How To Create Ideas…

BY ZIXU TIAN

When you sit down, stare at such a big world and wonder why you can not find a single idea to design (every designer has this kind of experience). They will not born from empty or fly into your mind like Cupid’s arrow. So by summarizing how the good ideas are created, maybe we can find there are some methods of creating inspirations, and ideas will be made just like the products in streamlines.

First, find a traditional art or tech, explore and develop it. If you can go deeper and further beyond anyone before you, you create something remarkable. This is a very traditional way but still used widely. Just like the rings of seven deadly sins designed by Stephen Webster.

Seven Deadly Sins ring collection by Steven Webster

Secondly, problem and solution. This is maybe the most popular way now. Too many problems in our life, just find one and find a way to improve it, you got an idea. Of course, what problem you find and how you solve it will decide the quality of your work. For example, this solar house designed by the Institute of Advanced Architecture for Catalonia (IAAC) focuses on the energy crisis problem and offers a possible solution.

http://inhabitat.com/barcelonas-solar-house-2-0-pavilion-built-with-modular-photovoltaic-panel-roof/

Thirdly, invite concepts from other field into design. Take ergonomics design for example, ergonomics is a concept of anatomy, and when it is invented into design, there are great changes. The storey height is readjusted, the shape of the back of chair is bent into the shape of human spine and the word size and color of presswork is changed to fit human visual system. Another example is the Without Thought Design or Subconscious Design. It invited a concept of psychology into design, we can find it in Naoto Fukasawa’s work.

http://site.douban.com/106782/widget/photos/190564/

You can see this is maybe the easiest umbrella shelf, the idea is from when there is floor tile on the ground, we like to lean the umbrella in this way, so he carves a 5 mm deep groove on the floor.

This is kind of my favorite design, it makes me think how many things in our life is unnecessary – too much.

So, what is your method of creating ideas?

Aesthetically Pleasing

BY DAN BANASIK

What makes something aesthetically pleasing? Whether architecture, products, graphics, animation, games, everything has aesthetic qualities. The challenge for the designer is that everyone perceives aesthetics differently. Sometimes it comes down to personal taste. What may appeal to some may not appeal to the masses. Distinguished industrial designer Raymond Loewy introduced the principle of Most Advanced Yet Acceptable (MAYA) to identify the sweet spot or aesthetic appeal between familiarity and uniqueness or what we refer to, respectively, as typicality and novelty today (Lidwell et al, 2010). Finding that balance can lead to great success, but is easier said than done.

Radio of the 1920’s. Retrieved from http://timerime.com/en/event/153239/The+Radio/

Raymond Loewy RCA Radio 1933. Retrieved from http://www.oobject.com/category/12-classic-raymond-loewy-designs/

According to Terry Stone, “each and every one of us goes through cultural training—intentional or unintentional—that forms our ideas of what is aesthetically pleasing” (Stone, 2012). A learned response that triggers emotions, feelings and all our senses – taste, smell, vision, hearing and touch. We all experience positive and negative relationships with products and environments on a daily basis. Sometimes we have choices and other times the choice is made for us. Take for example the reviled cable box. How frustrating is it to purchase a beautifully designed HDTV and then have to deal with an ugly cable box and accompanying remote? You don’t get a choice. Why doesn’t the TV manufacturer produce matching cable boxes or integrate them right into the TV itself? With such advanced technology available, it seems so simple.

Most of us find pleasure in making our own choices when it comes to personal purchases. Aesthetics play a large role in our decision process. But what about our design contributions? Are we aware of customer wants and desires or are we designing around personal preference? Nike introduced customization a few years back. This approach virtually eliminates the designer input and puts the customer in control. Is this where we are headed? Does this minimize the market value of design? I should hope not. When I designed woodworking tools, function and familiarity outweighed novelty in most cases. In that industry, the core demographic (males 55 and older) heavily influenced product acceptance. Ironically, the most successful product in the history of the company (to date) appeared to be more novel than functional until field-tested by the skeptics. The sweet spot had been found. Check out Rockler’s Bench Cookie Plus. Not only does this product hold your project steady while routing, sawing or sanding without the use of clamps, it meets or exceeds the definition of good value – aesthetically pleasing, high function, excellent build quality and the right price. This combination directly affects the bottom line.

