Part 4.docx

Themes of thinking Designers often have to face the challenge of fitting large quantities of information into formats with limited space. Several tenets can be used to inform the design process and help overcome this challenge. KISS Keep It Short and Simple, or Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) is a m...

Themes of thinking Designers often have to face the challenge of fitting large quantities of information into formats with limited space. Several tenets can be used to inform the design process and help overcome this challenge. KISS Keep It Short and Simple, or Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) is a modern acronym but it employs the same tenets as Ockham's razor, which has been around for several hundred years. The idea is to pare back a design to its essential elements, something that requires a clear understanding of the message that has to be communicated and the audience it is to be directed towards. Focus Select only the key message elements as the focus for the design. A company may have many products or projects but the design should focus on the most important ones. Information about other aspects of the company can be provided via other communications such as printed materials, brochures or the web page. Top down and bottom up An analytical approach appropriated from information technology development, this looks at a design problem from the system perspective and then 'drills' down to add detail in specific areas (top down), or focuses on the basic elements first and works upwards to link these together as part of a system (bottom up). Ockham's razor Ockham's razor is a principle attributed to the fourteenth-century English logician and Franciscan friar, William of Ockham, and it forms the basis of methodological reductionism. The principle states that elements that are not really needed should be pared back to produce something simpler and in doing so, the risk of introducing inconsistencies, ambiguities and redundancies will be reduced. Ockham's razor is also referred to as the principle of parsimony or law of economy. Design Thinking Idea generation Themesof thinking Python philosophy Derived from ideas presented by Tim Peters in The Zen of Python, these tenets include: beautiful is better than ugly; simple is better than complex; sparse is better than dense; readability counts; practicality beats purity; and refuse the temptation to guess. White space Some believe that white space allows key design elements to breathe and be easily seen. It also helps the viewer to focus attention on them, giving them greater impact. Text minimisation This tenet suggests that text should be kept to a minimum, with sentences pared back to short, sharp phrases that have a meaningful impact. Graphic impact According to many designers, graphics should create a visual impact that grabs the attention and reinforces text communication. However, graphics that go overboard and are too large, complicated or numerous are distracting. Scale Designers need to think about scale, an easily forgotten aspect when designing on screen. Design proofing needs to include an actual scale proof for small- or large-scale items such as stamps or posters to ensure that text and graphics are of sufficient scale to be comfortably read. User-centred design (UCD) User-centred design (UCD) places the needs, desires and limitations of the user at the centre of every stage of the design process and requires designers to foresee how they are likely to use the resulting product. Ergonomics Ergonomics is the practice of designing in accordance with physical human needs, to optimise performance and minimise discomfort. Ergonomics focuses on safety, efficiency, productivity and health in work settings to ensure that products, services and environments are compatible with the human form. and finally\... TIMTOWTDI (pronounced Tim Toady) This means simply that 'there is more than one way to do it' and follows the belief that a problem may have several different, but equally valid, solutions. Design Thinking Idea generation DesignThinkingThemesof thinking Stepping Out Into a World Beyond Landscapes by LucyJones This book reproduces details of Lucy Jones's work at one hundred per cent scale. Using enlarged scale enables the reader to see the brush detail and paint texture, something that is usually lost in the print reproduction of painted works. When paintings are reproduced at a small scale, they tend to lose their detail and look artificial. This presentation allows the quality of the works to be preserved and conveyed. Client: Stepping Out Intoa World Beyond Landscapes by Lucy Jones Design: Webb & Webb Design thinking: Simple use of detail enlargement emphasises quality 58 59 Inspiration and references Inspiration and references Inspiration is essential in any creative activity and design is no exception. Inspiration is key to the generation of exciting design ideas and design professionals draw inspiration from innumerable sources. Creative people draw inspiration from both obvious and unexpected sources, such as magazines, music, literature and the urban environment. The work of other people in the field, past and contemporary, provides creative stimulation, which is one of the reasons why this series of design books contains so many examples of work by contemporary designers. Designers can cross-reference elements of contemporary life with those of bygone days, and delve back into the rich tradition of art and design history for visual stimulation. Many designers and design studios formalise the inspiration process to a certain extent though the use of an ideas book. An ideas book is a collection of cuttings, photos, sketches, colour swatches, typographic examples, scribbled ideas, words and found objects that are accumulated to inspire. An ideas book may be a general collection that is continuously added to or it may be made as part of the preparation for a specific project. Designers often create characters that are a mental image of the typical target audience for a design, exemplifying their characteristics, lifestyle, aspirations and consumption habits. Resolve To decide, bring to a conclusion or end. A design idea is resolved when it is worked up into a final form. Resonate To be received or understood, to come across well. A design resonates when the viewer understands and appreciates the various aspects of the messagecommunicated. Design Thinking Idea generation Galvin Bistrot de Luxe secnereferdna noitaripsnI gniknihT s gi n D e These pieces were created by SocialUK for a brand identity for London bistro, Galvin. They are intended