Environmental graphic design and experiential graphic design are visual communications manifested in the physical, material world. Naturally, then, materials are the DNA of the environments and experiences that result. Materiality establishes the tone and nature of their visual vocabulary.
Materials are to environmental and experiential graphic designers as paints or pastels are to fine artists. Designers and fabricators practicing EGD and XGD have a world of options at their fingertips, and understanding them is a key competency of the discipline.