3..2..1........what?
It’s Tuesday night already and I still haven’t decided what my themes are going to be about yet! I’ve been wondering and typing down some contexts in the notes of my phone while commuting but being someone always questioning like me doesn’t help at all! I reckon I’ll just have to select some of the topics I would enjoy gathering research out of, something that will keep me entertained.
At the moment I've got: Men and women~Manipulative~Colours~Gravity~Tough~Struggle~Loneliness~PsychovsSocio~Crazy!~Average~Change~Deep~Tolerance~Ying&Yang~Curiosity~Included~Life~Freedom~Chaos~Flow~Empty~Stress~Fake~History~Connected~Presence~Tales~Effects~Spirituality~Individuality~Hypnotised~Tiny worlds~Daydreaming~Caring~Ignorance~Rejection~Racism~Illusion.
I highlighted those terms which get me more curious but I recognise some similarity between each other, I'm about to narrow them and see what actually will keep me busier during the next months.
12 Feb '20
Context
The first thing to do: set your research!
I draw my own map with the purpose of guiding me to paths I should follow:
This map is just the starting point though, as sometimes my eyes catch something that makes me think, then adding another path on any category.
Material Wall
We've been asked to bring at least 3 materials related to our theme. I've got a piece of marble, layered wood, polyurethane foam, cement (not sure how it was made).
The aim of today was to make at least 3 models, no matter if they're sculptures or any other sort of thing because it had to reflect the sketches we've done at first which were simple quick drawing of words we had to choose. Honestly, my models look so different from my sketches, but the important thing is the process, isn't it?
At the end of the workshop, we made some noise with nails and hammers and we hang our outcomes on the wall!
27 Feb '20
Everyday Life - Research workshop
It's time to get professionals in the group! We designed our personal research task: look for people interacting with an object.
This is actually something that I always do as during my day I take photos of people doing something, usually with something on their hands. In this case, I mostly hunted people on the walkway and the tube station (images on the research page).
What it was stimulating for me was organising the work with the team, surely because of the mindset shared by the team.
2 Mar '20
Covid effects - Day One
I thought that working from home was something that would have fit my lifestyle but I quite liked the atmosphere at the library in King's cross. I believe working from home is a bit too comfortable and because of all the distractions I do have here I'm a bit worried about my outcome. Of course, I know I have to do some physical activity and watch the sky or breathe the fresh air to not risk killing my creativity. Quite happy I have my coffee though.
This is a quarantine, but it doesn't mean I can't get out from home at all (I have to buy food and I'll get the car with my flatmate) so I think I'll try to gather some more research on the way or at the supermarket. It might be that this virus will highlight products that should last for long or those reduced as waste before their time. Probably I'll be affected by the problems packaging will give me: back in Italy people don't consume as before, so the level of waste is decreasing a lot. In my home country, we don't use packaging as much as the UK does, so it will be interesting how this situation will change people's mentality regarding disposable products and packaging.
I was about to forget: classmates. I love them, they have always been extremely useful for feedbacks or even just as "ear to speak at". Every time I have an idea I like, I share it with someone so I'll be more sure it's not a trivial idea. I think I'll use the Whatsapp group we opened at the beginning of the term, videochat or similar. Maybe, I'll use instagram to get some more feedbacks about the quality of my work (and maybe win over my shyness).
In times of necessities, creativity stands out and today I feel way better than yesterday. Of course, it's not the ideal situation, but I'm glad we are in 2020 and we have access to pretty much all we need to work. Probably gathering materials will be the hardest thing to do but I feel lucky I live in an apartment full of people who make waste and I can try to use that waste to make something, or maybe I will need to destroy my belongings recovering materials and parts I need. As I mentioned before, hard times drive us to be more creative and do what we need to do with what we have, which is a mindset I developed during my working experiences, so I feel quite excited to have to go back to my "previous life". It could happen that I will have to build my tools which is something I love. It's probably something linked to my outcome: building your tool is like building your arm, you get emotionally attached because it becomes the most useful products, that item you need for that moment, that part of your life.
