week | five
TASK #5
This week is about learning how working together can make a big difference. We will see how people from different fields are teaming up in exciting ways. For example, when experts from different areas work together, they create amazing new technologies like VR, AR, and AI. So, we will look at different examples of creative teamwork and new ways of designing things today. This week also marks the beginning of the end of the semester. I will work on my fourth and final theme and finalize my brand identity for my vending machine. By doing this, I will have a clear view of how my business plan will look. I will start thinking of ways to create my artefacts creatively and help market my work in real life. Hopefully, this week will be productive. I aim to finalize every digital aspect of my themes so that in week 7, I can start printing my cards and sharing them with the world and creating my artefacts.
Lecture Podcast :
In this week's podcast, Susanna Edwards talks with Louize Harries, a textile expert with an MA in Material Futures. They discuss how working together across different fields can lead to creative designs and solutions. Louize shares her experience with projects like using a drone to show air pollution in London with red rain. This project made the invisible problem of air pollution visible by releasing red rain where pollution levels were high. Her project about pollution makes the invisible visible, and sometimes that's what is needed for people to act. I really loved how she used not only design but also different methods from science, technology, engineering, and many different fields to raise awareness on a subject that has been a major problem over the past years and is still a problem. I loved how she took the concept of pollution, something we hear about all the time and never care about, and made it into something creative that makes us want to care
week: 5 research task:
Research the various meanings of interdisciplinary collaboration & how such approaches can form exciting partnerships in graphic design. Brainstorm design ideas to encourage interdisciplinary dialogue & co-creation.
After reading the research task, I didn't understand what interdisciplinary collaboration meant, so I looked it up. I found that Interdisciplinary collaboration means people from different fields or areas of expertise working together to solve a problem or achieve a common goal. Each person contributes their unique knowledge and skills to create better solutions than they could on their own. In graphic design, interdisciplinary collaboration means bringing together experts from different fields like engineering, science, technology, and the arts to create unique and impactful designs. Each expert contributes their specialized knowledge and skills, resulting in innovative and well-rounded design solutions, similar to what Louize Harries did.
My Understanding:
After understanding what interdisciplinary collaboration means, I can now brainstorm ideas more effectively. For example, if I were to start a new graphic design project and wanted to incorporate interdisciplinary collaboration, I would host workshops that include various professionals, not just graphic designers. I would invite architects, scientists, teachers, doctors, and others to participate. During these workshops, we would combine our expertise to create a unique project. For instance, I can imagine a product that teaches medicine in a simplified, artistic way. I would get accurate medical information from the doctor, effective teaching techniques from the teacher, and a visually appealing design from the graphic designer. This would result in an interdisciplinary collaborative piece of work.
My Hypothetical Project: The goal is to create an interactive, artistic tool that simplifies the learning of medical concepts for students. This tool will combine accurate medical information, effective teaching methods, and creative design to enhance understanding and engagement.
The Interdisciplinary Collaboration:
Doctor: Provides accurate medical information and ensures that the content is medically accurate and up-to-date.
Teacher: Offers insights into effective teaching techniques and helps adapt the medical information to suit different learning styles.
Graphic Designer: Creates visually appealing and easy-to-understand graphics and layouts to present the medical information artistically.
First, host a brainstorming workshop where the doctor, teacher, and graphic designer come together to discuss the project. Next, the doctor develops the core medical content, including key concepts and essential information, while the teacher advises on the best ways to present this information for optimal student understanding, suggesting interactive elements and assessment methods. Then, the graphic designer creates sketches and mock-ups of the tool, incorporating feedback from the doctor and teacher to ensure the information is accurate and the design is effective. After this, develop a prototype of the tool, which could be a digital app, a series of interactive infographics, or a multimedia presentation. Test the prototype with a small group of students and gather feedback. Make necessary adjustments based on the feedback to improve the tool's effectiveness and user experience. Finally, launch the final version of the artistic medical learning tool.
Research-Based works:
After my hypothetical analysis of what interdisciplinary collaboration means, I started researching companies that work with interdisciplinary collaboration, and MIT was one of the most well-known organizations that utilize this aspect. The MIT Media Lab is known for its interdisciplinary collaboration, bringing together experts from different fields like engineering, computer science, biology, design, and the arts. They foster innovation by combining diverse expertise, hands-on projects, cross-disciplinary teams, flexible research areas, open communication, and a focus on global impact.
What I noticed also about their logo is that their logo changes show this approach well. The original geometric logo by Muriel Cooper represented their tech and creative focus. In 2011, Pentagram redesigned it with 40,000 unique logos generated by an algorithm, showing constant innovation and diversity. I was mesmerized to see what interdisciplinary collaboration means in the real world and how MIT successfully created it. This ever-changing logo truly shows the Lab’s commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration and evolution.
PROJECT PROCESS:
This week, I focused primarily on creating my third theme because I was falling behind, so I didn't have much time to think about the brand identity for my vending machine. so, I've decided to choose color themes based on yellow, red, and green since these are the colors of all my card themes, resembling a flower: yellow for the pollen, green for the stem, and red for the petals. Each card theme has a different color, so the vending machine should reflect this somehow.
Y E L L O W
R E D
G R E E N
THEME #3 PROCESS
Pinterest Inspiration:
Contextual Research:
When I saw the project "One Second Every Day," I was struck by how simple yet impactful the idea is. The app allows users to record one-second video clips each day and compile them into a video montage, helping people to reflect on and cherish everyday moments. This made me realize that sometimes it's the tiniest things that matter the most.
I love how, by recording just one second each day, we get to see our lives unfold over the course of a year, capturing both the good and the bad. It made me appreciate how blessed we can be. I started noticing the tiny things, like the five senses of our body. Having the ability to see, hear, touch, taste, and smell makes these memories even richer.This project inspired me to recognize how one second can change many things in life when we fully appreciate what we have.
Sketching:
Process Videos:
Failed Trials:
Final Idea + Design:
Have you ever paused to truly appreciate your senses? "Sense It All" is a project that celebrates the five fundamental human senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. These senses, often taken for granted, are the essence of our existence. In a world where we focus on grand gestures and major achievements, we usually overlook the simple joys and profound gifts our senses provide. Imagine waking up each morning and being able to see the world, smell the fresh air, savour delicious flavours, feel a comforting touch, and hear the sounds around you. These experiences bring joy, purpose, and connection to our lives.
To help people appreciate their senses in a creative way, "Sense It All" introduces unique cards, each dedicated to one of the five senses. For example, the sight card features a mirror with the saying, "You are enough just as you are," also written in Braille so visually impaired individuals can enjoy it too. The taste card includes a piece of packaged gum with a description of its flavour, allowing people to chew it and savour the taste, while those who can't taste can read the description and imagine the flavour mentally. The hearing card incorporates a tiny speaker that plays a song, the sound of waves, rain, or a podcast, with the words also typed out for those who cannot hear. Although adding ASL was considered, it proved to be quite complicated to implement.
By valuing our senses, we are driven to help and show compassion towards those who are visually impaired, to be kinder rather than judgmental towards those who can't hear, and to appreciate that while we enjoy these senses freely, others may require surgeries or aids like hearing devices. Thus, 'Sense It All' emphasizes the importance of gratitude for what we have and kindness towards those who may not share the same blessings, inspiring us to make a difference in their lives.
