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Physicality in Design: an exploration

<20>This work is the first to explicate the role of physicality in the design process and extends an earlier DRS 2008 paper. It assesses the consequences of designing products digitally over traditional physical models, due to cost and speed factors. The inherent physical properties of the materials and tools the designer uses at the early concept formation stage have a profound impact on the kinds of designs produced. Designers’ skills and past knowledge are equally important. Materials constrain, but also suggest ideas; hence the need for physical modelling to be part of design curriculum, despite the shift to digital representations.