Jiani Zeng

I'm an Industrial Designer by training and I went to MIT exploring design with the newest technology. More specifically, I want to explore design beyond current manufacturing methods, such as multi-material 3D printing, soft robotics and etc.

My partner Honghao Deng and I started our design studio "Illusory Material" in 2019, research on creating "impossible" materials in a controlled manner, with computation and multi-material voxel printing. We envision a future where designers can manipulate the color, texture, and reflectivity of materials across time and different viewing angles.

Design is about exploring new opportunities beyond the limit of current manufacturing and materials, imagine freely, and create freely.

3D printed objects/artifacts; technology-driven products; AI & IoT product; new material-based product.

My recent project "illusory Material" - exploring "impossible material" with unique material expression using 3D multi-material printing.

Uniqueness. I want to be a designer who creates a new design domain/methodology.

The future of design should not be fixed by design thinking or any fixed guidelines. Design is about user but also about designers themselves, be selfish and design freely.

Not Design thinking bullshit for sure. I don't have one. I create and invent.

Positive: if you like it, you will love your life. Neg: always desperate.

As an industrial designer, engineer and researcher working in the intersection of consumer product design and technology, my work explores new design opportunities beyond the limit of current manufacturing and materials like soft robotics, multi-material 3D printing etc. My work has been recognized in top international design awards like Red Dot Design Concept, International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA), Golden A’ Design Award etc. My design has been featured in the Milan Design Week, CHI, Artsthread, italianbark, LUXOS and IDSA. I have consulted and designed for multiple companies, including Seymourpowell, Hilti, Furrytail, MIT Design Lab and MIT Media Lab, not only helping them successfully deliver products from initial concept to final product launch but also looking at future design trends and brand strategy. I have a BEng in Product Design and Manufacture from the University of Nottingham and a Master of Science in Integrated Design and Management (IDM) from MIT. Now I am a Co-founder and Executive Director of Product Design at Butlr. Technologies and Radical Department Inc., my startup and studio are based in San Francisco.

Let me be very honest...it was about 9 years ago, as a Chinese high school graduate, I have no idea what I was going to do and I didn't know what is industrial design. that time I was really into photography, one day I saw a picture of a camera, Leica M6, the classic one with blue leather skin, I got hooked... it was the last day I had to decide my major, so I went through the list - I choose the one looks like it - product design. It was the best coincident and i feel it's destiny.

Most of my work explores design opportunities in associate with new technology. I like creating new materials from bits and atoms. Like my work "illusory material", my partner Honghao and I invented a computational workflow to create material that cannot be made with any traditional manufacturing method. I believe computation and technology will play a big part in how designer designs.

50% very depressed, I got stuck in the design process easily. And I always look for a perfect design solution. 30% I feel intense. It makes me think fast. 20% I feel relieving and thriving.

Design freely and don't get stuck in 'Design thinking'.

Now I read a lot in Technology review and some academic conferences.

A good design should be inspiring, it extends people's imagination.

Illusory Material. It envisions the future of industrial design with multi-material 3D printing. "Illusory Material" is a computational workflow that allows every designer to play with CMF or even material properties that never existed before in the design process, creating dream-like material and apply them into real-world product design. This project is an envision of future design methodology using computation power with the most advanced 3D printing technology in the world: multi-material voxel printing. Imagine designing everyday products with "impossible" materials that only exist in the digital world; Imagine a future where designers can manipulate the color, texture, and reflectivity of materials across time and different viewing angles; Imagine the future of color creation is not based on layers of chemical paints, but a combination with optical 3D printed optical lenses and simple color blocks; imagine a physical material can display dynamically by itself without electronic input; imagine an invisible object that is informative, a hard object that feels soft....

I have the best partner in the world: Honghao Deng. We combine our knowledge in industrial design and architecture. Finding a good partner is the key factor to get success in design.

I'm an industrial designer, engineer and researcher working in the intersection of consumer product design and technology. My work explores new design opportunities beyond the limit of current manufacturing and materials like soft robotics, multi-material 3D printing etc. My work has been recognized in top international design awards like Red Dot Design Concept, International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA), Golden A’ Design Award etc. My design has been featured in Milan Design Week, CHI, Artsthread, italianbark, LUXOS, and IDSA. I has consulted and designed for multiple companies, including Seymourpowell, Hilti, Furrytail, MIT Design Lab and MIT Media Lab, not only helping them successfully deliver products from initial concept to final product launch but also looking at future design trends and brand strategy. I hold a BEng in Product Design and Manufacture from the University of Nottingham and a Master of Science in Integrated Design and Management (IDM) from MIT. Currently, I am a Co-founder and Executive Director of Product Design at Butlr. Technologies and Radical Department Inc., my startup and studio is based in San Francisco.

I want to equip every industrial designer the ability to manipulate design from the material creation level and from bits and atoms, instead of being limited by conventional material selection and production. I hope every designer can see "object skin" as separate entities for creation, instead of a uniform material surface that can only be chosen from limited collections. I believe only when those "creators" of products think freely that the general users can experience differently from each product.

Let me be very honest...it was about 9 years ago, as a Chinese high school graduate, I have no idea what i was going to do and I din't know what is industrial design. that time I was really into photography, one day I saw a picture of a camera, Leica M6, the classic one with blue leather skin, I got hooked... it was the last day I had to decide my major, so i went through the list - i choose the one looks like it - product design. It was the best coincident and i feel it's destiny.

I hope to blur the line between the digital and physical world, bringing "impossible" materials to real-world product design. With the newest fabrication technology and computational power such as multi-material printing, 4D printing, soft robotics, we can embed information into three-dimensional matter (voxel), expanding binary material presence to dynamic material experience in everyday products. Imagine a physical material can display dynamically by itself without electronics; Imagine the future of color creation is not based on layers of chemical paints, but a combination with optical 3D printed optical lenses and simple color blocks; imagine an invisible object that is informative, a hard object that feels soft.... I want to change the world by bringing these amazing digital experiences into the physical world we live in.

Good design should be inspiring, it shows you what the future will be like, it leads your imagination.

My first step would be introducing my vision and research outcome "illusory material" ([https://www.illusorymaterial.com/](https://www.illusorymaterial.com/)) to the designers' world - I want to equip every industrial designer the ability to manipulate design from the material creation level and from bits and atoms, instead of being limited by conventional material selection and production. I hope every designer can see "object skin" as separate entities for creation, instead of a uniform material surface that can only be chosen from limited collections. I believe only when those "creators" of products think freely that the general users can experience differently from each product. Secondly, I hope to blur the line between the digital and physical world, bringing "impossible" materials to real-world product design. With the newest fabrication technology and computational power such as multi-material printing, 4D printing, soft robotics, we can embed information into three-dimensional matter (voxel), expanding binary material presence to dynamic material experience in everyday products. Imagine a physical material can display dynamically by itself without electronics; Imagine the future of color creation is not based on layers of chemical paints, but a combination with optical 3D printed optical lenses and simple color blocks; imagine an invisible object that is informative, a hard object that feels soft.... I want to change the world by bringing these amazing digital experiences into the physical world we live in.

I've been asked this question for many time, I can't find a good answer. subjectively, design is my life, I don't know what I can do besides design.

My instructors at MIT, Matt Kressy, Axel Kilian, Stefanie Mueller.