We as designers have an obligation to create positive relationships between customer and product. So how would you classify your own designs? Are they familiar? Novel? Or have you discovered that MAYA sweet spot?

Bibliography

Lidwell, W., Holden, K., Butler, J., (2010). Universal principles of design, revised and updated. Rockport Publishers.

Stone, T.L. (2012, September 20). Evaluate aesthetic strategies. How. Retrieved from http://www.howdesign.com/parse/evaluating-aesthetic-strategies/

IMMINENT FATE OF VISION

In the imminent future, with advanced scientific knowledge and technological development there will be a great evolution in the human phenomenology. We humans use our senses that provide data to perceive things and the most vital one is our visual sense. We use our vision to experience and perceive the reality and existence of objects in a medium called space.

Space is a medium in which we observe an object based on its dimensions height, width, depth and we take time into consideration when the object is moving. Every object we perceive has two dimensions (height, width) unless we see it from an angle this is when the third dimensions (depth) comes into existence. At present human eye is capable of perceiving objects in only in three dimensions of space.

According to String and M-theory proposed by modern theoretical physicist an object exists in ten/eleven dimensions of space. Atom is the tiniest visible particle in the nature that makes up a matter. Atom consists of electrons, protons and neutrons. String theory states that the there exists an even tiniest particle inside atom with in electrons, protons and neutrons which looks like a string. This sting is in a constant vibrating motion. Due to its vibrating motion the visual existence of the object could not be explained using the three dimensions of space. This is where the ten/eleven dimensions come into the picture. It’s hard to visualize these dimensions because they are overlapping inside our bigger dimensions. The below image on the left is an assumed example of that. Consider the yellow grid as our bigger dimensions and the overlapping strings revolving are our extra dimensions. At present our brain and eyes are incapable of processing these dimensions. The image on the right is example of an object in five different dimensions of space.

       

At present our brain and eyes are incapable of perceiving these dimensions. We can only process the bigger dimensions. I believe over a period of time with the help scientific and technological development we can process our brains to perceive these extra dimensions. The best example would be the movie “Lucy” where the main character with the help of a drug is able to have phenomenological experience beyond human brain processing power. Once we attain that state, our experience of looking at objects will change because we are able to look in-depth of an object. It will have a lot of impact on design, designers and consumers. It will be a great help in sustainability because consumer can have a in-depth vision and knowledge of their products, so that they hold onto it for a longer time. Designers will have better opportunities to design, promote and advertise their product. The visual experience of movies and games will change.

Reference

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/phenomenology/
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/intriguing-science-art-from-the-university-of-wisconsin-26859088/
http://www.nature.com/news/theoretical-physics-the-origins-of-space-and-time-1.13613
http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/what-are-3d-shapes-definition-examples-quiz.html#lesson
http://www.superstringtheory.com/experm/exper5.html
https://www.iusb.edu/currents/a-unified-theory-of-everything/
http://www.particlecentral.com/strings_page.html
http://patternizer.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/how-many-dimensions-is-your-world/

Future of Game Design

BY HUE VANG

From the academic facilities privileged enough to house massive computing technology in the 1940s, digital games emerged solely as a research tool and quickly captured the imaginations of designers, entering the mainstream media today as a billion dollar industry. From the inception of digital checkers to the multi-million dollar projects today, digital games have evolved from vector lines to the realm of virtual reality, embedding itself into our culture, one pixel at a time. From our television, to smart phones, tablets and the internet, digital games have invaded our electronic space, expanding it’s territory into other domains, such as the military, medicine and science. Whether technologically or artistically, the fascination we have with experiencing altered realities have pushed the boundaries of creativity towards a more interactive, visually stunning, social experience. But where is the industry headed? Is it even just to call the digital game world an ‘industry’ when the discipline has been democratized. With that level of accessibility, the future of digital gaming may have just merged onto an evolutionary fast lane.

