manufacturing as well as leading the way
in Research, Positioning and Design for the large Emerging Markets in the East.

About the author: Dina Paulette Guth was trained at the London Institute before specialising in Creative Industries Project Management. Dina now manages both the Hong Kong and China office and is responsible for projects internationally.

Project managers overseeing design, prototyping, replicating and reverse engineering projects turn to advanced 3D scanners for the accuracy and usability they need to make their projects a success.  The Konica Minolta RANGE 7 3D laser scanner is an example of an instrument that returns highly accurate measurements in a host of different applications.

Using advanced laser triangulation technology, a 3D scanner takes a laser “picture” of an object, such as a machine part with multiple surfaces and contours.  A CAD model is then digitally reproduced on a computer screen, and from it engineers can create a design prototype or search the digital part for imperfections in a quality control application.  Because of ±40 ?m accuracy and a 1.31 million pixel sensor, even irregular shapes and dark surfaces can be studied in perfect replication with Konica’s RANGE 7.

In reading dark surfaces, this instrument excels with the recent inclusion of a dark surface mode, which lets the instrument take precise measurements of objects and surfaces with as little as 2.5 percent reflectance.  This lets users bypass the hassle of having to pre-spray the measurement object (and clean it off afterward) or taking it into a specialized darkroom.

The RANGE 7 was engineered to be used in many applications on site, with a special design that keeps instrument tilt influence at a minimum and prevents other variables that can affect the accuracy of measurement results.  It can measure and digitally reproduce very small objects as well as very large ones including ships, buildings and airplanes.

This 3D scanner was made to be both fast and easy to use, even for first-time operators.  Circuits designed for high-speed processing return a 3D preview of the measured object in about two seconds.  With the preview function, technicians are able to predict the results of the measurement while examining the scanning area for potential problems arising from the conditions of the object’s surface, dead angles and depth.  This significantly reduces mistakes during the scanning process.

To further enhance the accuracy of this 3D scanner, there is a built in auto focus function and a measurement algorithm along with interchangeable WIDE and TELE lenses that allow users to customize the instrument based on the scan range.  A multi-focus mode will shift the position of the focus automatically, while the auto focus alleviates concern on the part of the user about fine positioning.

The newest RANGE 7 3D scanner model is lightweight and compact, easy to handle and transport.  At just under 15 pounds, its weight is half or less of the weight of older models.  An optional stand is available that provides easy camera position changes for measuring projects that require data to be gleaned from multiple angles.

Finally, Konica’s Range Viewer software, which is standard with the RANGE 7, gives users the ability to perform several editing tasks including data integration, measurement data registration and various scanning controls.  The software interacts easily with a number of third-party programs and is supported by Windows Vista (64-bit).  The current RANGE 7 is the newest in a line of 3D scanners that is trusted by engineers and manufacturers in numerous industries throughout the world.

In summary, Konica Minolta’s RANGE 7 3D scanner provides users with an instrument that can return extremely high degrees of accuracy when creating digital replications of a wide range of objects.  It features a dark surface mode, which can precisely measure surfaces with a reflectance as low as 2.5 percent.  The instrument has a built in auto focus function that simplifies the measuring process for the user and ensures predictable accuracy.

About the author: Doug Thomas is a freelance writer interested in Konica Minolta Sensing Americas, a Ramsey, N.J., developer of advanced measurement instruments including 3D scanners, colorimeters, spectrophotometers and spectroradiometers that are used in a wide array of applications across multiple industries.  You can learn more about Konica Minolta at Sensing.KonicaMinolta.us.

Sometimes an idea really is just that good, and you simply will not be able to sleep through another night without being able to see it through to its full potential.  However, bringing inventions to life can cost money, you have design costs, finance costs,  you may have to hire people to fulfill certain costs, you may have to travel, meet with people, entertain: there is just so much that is needed to bring an invention from an idea into a reality , that funding is a necessity. So how do you get it? Here are some options available to you:

1.)  Bank loan

If you have a good credit rating and you think that your bank will respond favorably to you, then one option to get funding is to visit your local bank and ask for a business loan. The pros of this are that you can fund your invention, whilst starting up a business account that will eventually become the account with which you monetize your idea. The down side is that business loans come with costs, repayments and charges and so if your idea doesn’t perform as well as you hope it would, you will have repayments to deal with that you may not be able to afford, and may even be secured against your home.

