MATERIAL EXPERIENCE Design Theory - Gabby Morris
Getting to know Onion Skin In Material driven design the first part of the process includes gaining a thorough understanding of the material in order to discover it’s unique qualities and constraints in comparison to other materials (Karana 2015).
Onion Skins Onions are one of the oldest vegetables known to man, with evidence of them being cultivated in the bronze age. Over 40 million tonnes of onions are produced annually which means more onions are now consumed in the world than any other vegetable. Over 500,000 onion skins are thrown into household waste yearly. Onion skins are a bi-product of the onions used and are most commonly discarded. I decided to look at Onion Skins
as my household waste item for this project. I am following scenario 3 of material driven design, as my onion skin is a food waste composite and a proposed exploratory sample (Karana, 2015). Onions are used in a variety of recipes but their skins are not something that I reuse. As part of my focus I am looking for ways to reuse onion skins to find materials that can be used in a kitchen or restaurant environment.
The first part of my project included getting to know the raw onion skin properties, conducting tinkering experiments and understanding the Sensorial properties of the onion skin. My process can be found online on my PADLET
Smell Onion skins come in two varieties, the first flaky outer layer and the stronger, wetter inner layer.
- Very little smell as a skin - When boiled really smells of onions
Aesthetic Onion skins can provide natural dyes for materials both red and white onions have different dye colours
- Shiny - Leaf-like - Veins
- Semi-transparent - Smooth - Brittle - White onions are dirty
Semi-Transparent
Sound
- Crunchy - Like leaves - Crispy Onion Skins are waterproof, bendable and can be torn and layered. It is a strong material.
Onion Skins are brittle, inconsistent and breaks easily. It is very flammable in it’s raw state.
SoundBite
Taste Texture
- Crispy - Crunchy - Can be torn - Brittle - Cold - Dry - White onion skin are more flaky
- Dry the onion skin has very little taste but feels very weird in your mouth
- The taste when boiled
was quite onion like but not as strong as Raw
Initial Onion Skin Tinkering
Burnt Onion Skin
Blended Onion Skin
Dehydrated skin at 80C for 24 hours
Onion Dye Foam
Onion Dye Gelatine
Compressed Boiled Onion Skin
Dry Onion Skin - PVA Baked
Boiled Onion Skin - Air Dried
Bleached Red Onion Skin
Bleached White Onion Skin
Compressed PVA Onion Skin
Onion Dye Bioplastic
Bleached and Baked
Set Onion Dye
Glued Onion Roots
After tinkering with the onion skins, I started to explore what could be created from them both in their raw states but also with composite materials and bioplastics to create material samples. I used a range of different processes including bleaching, baking, rehydrating, melting and setting in resins. I tried to use bioplastics to enhance the onion skin, but made sure any colours were formed from natural onion dye that I created.
Material Samples A
E
I
M
Q
U
Mixture of flaked red, white and bleached onion skin in resin.
Flaked red onion skin added to glycerine and vinegar bioplastic, air-dried for 24 hours.
Raw onion skin, layered into an Agar Agar bioplastic material and air-dried for 48 hours
Pulped red onion skin, baked for 8 hours at 80C
Torn and bleached onion skin, layered wet with PVA glue and air-dried for 48 hours
Torn and shaped white onion skin layered into a clear bioplastic.
B
F
J
N
R
V
Pulped red onion skin with water and baked for 3 hours at 80C degrees.
Pulped white onion and onion dye added to Agar Agar and Glycerine, set thinly and air-dried for 24 hours.
Pulped red onion skin, air-dried and added to a vineger and glycerine clear bioplastic and air-dried for 24 hours.
Pulped white onion skin and onion dye added to Agar Agar and Glycerine, set thick and air-dried for 24 hours.
Flaked bleached red onion added to a thick Gelatin, Agar and Vinegar bioplastic and air-dried for 72 hours
Thick bioplastic made from pulped white onion skin and onion dye, baked for 30 minutes at 180C
C
G
K
O
S
W
White onion skin pulp and dye added to a glycerine vinegar bioplastic and baked for 10 minutes at 180C
Bleached red onion skin, shredded and flaked then air-dried for 48 hours
Mixture of white and red onion skins with parsnip and potato peelings pulped and baked for 3 hours at 80C
Raw onion skin, layered and set into a clear resin, left to cure for 48 hours.
White onion skin dye, added to a brittle glycerine and agar agar bioplastic, syringed to get a woven feel.
Onion skin and onion set into an onion skin dyed resin.
D
H
L
P
T
X
Bleached red onion skin, baked and glued with PVA to create a paper
Torn red onion skin, stained with household cleaner and glued with PVA.
Vinegar and Glycerine bioplastic coloured with red onion skin dye, applied thinly and air-dried for 48 hours, then peeled.
Pulped red onion skin and onion dye set into a Agar Agar, glycerine bioplastic and moulded over an onion.
Strips of white onion skin layered with layers of an onion dye biosplatic made from Gelatine and Cornstarch.
Red onion skin dye, added to a flexible glycerine and agar agar bioplastic, and poured in connecting circles.
