Key Points
- Treat design as a system: plan for cost-effective manufacturing, low energy/waste, packaging, and routes to market.
- Use parametric design + 3D printing to cut material use and enable local, made-to-order production; reserve plastics for long-life, high-spec uses and recycle them like metals.
- Prefer biogenic/material-honest choices (mycelium, alginate, bamboo, cork) where service life allows; durability and repairability drive real impact.
- Avoid “3D print for the sake of it”: great form freedom now meets consumer-grade surface quality, but trend-led plastic prints risk short lifespans and landfill.
- In practice: prototyped hotel-loop objects from restaurant waste; overcame print-strength vs viscosity by stacking 20 mm layers; explored “kind colour” using natural dyes from kitchen scraps.
Full interview with Nick Lee
As a creative professional, can you discuss the role of strategic product design and development in driving business success?
As well as designing a product to benefit the end user, a commercial designer should always take into account the business aspect of the design. You should question how the product will be made in a cost-effective, energy and waste-efficient way. As well as how it will be packaged and sold.
When this is done well, designers often make very good business owners, as they can apply their creative thinking to all areas of the company.
Parametric design and biomaterial science are emerging fields in product design. Can you share examples of how you have utilised these skills to create sustainable designs?
I see huge potential for designers to merge these two fields and reduce the environmental impact of products. I’ve spent some time researching new materials and approaches to design and hope to start implementing this more into my design work.
Using parametric design techniques and 3D printing can vastly reduce the amount of material used in a product. Products can be made to order on a mass scale and manufacturing can be localised, cutting down on transportation costs.
New biomaterials such as those made from mycelium or alginate are currently great for products with a short to midterm life expectancy. However, we should also consider natural materials like bamboo and cork which are easily replenished, have a low environmental impact and can be biologically decomposed.
At my previous company, Moss Audio we used materials such as Corian, glass and wood. As well as being better for the environment, they have very good properties for speaker design. Natural materials also have a higher perceived value than synthetic ones, so people are more likely to take care and keep them for longer. This was apparent in radios designed in the 1930/40s which resembled well crafted furniture.
When it comes to products that need to last a very long time or require special properties, such as medical equipment, plastic is often the best material. In this case it should be viewed as a valuable commodity and recycled over and over again like metal and glass.
Can you discuss your experience with 3D printing for sustainable design? What are the key benefits and challenges of incorporating 3D printing into product development?
I’ve used 3D printing for prototyping for many years. However, it is only recently that the technology has advanced to the level where we can achieve a surface quality suitable for consumer products.
3D printing gives almost complete freedom for designers to create any shape they want. This is great as it comes at a time when people are starting to want more decorative designs. This trend is already evident in graphic design, with serif typefaces and maximalism designs surfacing this year and I'm looking forward to the trend developing more in products.
The challenge I see is resisting the urge to use 3D printing technology for the sake of it being trendy. This is the case within footwear design, where custom fast fashion shoes are made from plastic. They have crazy designs which I love. But I worry they are only going to be worn for a short time, not recycled and dumped forever in a landfill. A solution to this would be to 3D print using a material that has a shorter life and can be easily composted after use.
What considerations do you keep in mind when designing products with sustainability in mind?
In many companies, especially large MNC’s, designers are stuck at one part of the overall process. To create real sustainable products we should be involved in the overall development and manufacturing. In addition to this, an understanding of the projected life span of the product is also paramount.
In this respect, many products are off balance. You often find disposable products made from long lasting materials (plastic) and in contrast, products with a long life span using poor quality materials. On top of this, many products can’t be repaired, rendering them useless after they break down.
I try to think of the holistic impact a design will have on the world. Functionality isn't just how it is used in the short term, but also the function it has throughout its entire life. As the function is established, the aesthetics and correct materials tend to naturally fall into place.
Can you discuss any challenges you've faced in implementing sustainability in your latest project 3D printing with waste?
I saw some students studying 3D printing with biomaterials but hadn't seen anyone make a tangible product from the results. For a recent project with The Social Hub, I wanted to create a circular loop within the hotel. The goal was to use biodegradable organic waste from the restaurant and make something useful that can be used back in the hotel.
There were a lot of challenges to overcome. To 3D print at a high resolution, the material must have a low enough viscosity to extrude through a small pipe. The problem I faced was that this made the material weak, resulting in the print collapsing.
The development process was focused on finding the right compromise between how much drying was needed to print at the required height. I was able to print quite high if I used a hair dryer and fans, but it felt like this was defeating the purpose, as the energy required was very high. In the end, I settled on printing in layers of 20mm, with a thickness of 8mm, and designed products that were stacked up in layers.
The exercise was a good way to establish the opportunities and limitations of using this material and production technique.
For me, this was only a short project and was mainly for my own research. I hope other people can take this type of 3D printing much further and get better results.
Can you discuss the concept of "kind color" and its significance in your design practice? How do you ensure that color selection aligns with the intended user experience and product identity?
A side part of my research was based on using natural dyes. It was an eye-opener as I quickly realised the possibility of using completely natural ingredients to produce colours. I started by experimenting with spinach and beetroot and was shocked about how easy it was. Since then I have been lucky enough to work with Emanuele Guerra, Head Chef at The Social Hub and he was able to make almost any colour dye from the food waste from his kitchen - really amazing!
It's made me realise there are many natural alternatives to synthetic materials and dyes. In April we will be manufacturing products completely inside the hotel. We are using waste materials from the kitchen and 3D printing them into products that can be used to serve food.
