Essential Reading & Listening
Some of our favorite resources for guidance and inspiration as you delve deeper into your material-making explorations.
Ask Nature
Ask Nature is the go-to resource when researching biology-inspired design and engineering strategies. Essentially you pose your question “How does nature…do something” and it will return a list of relevant articles and summaries of solutions found in nature. There are also curated collections from which to derive inspiration and learn from nature.
BIO STORIES
In collaboration with the World Economic Forum, Faber Futures compiled the BIO STORIES Report to "re-envision relationships with nature". It includes a record of conversations, engagements, and musings from the WEF's Global Future Council on Synthetic Biology.
Beyond Plastic
Known for its work in the recycled plastics community, Precious Plastic also has a research arm called Beyond Plastic which is investigating bio-based materials. Their work seems to revolve largely around thermo-forming starch-based materials and is particularly helpful for developing the machinery necessary for thermo-forming (without the huge up-front investment).
Biobased Materials
A project by Company New Heroes, the Biobased Materials site compiles a huge range of biobased materials for the built environment. Most of the materials that are commercially available are also highlighted on our Suppliers page.
Biodesigned
Biodesigned is the magazine compiled and curated by the people behind the Biodesign Challenge. It features a range of stories from the world of biology — including those based in hard science as well as those in the speculative design realm.
Biomaterials Teaching Toolkit
Developed by a group within the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, this toolkit provides a guide for leading design students through a critical approach to sustainable material design using biobased materials as a starting point. It also includes valuable tips such as a list of suppliers within the area of the Netherlands.
Biomimicry Design Toolbox
Biomimicry is a form of biodesign which advocates learning from and mimicking nature's strategies within design. For example, rather than creating color using petroleum-based paint, we might learn from nature about structural color and try to apply it instead. The toolbox helps understand the theory and methods behind this design approach.
Bioplastics Cookbook
The Bioplastics Cookbook by Margaret Dunne for FabTextiles was one of the first “cookbooks” for bioplastics I came across (and maybe the first readily available on Issuu? Don't quote me on this!). It is a good introduction to some basic recipes but doesn't include too much information on how to fabricate using the recipes. Nonetheless, it's a great starting point for beginners.
ChemArts Cookbook
The book was developed by the Chemarts study program within Aalto University which set out to take waste from the national timber industry and develop it into innovative new cellulose-based materials and products. The recipes provided include foam, leather-like, and rigid materials and require varying degrees of sophistication in manufacturing techniques. It is a great example of the various routes material-driven design can take you.
Fabricademy
Fabricademy is a great resource for anyone interested in how biomaterials, digital fabrication, or regenerative design can be applied to textiles. It offers the chance to enroll in courses, as well as open source wikis and videos to supplement the subject material.
Food for Thought
Food for Thought by Danielle Wilde is similar to the Bioplastics Cookbook by Margaret Dunne in that it reads very much like a cookbook. However Food for Thought dives a little deeper into some research around bioplastics, as well as fabrication methods for working with the recipes.
Future Materials Bank
The Future Materials Bank is an archive of materials that supports and promotes the transition towards ecologically conscious art and design practices.
Grow Everything
Produced by the team at Messaginglab, Grow Everything consists of weekly stories from the bioeconomy. Guests include some of the leading voices in the industry talking about hurdles and innovation within the space.
Grow by Ginkgo
Grow is a magazine by Ginkgo Bioworks that tells stories of synthetic biology. Each issue is built around a theme and includes stories that are much more poetic and emotional than is often found in the world of synthetic biology. It is also just a visually stunning magazine, often featuring work from bio-artists.
Guacamole Airplane Supplier Guide
This Supplier Guide from packaging design studio Guacamole Airplane is a valuable resource for anyone looking to make the move towards more sustainable packaging options. It is truly a list of suppliers, their product offerings, and notes from the Guacamole Airplane team.
How to Biodesign
Produced by BlueCity Lab in the Netherlands, this podcast features speakers and talks from the field of biodesign.
MaDe Book
This book by the MaDe program is a thorough dive into various approaches to material-based design and material tinkering methods. It includes writing on theory surrounding how material design contributes to the circular economy, as well as including example projects from the MaDe program for inspiration. It's also just a great round-up of thoughtful people in the space.
Materiom
Materiom is one of the first and most comprehensive online resources for DIY material recipes. Purely practical, it provides recipes and some manufacturing suggestions for a variety of material recipes and ingredients. This website is truly open-source, allowing users to create their own profile and upload their recipes to be approved and shared. We like to think of Compound as a curated and perhaps more user-friendly version of Materiom.
Nike Circular Design Guide
The Nike Circular Design Guide is a helpful resource for circular product design. It dives deep into material and packaging choices, design for disassembly, and refurbishment opportunities within a product's lifecycle. Being Nike, they feature many of their own projects as an example, making it especially helpful if you're a sneaker designer looking for inspiration.
RISD Nature Lab Bioplastic Guidebook
Prepared by Charlotte McCurdy in 2018, the Bioplastic Guidebook prepared by the Nature Lab at RISD is a fantastic entry point to the world of homemade bioplastics. There is an informative yet concise introduction to the science of bioplastics, a list of reference projects, and a collection of starting recipes.
Rewilding Textiles
This publication — put together by Maison/0 — is an "entry point to the world of regenerative design". It was created for textile and fashion designers but contains musings on what regenerative design means which will appeal to a much larger audience.
Store Makers Manuals
STORE is a collective with the mission to “drive social change by enabling public access to art and design.” That couldn't be more true than through their Makers Manual series. Each manual is a collaboration with a different maker and covers everything from how to build a lamp to how to track animals. Sprinkled in the mix are quite a few material-based projects, including how to grow mycelium and make eggshell “ceramics”.
Texture Cookbook
The Texture Cookbook is really, truly a cookbook (as in, no “material” recipes whatsoever). That being said, it focuses largely on hydrocolloids and contains profiles on many of the bio-based binders used in bioplastics. It also has helpful information on how various ingredients affect each other when combined to alter each one's characteristics.
The Circular Design Guide
The Circular Design Guide is the definitive guide for circular design (very true to its name). It is a collaboration between the Ellen Macarthur Foundation (the circular economy experts) and IDEO (the design experts). It is a wonderful place to start for an introduction to the theory, design methods, and toolkits for circular design.
Trace Material
Produced by the Parsons Healthy Materials Lab, each week this podcast dives into the materials that make up our built environment. Each season focuses on a different material category and investigates the complex history that has formed to the public profile of each material.