So at the end of that, time management will be my course, as usual. Maybe the quarantine will help me manage my time better than before, forcing me to get the right mindset.
I just hope the distance from my family will not affect my creativity and motivation more than it did in the past weeks, but I guess I should just bite the bullet and work hard.
18 Mar '20
Covid effects - Day Two
I actually made progress yesterday: technical products are supposed to last for a long time so probably that's what I should develop. Also, they possibly can create an emotional attachment (due to the experiences or results those "tools" give to the user). I'm quite sure I want to follow this path but I feel like I have to sketch more and put every idea in the context straight away (the activity of today will probably help) or my mindset and creativity will be too chaotic. At this moment I still can't see the final idea, or where it is allocated; I feel like I'm trying to watch what's on the top of the mountain without being there, therefore maybe I have to climb it a bit more.
Overall I'm quite happy about how Kathleen is managing the workshops, I still look at them as crucial tools for the development of my project, but I have to manage how to keep my mind separated to the problems the Covid-19 is giving to my personal life which is not easy neither impossible.
I think I'm going to create waste in order to get materials, is it something relevant to my theme? Maybe (using waste to make products, I don't really like the idea but maybe I'm just blinding myself)
I also was reflecting on tools and processes... I will probably not be able to get all I need (amazon could limit shipments), so I'm a bit worried about the development of the final model, I don't want it to be too rough but if the government don't stop us from walking around I could get a workshop somehow, or at least the tools, or I'll build them (I'm happy I have a garden at least). Is going to be a model like the 1:5 we made for "movement", which was the best one I made so far (the most detailed and precise).
19 Mar '20
The situation of the COVID is changing my life for a bit: I've lost my job, I can't get any benefit that will help me pay my rent so I decided to go back to my parent's home in Italy. Hopefully, my mental well-being will be restored because so far I'm struggling to be proactive and creative. I'm playing, drawing, dancing in my room, meditating.. It works for a while, then I'm back to my worries. My mind is foggy and I need to clear it up.
Meanwhile, I'm sketching ideas about brands, tools and face masks, lots of them, too many.
02/04/2020
Products that grow like plants.
What if people produce their products without even realising it? I thought of plants and there's something in them we don't see often and we usually throw when the plant dies: the roots.
I called a friend of mine who owns a flower shop, to ask him which plants develop roots that can be used to create a structure similar to fabric and he suggested me to get a mint plant.
The movie I created in my mind works like this: you get the plant and you take care of it. Then, when it's time, you get the roots out of the vase (shaped accordingly) and you magically find a mask made of roots. In this way, you develop an emotional attachment because that's the result of your commitment towards the mint plant. Because of it, you don't see a roots mask laying on the floor, but the result of someone's commitment. Also, it doesn't harm the environment as it's completely organic and it will be the food of some other organism.
Basically, I'm thinking of a product that makes products with a living being that the user will take care of. When you use the product the plant made, it's something you created with minimum effort and you should think of the time you spent on the moment you bin the product of the plant.
It's also quite cool because it's the representation of us: the product was born, it grows and, once it became too old or obsolete, it dies. Like us, like the lifespan of a product in the market (ref. from the book "Things that Lasts").
Everything is linked.
We are the products of our parents, like a mask made of roots is the product of a plant. So if we get attached to each other, and we get attached to a living being like plants (otherwise why do we feed them), we can get emotionally attached to the products of those living beings, that will fulfil the purpose for a while and then die. And we will look at that product and remember the history of it. From the seed to the bin.
Also, I would use the mint to make mojitos (such an ENJOYMENT) and look at the products of the mint plant remembering when I was partying with friends...
11/04/2020
I haven't been writing for a while as I have been working on the plant pot and the documentation and I'm ashamed to say that I considered reflections not important enough so I focused on other activities and I have been spending some time with my family. Everyone is bored and worried about the Covid and the future of the economy in this house, and I have been thinking of when I will be back to London and how long is going to take me to revisit my parents. I did manage my economy quite well in the last year but I still want to be very alert because I'm pretty sure that London is going to be quite expensive for a student during next winter.