2.)  Sponsorship

If your idea is relevant to a particular area such as health, or food, then there may be a corporation out there who would be willing to sponsor you. The benefit of this is that there will be nothing to pay back, and you also get the added benefit of having a big business name supporting you. On the downside, you will have to share your idea, and if it really is as good as you think it is, they can steal it from you!

3.)  Crowd funding

Crowd funding is a relatively new way of gaining funds. Crowd funding is basically an online community of people from all over the world who are willing to contribute to projects and business ideas, in return for a share of the idea or business.  This all happens online, and the pros are that you can generate some quick cash quite fast. On the downside, you will have to share out your business with strangers, and so you won’t completely own whatever it is that you end up with once you have secured the investment.

4.)  Angel Investor

An angel investor is a rich person who makes a hobby of investing in business ideas that they think are worthy (think Dragon’s Den and you will get the drift)! Angel investors are usually quite strict on the conditions in which they invest and they also will require some share of your business and so before accepting any terms, be sure you know what you are getting into and don’t allow yourself to be bullied just because you think you have a winning idea!

5.)  Personal finance

Of course the best way to fund anything at all is in the form of personal finance, which can be taken either from savings, selling assets or remortgaging your home. Of course, the downside is that you stand the risk of wasting your money, but at least you won’t owe anyone anything, and if in the end your invention does turn into a successful business: it will be well worth it!

About the author: Ben works for TheDesignVillage.co.uk, a product design company based in Guernsey.

I believe RIM has one of the most valuable brands in its hands, and could have been the Microsoft of smartphones..the model of a leading corporation that has little soul but astronomic income. Long story short, things have changed ,and while clinging for a long time on plastic keys, they struggle to get back into the scene with their infamous (and probably last hope) Blackberry 10.

All aside, crisis is nothing more than opportunity, as the Chinese wisely put it [ ? w?i (danger) and ? j? (opportunity) ] , and Blackberry could choose to stay among the living, if they set out to do what no other Apple competitor out there is doing: create a culture!

Shape-shifting BlackBerry`s core characteristics may seem counter-intuitive, but what (I believe) many big brands do not understand is that there IS life outside Apple`s “technology married with humanities” approach, one that lies inert because everyone is to busy blind-copying their model without substance.

Let`s start with its undecided logo. BBry has many iterations of the Gestalt generated icon (comprising of many negative space B`s that happen to look like a berry if your imagination allows it), and i must admit they are all nifty ideas . But most non BBry`s users are unaware of it, so they are deprived of the eureka moment that creates psychological impact . Inserting another element not only pops out the fruity composition, but also adds another negative element that further defines the letter B. I also feel that the lack of symmetry adds a dynamic effect that works great with letters. It is not a must have, but I feel every new beginning needs a new symbol.

Now lets bring in the big guns. It`s no secret that a smartphone`s heart and soul lies in its software. Blackberry is bold enough to invent one from scratch, in an industry that is already too crowded , and light years in front of RIM`s baby OS. But it needn`t be so.

A big advantage Android had over Apple was the possibility of starting fresh. And that turned out great. Windows 8 is doing it right now and they were brilliant in creating a superior OS altogether.  Blackberry can use its late arrival to adopt changes that otherwise Android , Apple or Windows cannot afford to do anymore due to the perils of inconsistency. What about apps? Apps are an outcome of a superior system, not a target in itself.

So let us use the OS wisely, and understand just a couple of its key characteristics.

Now…if you are lucky enough to be different on some areas, why on earth should you do what everybody else is doing. The  -> big product / simple layout <- thing that we are bombarded with every day was popularized by (you guessed it ) Apple! and when promoted, it relied on the fact that people understood Apples values, and products were just a manifestation of that vision. That`s why they could get away with minimal advertising, or even crappy products. As I was saying earlier , by copying the style without a belief framework, stuff just turned into visual schizophrenia!

Blackberry can use both the absence it had lately (and the new beginning they strive for) to set things right.

I am proposing a communication campaign that uses BB10 to reinvent and restate blackberry`s beliefs. Technology married with social sciences is the niche I tried to aim for . RIM needs to be humanized while retaining the premium , high class DNA. And it can do that in three simple steps :

1. Create anticipation, exploit scarcity.  Use semiotics to hint the user into the new interface and break the pattern by not introducing the product.

2. Use the awareness the ad campaign generated to further mystify the product. State beliefs that will associate with the brand , create a vision that empowers current users and makes potential ones want to associate with it. Stay true to the DNA and generate subtle controversy.

