Design & Bioplastics
What designers Fig 1: Bioplastics were the very beginning. In the 19th century, more and more people were able to afford decorative products that were not fundamentally necessary for every day´s life. Today we would call them designed consumer products.The photo shows decorative personal care items in ivory style, but made from cellulosenitrate (CelluloidŽ), a bioplastic from the very beginning. (Photo: Deutsches Kunststoffmuseum)
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ood design gives a product identity, and more and more companies have recognised for some time that good design is a key element in the commercial success of their products. Design has now become a hard factor and is a firm part the product development process. There is almost no product sector or successful company that is able to ignore design. Even in the field of investment goods design is no longer just an option, but is seen much more as a way of differentiating product offerings and as a marketing tool - and is used as such. The highest success levels have been achieved by those companies which integrate design right from the beginning of their development process, apply the concept in a strategic way, and see design as a holistic function. A well-designed product has a number of roles to fill, with its function being number 1. Even the most beautifully designed products lose their value if they do not work! It is the task of the designer to make clear the way the product works, make it accessible to the user, and possibly explain how it is easier to operate. The product should be self-explanatory, inhibitions can thus be overcome and a relationship with the product can be created and built upon. And design is a lot more than the shape, surface finish, colour, and aesthetics of a product. It carries a message. Design also gives a product identity. Design makes a product unmistakeable, makes it recognisable, and so gives the brand its own character. A well designed product will not be anonymous, but will let the user know where it comes from. Well designed products will express the promises of their supplier: they radiate reliability, show their quality, and are innovative. Such products can stand out from the competition and have a status on the international market.
by: Christian Bonten University of Stuttgart, Germany Susanne Lengyel Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
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bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/13] Vol. 8
There are also many plastic products that use design as a unique and specific feature. In many cases it is not possible to identify clear differences from the competition based on technical and quality features. However the wide range of plastics and the processes used in manufacture allow some very different visual and tactile impressions to be set before the user of the product. An aesthetic combination of different materials and colours, as can be achieved thanks to the many alternative and cost-effective production methods for a major product run, is therefore able to be used to meet the demands of design in an economical way.