A Creative Journey: from the Formless to the Concrete

A Creative Journey: From The Formless To The Concrete

Gayatri Menon

Faculty of Industrial Design, National Institute of Design, NID, Paldi, Ahmedabad- 380 007,India. ,

Abstract:

Design process can be looked at as a continuous creative process linking the internal world of the designer: his/her ethos, perception and philosophy with the external world: business interest, opportunities and socio-cultural meanings. This link is critical to bring forth both an understanding of hidden desires/ design opportunities and also in coming up with a tangible product form to fulfill the opportunity.

The continuous play between the formless: opportunities, ideas and experiences and the concrete in terms of scenario mapping, structure and product form is again an integral part of design. The creative journey involved in this play will be further elaborated in the paper with the help of some case studies from my experiences as a design educator and practicing professional.

Key words: Design, scenario, structure, form

Introduction:

What is the role of a designer in multi faceted nations like India? How can design education equip designers to deal with a broad spectrum of problems and opportunities? How can design link ethos, perception and philosophy with business models, opportunities and social meanings? Can different forms give different meanings and entities to design ideas. Design can be a powerful tool to make a positive impact in the society. How can designers react to the social-environmental set up around them and make a positive difference in this respect?

What is the role of designers in bringing about a positive intervention for the society –environment of which he is a part? This is something, which although of great significance has not got much attention from the international design community. How do you design for a heterogeneous population? Design that does not involve and benefit the vast majority of diverse people in countries like India will remain elitist phenomena not affecting the vast majority of people. Can design development possibilities be explored for different scenarios –whether industrial or social with equal ease and competence?

Case Study

The case study describes a toy design project carries out in TWR, Johannesburg, South Africa. The toy design project was carried out by 6 final year industrial design students with the guidance of Sudarshan Khanna, Head, Toy Center & Gayatri Menon, Coordinator, Toy Center, faculties from the Toy Design department, National Institute of Design, NID, India with support from Chris Bradnum, faculty of industrial design, Gerrard , masters student and Hester de Pluis, Research fellow and Eugene Hon., Dean, Faculty of Art and Design, from Technikon Witwatersrand(TWR).

It was decided to carry out the toy design project in cooperation with the Ethembeni home for orphan children aged between 0-4 years. The social reality of S.Africa reflected that there were a large number of such homes and the children needed good developmental toys during this early age. The home was situated in close proximity to the institute with the advantage of being able to interact closely and frequently with the children and care takers. The contacts of TWR made it easier.

ScenarioBuilding

The assignments for the initial study were sent from India. The assignments concentrated on understanding the children, the cultural traditional play of the country and on market reality aspects. This study was meant not only to come up with study aspects but to raise questions in the mind of students and build a curiosity and interest in them. The students collected the information through observation, interviews and structured interactions in the form of video recordings, photographs, images and descriptions.

a) User study and observation

The students carry out a comparative study between children from the Ethembeni home and a normal playschool. Many of the children were discarded children and were not able to speak much. The fact that many of them were used to local tribal languages like Zulu but were supposed to speak in English in the orphanage only made the problem worse.

The children would come and greet warmly with sounds of “mama” but when given a task of structured play were not able to perform so well. On the other hand the children from normal playschool were not so excited about the students interacting with them but were able to perform better in structured play situations. Does it make the orphan children retarded? What can be the approach towards making toys for them?

b) Understanding the society: The rich bank of traditional toys

Each country and region has its own rich bank of traditional toys, games and play activity. The toys and games played by people are reflections of the social customs, aspirations, taboos and way of living. It is important to understand this aspect while designing. Do they still exist in markets, homes or only in the minds of the older generation of people? The study brought forth some interesting questions and answers. It was difficult to find traditional toys in the common market place.

The toys, games played by the Africans traditionally varied a lot from one social group to the other. The students interviewed a number of people on campus and brought forth some interesting play patterns. The interesting use of natural material available abundantly in local surrounding found fascinating use in some of the toys. It was also amazing that a simple technique like coiling found such a wide use from clay work to metal wire work to telephone wire work.

c) Studying the market: The variety of interesting toys available in the market

The study was slightly disappointing since most of the toys found were from multinational companies denoting more of a “carbon copy culture”. Electronic toys and plastic toys from multinational companies ruled the market. It was surprising not to find many wooden toys in spite of the abundance of locally available wood. There were a few toys that were special to South Africa… with themes of wild, animals’ birds, insects and interesting and innovative play with these creatures.

d) Interaction with the children and observing their natural play behavior

The fact that Ethembeni home was situated n close proximity to the TWR helped a lot. So did the fact that there was good contact between TWR and the Ethembeni management run by Salvation Army foundation. Breaking the ice: playing with kids. The children were divided in 2 age groups. Younger children aged between 0-1 used to spend their time in crèche and did not have many toys or play material around them. The idea came not only to provide them with a play material but also to make the room environment more vibrant and interesting.

The older children from 1-4 had different quarters and used to have different activities like singing, dancing, playing, cooking etc. The Ethembeni home had about 2-3 caretakers and volunteers –mainly female who used to come and interact with the children daily. A therapist used to come for about 2 days a week to interact with the children on a voluntary basis.

The children were extremely happy and welcoming to have a big group of students play with it. The fact that the students interacted with them freely helped. The children were not very used to rough and tumble play and were especially happy about body play.

Children aged between 2-4 years used to enjoy playing outside. Some of the observations which came up after observing and playing with them was that were interested in sound elements, liked to watch themselves in the mirror, enjoyed group play, likes surprises and playing outside freely. Interaction with therapists and other volunteers based on this observation became inspirations for toy ideas.