3. If one must show the product, obsess on details, hide the product behind curtains, reveal just enough to let the viewer associate a form to a strong reference he already has (like the premium black card that has strong links to a certain social status). Making the buyer curios about getting his hands on products is crucial! Stores are experience incubators , they have control of perception and hold immense power. Ads must just get them in there.

P.s. I have no idea what RIM was thinking when they named their beloved tablet Playbook. It`s wrong in so many ways I could not resist giving it a different identity..makes me sleep better with myself at night. The moral of the story is : stay consistent with the product line , do not split personalities!

P.s.s. There is a pattern in people holding on to boxes after buying a device. Be it for practical reasons (one might want to sell it in the future) or pure status symbolism , there is huge potential in this!

Re-defining packaging could add tremendous value to the product , brand identity, and even attenuate product value loss on the long term. Making the user feel like there is a higher cause for him being brand loyal is what companies spend billions for. This small collection of bright minded, high class, and prosperous entrepreneurs of the past century speaks for itself, it is the perfect blend of blackberry’s current DNA and what it needs to become, in order to generate a culture.

About the author: Julian C. Caraulani is a British-romanian designer who recently graduated from Coventry University, UK. His design approach relies on an interdisciplinarity that seeks to gather people with shared beliefs, passion and visions towards professional, meaningful projects. His website is www.caraulani.com and email caraulani@yahoo.com

There is an elephant in the room and you may be sitting on it.

The energy that goes into manufacturing our material world is the largest component of our energy consumption and something designers have a direct impact on. Yet few people understand this embodied energy or actively design with it in mind.

This struck us as a little scary, so a couple of years ago we started researching our own embodied energy footprints, visualising the data and creating tools that could integrate this data into our design process. The result is an energy driven design process and our Energy Trumps design tool, we wanted to share some of our insights from this exploration to encourage other people to start designing with energy.

The Energy Trump design tool in use

Reducing our energy consumption must tackle our largest energy segment; stuff.

The largest energy consumption sector in the UK is embodied energy ( The Guardian’s National carbon calculator, Sustainable energy without the hot air).This is the sum energy from extraction to production that goes into making our material world. This is the energy that went into making the house you live in, the bike you ride, the phone you talk on and the coffee cup you drink out of.

“The real issue is not our direct consumption of energy but the greenhouse gases embodied in the goods we buy”

Monbiot (2010)

Energy has been invested in making almost every element of our material world. We need to start looking carefully for ways of delivering these functions for a fraction of the energy.

Understanding the energy properties of materials can drive low embodied energy design.

Embodied energy data tells us how much energy it typically takes to manufacture a kilogram of a particular material. This data enables us to analyse and interpret the impact of products, leading to a more informed design process.

Our own understanding of embodied energy started with a very personal exploration. Having realised I knew next to nothing about the energy implications of all my belongings I attempted to catalogue and calculate the embodied energy of everything I owned. The calculations were very crude but they forced me to get hold of as much embodied energy data as possible and sparked an interest in what could be achieved with this data.

Embodied energy catalogue

The data itself can be confusing as you need to factor in material density to understand the implications for a given material. We found one of the best ways to look at the data is to show the volume of the material that can be produced for 1 megajoule of energy. This gives you a more tangible idea of the energy intensity of a material.

Cubes showing the volume of each material that could be manufactured with 1 megajoule of energy.

The data can also be applied to simple mono-material products, multiplying the embodied energy figure by the weight of the product to give you an estimate of its total embodied energy.

Estimates of how much energy it took to manufacture each product.

Embodied energy data can equally be used to calculate the energy in more complex products, giving you the energy break down of a product’s components. The video below shows one of our studio experiments scaling product components relative to their embodied energy, this allows you to ‘see’ a products embodied energy.

Augmented reality experiments to ‘see’ embodied energy

These approaches to visualising and analysing products using embodied energy data have given us a much richer understanding of the numbers. They allow you to quickly understand the impact of materials and assess where there is the greatest potential for change.

Simple tools to make energy part of the creative process.

Through our own explorations into an energy driven design process we could see how valuable embodied energy data was as a design driver, but also knew how little it was currently used in the design process.

