Product designers often explore colour, material and finish (CMF) relatively late in the process, traditionally in a fab lab or physical workshop. But Adobe's aiming to help bring CMF exploration forward by digitising the traditional trend book format through new assets for Adobe Substance 3D, which includes some of the best 3D software.
The creative tech giant has teamed up with the French fashion trend consulting agency Peclers Paris create a collection of over 40 fully parametric on-trend 3D digital materials. These can be used to iterate product designs in real time and generate photorealistic previews using digital twins, potentially speeding up the design process.
The new Substance 3D materials include parameters that allow designers to easily modify aspects like color, surface effect or pattern, providing full creative control. And colours and materials can be applied across an entire product line or portfolio, enabling designers to work at scale with aesthetic cohesion.
Peclers Paris identified trending colours and material combinations and proposed eight thematic material groupings, each accompanied by moodboards of surface finishes and curated color palettes. Technical artists at Adobe then recreated more than 40 of the materials digitally with finishes like brushed metal, matte gloss or grained surfaces.
The collection is now available in the Substance 3D Assets library, which Substance 3D subscribers can access through the web portal or directly in Substance 3D Painter
The collection is intended as a flexible toolbox to allow designers to experiment and make better-informed choices earlier in the design process. The aim is also to reduce the need for physical samples and prototypes, and even allow products to be previewed before they’re manufactured to help in presales and marketing.
The collaboration between a creative tech company and a trend experts show how data and digital innovation can be put together to create new resources for designers.
Colour and material decisions can impact how a product is experienced and valued. Incorporating on-trend CMF earlier in the concept development workflow can help avoid disconnect in the process while speeding up communication with manufacturers and suppliers.
See Adobe Substance 3D pricing below, and catch our Substance 3D Painter review for more on the software.
