Assignment5(B): My Top 5s!

Throughout the school year I always find I’m struggling for time to do the extra things I want to do. The books stack up by my bed, I don’t manage to do any maintenance on my blog apart from writing the occasional post and the people I planed to write to have still not been contacted. This is why below I have written three top five must do lists for over the summer holidays.

Books I will read:

• ‘Blink’ – Malcolm Gladwell.

Gladwell is the author of ‘The Tipping Point’ a book we were encouraged to read as part of our design studies module. I really enjoyed the book and found the way he discussed human behaviour very interesting. ‘Blink’ is about why trusting your instincts may be more effective than thinking a decision through. Hopefully this book will be just as good as ‘The Tipping Point’.

• ‘Why we Buy: The Science of Shopping’ – Paco Underhill.

I like books about human behaviour and I’m interested in commercial interior design. This book explains how a store layout affects what and how much people buy. Doing a bit of reading on this may help if I ever have to design a store in the future and if I don’t I’m sure I’ll find it interesting to see whether I fall for any of the traps a retailer lays out to make a customer spend.

• ‘Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things’ – William McDonough and Michael Braungart.

William McDonough is an architect who takes the environment into consideration when designing a building. I recently watched a ‘Ted Talks’ video where he was discussing his work and designing with the environment in mind, he recommended this book. I really feel that taking the environment into consideration is the way forward and would love to see what I can learn from this book.

• ‘I Miss My Pencil’- Martin Bone and Kara Johnson.

A book from workers at ‘IDEO’ a company I hadn’t heard about before design studies. This book looks quite fun, its style and layout is eye catching I know they say don’t judge a book by its cover but… The authors write about different experiments they have undertaken and show that by looking at people’s thoughts and senses you can create a more innovative design.

• ‘Change by Design’ – Tim Brown.

Another book by someone at ‘IDEO’. I didn’t get around to finishing this book so I need to finish it over the holidays while I have time.

People I will connect with:

• Last year I carried out some work shadowing at Nicoll Russell Studios in Broughty Ferry. I haven’t been in touch with Andy Baxter since then. I would like to call him to chat as he was very approachable and shared with me some stories and tips about working in the industry. He is someone I would like to keep in contact with as I really enjoyed my time at Nicoll Russell last summer.

• Twitter is an excellent way of finding out about people and organisations. Since joining I’ve found some great magazines which I am following that are inspirational. I want to search for and find more designers and companies to follow.

• My Aunt in Chicago. This is not directly related with my course but I would love to get in touch with her. I’ve not seen her since I was about 10 years old and would really like to contact her possibly taking a visit out to see her in the future. She is an artistic person and works for a chocolate factory designing the packaging, so we might have design and art in common.

• A girl I used to work with is amazing at photography. I was thinking of getting in touch with her over the summer to see if she would explain a little about photography and show me how to work a camera properly! She’s a lovely girl and it would be nice to see her again anyway.

• The DCA in Dundee offers classes such as book binding, print making or etching. I’ve always wanted to go to the etching class but have never gotten around to it. I’d like to contact someone at the DCA to tell me a little about it and perhaps book myself in.

Changes I will make to my Blog:

• The design of my blog needs seriously updated. As a designer I feel I should add my own touch to personalise it. I’ve already got a few ideas and sketches in my sketch book for a title and just need to tidy it up, scan it in and upload.

• My portfolio page where I want to show my work is currently showing a lack of work. I need to update it with my completed projects.

• I also need to create a contact page and a page that tells the viewer a little about me.

• I want to set up links to my twitter page and my delicious account.

• In general it needs to be tidied up and made to look more professional. Next year we will be encouraged to set up a website. I would like to get started on this and link my blog to it.

Assignment 5 (A): Planning for the Future.

Design Studies assignment 5 asks us to develop the topic we researched and wrote about in semester one into a research proposal. Using the knowledge and techniques we have gained so far to investigate the subject.

 Research Proposal.

The subject chosen for investigation is, ‘How the surrounding environment can affect crime.’ The interest in this subject began after reading ‘The Tipping Point’ by Malcolm Gladwell. There is a section in this book that describes how the rise and fall of crime in New York City was affected by the state of the environment. Crime was at its highest when the environment was at its worst. After New York enforced their no tolerance policy and cleaned up the streets crime reduced greatly. Further research was then undertaken by looking up and reading books and journals relating to the topic. Two that were found to be the most relevant were ‘The Environment and Social Behaviour’ by Irwin Altman and ‘Street Management and City Design’ by E.P. Fowler as they both looked into how the physical environment affects people and their behaviour. This proposal will discuss what methods will be used to research the chosen subject, also to plan when and how it will be done.

The research will be undertaken in the city of Dundee. Firstly the crime rates in different areas of the city will be identified the areas with the highest and lowest rates of crime will be selected. These areas will be visited and observed noting down the surroundings and goings on, for example; is there any graffiti? Are the streets clean and tidy? What are the habits of the people there? This will generate insight into each area and differences between the two will emerge. A general understanding of the area should now be obtained however this alone will not be enough, speaking to the people who live there will be necessary.

