Common to all technological knowledge is the ability to understand the properties and sustainability of the material resources we grow, shape, consume, and transform. A developed knowledge of materials facilitates good choices in design. Such knowledge helps guide what tools or fixture/assembly methods are required to assure an applied idea works in its intended context.
The Tree-with-Binary-code icon, reminds us that
at some stage all our consumed materials and ingredients come from our planet's finite reserves. As with physical materials, knowing the properties of 'digital materials' (such as bitmap versus text versus vector or movie files) requires we use the most appropriate and available digital tools for manipulating their file type.
Physical and digital Materials present both a key resource as well as constraint to the success of a project.