Browsing by Subject "Design practice"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Color fields : what designers need to know about color
(2016-08) Witcher, Diana T.; Gorman, Carma; Steiner, Frederick; Schumacher, Jada
The goal of this report is to identify what designers today need to know or understand about color and—consequently—what design educators should be teaching design students about color. While designers use color intuitively like artists, they also use color instrumentally as a means of communication and a medium for creation. Fine arts paint-mixing models of instruction have long dominated color education for designers. While traditional color education holds much value, I propose that today, designers need a more complete understanding, which includes color theory, color systems, color materials and color management. Design educators therefore need to teach more about the practical use of color in practice: color management, color science, color systems and color standards (such as CIE, Pantone, NCS and Munsell) that are used today in design, commerce and industry. I seek to help designers and educators achieve a more comprehensive understanding of color through a series of artifacts designed to illustrate color concepts and through a curated list of existing print and online color resources. These artifacts and resources provide methods for design educators to teach a more contemporary, comprehensive and practice-based understanding of color. The artifacts at the center of this project are didactic toys that demonstrate important concepts in color theory and form a system that illustrates the technical and practical aspects of color as well as an updated framework for understanding color and its production.
Design pro-action : the development of a process
(2002) Nityananda, Ajay; Catterall, Kate
In the course of this report I discuss the route that I took to come to an understanding of Design and its societal role, the development of a context for my work, and the nature of my design process. I thereby hope to lay bare the rudiments of the “system” behind my process, and final work--in other words, my methodology. Additionally, I clarify my views on Design’s disciplinary position vis-à-vis scientific and technological disciplines. I also espouse a vision wherein Design assumes a defining position within modern human society. Accompanying this vision is my call for a more active Design practice, in support of which I have outlined the possibilities inherent in the specific innovation of the pro-active object.
Transformational indicators : deciding when to develop transformable products
(2010-08) Camburn, Bradley Adam; Wood, Kristin L.; Jensen, Dan
Transformable products (or transformers), those with two or more functional states, are increasingly utilized by our society. As the mobility and complexity of life increases, so must the adaptability of the products which we use. We need new design techniques to develop more adaptable devices, such as transformers. The purpose of this study is to propose a response to the question “When is it preferable to implement a design approach focused on developing transformable products over an approach focused on developing primary function, non transforming products?” Our response to this question comes in the form of a method. The method helps a designer or design team consider the benefits of developing a transformer at an early stage in the design process. Research includes a deductive and an inductive study which are used to identify transformation indicators or context properties and usage factors that identify when it is preferable to build a transformable device. Static function-state indicators are also presented. These are contrary to transformation indicators in that they identify contexts suitable for developing non-transforming devices. Our technique seeks to improve the outcome of a design project by encouraging the consideration of transformable solutions and aiding in the selection of an appropriate design process. This method for testing the presence of these indicators in exemplary design contexts is presented. One such application is the design of an autonomous bridge-health monitoring system.