In the future, console gaming may not survive; in fact, the current 8^th generation of consoles may not live to see a 9^th. If they do, it will be in a rebooted form, foreign to what we’ve see in the past, such as a powerful tablet to rival mobile and online gaming, as games may become non-exclusive to a particular platform.

Screenshot from presentation created using GameSalad

Having contacted Dr. Andrew Williams, professor of History of Interactive Media and Dr. Brent Dingle, professor of Game Design, both instructors here at UW Stout believe that virtual reality is lingering on our doorstep. Are we ready to answer the doorbell when it rings? I believe we’re hungry to see something new and innovative so our doors are already open. But with the excitement that VR brings, also invited are the ethics of this untamed technology. Here’s an interesting paper by Kurt Reymers on the ethics of virtual reality, concerning the Virtual Chicken and the Chicken Wars.

Another question is whether or not digital games will one day be considered a legitimate form of art. As Dr. Williams pointed out, Art is always changing so in time, there will be a genre for artistic games, but as a whole, maybe not, for digital games (and Art) are primarily commercial products made for financial or mental consumption.

Gamification is going to play a large role in the future of communication. Gamification uses game design in other domains to enhance the experience of the user, much like how I have used a game as a platform for my presentation during class. VR training in the realms of science, sports, military and medicine will be popular if the VR genre is done correctly. So here we see the idea of game design come a full circle, being initially created by scientists for human-AI interaction to now being channeled back to the lab for breakthroughs in their respective domain.

The amount of money needed to make AAA digital games are increasingly high and will only increase in the future. The recently released first-person-shooter, Destiny, took $500,000,000 to produce and market. This staggering number is a primary reason why original intellectual property (IP) is so rare today because companies are afraid of the potential risk in being original. We see sequels, prequels and reboots galore, as they already have an audience to promise revenue, but at the cost of artistic expression. Creatively driven games are seen more in indie games as they do not have the monetary burden to hold them back, though consequently, they don’t have the monetary advantage to market their product. But as indie developers increase, we will inevitably see in increase in original ideas.

So here then is the greatest issue for game design in the future: creativity. William Wright, creator of The Sims, states in this video interview, we’ve had an arms race to achieve the best visuals, but have been lacking in innovating new gameplay experiences. As Dr. Dingle greatly asserts, “technology does not drive games, imagination does.”

I believe digital games should look beyond the sense of visual/audio and focus on the sense of touch, taste and smell, which will reinforce a different way of storytelling. Of course, something this immersive will raise ethical issues but it’s time we experience new ideas beyond the explosions, guns, and elves. There’s nothing wrong with those ideas as we all do enjoy a good beat-em-up game from time to time, but time-to-time does not mean every time. As games have gone a full circle, being born from academia and now returning to education, science, etc in the form of gamification, we must too return to our source of innovation that made digital games so enjoyable: the imagination.

Screenshot from presentation created using GameSalad

 

The End of Mass Production

BY TIAN ZIXU

When I manufactured my graduate design,I bought a little CNC which cost about 400 dollars,and with it, I carved every piece of wood, plastic and metal at home. It took me about only one month to learn the software and how to control the CNC. If we combine with 3-d printer and even neno technology with the control skills are simplified and equipments are small and cheap enough for every family, the technology of making things might be popularized which means a real thing like a chair or a hamburger can be built by everyone and sent by e-mail. If you can download or build a 3d-model of chair by yourself and make it and home easily, why you drive to a shop to by a real one.

Left is present system,the red means designer’s idea, blue means what marketer likes and green means what customer need; purple means designer got an idea, marketer like it and produce it out but customers don’t buy it because they don’t like it; those products is called unmarketable product, I mark it as failed, its the night mare of producer and a waste of resource; yellow part means designer have an idea and costumers like it, but for some reason producer doesn’t like it or doesn’t think the costumer may like it, so the producer refuse to produce it, so we called the yellow part a pity and only the white part is perfect.

Now we look at future, costumer doesn’t need to by a real product, they just need to buy a project online and “print” them out at home-the user is the producer.