Still, I'm so excited for the next winter. This academic year has been one of the best periods of my life. It opened my mind, helped me to overcome my shyness and emotional insecurity (which I'm still working on) thanks to people that are way younger than me but have learnt and can teach me what I missed when I was younger and I hope I did teach them what I know better.
I have been studying what emotional attachment is, related to a product, while I unconsciously developed it towards the whole experience of the Foundation Year. I feel enriched and empowered, still conscious that I have to commit a lot if I want to achieve my goals but I feel like I can do it as long as I keep being in love with the world of design and all the people who live in it.
The evaluation video has been quite hard to film. I wrote a text from notes to help me talking to the camera but I now think I still have to practice: I couldn't speak! I started trying to talk over bullet points on different backgrounds to avoid the boring desk vlog, and I couldn't say even easy words so I tried to read the text and repeat it on the camera, but I was stuttering. In the end, I decided to simply read on the laptop but the camera was watching me bad so I struggled even reading with a nice accent and tonality. So I decided to cut the video and design it in a way that even if it is a desk vlog it is pleasant to watch.
Fun fact: after video editing, I wasn't happy with the result so I made a pdf on InDesign but when I finished I thought "this looks more like a magazine" so I left it on the side and I went back to video editing. Now I have been able to upload the video on youtube and link it on workflow but the pdf takes ages to upload so I hope my connection will wake up again because I made it and I now want to share it!
04/05/2020
It's Time
For all this time I've been looking for a stimulating theme, wondering what attracts me the most but now I reckon I never thought about what I wanted to learn and do. On Thursday I presented my proposal to Kathleen (was about Freedom) and she suggested me to narrow it as the subject was even too wide to be studied and make an outcome in time, mentioning "free time".
At first, on Friday morning, I tried to do some primary research over her suggestion, but I didn't "feel it" so I decided to delete the word "free" leaving "time" and that little bulb over my head turned on.
Time. My curse. I hate it.
Time is not only My curse, pretty much everything in the world has a problem with the time. If we think about it, our world is in danger because who came before us never thought about long-term results!
Therefore, I decided to study Obsolescence and how to avoid it. I'm usually uncertain about choices so I'm glad I share Philippe Stark's point of view about obsolescence.
Finally, I've got something interesting to work on, even though I submitted my draft proposal 15:15 hours late, I need to manage my Time!!!
17 Feb '20
Something which is B.I.G. (Better I Get)
On Tuesday I had a quick chat with Tom Nelson who told me that my final theme (Obsolescence) it's something suitable for PhD students and I was like "Whaaat?". I might have chosen a theme too broad for my competences, but he suggested me some sources that can be essential. One of them, which I found the most useful, is his thesis "Design for Longevity". With his help, I'm going to narrow the subject and work on one part and I hope it will be as fun as it is challenging!
25 Feb '20
Research analysis
In the morning, we've been assigned to groups that could be relevant to our theme. I'm quite fine with my teammates (we are the Everyday life group), they're all good designers and there's no sign of conflict between us, which is good.
To start the workshop we took out photos of the products relevant to our theme and we spread them on the table so it's accessible from all the group members. To organise them, we created categories and we started our analysis by sharing our own perception of the products shown. I have to say I found something inspiring by the research of one of our team and at that moment I thought of how stimulating is working in a team.
26 Feb '20
Miniatures
Today we make! The day started with Kathleen giving us words to guide us in the idea generation (IG) task.
It's so good to see how creativity develops itself the more we practice, I can actually see the difference between the first and the last idea.
After IG I had to choose the idea to develop and I draw a more technical drawing together with a more refined model, an electronic hourglass!
The middle part is the on/off switch, needed to activate the microcircuit inside it. It works like this: you turn the Hourglass on, flip it and do what you need to (you'll notice a blue light coming from the switch). When the sand contained in the (concrete) upper part goes all down to the bottom, the sensor detects the emptiness, it beeps and a red light blinks. In this way, you can use an hourglass and get to know exactly when the time has passed without paying attention.