Informal interviews with people who live in each area will be useful to gain personal opinions on why they think their community has that crime rate. People who live in the high crime rate area will be asked why they think crime is so high in their area and what they think can be done to decrease it. In the low crime rate areas they will be asked why they think it is low and what stops people in that area from committing crime. This should hopefully give some inside knowledge and lead to other questions that will prove useful in showing how the environment affects behaviour towards crime.  Informal interviews will make people feel at ease and therefore more likely to contribute valuable answers. The interviews will be conducted in a relaxed environment where people feel comfortable, perhaps with tea and biscuits in someone’s living room, or at a local community centre or coffee morning where groups of people are likely to be socialising. Hazel White a jeweller, who now works at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee, found that informal interviews worked well for her. When she was gathering information for her research she went along to knitting clubs to speak to members of a community, she found that in a relaxed social space people were more willing to talk. Interviews may not be useful in cases where people want to remain anonymous this is why questionnaires will also be provided so that people can write down their true thoughts if they are worried they may be judged.

Brainstorming sessions and group sketching can be used to generate ideas of how to stop crimes being committed. It will suggest future ways of improving the community whilst also pointing out the ways in which the current environment is affecting behaviour at the moment. These sessions will also stimulate conversation and provoke new thoughts.

The people that are committing the crimes will be given questionnaires and interviewed if they are willing. They will be asked what caused them to turn to crime and if they feel their environment had any affect on this? Do they think that if their environment was different they would have been less likely to commit the crime?

Local police officers should be spoken to, finding out their opinion on how each environment affects the crime rate. The types of crimes committed in each area might link with something specific with the environment in that area, for example if the area has a lot of graffiti other people may be encouraged to graffiti as well. It could be useful to find out about the police prevention techniques and how they deal with the crime in the community and whether or not these techniques are working. There may be limitations to speaking with the police as they might not be authorised to pass on some information however any information gained will be valuable.

This research will be carried out during a one year period this will create the opportunity to observe the environment of each area at different times throughout the year. Will the summer generate more activities keeping people occupied with other things instead of crime? Or as it gets colder in the winter will people be more likely to stay indoors and less likely to be out committing crime? The work will mainly be carried out alone but a group will be brought together at different stages in the process to discuss findings, create new ideas and opinions. Discussion in a group will help stimulate the research from time to time. Once all the information has been gathered the results will be analysed between two and three weeks. A conclusion will then be made about how the surrounding environment affects crime. 

Urban Hub for SEPA.

It’s coming to the end of the year now and not long until our hand in. I’ve been steadily working away on my office design for SEPA which I have enjoyed. The design is finished now but I am still in the process of getting it out of my head and my sketch book, for other people to see and understand.

I have been building a 3D model on my laptop with ‘Google sketch-up’. This has taken longer than expected. It’s still a program I find tricky to use and quite slow. For my next project I plan to try a different program for this, maybe ‘AutoCad’. I’d like to see how it differs to sketch-up and find a program that I can work with quickly whilst also achieving the results I want. I will complete my sketch-up model by the end of the week. On Monday I am going to start rendering my model on ‘3D Max’ with the help of a tutor at uni as it is a programme I have never used before. Hopefully once I know the basic tools I will be able to create six or seven perspectives to use in my presentation.

After that’s all done I’ll move on to doing my technical drawings, presentation sheets and hand  build a model to show my design. Time’s ticking I better get cracking!

I’ll post another blog up soon about the design for my SEPA urban hub. 

Guest Speaker: Peter Morris.

Last week Peter Morris an architect who currently works at Curl la Tourelle Architects in London paid the Interior Design department a visit. He gave a lecture discussing the places he has worked and showed us some images of his work. Later that day, he took the level three students away to do a quick two day project with him.

One of the main topics he discussed was his involvement in the design of the ‘Sutton Life Centre’. It was designed to encourage young people to connect with the community, a 21^st century youth centre.

 The local community and its buildings were used for inspiration in the designing process. The final building was split into two sections a ‘Dark zone’ and a ‘Light zone’. The dark zone would be an experiential area where children would come and learn about issues that will affect them such as street crime, drugs and online bullying.  The light zone would consist of a library and community centre.

He mentioned how important the local community were to him when designing the building as it was a community centre he wanted them to use. Therefore they were brought together and talked through the design and any suggestions they had were taken on board and incorporated into the design. He said that sketches were the best way of explaining the design to them even better than computer generated images. A computer generated image looks too finalised for a client so they will not suggest any changes as they feel it is too late, where as a sketch gets the idea across with out being too formal.

The final design looked amazing and something which the community will benefit from. The dark zone which looks like a street has interactive displays which show images at a 1:1 scale involving the viewer. Instead of just watching a t.v. screen school kids will feel part of the action whilst learning, a great way to keep their attention. The light zone was given a street party theme. The centre also has a habitat garden, an area outside for children to play and a climbing wall. The climbing wall was one of my favourite parts, I thought it brightened up the side of the building and blended in well. The grips are multicoloured and to me look like paint splashed all down the wall I never thought a climbing wall would look like a work of art.

Artists impression of the centre.

Image of the completed building.

