Assignment 1 explores material-based design processes. We take a point of departure in the fiber-based materials provided in class. Textile, or cloth, is sometimes referred to as our 'second skin', suggesting a quite intimate relationship. We are as humans throughout life involved with textiles on different levels and in various scales – from the very first piece of cloth we are wrapped in as newborns to textile construction at an architectural scale. For about the first million years of human history, there were only about five materials, but today there are countless possible material combinations. While starting with materials might seem unconventional for industrial design, Ezio Manzini (Materials of Invention, London, Design Council, 1989) argues that inventing materials, marterial properties, qualities and applications is a key task of design.
For this assignment, students inquire into the material and explore how its material properties and qualities can be designed and experienced. In particular, students explore the materials in the design of experiences of "care", with attention to human/material relationships as well as social interactions. Beyond the material itself, they are encouraged to think critically and to elaborate on the complexity of the idea of "care".
The assignment lasts Oct 16-25. There are 2 tasks in the assignment, one focused on process and the other on a material design proposal. There is also a filed trip to Innventia, tutorials and a show-&-tell. The reading circle for the assignment discusses these texts:
- Edvardsson, D. (2009) Balancing between being a person and being a patient, International Journal of Nursing Studies 46, pp. 4-11.
- Avila, M. (2012) Devices: On hospitality and hostility in design. PhD dissertation, HDK Gothenburg University, pp. 81-92 (full text at www.martinavila.com).
Assignment 2 is a continuation of Assignment 1, taking inspiration by ‘commercial’ processes from business and innovation studies. The consultancy McKinsey proposes the 3 C’s – Customer, Competitor and Company. Students consider and to communicate the value(s) of their proposal in relation to potential customers/users, competitors, public/private organizations.
In the process, students may think outside the box – beyond assumptions of current markets, cost structures, as Hamel and Prahalad argue in the assigned reading. In the class lecture, Clive van Heerden and Jack Mama spoke about how design imagination, visualization and provocation can also create new markets and value(s). A variety of strategic design tools have been developed for identifying and communicating potential product value(s).
This is a short assignment lasting Oct 28-31. There are two tasks in the assignment, one focused on process and the strategic tools, the other focused on further developing Assignment 1 as a product or value proposition. The reading circle discusses these:
- Hamel, G. and Prahalad, C.K. (1991) Corporate Imagination and Expeditionary Marketing, Harvard Business Review, excerpts pp. 3-6.
- Selection of strategic design tools: ‘futures wheel’ from Glenn, J. and Gordon, T. (2003) Futures Research Methodology 2.0. Washington, DC: AC/UNU Millennium; ‘positioning maps’ from IIT Institute of Design ID514 Design Planning, Keeley, L. Framework Pack, Fall 2010; ‘differential tool’ and ‘social/ environmental assessment’, from Tukker, T. and Tischner, U. (2006) New Business for Old Europe, Sheffield, UK: Greenleaf.
Links to student design processes and proposals
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Fanny Carlsson "What if a textile material could control the climate inside through breathing/ventilating?" more... |
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Ela Celary "Fabric takes care of our skin... How does it look like, skin for objects?" more... |
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Nelson Hardie "What if 'activating' the textile, it would harden to supporting the safely of a person?" more... |
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Tove Johnson "How to bring the nature/relationship to nurture inside and be positively affected by the colored material?" more... |
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Jenny Markstedt "Depending on what you protect and where this takes place, the word protection has different meanings." more... |
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Lorenzo Polo "To NOT CARE: How a negative like stress could leads to something positive?" more... |
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Anna Clara Rendahl "What if we could capture and materialize moments of care?" more... |
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Maren Skyrudsmoen "With these structures, there is new possibilities when it comes to flexibility and movement... what if a blanket for patients?"
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Frida Åberg "What if data is wirelessly connected to the hospital’s medical equipment and today’s patient garment are comfortable clothes?" more... |
