The art of materials selection

Materials Today

Volumn 6, Issue 12, 2003, Pages 24-35

  Ashby, Mike ^a,b   Johnson, Kara ^c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE   (United Kingdom)

^b ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART   (United Kingdom)

^c IDEO   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING; INTERFACES (MATERIALS); MARKETING; PRODUCT DESIGN; PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT; QUALITY CONTROL;

MATERIALS SELECTION;

MATERIALS SCIENCE;

EID: 0242526849     PISSN: 13697021     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S1369-7021(03)01223-9     Document Type: Note

References (6)

1. Ashby, M. F., and Johnson, K., Materials and Design - the Art and Science of Materials Selection in Product Design, Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, UK (2002).
2. A disingenuous statement. It costs design time.
3. Many designers working on a product assemble a 'mood board' with images of the sort of people for whom the product is intended, the surroundings in which they suppose it will be used, and the other products that the intended user group might own, seeking to capture the flavor of their lifestyle.
4. Aesthetics, associations, and perceptions are discussed more fully in the book by Ashby and Johnson (see above).
5. The dates are, of course, approximate. Design styles do not switch on and off on specific dates, they emerge as a development of, or reaction to, earlier styles with which they often coexist, and they merge into the styles that follow.
6. A mistake. Surface perfection is violated by the slightest defect - it has no hope of aging gracefully. Better to make visual imperfection a part of the personality of the product - something that gives it individuality. It is this, in part, that makes natural materials - wood, leather, and stone - attractive.