According to the principle "if you can design it, we can produce it" said by Additive Manufacturing analists, How it is really able? It can free designer´s creativity on what they can ideate as design solutions, being not restricted by manufacturing constraints?
Hello, to my mind the main advantage of additive manufacturing for designers creativity is that they are not restricted by the manufacturing process, and therefore do not limit their ideas by the limitations of manufacturing. Additive manufacturing allows creating complex shape, without increasing its price. In traditional manufacturing creating complex shape would cost more. You can read more about additive manufacturing here - http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/513716/additive-manufacturing/
I suppose that you already have some answers in mind by asking this question. If so, I very much agree with your scepticism after using and teaching AM techniques for more than a decade now. Here are some points to consider:
1. Creativity requires a certain degree of constraints. This is supported by research. It's a myth that the more constraints you remove, the more creative you can be. It's probably an inverted-U relationship that changes with context.
2. AM does remove some constraints, but brings many others. Depending on the specific technology, AM can be a nightmare in terms of costs, mechanical properties, surface finishing, etc.
3. As with other topics, it's a matter of experience, so asking what's the impact of AM in designers in general is kind of wrong. I suppose that young designers will likely show negative impact, whereas more experienced designers can use new tools and techniques much more critically, and use them to their advantage.
4. I think the next ten years of AM will be more interesting than the last ten. As the 'wow' factor fades and the silly predictions of a 'revolution' fail to crystalise, I reckon people will start finding its true value -including how it may benefit/hinder creative designing. We saw this twenty years ago with the debates about CAD systems...
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