In our purview, we talk a lot about closing the loop, or removing items from the waste stream, specific actions that we, personally, can take to avoid the problems of excess stuff and needless trash.
The techy, geeky part of me, however, has long also been interested in how technology can help us out with this–there are only so many scrap fabric patchwork quilts that one human can make in her lifetime, you know?
That’s why I’m really intrigued by the possibilities inherent in companies like Dassault Systems (this is totally a sponsored post, y’all–I’m not geeky enough to pore over digital design company web sites solely as pleasure reading in my free time) that use digital design specifically to avoid waste. These glass makers, for instance, wanted to make light-weight glass bottles that would use fewer resources, but they also had to be strong. Dassault Systems used math magic to figure out how to equal the mechanical strength of heavier glass bottles using less material. These fashion designers needed to increase the efficiency of their design process. Dessault Systems took their design process digital so that designers could work faster with fewer wasted models.
I’ve got mad math skills, and my partner in life has sweet design skills, but digital design like that is just beyond the average human.
But imagine if it weren’t?
Wouldn’t it be super cool if someday the problem-solving that Dassault Systems does for its business clients was available to the average crafter? If I had a design program to show me how to lay out all my candle patterns on one sheet of beeswax so as to waste as little as possible? To lay out all my sewing patterns on one span of fabric to get the most yardage? To design a complicated stuffie digitally, without having to craft a series of wonky mock-ups?
Why, I could probably QUADRUPLE the number of scrap patchwork quilts that I’m going to be able to create in one lifetime!
P.S. Check out the video below for more drool-worthy 3D digital design possibilities.
Photo courtesy of Dassault Systems. Article supported by Dassault Systems.
