Semester 2 Theory & History
Week 1
For our first lesson, we had to go to the National Design Centre to visit the Circular Futures: Next Gen exhibition. We had to go there and reflect on what we learned. The exhibition showcases work that pushes the boundaries of sustainable design and addresses how we can better approach environmental concerns. Below is what I have reflected on in this exhibition.
REFLECTION
I think that overall I really enjoyed the trip to this exhibition and seeing the ways in which we could be environmentally stable through the use of new technology, 3D Printing. It is rather endearing that utilize plastic to solve the issue when a lot of times the production of plastic and disposal of it causes many environmental issues. But by recycling plastic bottles as filament, they are able to reduce the waste produced by them and give them a new purpose. And through this process of 3D printing, nothing is wasted at all as any failed prototypes can be reused and remade into filament for the printer. It is a very complete product life cycle without any huge environmental waste. Not only that but all these projects also are geared towards sustainability in terms of their project scope. One such project that I found interesting was
One such project that I found interesting was the HDB farm concept. This project is a modular planting system that you can install along the walls of HDB walls, turning them into a vertical farm. As food security becomes much more of a concern due to global warming and the economic & political landscape, the Singapore government has been putting a lot of research into becoming food-independent. So this is a step that would allow Singaporeans to be able to provide for themselves in their own building. It uses simple open-hole hexagonal cone modular pieces to build the structure that allows plants to grow. It shows that simple doesn't mean it is bad, but it is these easy structures that require the most amount of thought and care to build it.
Week 2
This was the first official physical lesson for Theory and history class. We were first asked to
REFLECTION
Why does Design matters?
Design is the designing of a design to solve a problem. We are living in a constantly evolving world that is creating problems to solve in its wake. In order to live in our world, we have to change, we have to evolve. We design to adapt to the changes in the world. Yet, we also design because we desire change. To live in a stagnant and sterile world is a daunting nightmare to humans who are always wishing for new simulations. We desire changes to happen or else the world is not exciting and boring. To design is to bring about new changes and to adapt to change. Designing is changing and it is a gift that we have to live in this world. To design is to grow.
GROUP WORK: DESIGN AS AN EVOLUTION
Personal Answer
Do you agree or disagree?
Yes, I do agree with what is said
At what point of the article do you agree?
I agree with the fact that the design process is the gradual growth of ideas to reach the correct solution for the problem. It is a process in which the right answer is never always clear at the beginning but that is the joy of designing the solution to the problem. It is a laborious process that is built on the thing before to allow designers to take a supposedly "creative leap" in their process. This leap is often boasted not by the idea itself but by the other ideas that have to build it up. Without those design, we wouldn't have found that answer even though they were often wrong.
After reading, what sparks your curiosity or made you ask?
I think it is encouraging that the process matter and that we don't have to immediately have an answer. It is daunting to hear of a "Eureka" moment in history but it is not just a simple thought but a realisation of many thoughts. It is also lets me realise that we are never going to find the perfect solution
Week 3
When I first entered the class, all the chairs were stacked on top of the tables. It left me feeling entirely confused and questioning what on earth was going on. In this situation, we were given the task of coming up with a poetry relay based on 2 prompts given. It was really fun yet confusing as all of us commented on the weird situation we were in. Overall this little experiment was designed to let us see what the value of chairs was. Objects are given value when people interact with them and create behaviours around them. They create a social meaning and value to the chair.
In order to create something good, it needs to change the behaviour of people. All forms are property of the mind, an object finds meaning in the way people used them, and we learn how to use them through our experience. We learned the function of a chair through our years of growing. We live in a man-made reality. whatever we create is man-made, and meant to help us survive. Because of that, the perception of good life changes as society changes and people grow. What is considered good to you will always change.
A Designer can only function in the value system that he is part of. if we don't adapt to this value system, the object we design becomes useless. Every object we design will satisfy the different levels of needs that humans have. The difference between Principles and values is that principles are your personal morals while values are those of society.
The question we have would be when did the value of something show up? This question leads us to how we contribute in terms of sustainability, emotions, etc? Because of that, we need to design things that are transformative
GROUP ACTIVITY
From there we had a group activity, we had to form groups with the people from our domain. We had to go around the campus and find 3D designs that follow the principle of " Form follows Function". I and my team went down to wing B level 4 as there were a lot of different 3D objects around that we could take photos of. The object we chose was a chair that simply had an outline on the outside only. It follows the principle stated as the most important surface for a chair is the seat and back which is what has been done.
