Filed under: design studies, reading and writing | Tags: collaboration, design studies, ideo, the guardian
The Guardian team up with IDEO to tell us why now is the time for innovative thinking and innovation. They have also revamped their website.
This collaboration is an invaluable source for the first year Design Studies students! The students are writing an article exploring the role of design and critical thinking in repsonse to what is happening in the news (focusing on the Guardian on particular).
Filed under: design studies | Tags: critical thinking, design studies, ethnography, insight, photography
I spent this morning exploring the ethnographic insights from first year students. After their introduction to ethnography last week, the class were asked to capture an insight over the weekend. After much discussion, Giorgio and I decided upon the best two entries.
This entry is from Design Studies student Gavin Borthwick. This photograph is impressive, the lighting has a remarkable effect.
Gavin chose to look at the unusual tradition of using old newspaper as a wrapping/ packaging for chip shop foods.
“To notice something infront of your eyes is a process that can be processed in a very short period of time. Before your mind can begin analyzing information, it searches for anything that stands out or seems a little more unusual than anything else. In my case, the newspaper clipping used for the packaging for a deep fried food seems almost ridiculous. When the object or thought is identified, the unusualness of the item is emphasised until it cannot be taken to any further stage. As the newspaper is and has always been designed to present news and information to the reader, the connection between news and food is non existent. Although people may identify that they are recycling their paper goods and ’saving the trees’, their is no reason to combine the overall idea together.”
This entry is from Design Studies student Douglas Wood. His insight concerned the traditional cooking pot. This conveys excellent use of text and imagery to vividly describe a product adaptation.
“Not only a utensil for suitably cooking foodstuffs in but when next to a sink, a useful place to store cutlery waiting to be washed or if the pot is clean, a place to store clean cutlery needing to be dried and/or put away. One of the main reasons why the pot is used is because there is a lack of storage space in the kitchen area for the individual to put their cutlery and other utensils. This does however make more sense than leaving forks and knives etc lying about were someone could injure themselves. Some other uses for the pot (not shown) include a helmet or hat and a low value drum (both of these are mainly practiced by children).”
* All the photos of the Design studies class are published with the consent of the pupils concerned.
I am encouraging the students to use this space to have a conversation about the work above.
Consider this:
The application of critical thinking?
The portrayal of the ‘moment of noticing’?
The impact of photography?
The approach used to describe the insight?
How the two pieces of work differ?
Do you have a favourite?
Filed under: design studies | Tags: critical thinking, design studies, design technique, ethnography, insight
Today I spent the morning introducing the first year product and media designers to Ethnography.We sent them off on a ‘quick and dirty’ task for thirty minutes to take a photograph or make a sketch of an observation.
The key focus of today was the notion that observation sharpens our minds and lets us see what is happening; but it is the interpretation of the insight that is most important!
This exercise was designed to encourage the students to be ‘visual listeners’ and think critically. The students have to produce a photograph and insight over the weekend; the best one will be posted on this blog!
The Design Council, the Home Office and the Design and Technology Alliance have unveiled a major expansion of the Designing Out Crime initiative.
David Kester, chief executive of the Design Council, says, ‘Anticipating and preventing crime is a constant challenge, perhaps even more acute in a changing economic climate. That’s why we need to bring the best of our creative, technological and entrepreneurial talents together to find new solutions and stay ahead of the game.
Filed under: design studies, service design | Tags: design council, design studies, what is design?
The Design Council is asking “What is Design?”
“Service Design relies on input from several design disciplines at once.”
This is a true reliance for many disciplines; the boundaries between fields are merging. I wonder why they chose this phrase as the input for Service Design. I liked the use of the word ’seamless’ – making experiences flow seamlessly is the ultimate goal for any service.
This simple and effective visual story relates to the workshop I was involved in with under-graduate students. It also asks the key question I chose to entitle the students brief : “Are you ready to change the world?”
Via Kate Andrews.
Filed under: design studies, reading and writing | Tags: design cultures, design studies, jonathan baldwin, london, thinkpublic
Back to blogging after an unusual week with no laptop! During some quality family time I happily wrote a letter, received a letter and read a book :)
My London adventure was a great success. I was lucky enough to visit the ThinkPublic studio, and I have been invited to spend a month working for the team next April. I cannot wait to be part of such an exciting place; where lots of different people and ideas come together to make a real difference!
I have been invited to be a contributor to the Design Studies blog: a design news blog from the University of Dundee. The main author of this blog is my friend and mentor Jonathan Baldwin, a lecturer in Design,History, Theory and Practice as well as an expert on visual culture and design education.
Filed under: design studies | Tags: critical thinker, design studies, dundee, teaching, visual listener, workshop
Today was the introductory session with first year design studies students. It went really well! I hope the students went home today with a stronger understanding of what a designer is, and an awareness of social and cultural issues.
We introduced the term ‘critical thinking’ which I interpret to be a quality of thought. It is training your mind to think with direction, and encourages us to challenge our own ideas and put ourselves under scrutiny.
To outline some key points from the session:
We discussed what does it means to be a ‘visual listener’? One student proposed the definition: an expansive creator! Impressive :)
After explaining to shy away from thinking about the phrase in the literal sense of listening: sound, hearing etc…they opened up to the idea it is about being sensitive to your surroundings, being alert and sharp minded… using your brain and senses the way you would if someone was whispering a very important message to you!
