Future

The past semester working on Fabulous Feathers was an absolute blast. I got to work on a project which was truly where my heart is at.
There were some limitations in the project, mainly limited user testing.
The technical implementation was quite time-consuming, but the many samples created in the process can lead to interesting new design possibilities discussed in my final report (to be released soon).

I will briefly reflect on the goals I formulated in my PDP.
The first goal is the development of my professional aesthetic I am pretty pleased with. As stated in the sections creativity & aesthetics and user & society, I strive for an ambiguous aesthetic to reflect a design’s modular nature. To tie into my personal perspective, to enable everyone to express their individuality and who they are. I feel like the ambiguous nature of the feather reflects this well, with many demo day visitors having their unique take on what they would do with the feathers.

The second goal involves business opportunities for my project. While the nature of the Fabulous Feathers project was about knowledge and design methods, some exciting business opportunities did arise. Many people were interested in how you can print using Full Control. Also, my work as a designer sparked interest. They want me to work with them on a very exciting design commission! I can also offer my knowledge through workshops on Full Control and 3D printing.

The last goal describes achieving open-source design as a demonstrator, which I did achieve, as my project is openly available on GitHub. However, the design is not community-driven, though some people made their own feathers at home. I feel like the second part of this goal cannot be achieved over half a year. The documentation is present though, so anyone should be able to use it as is. If it becomes widespread, I can always add extra documentation and functionality.

I have some unique ideas for projects using the feathers, so a V2.0 of Fabulous Feathers is bound to happen. It will be called the Fabulous Feather Factory and capable of procedurally generating feathers of different shapes and sizes. It will be published similarly to Fabulous Feathers. I want to look for other social platforms (e.g., Discord) to promote it and for potential candidates for user testing different 3D printing-related designs.

I look forward to my master’s programme at the TU/e starting in September this year.
Another dream I plan on realizing in the distant future is acquiring an atelier. I can expand my current toolset, making collaborating on new ideas with other designers and clients easier.