Now, for example, marketer want to produce 1000 pieces of product and ask designer to design them, red part means designers create 100 ideas and only the purple and white part (about 30)are adapted by producer and put into mass production, and each idea will produce about 33 pieces, as a result 30 out of 100 ideas created by designers can be make out, and 70 percent of the ideas don’t even have a chance to be realized, and some of them might be very good ideas.  in the future, the designer only need to post their idea like a picture or a 3d-model with corresponding manufacture procedure on internet. the costumer can view them when searching online, choose what they like, purchase and download it and then they can make it by themselves. so, almost all the 100 ideas created by designers have an opportunity to be realized, so designers will have more freedom. For the costumers, nowadays, they have only 30 choices which is adapted by the marketer, but in the future, they will have all more choices which is created by designers.

In the future the marketer will still play the role of mid-agency between designer and costumer, they will offer the platform for designers and regulate the market, make everything in rule. Now, we can see, in the 30 ideas that marketer adapted from designers, some of them success, some of them failed, and the purple part is really a big waste and also a big risk for marketers, especially in the period of mass production, because once they decide to produce something, they will produce thousands pieces. But the relationship between demand and supply keeps changing every minute, very often when a product is made out, the producer finds that the demand has already gone. that is a big problem, because the purchase happens after the manufacture. While in the future, the users buy an idea and produce by themselves, the purchase happens before the manufacture, which means the purple part can be eliminated and the marketer will take much less risk.

Besides, since the costumer is exactly the producer, the yellow part can be eliminated too. Other thing like the transportation expenses will drop down. and if you get tired of one product, you can melt it and use as raw material again. the space in real world is very limited but unlimited in virtual space. all together, it makes this future system more competitive and it will take place of this present system as main stream, but as I said, more competitive doesn’t means better. Try to think a junior download a 3d-model and build a gun at home alone.

Design Futuring – Graphic Design + the Printing Press

BY SARA BRUNNER

Design futuring, what does the future look like? It’s a bit like getting your cards read, we can believe what is in the cards or the future could be completely different from that. As we all know, visualizing the future requires an understanding of the past and acknowledging how we have arrived at the present. Which will, in turn, give us clues as to what lies ahead of us. My design discipline is graphic design. Looking at the history of my discipline is not exactly clear-cut because of its overlap with advertising art and fine art, but what I am certain of is that graphic design is a child of visual communication, which uses art to convey specific ideas and messages.

What does this mean for the future of print? I predict the printing industry continues to be a billion dollar industry, well into our future. I believe that people will continue to long to “unplug” when they are away from work, and one of the best ways to do that is to enjoy a printed book or magazine.

I see printing continuing to have the ability to print on a vast spectrum of materials. Presently, if it lies flat and fit through a press, it can be printed on, metal, wood, textiles and more. I see a future in being able to print on already produced dimensional materials, with the use of lasers to map out curves and angles.

With the environment in mind more press companies will become FSC certified, which provides a product from a well-managed forests, controlled sources and recycled wood or fiber. Consumers will increase their demand or responsibly created goods.

­

So what does this mean for the future of graphic design. Design will continue to grow, there are always new ways to apply our skills and the printing industry and their advancements will make that an exciting venture. I’m already reaping the benefits of the print industry, being able to print on different substraits has made the creativity of my discipline skyrocket. In regards to what we do as designers I believe we will be asked to dive into other areas of specialties so we can do more with less. I have already seen this happening with the recent issues with the economy and I see this as a continuing trend. We all know life is cyclical and what goes around comes around. We are seeing a huge recusrgnece of hand made products and signs, letterpress and screenprinting are a huge deal as well. So, the very human ways of creating things are still in demand and to me its because we get tired of always being plugged in, that not how we were meant to spend our lives.

First Things First Manifesto
One big change I see around the corner is creatives demanding that consumerism take a back seat to design and production. I can see it in the way the most recent First Things First Manifesto was written.

