12.18.2009
cataloging a thought
gaming devices, mobile devices, computers, laptops...
the internet, web-based applications, computer programs...
leads to a growing importance of product features, such as the user interface.
the product form gradually becomes a vessel for experiences.
when the tangibility of our possessions fail to appeal,
materialism may no longer be as literal as before.
what happens next then?
the internet, web-based applications, computer programs...
leads to a growing importance of product features, such as the user interface.
the product form gradually becomes a vessel for experiences.
when the tangibility of our possessions fail to appeal,
materialism may no longer be as literal as before.
what happens next then?
Labels: design, mythoughts
12.15.2009
post-exam.
The business use—the specific goal that motivated the client or sponsor to initially fund the work—often fades away, sometimes quickly,” he says. “In some ways, you might argue that aesthetic value—for an enduring design, at least—is the only lasting value, since over time functional needs can change and business moves on to the next goal.” Approaching heresy at a time when aesthetic quality is the last thing we are supposed to consider, Bierut goes so far as to modestly propose that “just making something look nicer” or “replacing something ugly with something not so ugly” is an admirable goal for designers.
That probably sounds woefully simplistic to design thinkers. Where is the system? Where are the charts and diagrams, the Capitalized Concepts, the new ways of thinking uniquely suited to market conditions now? To understand why it isn’t at all simple, to appreciate how hard it is to create something special, of lasting quality, you need to know a little about design.
The problem that designers face now is the same problem they have faced all along: how to communicate with clients who lack a basic grounding in the visual arts and don’t seem to think it matters. Businesspeople don’t need to become designers. They need to learn that there are types of awareness and understanding expressed through visual form that even a team of the finest poets would be hard-pressed to summarize as a list of handy PowerPoint bullets. Music, dance, and the visual arts operate on a different plane from words. As Dori Tunstall, design teacher and anthropologist, says: “There is an inherent intelligence to beauty, which is about the depth and passion we feel for the world.” Design thinkers like to wax lyrical about the elegance of their strategic thinking as a form of design in its own right, as though this could ever be a substitute. They can keep it— in 2108, if there are museums then, no one will queue to see a strategy. Give me something tangible, something brilliant and extraordinary that illuminates our perception of what human life can be. For that, we still need designers.
Source: http://www.id-mag.com/article/Down-with-Innovation/
my 2cents worth.
durable products are not sustained on pure aesthetic value. think of fashion. some (classic lil black dress) may withstand time, but most that appeal to you now, will someday run out of its appeal. aesthetic value, like functional needs are never lasting. because a person, a community, a society, the world is dynamic and not static.
however, neither can design thinkers afford to put strategy on a pedestal. like all other things, a fine balance is required. a balance which requires someone with foresight to identify. and to once again create a shift in things.
That probably sounds woefully simplistic to design thinkers. Where is the system? Where are the charts and diagrams, the Capitalized Concepts, the new ways of thinking uniquely suited to market conditions now? To understand why it isn’t at all simple, to appreciate how hard it is to create something special, of lasting quality, you need to know a little about design.
The problem that designers face now is the same problem they have faced all along: how to communicate with clients who lack a basic grounding in the visual arts and don’t seem to think it matters. Businesspeople don’t need to become designers. They need to learn that there are types of awareness and understanding expressed through visual form that even a team of the finest poets would be hard-pressed to summarize as a list of handy PowerPoint bullets. Music, dance, and the visual arts operate on a different plane from words. As Dori Tunstall, design teacher and anthropologist, says: “There is an inherent intelligence to beauty, which is about the depth and passion we feel for the world.” Design thinkers like to wax lyrical about the elegance of their strategic thinking as a form of design in its own right, as though this could ever be a substitute. They can keep it— in 2108, if there are museums then, no one will queue to see a strategy. Give me something tangible, something brilliant and extraordinary that illuminates our perception of what human life can be. For that, we still need designers.
Source: http://www.id-mag.com/article/Down-with-Innovation/
my 2cents worth.
durable products are not sustained on pure aesthetic value. think of fashion. some (classic lil black dress) may withstand time, but most that appeal to you now, will someday run out of its appeal. aesthetic value, like functional needs are never lasting. because a person, a community, a society, the world is dynamic and not static.
however, neither can design thinkers afford to put strategy on a pedestal. like all other things, a fine balance is required. a balance which requires someone with foresight to identify. and to once again create a shift in things.
Labels: design, mythoughts
10.20.2009
i find amusement in journal papers:(
"These results were shown to four professors in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. All the professors first laughed at the result and said how stupid the system and the student were. (Since the author of this paper has a background not in aeronautics but in computer science, the author could not understand why the results were so funny.) But after they laughed, an interesting discussion began."
Concept space connected to knowledge processing for supporting creative design
by Koichi Hori
The silliest of ideas might be the best ideas.
Concept space connected to knowledge processing for supporting creative design
by Koichi Hori
The silliest of ideas might be the best ideas.
Labels: design
10.11.2009
can we have this in all design students' handbooks?
General design strategies:
1) Utilitarian Design
- Multifunctionality (think handphones with mp3, video player, camera.)
- Modular Product Architecture
2) Kinesthetic Design
- Ergonomics (works better and feels good. think Nintendo Wii; less RSI than other game controllers.)
- Human Factors
- Sensory Cues (intuitive usage. think Dyson vacuum cleaners.)
3) Visual Design
- Zeitgeist (unique spirit, nature or climate that sets an era apart from others. think conservatively-styled Chrysler 300 in America; post-war, terrorist threats, shaky economy.)
- Natural Metaphors
- Brand Personality (human characteristics associated with a brand.)
