HD·PD·03 Basic → Advanced
Materials & Processes for Product Designers
What a product is made of shapes everything else about it.
Material choice constrains form, cost, durability, and manufacturing process simultaneously. This course surveys the major material families used in product design, plastics, metals, composites, and how their properties should inform design decisions from the earliest concept stage.
In Development
This course's full module content is being written. The outline below is final, subscribe for updates when it publishes.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
- 01 Compare the major material families used in product design
- 02 Select a material based on mechanical, thermal, and aesthetic requirements together
- 03 Understand how material choice constrains available manufacturing processes
- 04 Evaluate material cost and availability trade-offs at different production volumes
- 05 Apply sustainability considerations to material selection
- 06 Specify material finishes appropriate to use context
- Material choice should happen early, not as an afterthought
- Each material family constrains form and process differently
- Use conditions should drive material selection, not appearance alone
- Mechanical failure in the field is often traceable to a mismatched material choice
- Not every process works with every material
- Material and process should be decided together, not sequentially
- Cost curves depend on volume, not just unit material price
- Low-volume and high-volume production favour different material choices
- Sustainability criteria belong in the same selection process as cost and performance
- End-of-life disassembly should be considered during material selection, not after
- Vague finish descriptions produce inconsistent production runs
- Finish specifications should be precise and testable, not just descriptive