Will is the founder of biocrafting.studio and is an industrial designer and researcher specialising in human interaction and biocollaboration. In 2023, Will’s collaborative design project, Pleural, won a James Dyson Award, and a recent furniture design, using mealworms as part of the creative process, has appeared in Dezeen, an online architecture, interiors and design magazine.
Which subject did you study at university and why?
I have always been interested in any creative process, I took Design and Art as GCSEs, but in the sixth form decided to focus on academic subjects. At the time, I didn’t view creative pursuits as a viable career. This didn’t mean I stopped being creative, I enjoyed music and spent a lot of time creating and playing music with my friends. Technology was moving fast and owning a laptop meant having access to a recording studio 24/7. I spent so much time doing this, that during the exam period, my Tutor eventually confiscated my speakers. Even I thought that was fair enough!
At university I pursued languages, they have always been part of my life being half Japanese. I took Modern Languages, French and Spanish Literature. I still had an interest in music, I played in bands, continued producing music and started DJing.
Did you have any firm plans after leaving university?
For a long time, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. It was only after finishing my exams that I decided I wanted to try advertising. However, because I hadn’t done any internships in the space, it was tough getting a graduate job immediately. I ended up with a job in recruitment which just wasn’t for me – I felt quite lost.
Despite recruitment not being the job for me, my boss was very helpful and introduced me to her sister who worked in advertising. Luckily for me, their company had graduate internships and that’s how I got my foot in the door. I went on to work in advertising at various agencies for seven years and really enjoyed the job.
Occasionally I still freelance in advertising, which works well for both parties. I can work for three months and then take two months off to do my own thing. If my income depended entirely on selling my creative work, I think it would impact my creative process.
Who inspires your work?
There are a lot of exciting things coming out of MIT, they are at the intersection of scientific research and art, which I find fascinating. Two names spring to mind: Neri Oxman, a designer who does a lot of bio-collaborative design which is in the area I’m in. Her work often involves working with natural organisms in order to grow structures instead of using traditional manufacturing processes. The other is Skylar Tibbits, he started the Self-Assembly Lab, he explores how materials and structures perform and function, or make themselves, without human intervention. For floating structures that self-assemble thanks to air flow. He embraces technology, using it in creative ways that have never been seen before and could define how we live in the future.
Do you have a favourite project that you’ve worked on?
That’s a tricky one. Each project is individual, and thereby all have their own merits. There are two that I’m working on right now, very different from each other. One is “Digested Objects”, a project with mealworms. And the other is a device called Pleural which helps combat mucus in the lungs, typically for people who have chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma, COPD or cystic fibrosis.
What is biocrafting.studio? How and why are you using mealworms?
biocrafting.studio and it is the name of my practice as well as being the founding principle of the studio. In essence, it is about using biological principles and craft techniques to develop innovative solutions. In this instance, I’m using mealworms to design furniture. I came across some cutting-edge research where it’s been proven that mealworms can safely digest polystyrene. They have bacteria in their stomach that break down polystyrene into an organic compound. This caught my attention as polystyrene is rarely recycled and occupies 30% of landfill, taking decades to biodegrade.
I aim to guide the mealworms in a shape, sort of like a scaffold. I do this by injecting sugar trails in the polystyrene which the mealworms like to eat first and then they carve out their own path. This means I don’t have full control of where they go, I can only encourage the direction of travel. A tricky part is deciding how long to leave the mealworms to do their thing. The polystyrene structure that remains is used as a mould, and the shape created from the mould is 3D scanned and edited digitally, enlarging it ready for manufacturing.
To watch the process and see the finished article click here.
An interspecies craft process between plastic-eating mealworms and designer.
Will you be using mealworms again, and is it okay for them to eat polystyrene?
Yes, I will definitely use them again. I did a lot of research into looking after mealworms. You can’t expect them to eat polystyrene all the time, it would be like us eating just potatoes all the time. In between projects, and as a break from the project, they’re on the equivalent of an organic five-a-day diet. I’ve even created a purpose-built home for them!
