A thesis in how users interact with leather understanding its properties in design. The study began with two design research questions: how might manipulating the surface of leather change the interactor’s emotional and physical reaction to it, and how might leather live.Five months of work resulted in this 48-page book discussing research processes, results and experiments. 

Why do people take such great pleasure from leather? When evaluating the success of products made from the material, it became crucial to understand what traits attract people to engage and emotionally attach to the material, subsequently the product it composes. Two question: how might manipulating the surface of leather change the interactor’s emotional and physical reaction to it, and how might leather live were the questions this semester long research project was built around. This 48 page book contains research conclusions, process and testing methods.