Because I can't fit this into 4000 character space on the Catei form, it's here instead. Feel free not to take any notice.

Curiously I was discussing CATEI form that we have at university with another lecturer yesterday. From my point of view, they can be a useful source of information, the problem is, whether it's useful or not, whether you can filter out the unbiased information as well as the irrelevant. Uni always either hassles us or gives us incentives to do it, but do we really give back useful info.

For example, do we give feedback such as:
-We would probably be better designers if Design Fundamentals actually taught us Industrial Design – Design Fundamentals instead of the type of course we would go to COFA for.
-With design studio, when trying to resolve the materials, manufacturing, technology, form etc, it's still a mish-mash as opposed to an elegantly resolved product
-Design Studio still feels like a lecture to a student as opposed to a studio, sure you can bounce ideas within a few friends, and possibly a tutor might give you one view, which naturally contradicts with all the other advice you've been given
-When your project/idea is slaughtered, sure you can turn that into positives by taking the critical elements that actually work for you, but you can bet your bottom dollar that if we had a PROPER design process taught to us that we could follow, we'd churn out better design and the whole grade would lift as opposed to having, still, a massive gap between what we do and what's expected
-When you're dropped into the deep end of the ocean, without any support, naturally you're going to grope at a straw, so when you throw us into a brief with no design process as a support, expect us to come up with fabulous design, are disappointed when we don't, and throw us a few ideas, you should realise that we will take those ideas literally, and you will be disappointed the next week when you see that we've done that. Give us the support we need, don't waste our first year. Heck, some courses in England are 3 years and they dive right into it. Don't ease us in with the first year, you're wasting our time, you're not giving us the true fundamentals of design that we need for INDUSTRY because ultimately, that's where we want to be.
-Studio needs more debating, questioning of what design really is and why we want to be designers. People do lose their confidence, and that's the core thing you need when you want to fight for your design. We need to refine what design means to us. Lecturers say we're not as enthusiastic as the previous generation. So if one side isn't, the otherside should lure us, to inspire us into designing, not grabbing a blob and shaping it.
-Oh and industrial design is also about the engineers, this degree loses a lot of good engineers. Just because techies may not be the best form designers doesn't mean they don't hold a place in design. Who do you think translates the engineering to design and vice versa. Sure, for some it might be form before function, or function before form, best of all it should be form and function, for the function you need techies, don't dismiss us.
-From what I've heard, 4th years had their first experience of what form designing is about from a tutor who teaches Advanced Rhino. You don't teach PhD material to Undergraduate, you teach them Undergraduate material. So teach us the real basics, not the COFA basics. If we wanted an art degree, we'd go to COFA.
-Many of us are fresh out of high school, others have had other a few years at Uni, others are mature age students. Teach us the basics, heck hijack, the Form Foundation Studies from Pratt University's ID Degree, at least that would be more help.

Yes we're probably doing something right with the awards we win and the success of our graduates, but if you don't want want only 'a handful of students who aren't “shit designers”' by the time they're in 4th year, start by doing something in the 1st year. A good foundation is the basis of success.

Boards

A fitting end

So over the period of 12 weeks, I've averaged a wholesome number of 30 blog posts. For others it's probably give or take 5 to 10. I've mainly tried to focus on the design thought side, though the odd design rant has occurred. Now in relation to trying to get blogging to be a visual diary of sorts, depending on what you do, it may or may not have succeeded. Hand sketches seem far and few between, notes you take, or concepts you think about have about a day of fame before being resigned to the archive. In terms of achieving a design studio outside the studio, probably not as successful as it could have been. Perhaps the blogs could have been incorporated into a forum of sorts, actually throwing up ideas for all to see? Overall, probably a solid experiment, but in need of some tweaking.

On a different rant, a curious thought occurred in a discussion. Now on one side of the design spectrum, if you know what you want to say, through a material for example, you can push and push it forward until you've realised your design. On the other side, if the lecturer deems that it's not deep enough, and throws your world upside down by offering you more pathways to explore this would probably leave you at a loss, as it did to me. Week after week, your design concepts, even if you've explored them at a relative depth, if they are rejected, you end up making a concept a week. So for the 6 to 7 odd weeks you would have made 5 to 6 roughly finalised concepts. Ok, even if you've made 3 to 4 concepts a week, there's probably one you prefer, and if that one is rejected, you'll be needing to head in a different direction. I suppose what I'm aiming to get across would be, could it be more productive if we had 2 projects in the 7 weeks? I don't think the outside would is as leisurely as Uni.

Mm, oh and studio in the middle of the week is probably not the best plan of action. 1 possibly 2 days to refine an idea, then the weekend without workshop open so you can't test the idea if you don't have access to your own modelling equipment, then another 2 days to churn out the model you should have done during the weekend but couldn't. I don't know, may others think this it totally ridiculous but that's my 2 cents and I don't think many people pay attention anyways.

Speaking of paying attention, apparently during the marking of the latest studio project, some people's drawings/rationales/boards etc were perfectly orientated after marking. Sus?

Reiterating what I said in a prior post, they say that you have to have an optimistic and a positive outlook if you're to design effectively. But with all that anticipation and worrying of "oh is my tutor going to like it?", "oh what am I going to do if they don't?", "oh have I put enough thought into this? [Which probably comes from research because I honestly don't think many of us have that much design experience]" - how are we exactly supposed to do that? Anxiety and stress are either our drivers or our handicaps.

I have a foreboding feeling I'm going to be seeing the inside of class 2b again next year. Who wants to bet that I do? Safest bet in the world.

So ..

.. the design process, indeed most processes are based on lots of little steps, building blocks, foundations that are set down before the rest of journey occurs.

Little trivial question, lots of simple questions, solidifying the basics before going in depth.

High expectations should not be sought after continuously. A quote from Stefan Sagmeister on the things he's learnt in life - "Low expectations are a good strategy"

When you design you've got to be relaxed. Neurons are firing all over the place and the pathways are not linking if you're stressed, hence you can't think straight let alone design.

Focus but be relaxed.

Possibly trival things for many, but a second opinion is always good.

Oh oh oh! Could someone indulge me ...

... in what 'dangerous' design is? Possibly in relation to form? Is it simply trying to push the boundaries of what the form is? Does this have something to do with conceptualisation?

Oh, I've got cake for anyone who can tell me.

Ruminating Design Process

Hmm just curiously contemplating the design process. There's the idea of Think > Draw > Make > Think > Dra... etc and it seems that while I'm doing this, there's not enough of it, especially in the Think part.

In accordance, what was said was that there are lots of little steps which need to be taken, more to the point, a lot more inspiration to drive the process forward. There has to be a core reason behind every design, and the further down the track you are for a design, the less you get your design ripped to shreds.

Ahh that's the other thing, don't clutch at a straw like a drowning man, or run with a bone thrown in your direction. Don't take people's advice literally, it's only there for 'contact points'. In fact, you could eventually not even use it, but the whole point is to open up unseen avenues, or so they say.

Mmm, if there isn't a clear cut path to an answer, is there an optimal way to reaching a correct direction?

/rumination

Lovely Ceramics and the blog of course

Twas surfing the web and came across this blog. Fantastic blog, and looking at the ceramics section, it's filled up with lots of delectable designs, mmmmmmmm.



Could a mug get any more foolproof?