Living designs

This paper will outline why product designers are exploring making processes of the natural world and how this is of benefit to traditional product design practice. This type of experimental design work pushes the boundaries of conventional product design in which mass-manufacture efficiency drives the design and production process. Products, which use growth processes as fundamental to the making process, are increasingly becoming more feasible for end-user acquisition. This paper will provide two case study examples. These case studies contextualise these products and how they co-exist and contribute to the well-established design approaches of digital fabrication and co-creation.