FUN CONNECTIONS
Objectified
A feature-length documentary film examining the role of everyday non-living objects, and the people who design them, in our daily lives. The film is directed by Gary Hustwit.
http://www.hustwit.com/category/objectified/

Cave of Forgotten Dreams
2010 3D documentary film by Werner Herzog about the Chauvet Cave in southern France that contains the oldest human-painted images yet discovered.
http://www.ifcfilms.com/films/cave-of-forgotten-dreams

BBC Four
Stephen Fry on the Gutenberg Press
Stephen Fry examines the story behind the first media entrepreneur, printing press inventor Johann Gutenberg, to find out why he did it and how, a story which involves both historical enquiry and hands-on craft and technology.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009wynj

REFERENCES

Meggs, P. (1983). The computer-graphics revolution. In A history of graphic design (2nd ed.,). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Major: Visual Communication. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.princetonreview.com/Majors.aspx?cip=500401

The Cave Art Paintings of Lascaux Cave. Retrieved from http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/lascaux/

The Awesomeness of Print. Retrieved http://www.ivygroup.com/blog/2013/02/07/the-awesomeness-of-print

Moveable-type printing press. http://www.activeboomeradventures.com/2012/11/17/mosel-and-rhine-river-cruise/

printisbig.com/

First Things First Manifesto 2014. http://firstthingsfirst2014.org/

Design Futuring – Industrial Design

BY DAN BANASIK

The future of Industrial Design will be exciting. At present, the consumer is more aware than ever before of how design influences and will continue to influence their lives. Listed are some of my thoughts, predictions and ideas for where Industrial Design is headed.

• The Industrial Designer will continue to bridge the gap into the engineer role. This will be more prevalent in company in-house design departments. Software development has made this possible allowing companies to have lean design teams.
• The quality of products offered will continue to increase.
• Interactive and user experience innovations will become more common in the design process.
• Emotional and lifestyle connection to products will continue to increase.
• 3D printing will continue to evolve. Currently, it’s great for prototyping and one off needs. Digital direct manufacturing will become common place for certain industries.
• Branding and brand promise will be very important in the future. Apple is the current poster child for delivering quality and experience to meet the brand promise and in turn creating brand loyalty.
• Customized production will increase allowing unique, personally designed products for the general public. Nike has been doing this for a number of years.
• Design teams utilizing user collaboration will increase.
• Additional crowd sourced product development companies like Quirky (https://www.quirky.com/shop#) will emerge. This has become the new method for inventors to get their ideas to market.
• There will be a continued attention and effort given to environmental impact – use of recycled materials and sustainable resources.
• The use of Planned Obsolescence will continue to increase. Designers will need to be conscious of their design contributions. Currently, personal electronic devices (PED’s) are an issue. Beware of Planned Obsolescence disguised as innovation.

Previous futuring predictions talked about personal flying machines replacing cars by the beginning of this century. We are not quite there yet. Maybe we will see this happen in our lifetime.

Flying car. Retrieved from http://cdn4.list25.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/futuristic.png

In the meantime, the current focus seems to be on smart phone apps and pushing smart phone capabilities. Anyone for cookies?

Smart phone mixer. Retrieved from http://itechfuture.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/HavingFunPRAXconceptsbyVilTsimenzin2.jpg

Bibliography

Brown, R. (2012, February 12). 3D Printing and the Future of Product Design Inside Quirky. Retrieved from http://www.cnet.com/news/3d-printing-and-the-future-of-product-design-inside-quirky/

Planned Obsolescence. (2014). Retrieved November 3, 2014 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence

Ethics & Design: Ebola Quarantine Case Study

Ethics suggest action, hence our recent posts for Make-a-Difference Day. To wrap up this segment of our curriculum in a meaningful way, we invited Nancy Berlinger, PhD, medical ethicist at The Hastings Center to join us in parsing the ethics of recent actions and proposals regarding Ebola quarantines.

Students prepared by researching a range of case studies – shelters, refugee camps, detention centers and prisons; Dr. Berlinger provided the healthcare context. By understanding the success and failures of one system, can we improve and apply ethical design to another system?