We ran a little workshop focusing on answering the question “What is a designer?”…looking at the questions from various perspectives:
- Problem solver
- Story teller
- Artist
- Imagineer
- Entrepreneur
- Journalist
- Critical thinker
- Articulate communicator
Asking questions such as:
- “Can anyone be a designer?”
- “Is it a vocation or an occupation?”
- “Is everyone a designer?”
A big mistake young designers make when evaluating their career options is they are too focused – too narrow minded on the obvious craft skills i.e sketching, software.
Hopefully, now the students realise that companies like to hire people who have changed fields at least once. We need to think about skills we as unique designers can do: interpret, synthesize, make things tangible and make connections.
The trick is to spend less time thinking about what we are doing now, and more time thinking about what is changing out there in the world and what we can do about it.
The change that it happening around us means huge opportunities and challenges for designers!
The first book of reference is “We Think” by Charles Leadbeater. Click here to read my thoughts and opinions on the book.
The second book is “Future Files” by Robert Watson.Click here to see some mind maps and watch a video of the author discussing the themes of the book.
Filed under: design studies, reading and writing | Tags: design studies, ethnography, task
Here are some snap shot previews of the brief and ethnography tasks we have created for the Design Studies module. I can’t wait to see how the students interpret it all :)
We are asking the students to write an article for the G2 supplement in the Guardian. The focus is to get their minds excited about the idea of what a designer is…an articulate communicator, a cultural facilitator, a critical thinker.
What do you wish you had been told during your first year of design education?
Filed under: design studies, reading and writing | Tags: core 77, design education, design studies
This fantastic article “Deserve your dream” written by Mariano Amatullo, features in Core77 this week.
It is very much linked with the ideas I am exploring for Design Studies module – the responsibility of being a designer and the reality that designers can change the world.
“Despite, and perhaps because of, the world being in such turmoil, this is a very exciting time for design and designers. I firmly believe that with an expanded tool kit, designers can be instrumental contributors to a conversation about the future that it is getting increasingly layered and multidisciplinary.”
This video was directed by Jonas Mayhabb
Learn more about designmatters here.
“So when I’m feeling optimistic I imagine the next generation of designers seeing their professional work primarily as an opportunity to change the world. A lofty thought, I know, but that’s the way the generational wind is blowing.”
“Octavio Paz, the Mexican writer, poet and diplomat, once famously said: “Deserve your dream.” These words resonate simultaneously with a sense of hope and responsibility. They also represent fundamental advice and inspiration that I take to heart with the start of each new project, as we seek to achieve our most important dreams through design.”
Filed under: design studies, made me think | Tags: design studies, john ruskin, looking, paul musgrave, visual expression
I believe the of looking at the world through multiple lenses is part of being a creative, regardless of discipline.
Visual literacy is at the heart of The Ruskin Foundation.
It oversees the world’s largest collection of the works of the writer, artist and social visionary John Ruskin.Exploring the relevance of Ruskin’s ideas today, undertaking intellectual enquiry and educational activity through a wide range of projects.
The How to See campaign aims to develop young people’s use of both their hearts and eyes in looking at the world around them. Read more about Paul Musgrave’s interpretation of this campaign here.
This project is unique in the fact it is aimed primarily at young people in education. Perhaps some of the ideas and experiments such as the ‘Looking Tube’ could be adopted into The Design Studies module : Visual Expression that I am involved in teaching…
Filed under: design studies | Tags: design studies, design thinking, mentoring, mind map
In response to this little red robin, I spent this afternoon with two lovely people who have encouraged and motivated me since my first day at university…Christine Kingsley and Louise Valentine
To give a little background information ‘Design Studies’ is a module in the undergraduate Product Design and Interactive Media Design Course at the University of Dundee. Design History Theory and Practice is also a part of this module.There are many wonderful characters involved in the running of this module, who all have different backgrounds and interesting stories to tell…
I could chatter and type about Design Studies forever….I believe Design Studies is all about thinking, learning and understanding. Becoming more ‘worldly aware’, learning how to work as part of team and recognise the strengths of others. Learning about the ’social responsibility’ of being a designer today and the importance of multi-disciplinary collaboration. Learning how to recognise your skills, your process and way of learning/thinking. Keeping sketchbooks, presenting, collating,story-telling, reading,writing, reflecting and visualising…most importantly – realising where and how design fits into the real world – it is all extremely good stuff :)
I am so excited I am going to be part of it all again :) Myself and my classmate Giorgio Giove are going to be working within the Visual Expression module. The end article the students have to create is a magazine article for the Guardian Newspaper.
This opportunity is a peer learning experience. We will be guiding students…teaching them and learning from them. Tutorials, presentations, surgeries and managing processes and people.
It is very exciting and I am really looking forward to this experience! I have to really think about what I want to get out of it, how I can leave my mark on the students’ minds and what I want to learn from it all :)
I downloaded Tony Buzan’s iMindMap software today, I created a mind map to summarise the meeting today. The website describes it as ’software that helps you think’. I like that. I am testing out the free trail…so we shall see how I compare it to lovely pen and paper in the end…
A definition that made me smile ( thanks to Jennifer Mackie):
Read – er
1. a person who reads
2. a book of collected or assorted writings.
