The Inventables marketplace

If you haven’t heard of Inventables before, you’re in for a treat – this Chicago-based company is dedicated to connecting material manufacturers and suppliers with designers, having amassed an impressive collection of materials and technologies up for grabs on their website.


The fully searchable database is free to use and materials are categorized according to potential applications and keywords ranging from sensorial qualities, such as smoothness, texture and transparency, to functional properties like flexibility, conductivity and weight.


Selecting a material brings up detailed information about its properties, possible uses and a contact form to put you in touch with the manufacturer. In the spirit of Web 2.0, there is also a list of suggested materials to take your research further and you can leave feedback and suggestions for other users.

To give it a try for yourself, visit www.inventables.com

Sugru launch

We’ve written about sugru before, but just to recap in case you missed that, sugru is something so unusual as a new material, invented and commercialised by a designer, with a little help from the materials science community. London-based designer Jane ní Dhulchaointigh describes her invention as ‘a kind of permanent, updated version of blue tack’ that can be used to repair, ‘hack’ or create new products altogether.



Sugru was launched at the beginning of December last year and the 2000 packs that the team had prepared sold out in just a few hours! Rumour has it that another batch will be up for sale in February, so be sure to head over to the online shop to get your hands on some of this durable and tactile silicone material.

100% Materials 2009

For the sixth year running, Chris Lefteri Design curated the 100% Materials installation at 100% Design in London. Between 24 -27 September, visitors could browse the large collection of material samples on display, participate in workshops and pick up a copy of the latest issue of Ingredients.


The workshop programme included a session with London-based shoe- and product designer Marloes ten Bhömer. Marloes brought samples from the various stages of the making of her amazing rotationalmouldedshoe, giving visitors an insight into the fascinating creative process that led her to apply rotational moulding – a process that is usually associated with large-scale, bloated shapes like litter bins, toys and traffic cones – to shoe design.


Jane ni Dhulchaointigh’s demonstration of sugru™, a new silicone-based material, was another highlight. Perhaps best described as a kind of ‘permanent blue tack’, sugru™ can be shaped by hand and left to cure at room temperature, forming a durable and tactile material that can be used to create new products or for customising existing ones, which was the theme for Jane’s workshop. Ultimately, Jane’s vision for sugru™ is that the material will be used to ‘hack’ and improve broken or unwanted products in situations where users would typically buy new ones. If the turnout and sheer enthusiasm of the workshop attendees is anything to go by, this may well come true.

ASM's /Mtrl database

ASM International, an American trade association dedicated to materials science, engineering and industrial design, have been rolling out their new website mtrl.com in the last couple of months. It specifically targets designers that are looking for information about materials and finishes, offering a comprehensive materials database with a wealth of information, images and links to manufacturers, suppliers and other resources.


Chris Lefteri Design supplied much of the content for the database, which currently consists of some 250 records from across the material spectrum. New materials are scheduled to be added on a regular basis, so keep an eye open for the latest updates.


The /Mtrl database is fairly unique in that it lets users browse for materials based on things like brand values and sensorial qualities in addition to a rigorous set of technical data, processing information and environmental issues. To try it out for yourself, please visit the database.

Ingredients 4

Ingredients 4 is out 24 September

moreingredients.com

Above & Below exhibition

Chris Lefteri Design recently curated Above & Below, an exhibition about sustainable materials and processes, at the 2009 Kaohsiung Design Festival in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The exhibition was part of Utter Rubbish, an initiative by Jackson Tan of Singapore’s Black Design that looks at how design can create value and its role in creating a sustainable future.



Above & Below featured some 50 materials, ranging from textiles and paper to plastics and leather, tied together in that they unveil various approaches that designers can take to ensure that products stay in use for as long as possible and that they inflict a minimum of damage when they are ultimately discarded or recycled.

Sustainable mobile phones

In the world of plastics recycling, plastics in packaging are without a doubt the most widely recycled of all plastic materials. Compared to a complex product like a mobile phone, which may consist of a wide range of materials, fasteners and adhesives, it's a lot less complicated to recycle a plastic bag, tray or wrapping made entirely from a common material like polyethylene.

Additionally, the kind of high-performance plastics that are often favoured in consumer electronics typically contain all kinds of additives, from fire-retardants and UV-resistance to colourants and finishes. Removing these additives makes the recycling process harder still, which goes some way to explain why recycling doesn't happen on a bigger scale with these materials. But that may be about to change.

MBA Polymers, a plastics recycling company based in Austria and USA, has developed a process for extracting high-impact polystyrene (or HIPS), polypropylene and ABS from mixed plastic waste, including plastics that have been 'contaminated' with various additives. MBA Polymer's materials and others' like them are finding their way into more and more applications where recycled materials are currently not widely used.



One of the graduates from this year's crop of BA (Hons) Product Design students at Central St Martins College of Art & Design, James Barber proposes a mobile phone concept for Nokia that looks into using recycled ABS for the casing and button set. In his own words -

'Normally, ABS flakes can't be made into new cellphones because different coloured plastics are mixed together during re-melting, and the plastic loses it's smooth, glossy finish. This product isn't reliant on a polished surface, which would no doubt scratch easily during use. Instead, a spark finish lends the design a hardened, durable style which is more immune to scratches. All of the plastic components of the phone are green-coloured, so the colour remains the same after re-melting.'

Further making the case for recycled ABS, James points out that AT&T are experimenting with using recycled ABS flakes from old phone casings in cable spools and wall mounting brackets for new phones.



Looking at the sustainable future of mobile phones from a different angle, Sara Chung, another student at the Central St Martins BA Product Design course, proposes an alternative technology for mobile phone batteries. Completely free from heavy metals like cadmium, lead and mercury, the technology goes by the name of NoPoPo, or 'no-pollution power', which relies on a chemical reaction between water and an alloy of magnesium and carbon to generate electricity.



NoPoPo batteries are already on the market and according to the manufacturer, a single AAA battery can power a handheld torch for up to 20 hours. The batteries can be recharged after use and a range of liquids can be used besides pure water - beer, fruit juice and (in emergencies?) even saliva and urine have been tested.

BA (Hons) Product Design 2009 degree show, Central St Martins College of Art & Design, 19 - 25 June, Southampton Row, London WC1B 4AP.