- Novelty (delicate balance with familiarity to maximize consumer appeal.)
- High Design (dominant emphasis on aesthetics and form elements. think Jimmy Choo's that give you painful foot deformities.)
Extracted from:
Using product design strategically to create deeper consumer connections (2008)
by Charles H. Noble, Minu Kumar
1) Utilitarian Design
- Multifunctionality (think handphones with mp3, video player, camera.)
- Modular Product Architecture
2) Kinesthetic Design
- Ergonomics (works better and feels good. think Nintendo Wii; less RSI than other game controllers.)
- Human Factors
- Sensory Cues (intuitive usage. think Dyson vacuum cleaners.)
3) Visual Design
- Zeitgeist (unique spirit, nature or climate that sets an era apart from others. think conservatively-styled Chrysler 300 in America; post-war, terrorist threats, shaky economy.)
- Natural Metaphors
- Brand Personality (human characteristics associated with a brand.)
- Novelty (delicate balance with familiarity to maximize consumer appeal.)
- High Design (dominant emphasis on aesthetics and form elements. think Jimmy Choo's that give you painful foot deformities.)
Extracted from:
Using product design strategically to create deeper consumer connections (2008)
by Charles H. Noble, Minu Kumar
10.10.2009
Form (ever) follows function. Or not.
"Modernist and functionalist perspectives on design have often been supported with appeals to Louis Sullivan’s (1896) doctrine that ‘form (ever) follows function’. In this view, the final appearance of the product is logically determined by the general problem that the design must solve or the specific benefits that it must offer. However, product functions can never be defined objectively because products will be put to different uses by different people in different contexts (Palmer, 1996: p 13). Furthermore, any given function can be satisfied by a variety of different product types, and each of these types typically adopts a different product form (Pye, 1978: p 87). Therefore, whilst anticipated usage influences the type of product that is designed, and one product type might generally look different to another, within a product type designers are at liberty to shape products in many different ways (Murdoch and Flurscheim, 1983; Parr, 2003)."
- Shaping Things: intended consumer response and the other determinants of product form
by Nathan Crilly, James Moultrie and P. John Clarkson
- Shaping Things: intended consumer response and the other determinants of product form
by Nathan Crilly, James Moultrie and P. John Clarkson
Labels: design
9.28.2009
"Failure to appreciate DIY/Hack Culture is to risk having professional design become as irrelevant to the contemporary landscape as record labels and network television are in the age of iTunes and YouTube."
Source: http://www.core77.com/blog/featured_items/ugly_how_unorthodox_thinking_will_save_design_by_tad_toulis_11563.asp
General assumptions of UGLY:
- Question existing assumptions (i.e. is beauty intrinsically admirable?)
- Utilize intellect as well as intuition; temper your muscle memory with intellectual rigor.
- Don't rely on what you can anticipate; believe in the creative power of experimentation.
- Change: expect it, embrace it, understand it, leverage it.
- Sustainability: stop segregating it into a class of problems separate than the one you are currently working on.
Process notes for UGLY:
- Iterate Iterate Iterate: work to get it right, respect the resources required to execute your solution.
- Cut/Paste/Slice. Don't get locked in, draw upon sources from outside of your core discipline.
- Move in, out and across mediums frequently. The change in perspective will serve you and your ideas, forcing connections that might otherwise remain hidden.
- Be prepared to walk away from the problem you are tackling, but come back.
Behaviors of UGLY:
- Don't know, Do. Invest the time to vet out your ideas and assumptions.
- Listen to those you don't agree with, you'll learn more.
- Try things that scare you, you'll grow and your tool kit will as well.
- Co-opt an opposing point of view: live in the skin of another viewpoint.
- Disagree early and frequently, the debate will add depth to your solutions.
Source: http://www.core77.com/blog/featured_items/ugly_how_unorthodox_thinking_will_save_design_by_tad_toulis_11563.asp
Labels: design
9.19.2009
This blog might soon become a space for me to throw in nuggets of info i'll like to refer back to one day.
Within design and other creative professions, I think there is a substantial difference between a reactive approach and a critical approach. With a reactive approach we run the risk of coming up with ideas that merely emulate “the mood of the time” without ever asking the bigger question if we even needed this product or feature in the first place. Through a critical approach we can try to challenge current paradigms, to bring in differentiated awareness and understanding, as well as aesthetic and cultural sensibility, thought leadership and a future perspective. Ultimately the energy and care we invest into this process is expressed in the emotional quality and innovation of our products.
“What is your vision for the future and how can you try to bring a little bit of that vision to life in the next product you design?”
- Juliane Trummer (Research & Strategy Manager at Teague)
http://www.design-emotion.com/2008/06/19/creating-emotional-impact-through-vision/
Within design and other creative professions, I think there is a substantial difference between a reactive approach and a critical approach. With a reactive approach we run the risk of coming up with ideas that merely emulate “the mood of the time” without ever asking the bigger question if we even needed this product or feature in the first place. Through a critical approach we can try to challenge current paradigms, to bring in differentiated awareness and understanding, as well as aesthetic and cultural sensibility, thought leadership and a future perspective. Ultimately the energy and care we invest into this process is expressed in the emotional quality and innovation of our products.
“What is your vision for the future and how can you try to bring a little bit of that vision to life in the next product you design?”
- Juliane Trummer (Research & Strategy Manager at Teague)
http://www.design-emotion.com/2008/06/19/creating-emotional-impact-through-vision/
me.
a sucker for anything art, design or indie/alt music related.death cab, the postal service, brand new, silversun pickups etc rock my world.
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