to complement the interior design and menu of the bistro. The pieces reference the art nouveau style from the turn of the twentieth century, transporting the diner to a bygone age of service and luxury. The pieces were prototyped so the client could appreciate how they would appear at actual scale and in situ. 60 61 Client: Galvin Bistrot de Luxe Design: Social Design Design thinking: Art nouveau- inspired brand identity Inspiration and references Reference points to inspire design come in many forms due to the wealth of cultural information that surrounds us. The latest trends and styles are easily observable on the street, in films, on TV, in magazines and in the shops. Designers also seek inspiration from other creative disciplines such as painting, sculpture, music, architecture, photography and cinema. Designers browse art galleries, museums, libraries, bookshops and junk shops, as well as grafitti- covered streets and supermarkets as they seek inspiration for design. The visual arts provide a wide and varied palette of historical and contemporary styles, reflecting our ever-changing views of the world. The pursuit of novelty in design means there will always be oscillation between divergence from contemporary styles and convergence towards concepts of the past as ideas get repeated, adapted, built upon, rejected, debased, renovated and tweaked. The following are intended as pointers to possible sources of inspiration and reference and are far from exhaustive. The rich vocabulary of art and design knowledge can help generate and communicate ideas precisely, and familiarity with such material helps designers expand their vocabulary and be able to draw upon a wider knowledge base to generate ideas, and be better able to say what they mean and mean what they say. Abstract expressionism A New York art movement that presented large-scale works containing forms not found in the natural world. Pictured is Cubi VI (1963), bythe American sculptor David Smith. Art deco An elegant decorative style that celebrated the rise oftechnology and speed via geometric designs and streamlined forms. Pictured is the art deco spire of the Chrysler Building in New York, built 1928--1930. Art nouveau A rich ornamental style of decoration, rootedin romanticism and symbolism and characterised by undulating lines and highly stylised natural motifs, as shown on this magazinecover. Design Thinking Idea generation Arts and Crafts Movement A decorative arts, furniture and architecture movement that sought to reverse the demise of beauty at the hands of the Industrial Revolution. Shown here is Artichoke wallpaper (c.1897) by John Henry Dearle for William Morris & Co. Avant garde An artistic work that pushes the established limits of whatis considered acceptable, often accompanied by revolutionary, cultural or political connotations or ideas. Pictured is Fountain (1917) by Marcel Duchamp. abc Bauhaus An approach to design that featured the use of the three basic primary shapes and colours, and geometric fontsto convey a sense of modernity. Pictured is Bayer Universal, by Herbert Bayer, a font based on geometric forms. DesignThinkingInspiration andreferences Collage/montage Sticking paper and othermedia together in unusual ways (collage), or juxtaposing and/or superimposing pictures or designs to form anew image (montage). Pictured is Das Undbild (1919) by Kurt Schwitters. Constructivism A modern art movement that used industrial materials such as glass and steel to create non- representational objects, with a commitment tototal abstraction. Pictured here is a photo montage by Tatlin,1924. Cubism An art movement that rejected the single viewpoint and presented fragmented subjects from different viewpoints simultaneously. Pictured is Le guitariste by Pablo Picasso (1910). 62 63 Inspiration and references Deconstructivism A method of critical enquiry that examines how meaning is constructed by challenging the prescribed values that are presented to us. Pictured, the Imperial War Museum, Salford Quays, Manchester, UK. Grid A graphic structure used to organise the placement of elements within a design. A baseline grid acts as a positioning guide for text, pictures, diagrams, folios, strap lines, columns and so on. Kitsch A style thatis considered to be an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art, that may be overly sentimental and/or pretentious, or mass produced items considered trite andcrass. Pictured, German Lohengrin legend postcard (c.1900) by an unknown artist. Modernism A movement that was shaped by Western industrialisation and urbanisation and favoured simple, utilitarian traits and rejected elaborate decoration. Pictured is Lake Point Tower in Chicago, USA, designed by Schipporeit and Heinrich. Pointillism A painting style featuring tiny dots of primary colours that, when viewed from a distance, merge to produce secondary colours. Television screens work on a similar principle. Pictured is a detail of La Parade (1889) by Georges Seurat. Postmodernism A creative movement that returned to earlier ideas of adornment and decorationas it questioned the notion of a reliable reality by deconstructing authority. Pictured, Jeff Koons's Puppy at the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum in Spain. Design Thinking Idea generation Psychedelia A counter culture that challenged traditional boundaries in music, art and design, and saw the use of bright and eclectic colour schemes, interference patterns and curves. Shown here is Brian Exton's Land of Psychedelic Illuminations. Reportage A style of photography characterised by images that capture and detail defining moments of real life and the joys and horrors of the world. Pictured is Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother from 1936. Surrealism A movement that sought to release the potential of the unconscious mind by depicting the real without being constrained by reality. We recognise what we see but it is not as we would expect it to be. Pictured is La Trahison des Images (1928--1929) by Magritte. DesignThinkingInspiration andreferences Tessellation A repeated geometric design thatcovers a surface without gaps or overlaps, used in wallpaper design to provide a seamless pattern. Vernacular The everyday language through which a group, community or region communicates. Designers can incorporate the vernacular through 'found' items (such as street signs) or slang, for example. Zeitgeist The moral and intellectual trends of a given era, the spirit of the age. Fashion, art and design are all subject to the zeitgeist and it is reflected in everything from the height of hemlines to typography.