Bespoke and Repetitive: Converging Technologies in the Design of Custom Products

Abstract

The growth in Industry 4.0 marks a change in some ways that products will be created as well as the ways in which professions like industrial design will continue to grow. Advances in technology, data, and analytics will increasingly give designers the ability to develop customized or bespoke products for a range of end-users. Specifically, the intersection of 3D surface scanning, generative design, and digital fabrication could trigger this growth. This thesis examines how the intersection of these technologies is currently being leveraged by designers, identifies growing opportunities and attributes for bespoke solutions, and envisions a new process for designers to create custom products.