After all the groups came back, some of the groups were asked to share their findings with us. From there I came to better understand that the things I create are not just for commercial use but also have a pivotal role in the transformation of society. We also had to a reflection on 3 questions, with focus on question 3:
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Are these value imposes a patriarchal society? A society that differentiate the others? That promote Ageism?
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Asking when and how we learn about these values?
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Looking back at your Sem 1 design, why you choose that form and what values is imbued in the design?
Reflection
I think looking back on my previous Semester's end result, the form chosen was one that I took a lot of effort to refine. But the base form that it had was based on a universal concept of what slippers are. Sandel, slippers, and shoes have a huge history with mankind and many various designs exist. What I have created is a very primitive form that existed way back in the past and it has existed in the humankind's consciousness as shoes already. I think the value that I added was in terms of the sustainability and washable aspect but much was hidden behind the form. Now looking back at it, I think much can be improved about the form to improve the design and showcase the value that it can add to society.
Week 4
For this lesson, we had a continuation on the topic of form and its value. What constitutes a form? It is the visible shape or configuration of something. Form is imagined and assumed, in which its existence is based on our personal reaction to the values it offers. What is the meaning of value? It means what is meaningful. For an object, its value is determined by the position from which it is viewed. It can satisfy different needs such as shelter and safety. Based on Maslow Hierarchy of Needs, it is universal for human to strive for a need in a predictable order. Aesthetic is also a value but is constantly changing in our society.
After that she went through some examples of different objects that are value-adding such as the Folk Kitchenware for the blind as well as toy designer Cas Homen's works. For Cas Homen, it was interesting to see her unique ideology and mindset towards play and children. "That our constructed environments were places that enforced certain hierarchies and power structure"
Afterwards, she explains to us the concept of universality. It is the quality of involving or being shared by all people or things in the world or in a particular group. The universality of human rights has become a necessary and important part of our life. No matter what race, gender, economical background, education, etc. we should all be treated with equality.
GROUP ACTIVITY
For the rest of the lesson, we were divided into groups and assigned the task of coming up with a debate based on different statements. I was put into group 1 where we had to argue for the statement: We are one regardless of gender, culture, ethnicity or social background. We were each to argue for our own point against the other group. We couldn't just think of how to get points across but also how to counter the argument proposed by the. This debate would be held next week and so we had that lesson and one week to plan out our debate.
Week 5
This week's entire lesson was dedicated to debating our argument. We were the first group so we were up first to start the debate. We were debating with group two who was against our statement. I was the second person to speak for my group and I talked about basic human needs and their shared experience. I think I felt super nervous about the debate because I'm not good at public speeches. Fortunately, I did have some help in preparing my speech and I manage to go through it unscarved. Overall I think that our debate went well but in the end, the other group won. Below was our debate plan.
After that, I listen to the other groups debate their topics. Overall it was interesting to see how other groups argued and the points they made.
Week 6
For this lesson, after recapping the concept of universality, she introduces the idea of universal design. This concept had been brought up in other groups' debates. But universal design allows access to people with a wide range of abilities, disabilities, and other characteristics. It has become more mainstream as many products are designed so that the majority of people can use them. The principle of universal design is to design things that are usable by everyone, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.
Afterwards, she went through the concept of behavioural design. Basically, it questions what behaviours we would like to change when we design something. It questions the reason behind people's actions and how design influences them. There are 5 different patterns of behaviour. They are:
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Archetype: Universal patterns that represent the ideology of people’s common viewpoint
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Affordance: Physical clues of an object that influence desired action
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Anthropomorphism: Preference for human characteristics or behaviour to non-human entities
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Biophilia effect: State of reduced stress and improved concentration resulting from nature views
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Storyteller: Using storytelling to engage the audience, evoke emotion and enhance learning
The next concept that was gone through is ethical design. This basically boils down to one question: "I can but should I?" Ethical design is all about defining & designing the “goodness” factor within a product design that aims to benefit the individual user, their ecosystem, & society as a whole. It is about right and wrong and making the correct moral decision. Design now has been progressing towards making those correct moral decisions. Then what is the difference between ethics and morals? They are both used to determine the right and wrong decisions. But ethics are the values determined by society while morals are the personal values that people hold. They may overlap in some areas but it is ultimately going to differ from person to person. I think there are many ways to consider whether something is ethical in our modern age. It boils down to 7 different concepts: usability, accessibility, privacy, transportation & persuasion, focus & time, sustainability, and society.