User Test 1 Non-designers, able to see each of the samples and answered set questions
For my user testing I followed the Material Driven Design approach, asking specific questions and recording the findings and feedback.
I then asked the users to write down three key words associated with the material and what three descriptive words for each material.
Key Questions:
I recorded their behaviour using the material through photographs and taking written notes.
1. 2. 3. 4.
What are the unique multi-sensorial qualities of the material? What are the most and the least pleasing sensorial qualities of the material? What does the material remind you of? What meanings does the material evoke?
At the end of the test I asked them to choose their favourite and least favourite material sample.
User Test Sound Recording
Testing Analysis After the testing stage, I grouped all the information I had gathered together, listened back over the recordings and tried to pull together key similarities and characteristics for each object. Unfortunately due to the restrictions from COVID19 I was unable to test outside of my household, so I was only able to do 3 user tests. The feedback was rich, however I feel like if I may have got more conflicting ideas and thoughts.
User Test 2
Non-designers, blindfolded test. Users asked to answer a set questions
For my second user test I followed the same process as test 1 but my user was unable to see the material samples at the start. The test was all done based on other senses.
The user testing also helped to think about product development and what each material could be used for. I asked the users to choose favourites at the end, which were the samples I took forward for potential products.
Sample B Red Onion pulp paper
"Looks like Pot Pourri"”
"The colour reminds me of hibiscus"”
"Reminds me of dried flowers"”
Favourite Samples Red onion skin has wonderful colour properties. This sample was created by blitzing red onion skin and water into a pulp and making it at 80C for 3 hours until it was dry and crisp. It was then flattened overnight. Similar Materials: Paper, kitchen towel Characteristics: Soft, crinkly, fragile and vibrant
Sensorial Feedback My users enjoyed the look and feel of the pulp paper, commenting on how it was "softer than expected" and more "sturdier than expected" although it broke after the first set of user tests. The vibrancy and colour was a hit with the users. The smell was disliked, it still has a strong onion smell. "Visually appealing but it smells gross" . What does the material remind you of? - Pot Pourri - Dried Flowers - Spring Petals - Kitchen Paper
Sample D
Sample L
Bleached red onion skin and PVA glue
Red onion dye bioplastic
"Is this waterproof?"”
"Love the texture and patterns"”
"I would love to see this moulded, it reminds me of wood"”
"This has a gross smell"”
"I love the way it has been dyed"”
"The texture feels natural"”
Bleaching red onion showed signs of creating wonderful patterns as well as transparency. This sample was made using pure bleach for 3 hours on red onion skins and gluing them into a block using PVA. Similar Materials: Paper, dried leaves, fabric Characteristics: Crunchy, stiff, brittle and transparent
Sensorial Feedback This was the most favourite material across the user testing. There were lots of positive comments and associations with natural materials. Users commented on "it being like woodgrain" and "feeling texturally like something natural". Another user test commented that "makes me feel like I’m in nature". The users wanted to see a larger sample and how it would look on a larger scale, it was "quite stiff" and made them think of "charred wood" What does the material remind you of? - Birch Bark - Wood Grain - African Patterns - Dried leaves
Creating something with the onion dye that wasn’t just dyed fabric was hard. This sample was made using a bioplastic of Glycerine and Vinegar and applied thinly to parchment paper. After drying overnight I peeled the sample to get very thin, transparent flakes. Similar Materials: Seaweed Characteristics: Bouncy, flexible, elastic-like
Sensorial Feedback The feedback on this material was mixed. One user commented on it "feeling like a waterproof coating". It was also described as being like "seaweed". The users found the material visually appealing, liking the way the dye felt "Like it would change colour when moved". The user tests didn’t bring up a lot of emotion associated with this sample. This was especially disliked when blind-folded. What does the material remind you of? - Seaweed - Cling-film - Slime
Sample G
Sample P
Shredded bleached onion, air-dried
Strips of white onion skin layered with onion dye bioplastic
"This feels like dried skin"”
"This feels like it can be moulded"”
"Love the transparency and the different patterns"”
"It reminds me of wood, like OSB or scraps put together"” "I dislike the feel but like the look of this material"”
"This feels horrid"”
Bleaching the onion skins created something really beautiful, but I wanted to make a material I could build with. This sample was made using red onion skins, bleached and air dried, they were then shredded. Similar Materials: Leaves, dried paper and skin Characteristics: Crunchy, fragile, semi-transparent
Sensorial Feedback This was visually disliked and liked at the same time. When my users touched this material they disliked the feel of it, saying it felt like "dried skin" but visually it reminded them of something more natural "like wood shavings" One of the characteristics that stood out in the user test was the transparency and what the material looked like together as a group. What does the material remind you of? - Dried Skin - Wood Fire-lighters - Dried Leaves - Wood shavings
This was a mixture of onion skin and bio-plastic. I wanted to create something that showed off the layers of the onion skin, so this is carefully layered up between bioplastic made from agar agar and glycerine. The bioplastic was dyed using the onion skin dye. Similar Materials: OSB, Silicone moulds Characteristics: Bouncy, mouldable, slimy
Sensorial Feedback This material reminded by first user of "wood-grain, like butchers block or something man-made" and visually both the user tests liked this material. However, the blindfolded test where the user couldn’t see it brought out different characteristics around it feeling "cold, bouncy a bit like silicone". What does the material remind you of? - Silicone - OSB - Woodchip - Butchers Block
Product Applications Sample G Product Development I felt like sample G when it was layered up created something beautiful and with the transparency element could work well as lighting. It reminded me of some IKEA lampshades. It could be layered up to create lights in a restaurant giving off the same light feel of Chinese lanterns.