The analysis of user study play patterns, market study and do-it-yourself craft toys etc. was presented along with the conceptual ideas. The emphasis was on bringing about a synergetic understanding of the various factors and actualizing them in the form of concepts.

Figure 1. Scenario model: Giving a tangible form to the information and experiences

DesignOpportunities and directions:

The scenario models helped in a synthesis of all the information and obtaining design directions. The directions were based on enhancing skills and abilities, generating positive interest and influence, creating a happy and cheerful environment etc. Based on the presentation and discussion, one or two concept directions were selected on to develop for rough models. Instead of working on paper and drawing out the concepts, the idea was to play with various materials and come up with rough prototypes. These were fundamentally structural forms which would follow the function for testing purpose but were not the final forms

A lot of different materials were tried out. Wireframe models, quick wooden models, models from waste bottles, tyres, old stuffed toys, even traffic stoppers and cable wounder were used for the initial rough models

Making a rough prototype for user study

User study feedback and testing has become an integral part of design methodology. However there is a significant difference between giving a rough prototype for testing and giving the final design for testing. The rough model is supposed to be principal models where many hypothesis could be tested and validated. The making of the rough model is challenging by itself because enough flexibility needs to be incorporated in the model to enable changing and testing of various principles if need be and where it is essential that the prototype be rigid and strong enough to make the play experience real.

Various hypothesis were formed and the testing was carried out both in a structured as well as an unstructured manner. The material/ toy was given and it was left open for the child to interact the way she likes with it. In some cases directions on how to play and what to do was suggested to the child. Issues of ergonomics, safety etc came up while testing. But what was more interesting was to find out the opportunity area in terms of play value and indications on how to develop the toy so that the child would like it better.The rough prototypes were made using simple tools and materials on their own. In some cases the traditional expertise was used in order to think of the concept.Aspart of this, visits were made to flea markets craft markets etc. traditional techniques and methods as practiced by local craftspeople were observed and studied.

Testing and feedback becomes iterative loop. Often the students made at least 2-3 models before they decided on the final design. The feedback from the children the teachers and the interaction led to modification. Each time the modifications were incorporated it enriched the design. It also gave confidence to the designer that the design works. This makes the decision making much quicker and easier.

Figure 2. Rough models tested at different stages

From the rough model to the final form

It was decided to make two versions in terms of the final form. Based on the same concept, it was decided to develop one form from easily available local material and simple processes so that it can be made within an institutional set up and the other form was developed so that it can be industrially batch produced or mass manufactured.

A)Making the final model for do-it-yourself toy

How to make these toys? In a typical industrial set up, one of the first constraints is the use of material and manufacturing process. The open-ended structure of manufacturing for a customized institutional set up is far more challenging to decide. The institution people-caretakers, volunteers etc, could make the toy if it was simple to make using simple skills readily availing material and process. Or the institution could get it made by using local skill resources, craft and craftspeople being important resources.

Most industrial designers think that they must make the model/prototype on their own otherwise it ceases to be their design. In contrast the participatory approach to design emphasizes on the ability of a designer to understand appreciate and link with the cultural and skill expertise of other people to come up with relevant design. The design development of an idea cannot be an individual process but needs to be spread out and shared as a group. The idea being that one is designing not for the children but that one is coming up with a design using the expertise of people from different background and disciplines thus enriching the entire process of design.

Compiling the designs along with the play value, the material and methods of making and some sort of general guidelines could help a number of institutions and set ups to make such toys on their own from seeing the book. This makes it truly empowering processes. The institution can make changes, modifications and variations in the design and these again can be shared with others.

The entire process follows a loop where good ideas and designs are not left at the hand of market forces alone but can be still be realized within their own local set up with very little infrastructure cost

B) Developing the same concept for a mass manufacturing industrial set up.

Would the industries be interested in making these designs? Can the designs be made for the industries? Do they have to be entirely different? The answer probably is both yes and no. Often the market forces demands the designs to be more conventional and less risk taking. A new innovative, original design, which has already been tested wit children, definitely has an advantage,

If the core of design is the idea and the spirit is the intention of making the design…then the design development could be done for industries which gives not only a new original idea to the industry but will also provide good quality play material to children. Accordingly visits were made to shopping malls and market to get a feel of market dynamics in order to understand how toys are sold, advertised,how to make toys sellableetc. The design development was carried out considering a typical industrial set up. In most cases eitherplastic or wooden manufacturing set ups were considered. It also gave an idea to the students on the challenges and constraints of designing for the market.

The toy had not only to be unique and interesting on its own but also needed to stand forth in the hugely competitive segment. How do you make your toy stand out as something special and different from hundreds of toys available in the market?Some very good designs emerged out of these exercises.

Understanding of the participatory design process inclusions of the user-children, social set up, environment became an important facet which governs all decision making process during the project. The design development of the core idea both in terms of customized design for institutional set up and mass manufactured one for industrial set ups indicates the effectiveness of the same concept getting translated into different forms.

Industrial designers can make a difference not only in the market but also for the society in which they live. The off shoots of the project are many but on its own the experience still hold good in paving a way of thinking and doing design from a different perspective.

Figure 3: Bottom left shows the do-it-yourself version of the design, top right the plastic mfg. version and bottom right shows the wooden mfg. version of the same design

Conclusion

There is a constant play between the intangible and the tangible in a design process. The ability of designers to convert the intangible to the tangible at each and every stage of design process is a highly creative and communicative process. Information, experiences from various sources get translated into tangible scenario mapping models. Once again these models give rise to vague notions and design directions which are essentially intangible. These directions are converted into concrete design briefs and concepts. Further these concepts get translated into rough ‘structural’ models, get user tested and modifies before evolving into the final form. The interplay of experiences, insights, ideas and materials in the entire process is both exciting and challenging.