As we discussed the various infrastructure problems related to Ebola preparedness and treatment here and abroad, an idea emerged. Runways in developing nations often can’t handle deliveries of military aid. Physical interactions require care and knowledge. Might this be the highest and best scenario for the deployment of drones? Rather than targeted attacks, spying, real estate photography or Amazon Prime Air deliveries…

Searching “drones ebola” shows a few others making similar proposals in recent months, including this post from Popular Science. But the search results are a smattering, and not much from major news outlets. We’ve looked to Solutions Journalism to guide our writing and to inspire our potential for impact; let’s hope we’re now a small but meaningful part in a future story about design thinking, design empathy and design ethics.

Are we armchair ethicists, or can we be part of this action?

Better Buses

BY SUNDEEP BARTHEPUDI

IN RESPONSE TO MAKE-A-DIFFERENCE DAY

Findings:

Nationwide, each year, there are approximately 450,000 school buses transporting nearly 24 million children, more than 4 billion miles. A vast majority school buses are powered by diesel fuel.

According to Americans school bus council on average fuel use per school bus per year 1,714 gallons. Average total fuel used by school buses per year 822,857,143 gallons. Average Cost of diesel fuel per bus per year 6.634 dollars. Average Total cost of diesel fuel for all buses per year 3,184,457,143 dollars.

School buses are one of the safest forms of transportation in the United States. Yet, on average, every year, six school age children (throughout the U.S.) die in school bus crashes as passengers. We have seat belts in passenger cars. Why don’t we have them on school buses?

More than half of today’s school buses have been in service for over a decade. These older buses lack today’s pollution control and safety features, and emit nearly twice as much pollution per mile as a semi-truck

On an average a individual student spends half-hour ride to school and a half-hour ride home which amounts to 180 hours per school year. Annually students spend 3 billion hours on school buses.

Diesel exhaust is classified as a probable human carcinogen by many governmental authorities.

The California South Coast Air Quality Management District recently estimated that nearly 71% of the cancer risk from air pollutants in the area is associated with diesel emissions. Diesel exhaust includes benzene, 1,3-butadiene, and soot, all classified as known human carcinogens.

Exposure to these particulates has been associated with: increased symptoms for asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia.

Recommendations:

All the older vehicles should be put on a rigorous emission test and should be continued every three months. All the vehicles which fail the emission test should be replaced or rebuild low emission vehicles. We should be considering alternative fuel resources to diesel.

We requires to design and install air filtration equipment capable of removing vehicle exhaust from air entering bus passenger cabins.

I know that school buses are build with a concept of compartmentalization which is effective in case of accident but adding a seat belt would be a addition to the safety of children. We can adopt seat belt system from aeroplanes to apply. Below is an example of seating belt arrangement that can applied to the current seating system in school buses.

To reduce the cost of gas we should use buses with maximum no of seating capacity. Use older buses for trips closer trips and newer buses for longer trips. The journey time of students or usage of the school buses cannot be minimized, but could be made interesting and less stress free by providing comfortable seating and entertainment in the buses for children.

The picture below is a high end bus from Mercedes with latest technology engine, comfortable seating and audio and video system for entertainment, which I believe could be a better fit for buses that go on a longer trips.

Packaging That Prompts Re-Use

BY TIAN ZIXU

IN RESPONSE TO MAKE-A-DIFFERENCE DAY

There are a lot of shoe boxes in the shop, and most of them are thrown away after using. However, the material and size of the shoe box give it a lot of possibilities of reusing. This link and the image below shows one of them. As seen in the sketch, I propose the fold line be perforated on the shoe box in advance, so the customers will be reminded of reusing it.

Furthermore, if a user changes a shoe box into a storage box by his own hand, he will consider whether there is any other thing in his life to reuse.

Below is one of the solutions Design for the Other 90%, which is to help people from dry area to transport water. I have talked to one local people from west China where is lack of water. He knew it because it was distributed by government, and he told me after several months they all alter back to traditional way for many reasons.

Maybe we should reflect our attitude toward those 90% people – we are not savior, and we should not belief we are smarter than them just because we have got more education or more professional knowledge; we shouldn’t just come and say “hi, just let me teach you how to live better.”

One thing that local guy told me gave me a deep impression, he said “Almost all the government assistant is a waste of money, it would be better if the money was given to the local people directly”.