Sample P Product Development Visually sample P reminded everyone of wood, industrial wood and butchers blocks. I felt like this could be a great material to use to create furniture within a restaurant, giving off an industrial vibe like OSB. It could also be used to create chopping block stands used in the kitchen.
Reflection I chose to focus on onion skins as onions are used in a variety of recipes across the globe and the skins are often discarded. Household and kitchen waste is often overlooked in terms of the biproduct of something we eat. However, finding solutions for reusing onion skins could support less of us throwing them into landfill. I started out this project keen to explore ways that this waste product could be reused in a kitchen or restaurant environment, so that nothing falls out of the waste loop. I read ‘Material Driven Design, (MDD)’ as a start for this project and was keen to begin the project, "tinkering" with the onion skin to find out what it’s raw properties were and how it could be changed into a material. A lot of the work that I have done in the past two weeks
for this project has been in Step 1 and Step 4 of the MDD process. The first part of the project included a lot of technical characterisation, working out what could be achieved with the raw material, I took my lead here from the MDD text "at this stage the designer is expected to tinker with the material - to cut it, bend it, burn it, smash it, combine it with other materials, etc" (Karana, 2015) this enabled me to understand what I could potentially achieve with the onion skins. However, my methodology changed from the process set out in MDD. I think because of the time constraint, I adapted my process in order to get a better understanding of the material, quicker. I duplicated this step instead of jumping straight to step 2 and gaining user insights, I created more material
samples (which is usually done in Step 4) combining the lessons I had learned in the tinkering phase and more understanding of my objectives to find materials suitable for reuse in kitchens. I created a set of sample materials; these samples were then taken to users to understand the sensorial qualities of the materials. I referred back to the MDD paper to use the questions that they described for my user testing. I wanted to make sure that I captured the four different experiential levels, "sensorial, interpretive, affective and performative". I did my user tests in person and on reflection if I had, had more time I may have created online surveys and questionnaires (testing ideas that the MDD process suggests) as well to gain more test results. From this point, because
this was a 2 week project I went straight on to Step 4 missing out the "Materials experience Pattern" and looked at product concepts. I feel that I touched briefing on experience patterns in my user testing by asking about sensorial qualities and trying to elicit feelings about the materials. If I had longer for this project I would have been able to focus on Step 3 in more detail. If I were able to revisit this project at a later stage I would focus more on further testing and the material experience patterns in order to fully understand people’s experience with the materials. This deeper understanding would have enabled me to create better and more viable products. I think because of the objectives I initially set out with and the parameters I was working within, I managed to think about Step 4 of the process earlier in the project, this helped me to iterate and develop product ideas quickly
from the materials that my users liked. However, it would have been good to have had the opportunity to realise the potential of step 4 further by getting more feedback on products/uses that users may have had for the material samples. The study referenced a focus group in Milan where they showed materials to 50 masters level design students and had ideas for products. This would have been an exciting stage to take the project to. I did utilise some peer review time and some of my products reflect the suggestions from that. This project was interesting and I feel that I have learnt a lot about making and materials. I have pushed myself to gain a deeper understanding of what can come out of a waste material and how they can be reused. This project has made me think a lot more about the sensorial qualities of a material and what people associate different materials with, it was interesting doing the user-testing especially the
difference between visual and non-visual tests. It has made me realise the importance of understanding what other people think of materials and the associations people have with them. I have enjoyed working on the project and feel that this would be an interesting project to revisit, potentially with onion skins or using another food waste material. Bibliography Karana, Barati, Rognoli and Zeeuw van der Laan "Material Driven Design (MDD), A Method to Design for Material Experiences" IJD, Vol 9 35-54, 2015 Dunne, Margaret "Bioplastics Cookbook" Fab Textiles Lab, https://issuu.com/nat_arc/ docs/bioplastic_cook_book_3 [Accessed 25th Sept 2020] Kääriäinen, Riutta, Tervinen, Aalto University "Chemarts Cookbook: Inspiration for Material Enthusiasts" Alto University, 2020 Davis, Clare "The Secrets of Bioplastic" Fab Textiles Lab, https://issuu.com/nat_arc/ docs/the_secrets_of_bioplastic_ [Accesssed 22nd Sept 2020] Durate, Sofia "Locked down materials lab", https://www.behance.net/gallery/104581011/ Material-Archive-The-Locked-DownMaterial-Lab Accessed 1st October 2020}