Unit Title: Expanded Practice (EP)

EP Title: Materials Innovation

Yaqing Zeng Interior and Spatial Design Second Year

Material Innovation continually opened, widened and expanded my understanding of various materials. I have learnt different materials and my knowledge have enriched in the material industry and technologies that will support my investigation into the material in further design.

During the study time, the greatest rewards I earned from Material Innovation is the knowledge of various materials. Each week I learnt a range of both physical material and digital materials, including the process of material development as well as the information of new material trend. Before attending this lecture, I have no idea what is the hydrophobic coating, bio-cellulose and biomimicry. Neither know how to use them in design. Material Innovation has opened my eyes to think about the ways in which I can negotiate with materials and techniques. It is very useful for me to update knowledge of different materials, which also inspired me a lot in material choose when I was doing my design project.

Another thought I got from Material Innovation is: it is not only important to know the innovation of material in contemporary design field but also necessary to understand where are the materials comes from. Learning the history and the make process of materials would be helpful in material utilisation. ‘ Unless you know a process exists, you will not even be able to have thought of using it.’ [1] This is one note caught from the first lecture of material innovation that inspired me to study not only in material but also in my design course with the new attitude.

Also, using blogs in this unit study is helpful a lot. Following the lecture, I have created a set of blogs to post some artist and designer work with the materials that related the content of each week lecture. Personally I think I did well. I wrote down the brief report of each lecture which help me review what I learnt in class; Then I pick up artists I am interested in to do deep researches about the way their deal with materials. I have to say that I learnt a lot from this part such as the skills working with material, the history and value of material and the trend of material usage. On the other hand, I did analysis in each research that help me keep thinking critically in material even the design field.

Another benefit that expanded practice offered me is the opportunity to study with the student who specializes in other design fields. It was fascinating because students from graphics, textile and spatial design sharing their specialist knowledge in one room. I really enjoyed the seminar that people present works and their blog post to everyone, which bring lots of resources to me. Also, the way that Graphic and Textile student negotiate to a project is different from Interior student, so it helps me to explore the new method in my research processes. Especially the class practice we did in week 5 about make the mood board, which is a great experience work with other students. However, I feel that the communication between us is still not enough. I think it would be great if students have more practice about making a particular subject together by using some material.

Overall, It is a very enjoyable study experience in Material Innovation lecture. I feel fascinating to explore the material field and keep updating my knowledge about materials. In my further study, I would like to expand my way to investigate and experiment materials to see how it works on future design projects.

Reference:  [1]: Sioban, Imms. (2015) Material Innovation. [Lecture notes] Expanded Practice. Chelsea College Of Arts and Design College, Block A, RoomA231, 16th,Oct 2015.