A Solution to Some Global Challenges of our Times
On the international scene, events on the themes of pollution, sustainable development, social conditions, and eco-design have continued to grow in recent years. Climate change, scientists alarmed, or Generation Y more concerned about its environment, many were the triggers that brought this new revolution to start. On the other hand, as seen previously, the rise of social networks also underlines the growing interest in aesthetics worldwide. These global topics affect most sectors and design is not lacking. Raw materials, implementation, ennoblement, waste, transportation, pollution, all aspects of the creation of a product are questioned today in this movement. This is not only to repair the damage caused mainly since the first industrial revolution, but also to adopt good eco-friendly practices in the long term. Finally, in terms of aesthetics, it is important not to lose, or in some cases to win qualitatively and artistically. Therefore it is interesting to highlight how the ENGINASHION concept can provide solutions in this context.
By naturally integrating eco-design into the heart of its concept, enginashion first attaches itself to the writing of specifications including precise criteria, in line with the issues mentioned. For example, it would be necessary to work from recycled and / or recyclable raw materials by focusing on their origin, to integrate the concept of sustainability into the product, to use only biodegradable packaging, or to prefer timelessness to seasonality and quality to quantity. In order to best meet the specifications, the concept is also inspired by the methodology of the life cycle analysis. This tool for decision support allows presenting all the impacts generated by the products concerned, in order to make the most appropriate design, development, production or logistics choices. It is a first step to compare different solutions, material and / or immaterial, more or less similar, but having the same main function. Then, it is important to study the risk of impact transfer to avoid contradictions and to find a good compromise. The idea is not to win on one aspect while losing on another, as it would be the case of organic cotton dyed with polluting chemicals for example. Finally, another important point of the enginashion concept is to give meaning and value to what really matters, and to share deep values. In this sense, focusing on the mapping of the value chain can help by highlighting choices that are articulated, for example, as much around innovation as human.
When it comes to materialize ideas, usually in the prototyping step, many losses are often still noted in the field of design in terms of time, materials and energy among other things. At this stage, the enginashion concept promotes the use of numerical modelling before the physical materialization step. Among their multiple functionalities, these tools make it possible, for example, to draw the potential solutions answering to the product specifications, to simulate their behaviours, to apprehend their movements, but also to appreciate their colours, their textures, or their structures. It is also possible, by working according to the different parameters, to transform or adjust these solutions in order to perfect them, but also to tend towards the zero waste. Thus, by performing all these operations using only a computer, it is certain to convert the previously mentioned losses into gain. Another advantage of this step of digital modelling is that it promotes transversal communication thanks to a real time data transmission to the people concerned, and supports intelligible for all, which can improve the comprehension and the efficiency of each one, and thus avoid the rejects.
By promoting transversal communication, transmission, eco-design and aesthetics, the ENGINASHION spirit can claim to address the universal challenges of our time.
