Exploring Materials: Creative design for everyday objects

Exploring Materials invites you to get inspired by physical forms andsubstances. Materials are like words. The richer your design vocabulary,
the more design solutions you can see and express.
Foam, mesh, wood, plastic, and wire each have behaviors and properties
that suggest different types of structure, surface, and connection. Each
has its place, consequences, and cost.

Understanding materials is essential to design, and understanding materials through hands-on experiment is absolutely crucial.

Use this book to begin looking at design with new eyes. Ignore what you already know, and find out how substances such as cardboard, cloth, metal, and rope can yield surprising structures with unexpected functions.