It was fun, and it made me see my idea developed further while I was making the model, which is like it is creating a story to tell about itself.
2 Mar '20
S.C.A.M.P.E.R.
Of course, this is the workshop I enjoyed the most so far. Idea generation is the part of the job that I love the most and I feel like I get crazy when using techniques like SCAMPER to achieve upper-level results.
This is one of the ways we can stimulate our creativity and I think it's the best one of all so far. I started with a quite simple sketch of someone playing "hoop-rolling" to end up with the last sketch which was similar to a runner's wheelchair.
I'm sure I will forget the meaning of SCAMPER if I don't read it every now and then, so right after the workshop I took my phone, I opened Adobe Spark and I made this poster to be attached above my desk.
I really hope I will look up when sketching.
5 Mar '20
13:01 Update
Workflow is so useful now, but it could be quicker uploading images
I have to rearrange my room to stimulate my creativity
18 Mar '20
Technical products will be thrown in the bin. Obsolescence is the synonym of death for a product and between humans what do we do with deads? We store them somewhere inaccessible or we destroy them with fire. We make exceptions, we reuse organs if they are still healthy and functional. Should we do the same thing with products? That means to reuse, one of the methods taught by environmental organisations and that could actually work on a small scale. It could be great if factories reuse components from old devices such as transistors or chips, but can we imagine a world where the final user spend money for something new that has old components in it? Or people delivering old, broken products back to the factory for free or a small amount of money? I've seen people collecting newspapers, reading it for a couple of minutes and then leave it on the floor of the tube as if it will magically disappear. Of course, cleaners are paid to clean trains, but they don't eat the waste and that's why (as for example) the majority of the waste in Europe is made of paper (ref. in the graph in the research section).
The same thing happens with any other product, even the most expensive ones. It's relative: what is expensive for me could be cheap for you and so the value. Can we really make products that don't become waste? How can I change the behaviour of the user? I'm still confident that emotional attachment is the right weapon, I just have to think about how it will shoot.
01/04/2020
Today I went to the store to buy some fruit (yummy and good for our mind, right?) but I got deeply upset with the people walking on the street. It's not only because most of them walk around in groups of two or more, not because lots of them don't use masks of gloves - I keep the distance. I got really upset seeing masks and gloves left on the streets. Even in a national emergency, the human species shows its worst. We sell long-lasting bags, biodegradable plastic bags for free in the supermarket, we recycle, we do lots of things to preserve the environment and what happens? People throw INFECTED products in public areas.
So, as a designer, I have to solve this problem. The first thing came up in my mind was biodegradable gloves and masks, something you can leave on the floor without harming planet earth, but I can't change my theme. So what did I see around me? Green, trees, plants: what if people grow gloves and masks? Are they really going to throw them so easily, since they had to commit and a product that grows needs time to be functional? I'm thinking of mushrooms, or Cocoform but products made out of those materials requires specific tools and I don't think people will start the morning gathering materials to produce their own masks or others. But this thing of products that grows I like it quite a bit!
06/04/2020
I got back to my family's home. The travel was interesting and I discovered something that influences my idea: I can't make masks made out of roots if the air goes through it! It's not safe at all!!
I will do some scamper and another mind map (my sketchbook is full of them) to find some more product that can be grown in the vase... and developing the vase, of course!! (It will be made out of natural materials so it doesn't harm the environment when it will become a waste)
Meanwhile, I sketched a vase that makes candleholders, just to receive feedback from my friends on the social network. (Sketch in the sketchbook section)
15/04/2020
I got some feedback! But, sadly, it was about the quality of the sketch (that put a smile on my face).
My classmates got the idea, but I had to make the idea more clear for those who are more quality demanding. I used weeds roots and leaves for a sketch model of the product of the mint plant, Fusion360 to make a simple model and switched between Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign to make a simple digital presentation (and it worked). For the model, I'm planning to use the 3D printer I own (£100, totally worth the investment).
Now I know growing a product is not a bad idea. (to find in the Outcomes section)
18/04/2020