— 633 641 Celebration & Contemplation, 10th International Conference on Design & Emotion 27 — 30 September 2016, Amsterdam Introduction Do-it-Yourself practices in the field of design happens since the origin of the discipline itself. Craftsmanship (Nimkurlat, 2010 p. 75), Bricolage (Louridas, 1999 p. 2) and experimentation (Ayala, 2014) have been always evident procedures for design professionals when arising a project. However, there has been for some time in the field of design a more noticeable need to contribute more deeply and in a robust way in research through these type of approaches. As design is considered a practice based branch of knowledge, a novel form of carrying out research in the field of materials is presented. In the following pages, a visual storytelling of a Do-It-Yourself-Materials (DIY-M) practice (Rognoli, et. al, 2015) will be revealed. A course inside a Master´s Level Degree was set as a pilot study where the DIY-M could be created and tested. Accompanying the path with a methodology known as MDD or Material Driven Design (Karana, et. al, 2015), the outcome, shows visually how even before the project comes as an idea, the designer, through tinkering with materials without a project in mind but following a conscious method of research, is able to create a vision with the material that becomes for certain, a valuable contribute to create meaningful material experiences for the further project. During the development of the course, one of the core facts that is also intended to be presented through this pictorial, is the emotional change of perception on the topic of DIY-M from the beginning, through and towards the end of the course of study. In the beginning, the course was perceived as another practical way to develop a project where experimenting with materials had non added value practice for a designer. Abstract It is known in the field of design, that when a project comes to shape, an emotional value of the designer or the team of designers that put together all the elements for the project to be born, it is and will be always something that artificiality and industry will never be able to meet. Imagine for a moment that even before the project comes as an idea, the designer is able to create a material that may be the perfect match for that idea to arise into a project. This pictorial is presented as a way to evidence the valuable contribute that material experience through the concept of Do-It-Yourself Materials is providing nowadays to designer’s research. It is an approach to understand what is happening when everything starts with the material in mind before the project. By a meticulous interrogation to design students during the development of a material, a collection of experiences and a visual storytelling of a Do-It-Yourself Materials are presented to elucidate the importance of the meaning that the designer provides when, as an alchemist gains control of the material through interacting with it, how that meaning is carried within the material and therefore can be transferred to the project subsequently throughout an established vision. Keywords Material driven design, DIY materials, Material tinkering The emotional value of Do-It-Yourself materials - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Valentina Rognoli1 valentina.rognoli@polimi.it Camilo Ayala Garcia1 camilo.ayala@polimi.it Stefano Parisi1 stefanoparisi.sp@gmail.com 1Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy