Digital Innovative Design. Ph.D.: Encounters Between 3D Digital and Ceramic Form-Giving

Digital 3D Form: Material-Driven and Liberated From the Material

One of the research questions in the dissertation is how knowledge and experience in the field of ceramics can be utilised in relation to 3D digital form-giving. Flemming Tvede Hansen has carried out a large number of experiments with simulation tools, for example the software program Real Flow, with a particular emphasis on capturing movement. He points out the similarity between digital media and material-driven ceramic form-giving.

“Digital 3D simulation also responds to the designer’s actions. Simulated, virtual water, for example, can be shaped by a geometric shape that is thrown into the water,” he says.

The digital technique is liberated from the laws of physics and from the restrictions of the physical material.

“It’s possible to freeze a movement, for example splashing water. It’s possible to preserve a particular moment, for example the split second where the movement is at its most dynamic. That’s not possible with a physical material,” says Flemming Tvede Hansen and then goes on to explain that with simulation, one is not restricted to simulating reality but also has the freedom to simulate abstract shapes:
“One isn’t limited to the signature of a physical material, that is, molecular properties, gravity, consistency, etc.,” he says.

Designers’ Personal Expression at Risk

Flemming Tvede Hansen sees a risk that the variation of designers’ personal expression is lost if everybody uses the same digital design programs.
“The programs have a certain built-in thinking. When I shape clay by hand, interactively, I’m actually inventing my own material –thickness, consistency, etc. – and I also come up with tools and techniques during the design process. That becomes an implicit part of the outcome and is what gives my particular artefact its unique expression. An expression that is the result of the designer’s interaction with the material and his or her personality,” says Flemming Tvede Hansen.

“Programs such as Real Flow are a form of autonomous material-driven form-giving, as the designer is able to define a setup but is unable to change it during the process,” he says and returns to the example of the virtual water being broken by a virtual cube.

“I can set off the process, like throwing a cube into water. But I can’t change the direction or the speed of the cube during the process in order to influence the outcome,” he explains.

Build Your Own Digital 3D Tool

In his Ph.D. project Flemming Tvede Hansen worked with programmer Marcin Ignac and experimented with building his own 3D form-giving software. They used a WII remote to capture the movements and speed of the hand to design 3D objects.

“That provided a high degree of freedom, and I would recommend any designer who wants to use digital 3D techniques in their design to cooperate with a programmer to build their own software,” he says.

Digitally shaped finger ring. With a 3D simulation of a splashing liquid, Flemming Tvede Hansen and jewellery designer Katrine Borup designed a silver finger ring. The ring is dedicated to voluntary blood donors – a symbol of the blood that has been drawn.

Research Through Design

The results of the experiments in the Ph.D. project are not finished design objects. Flemming Tvede Hansen calls them epistemic artefacts, that is, artefacts or objects that are used for acquiring knowledge. Thus, they should not be seen as artefacts with a functional or aesthetic value.
“I used my experiments to explore how design knowledge and practical experience can be used in a 3D digital form-giving process. I reflect on that and add perspectives, but the artefacts in themselves are only interesting as the tools used to acquire this knowledge,” says Flemming Tvede Hansen.

In the project he worked with an artists’ group and a jeweller, among others, to create design objects based on his Real Flow experiments.
“As part of the process, I wanted to test whether my knowledge could be used in the form-giving of artefacts. But we didn’t restrict ourselves to the form-giving of a particular function ahead of time. That emerged along the way,” he says and refers to a finger ring that was designed on the basis of a simulated water splash.

The purpose of Flemming Tvede Hansen’s research was to investigate possibilities and limitations in the encounter between a physical material such as ceramics and digital 3D form-giving.
“I present a way of thinking that I hope will inspire other designers who include digital 3D techniques in their design process,” he says.

The Encounter Between Clay and Digital Form

Flemming Tvede Hansen’s second research question is how material-driven digital 3D form-giving can be utilised in a dynamic interaction with the ceramic material. He has experimented with the transfer of digital shapes from his experiments to ceramics. In this process, he used 3D prints and moulds.

There are several dynamic conflicts between the material and the digital form, which may have been produced, for example, as a simulated movement.

“There’s a difference between a simulated splash and a physical splash. While we’re able to halt the simulated movement at any moment, a real-life movement takes its course and flows into soft curves,” he explains and underscores that these are positive conflicts that the designer can take advantage of in the design process.

“The eye moves dynamically back and forth between the sharp digital shape and the soft ceramic shapes. They contradict one another, but they also fit together. This dynamic is a benefit that I would encourage designers to use,” he says.