Tell me more about Pleural
Last year I completed a master’s in Innovation Design Engineering, a joint course between the Royal College of Art and Imperial College. As part of a team of four students (one which happens to be another OR, Fergus Laidlaw), we designed and engineered ‘Pleural’. Traditionally, to dislodge and thin mucus in people’s lungs, doctors or physiotherapists perform chest percussion (rhythmically clapping or tapping the chest and back with cupped hands) which takes a lot of training to get it right. With Pleural, the user follows instructions on an App, AI within the device monitors breathing rates and mimics a doctor applying the chest percussion and ensuring the correct force is applied. This means people can use the device at home, being able to breathe clearly and prevent infection. There are other devices on the market, but they lack the smart aspect and are either too difficult to use or too expensive for most people.
What was the driver to design Pleural when similar gadgets already existed?
A relation of a team member suffers from a respiratory condition. Naturally, we wanted to help, how could we make their life better? We spoke to lots of people who had similar diseases and listened to what they needed; a device that was easy to use by yourself, recorded the treatment given and plotted how they were progressing.
The design won the UK James Dyson Awards 2023, which was a huge honour. See link for a short film here. At the time we received lots of media coverage – Fergus and I appeared on Sky News!
The prototype Pleural device in use against the chest, with guidance provided by the app.
Do you have plans to bring your design to market?
Definitely. The impact it can have on people’s lives is enormous. A hardware design is a long process but add a medical element, and it takes even longer. Obviously, there are lots of regulations and tests that medical technology must go through, I understand the need for this but it’s still very frustrating as a designer! It’s not like a normal product where you think ‘great, that works well, let’s start the manufacturing process’. It’s likely to take three or four years before we have an approved product.
The next step is to fine-tune the machine-learning side of things. The Dyson Award, and another award we won, the Helen Hamlyn Award for Creativity, came with a monetary prize which allowed us to invest some of our time. We have access to the Imperial College network and the Royal College of Arts network, but there is only so much help people can give before you need to start paying them a salary. To take this product further, we need to raise investment. I’m a creative and designer at heart and while I’m interested in the business side, it’s not my skill set. Fortunately, we have someone helping us with this process.
What was the motivation behind taking a Master’s?
It meant leaving my job in advertising and the story I told myself was it would help me to get a job that I really wanted! The reality was I wanted the chance to spend two years studying a creative subject. The freedom of a Master’s was amazing, it’s much more autonomous than a degree.
I suffered from imposter syndrome, I felt everyone else deserved to be there more than I did, they were all designers or engineers. I was definitely the wild card, but I must have said something okay at the interview!
I picked up lots of technical design skills through the Master’s, and it helped me to figure out my strengths.
What’s next for you?
The main project I’m working on right now is my bio-collaborative design process; the plan is my practice, biocrafting.studio, will enable brands to create sustainable products in partnership with innovative biomaterials startups.
For example, I’m in conversation with a packaging design company on how to make packaging more sustainable. It’s more than figuring out which sustainable materials to use and the impact the supply chain has, sustainability is also an emotional problem – how do you get people excited about a product that is made out of recycled components, like a phone for instance, or making ‘leather’ from beer waste?
And of course, pushing ahead with Pleural.
What advice do you have for current students who want to pursue a creative career?
I believe creativity is a great skill to have in any career, and practical programmes give you hands-on experience that employers are looking for. The difficulty with school is that it is very structured, I felt I was encouraged to follow an academic route rather than a creative one. I would say, don’t wait to be invited to explore your ideas, find a way to go ahead and just do it, and don’t let your university degree, if that’s the route you choose, narrow down what you think is possible.
Looking back, do you wish you had chosen a creative degree over languages?
If I was going to university now, I would choose a design school. Design is all around us, whether it’s Apple or Meta, design is instrumental to their business proposition. I didn’t understand that creativity can bring value, at the time it felt too much of a risk.
Having said that, while it’s taken me a few years to get where I am, it didn’t stop me, and I have skills that not all designers have, such as conveying my ideas in a compelling way from my career in advertising. Communication is key, you can have the best design idea going but if you can’t explain your ideas to others in an exciting and relevant way it’s an opportunity lost.
Lastly, what did you enjoy most at Radley?
The music school was amazing. Music is still my way of relaxing and chilling out. The art department also has a dear spot in my heart, as it was an opportunity to do my own thing, I would sketch for hours. Looking back, I wish I had spent more time in the art room and not messed about so much – but then I guess your teens are the time for messing about!
Spending so much time with friends; I was in B Social and there was an area called the Savoy which was like a small apartment with four rooms. I shared it with three really good friends. It was like having our own separate living accommodation. I loved it.
Take a look at the biocrafting.studio website to explore Will’s work and projects.
