Brian Carter
BFA Industrial Design
The University of Kansas (2003)
Bachelor of Fine Arts - KU
Sustainable Design
This project is an exploration of low energy, renewable, and potentially sustainable materials that can degrade without causing damage, the processes used to make those materials, and how those materials can be utilized within a design. A developed identification system (taxonomy) helped organize 44 created materials. These are material concepts having physical properties that vary from hard rigid to soft flexible traditional plastics, and some have a textile-like appearance. Material properties and possible use were noted during development. Design concepts utilizing developed materials also consider what materials are used within a design, how those materials are used, and what can be done with the product or part after its current useful form. This process of goal, research, and observation lead to a wide range of material property based application possibilities presented on the following pages.