Creativity & Aesthetics
Arguably my strongest academic expertise area, I have done extensive work to develop my knowledge of how aesthetics impact the sensory and perceptual experience of a design. Bachenau & Suri’s “Experience Prototyping” introduced me to methods of interacting with prototypes so I could observe the impact of their aesthetics and informed my explorations with rapid prototyping and design through making. With the Thingamafamily and Rebellion Dinner Invitation Plates, I worked with simple crafting materials, inspired by my coach Kristina Andersen’s “Magic Machine Workshops", to imagine the function of these objects through their physical qualities before using technical expertise to elevate their aesthetics according to that vision. This approach helped me design outside the box and to develop uniquely-shaped and aesthetically engaging work. In Delice de Magie, I took this to the next level, diving in for over 20 hours to hand craft a leather bag after having spent weeks developing meaning behind each aesthetic choice for this design through lo-fi prototyping and worldbuilding. Aside from the informational density packed behind each aesthetic choice, this bag remains one of my favourite designs because it has been built with a personality, functionality and quality worth taking care of.
The aesthetics of interaction are entirely both negligible and unavoidable in design. They serve a creative and emotional purpose akin to the outcome and process of creating art, communicating silent information that informs us of the way in which we should interpret designs. Elevated quality and aesthetics result in better respected products that will be taken care of thus and thus more sustainable.
As a “Childish Design Professional,” I actively seek out ways to get in touch with my and other’s creativity. Gaver’s “Yo–Yo Machines: Self-Build Devices that Support Social Connections During the Pandemic” first inspired me to use participatory design and lo-fi rapid prototyping, focusing on the social and imaginative elements of design above technicalities. During Delice de Magie and the Rebellion Dinner, I organized making workshops and explored speculative design through fabulation, storytelling and worldbuilding. These techniques brought shared richness to the projects between me, my team and our participants that I compare to the joys of playing as a child.
Childlike play and creativity allow designed objects to gain significance and presence within our minds. The love a designer fosters for their work in this way translates to a qualitative, unique and good outcome.
User & Society
As a culture-focused designer who looks to cater to niche communities and evoke emotional experiences, I have consistently set goals and taken electives to understand the theory behind design and the ways professionals conduct user research.
My work on the Rebellion Dinner was a roleplay co-design project whereby my participants developed the scenario with my team as it was acted out. The scene we had set intended to unearth sentiments towards government control and, due to the childish nature of playing pretend, the moments where we could not contain our laughter at the situational irony pointed to people’s strongest feelings about government control. I have since pledged to explore the depth of insights that childish behaviour and storytelling with participants can bring.
The Design Research Probe kit exposed me to non-traditional methods where activities are designed for users to take home, giving them agency to create and direct the work. These techniques came in handy during Delice de Magie as my team and I conducted countless workshops, various of which included co-creation sessions with participants using guidance and structure learnt when developing the probe kit earlier that year. In the case of Delice de Magie, I felt very connected to my participants and learnt to share their vision through their designs. I believe these kinds of activities and workshop sessions are powerful tools of inspiration on top of the trust and understanding they build with the user group by empowering them.
In both courses I applied data analysis techniques to group and categorize the information gained from the studies using various perspectives to draw findings. I have completed three courses on Python and R-Studio data analytics, including processing gathered bio and weather data, to enable myself to manipulate digital data in more powerful ways than simple physical grouping. I greatly enjoy working with data using both programming or simple physical techniques and seek to create accessibility of information through the way I present it. As is evidenced by the thorough inclusion of tag clouds, links and categories across my website.
Aside from conducting my own research, I have recently taken theory heavy electives: Design in Context & Intercultural Design with the goal of understanding myself and my field better. In the former, I sparked an interest in the subconscious impacts made by designers: embodied cognition, complexity theory and more-than-human design. I feel drawn to reflect more deeply on my work and it’s ethical impacts- whether or not it should be even created- as a result. With the former, I find myself drawing the same conclusions, but also supported in my belief that designers should not design universal objects because the people of this world are not universal.
Technology & Realisation
I hold myself to intimately understand the tools and technologies I design with because I feel limited in my ability to express my vision without proper knowledge. Recently, the terms “craftsmanship” and “artisanship” have become centralised in my attitudes towards making, particularly after learning leatherworking for Delice de Magie. I tend to lean towards working with physical materials and deeply enjoy the process of practicing slow, detailed work. The quality outcome from such high dedication results in an attuned relationship with aesthetics and material that influence the reception of and attitude towards a work. Both of these clearly relate to expertise in CA and US.
While I prefer physical tools and have been developing my woodworking, leatherwork and artistry skills more particularly in my 2nd year, I see the value in working with 3D models and electronics to create fine-tuned and practical products at low cost. I do enjoy programming and have taken electives in electronics that allow me to think and design using those tools and logic. I am seeing a recent return to these skills in an unfinished project: D-Light, where I am modeling and programming a nature-inspired lighting fixture to help students focus in windowless lecture rooms.
Ultimately, this is an area I focus on quite heavily and seek with every project to expand and deepen my knowledge as much as possible.
Math, Data & Computing
I am a logic-based thinker who deeply enjoys making sense of quantified information and, while it does not dominate my designs themselves, it dominates the way I research, think and conduct teamwork. In Delice de Magie, I led my team through many heavy analytical and reflective sessions where we processed our work and extracted key words and themes. This ultimately led to a deep dive of our every step, where I categorized the processes and created a diagram to demonstrate how we would move from creative, explorative and analytical processes such as workshopping to user feedback sessions. The outcome of this data deep dive was the beginnings of a methodology like the RTDP that was later expressed through our designers toolkit.
Moreover, alongside Arduino and Processing, which I used to create digital art: “The Virus” & “Biblically Accurate Angels,” I have studied Data Analytics using python and R-Studio extensively (see more in my US reflection) as means of enhancing my skills with digital data and I have long since considered developing an accounting program for myself using these skills among other possible projects.
Business & Entrepreneurship
I have described business as evil in the past, and I stand by the fact that I do not like quantifying people’s needs and identities into categories to maximize monetary success. I feel this can strip designs of their joy and it is why I do not extensively pursue business.
However, I have grown an appreciation for some of the tools and techniques I’ve learned in my business courses as means of narrowing my design focus and evaluating realistic means of production and distribution. While working on Delice de Magie, my teammates and I briefly discussed creating a business plan for production, sales and marketing of our bag. In a later course (DIM) I was able to expand on this platform by performing market and business analysis using tools ranging from personas to the business model canvas. This helped me gain a clear vision for what aspects of this imagined business were infeasible for a real company and what decisions would need to be made to make this bag accessible.
Trends and Forecasting was an elective I took to expose myself to business in design that left me with a deeper understanding for how to predict and understand where the market and, thus, people were heading. I became aware of my own role as a designer in shaping the way people on a mass scale behave and vowed to exercise conscientiousness of how my designs might shape future trends in order to contribute to a more ethical society.
(Course Reflection) - Trends & Forecasting
A detailed documentation of the projects that characterised my initial relationship to the expertise areas in my first year.