“We need numbers, not adjectives“

MacKay (2009)

Adopting David MacKay’s approach, we wanted to move environmental design decisions away from popular opinion or aesthetic associations and put the numbers at the heart of the design process. To do this we created the Energy Trumps, a visual design tool that integrates environmental data into the creative process. The cards allow you to quickly assess and compare materials, enabling you to make more informed material choices early in your design process. The video below shows the cards in action, detailing why we made them and showing some of the products we designed using the data.

Energy Trumps video

Through our web app the cards also allow you to explore the data in 3D, showing the different volumes of material that can be produced with 1 megajoule of energy.

The Energy Trumps augmented reality web app.

We originally developed the cards to use in our own design process but they became such a valuable way of explaining embodied energy and the impact of design decision that we developed them into a commercially available version.

Moving towards a low energy future

With a better understanding of the energy properties of materials we can use embodied energy to drive design decisions and deliver low energy solutions. However, if you are looking for the products with the lowest embodied energy, look no further than the cheapest items in bargain stores. These products are almost a miracle of cost reduction, reduced to the most minimal amount of material to stay functioning. By their nature they have used the smallest amount of energy to be produced, but they are also prone to failure and very challenging to repair giving them very short life spans.

Our future design approach needs to integrate embodied energy with existing design criteria; functionality, aesthetics, longevity and disposal to create balanced solutions that minimize their impact. In our own projects we use embodied energy as a filter through which to assess designs, looking carefully at how much functionality and value is being delivered per megajoule. This pushes us to look for elegant and creative uses of materials that radically reduce energy impact.

About the author: Rich Gilbert is a Co-founder of The Agency of Design, a London based design studio helping organisations design a better future by re-thinking our digital and physical worlds.

For more information on the project see;

The energy trumps home page

Our PDF on designing with energy

The design project that sparked the cards

How great are the big consultancy firms in the world! These guys operate spreadsheets 24/7 (keyboard shortcuts only!) and their analysis and reports do magic for big companies who are in need for just that little bit of extra revenue (and/or the need of solving bigger problems, of course). I think we can assume, that when the consultants are done with a company, better times will come. And it just got better, because they found out about the value of design.

The treasure was revealed in the latest issue of the McKinsey Quarterly. This article ends in a great apotheosis: “By combining deep insights about customers, competitors, and cost, a few leading companies are finding the “sweet spot” in product development: lowering costs while designing better products that customers value more.” I think it is great that smart consultants are starting to think out-of-the-box. I see it as a compliment for the design industry. However, the advice from a designer’s point of view would be to give the consultants a small design-workshop.

Do they really need a workshop, or is that just the ego of the designer getting nervous by arrival of the new kid on the block? To be honest, maybe it’s a bit of both. But the main topic in this article is not just good design; it is cost reduction (the word “cost” is in the article 37 times). Co-written by a McKinsey principal, director and consultant, I can see where that comes from. Costs do play an important role in the return on the investment on design, but in order to get people to buy your product, you need to design a product that people will love to use. So, here are 3 tips for our consulting friends.

1. Consumer insights

Getting insights from consumers is the perfect start for product development. McKinsey acknowledges this, but they miss an important factor. Designers read between the lines when they listen to consumers sharing their needs. But the focus is on retrieving needs that consumers don’t know they have (yet). This requires a good focus-group setup; don’t confront consumers with engineers and management, but with designers.

2. Interaction is key

Cost-effective design is important for the company behind the product. Interaction design is important for the success behind the product. Without losing the perspective of cost-impact on design (and other product properties), the focus should be on a perfect interaction between user and product. If you improve this, you’ll improve their life. And that’s worth quite a lot.

 3. Study the competition AND the context

A thorough analysis of your competitor’s product is a good reference to improve your own product. But there are much more products your consumer uses. What can we learn from the context of the user? For example, when designing a microwave, let’s not only tear down the microwaves of competitors, but also look at other products this target group uses everyday. For example, if the target group uses a smartphone, shouldn’t a new microwave be equipped with a touchscreen and cooking-apps? Or even better, that you can operate the microwave with your smartphone. Saves the costs of a display, here you go!

In my opinion, product development is the perfect start for designers and consultants to join forces. From the designer’s point of view: let’s work together, I’m sure together we can achieve a lot for companies struggling with innovation. But let’s focus on our specialism. The consultant needs to consult companies about developing cost-effective products and the designer needs to design good products for consumers that will be successful. In this case a product that people love to use, day after day.

About the author: Jelmer Riemersma is co-founder of Veeel designers in Amsterdam with an ongoing interest for innovation and its underlying processes and models.