GROUP ACTIVITY
After going through this, she got us to break out into our teams from the debate. We were given a prompt in which we had to make a poster about the ethical dilemma that our situation proposes. The situation we got is this:
Group 1
Object: Plastic bags
Scenario: A sports brand has collaborated with a recycling firm to create sneakers out of recycled PET bottles, collaborating with local artisans on the design. The final design does not pass carbon emission tests, but the brand goes ahead to brand the product as 'sustainable'. The artisans, however, receive unprecedented monetary support and recognition.
I think for our group we decided to put tie this statement to sea creatures being endangered by plastic bags. More specifically we decided to focus on sea turtles.
Week 7
This week's lesson was online and meant to introduce us to our assignment which is a 1000-word critical reflection on our studio project. We have to your view of contemporary society, the relationship of Design/Designer with this contemporary society, and reflection on your experiences in designing and your own philosophy of design.
What is critical reflection? It is the process of identifying, questioning, and reasoning one’s own experiences, actions and beliefs to gain insights and self-awareness. When you reflect critically, you evaluate your existing knowledge, assumptions, and biases. It is an evaluation, not a summary or emotional outlet. In order to write this, I need to evaluate what are your general assumptions and value and see how that has affected your design. And how it affects in terms of sustainability.
In order to help us with this essay, we were introduced to Gibb's Reflective Cycle which is a 6 steps model to help identify your strengths, areas of development and actions to take to improve. The 6 steps are Description, Feeling, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion, and Action Plan. For the first 3 steps, it is not necessary to write it down in the essay as we have limited words.
Week 9
This week we discuss how design is not just done on the individual level but can bring about social change.
"We define social innovations as new ideas (products, services and models) that simultaneously meet social needs and create new social relationships or collaborations. In other words, they are innovations that are both good for society and enhance society’s capacity to act"
Social Design: looking at societal issues that need urgent attention
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Design for Social Innovation: an activity that seeks to involve and empower society towards a sustainable solution
Only by understanding others can we design things that can bring about social change. It is a process that requires dialogue and communication, and a true and deeper care and understanding of the issue.
We were given an example of sustainable design by incorporating indigenous design. They have traditional societies that sustained the balance of their lifecycle and ensured their survival. These indigenous designs by traditional societies can be called the real pioneers of sustainable development from the perspective of the natural and built environment. An example given was DSEA Potato Head which features furniture and amenities made from recycled plastics and planet-friendly materials conceptualised by celebrated British designers Max Lamb and Faye Toogood, whose work is brought to life by Balinese artisans using indigenous materials and techniques as well as Potato Head’s own Sustainism Lab, an R&D team dedicated to finding circular solutions.
From this, we can see how design has all the potential to play a major role in triggering and supporting social change and therefore as we grow to become designers, what is most important is not so much a specific set of skills and methods as a new culture, a new way of looking at the world and at what design can do with and for people living in it. Even though we come from different fields of design, what is most important is our skills to think critically and to serve as mediators and communicators. We were also introduced to 4 different Design Models: Design as Placemakers, Design as Activism, Design as Making, and Co-design for Social Conversation.
Finally, we were given our final assignment for this course. We were to create a presentation on how we can redesign our current classroom to fit in with our more modern views of how education should be done. We had to form groups and each present our views on what we think education should be like. We discuss the function of the space as well as the relationship between the students, and teachers with the space. We needed to find out what values we found important for this place and how our design could change the area to fit that. We were to present our ideas next week.
Week 10
For our final physical session, we first had our presentation on how we would like to redesign the education space in our classroom. I think the presentation went well and we were able to present the points we wanted across. There was a lot of similar ideas among our classmates and it showed how we had similar ideas on how education should be.
Week 12
We had a short 30-minute online lesson to go through what critical thinking is. Critical design seeks to engage with the user through the designed object by materialising the issues in objects and the experiences the user encounter.
What is Critical Design?
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Relationship of user and designer goes beyond its commercial gain
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Designer engages in form of critique and argument
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Methods of critical design could evaluate the process of making and production, create scenario building and storytelling.
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Aim of critical design practice is to present and define interrogative, discursive and experimentation approaches in design practice and research.
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Aim of critical design practice is to afford meaningful and questioning engagement with objects and services by challenging ubiquitous interaction with product and services.
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The function of critical design is both social and political in which users are active participants and seek to empower the publics, questioning technology and challenging expectation of use.
Additionally, she also went through the importance of documentation with us. Documentation can come in many forms from visuals to text to audio. They serve to provide us with inspiration for our project, a progress check on where we are and allows us to reflect on ourselves. Documentation allows you to identify issues, inconsistencies, and troubleshoot, and allows for comparison and trial and error. This would be useful to us as we finish up writing our essay for submission. The rest of the lesson from week 11 to 15 was given for consultation for our essay.