After a couple of weeks of testing, tweaking and tuning, we are ready to present to you epa:kato, ‘design your own coaster’. With this on-line design tool (based on Flash), you can play with shape, patterns and repetition to create a unique design. Read more on the product page…
The pattern system
To help you design a shape that always fits together (really, all shapes always fit together!) we use the system of regular tilings in our application. So, when you create a piece of the shape, it will be repeated in different ways to create the eventual design.
Mass-customization
epa:kato is a new type of mass customization application. When we design something, we like the open-endedness of the process. We have as much freedom as the materials and production process can give us. We try to translate this feeling of freedom and control to an intuitive interface in our design tools. You shouldn’t be forced to select options from a list, but have as much of the possibilities the production process provides as possible. That’s why we are experimenting with a free form spline tool.
Your feedback
We realise our design tool is far from perfect. We would like to see this as an experiment where we include you in the design process. After all, it’s you we’re designing the design tools for :).
We would love to hear your responses to our application. So, if you have comments, critique, questions, suggestions for improvement or praise, please let us know by posting a comment to this blog post.
feel like responding?