'Light zone' Lights to look like flags at street party.

'Dark zone' 

Climbing wall.

I love when the department bring in guest speakers to talk about their work. By seeing the different ways in which they create perspectives, presentation boards, or go about their thought process is inspiring. I always take away a few handy tips to use in my own projects. Thank you Peter Morris! 

Assignment 4: Interviews.

Assignment four asked us to use all the skills we have learnt so far to conduct interviews and gather information on a chosen topic. The topic I decided to investigate was ‘what object do people treasure the most and why?’

 

To help me decide on questions that were most relevant to ask I did a quick brainstorming exercise and a mind map. The brainstorming gave a clearer image of the topic and the issues surrounding it. Before I only had the one question, ‘what object do you treasure and why?’ After brainstorming I came up with a list of related questions that would give me the information I wanted and gain answers with greater depth. 

The questions I decided to ask were as follows:

• What object do you treasure the most?
• Can you sketch it for me?
• Who is it from? How did you acquire it?
• When did you acquire it?
• How did you first feel about it? How do you feel about it now?
• How much was it? How much is it worth now to you/ to someone else?
• Would you sell it?
• How would you react if it was lost or stolen?
• How often do you use it?
• Where do you keep it?
• Do you think you will still treasure it in 30 years? Why?
• Why do you think you treasure this object?
• Brainstorming exercise.

The interview style chosen was semi-structured, this meant that my questions were there as a guide but I didn’t have to stick to them. I could follow up any answers I found interesting or create new questions if I felt it was necessary.

I interviewed three people who were friends of friends and flatmates of friends. We arranged to meet in relaxed environments where we could both feel comfortable. I met one person at a pub and the others at their flats. I brought consent forms with me which they signed before I began the interview. The three people I interviewed were; Derek Li, aged 27, civil servant, Lisa Fitzgerald, 24, H.R. advisor and John Hendry, 25, primary teacher.

I wanted to incorporate a Service Design Tool into the interviews which would break the ice and make it a little more interactive so the interviewee didn’t just have to answer questions. I decided to get them to sketch their treasured object at the start of the interview and at the end do a brainstorming exercise about their object. The brainstorming would be a good way of achieving answers and thoughts that may not have been addressed by the questions. I thought it would bring out words that they were subconsciously thinking about the object as that happened when I was brainstorming for question ideas.

I was quite surprised by the answers and they were all very different from each other. Lisa’s most treasured object was her i-Phone because it helped her connect and keep her life organised. John’s was his photos from Camp America as they reminded him of the happiest time of his life. Derek’s most treasured object was his necklace with his jade “polo mint” on it because it was from his mother and makes him feel protected.

After discussing my findings and doing another brainstorming session I began to interpret what I found.

The objects people treasure the most are not necessarily expensive items as you can see from John’s treasured object, his photos. They are usually items with sentimental value that may appear to be worthless to someone else. This was discussed in a Design Studies lecture before Christmas many people found that their favourite Christmas gift was something that wouldn’t be worth a lot of money now but they still love because of how it made them feel and the memories attached to it.

John and Derek said that their objects were priceless and irreplaceable something that they will treasure forever. However Lisa said that she will get rid of her most treasured object, her i-Phone, as she will up grade it to a newer version in a couple of years. For the time being Lisa’s object is priceless to her as it stores important private information and she feels she needs it to function in her daily routine. This object will be replaceable and she will no doubt treasure its replacement. I don’t think it’s the physical item Lisa treasures but what it holds.

I think that a person’s most treasured object can be affected by their up bringing and their personality. Derek’s jade from his mum that he wears on a necklace shows this. He says he never takes it off even when sleeping and washing. I asked him why he always wears it, he said it’s like a “safety blanket” when he was given it he was told it would keep away evil spirits and bad luck. I asked if any other members of his family wore jade for the same reasons, he said yes and told me that many Chinese people wear it as they believe it protects. People from a different culture would not value a jade necklace in the same way as Derek because they may not know the meaning behind it. Derek was brought up with this necklace and the story behind it so it is very precious to him. Value is “personal opposed to universal: that an object has sentimental value for a particular person does not entail that it ought to have sentimental value for anyone else…” Anthony Hatzimoysis.

My interviewing technique still has to be improved upon. One of the main things I didn’t like about it was that I felt too rehearsed and a bit wooden when I was conducting the interview. I think that if I was more relaxed maybe I would have been able to ask more questions that may have let me dig deeper and achieve a greater variety of answers. I’m sure that this will come with practice, as I don’t interview people often this was probably the reason for feeling awkward. I do however think I’m a good listener and recorded all that was said so no important information was lost.

Assignment 3(C+D+E): Observe & Record.

For this part of the assignment we were asked to go out and observe people in an environment that we were unfamiliar with.

 I chose the Bingo to be my primary site and went along one afternoon with a few girls from my class. Before we could enter the bingo hall we had to sign up at the front desk and become members of ‘Mecca Bingo’. The staff were friendly and carefully explained what needed to be done. We then carried on past the noisy slot machines into the main hall. The first thing that struck me as soon as I opened the heavy door into the hall was the silence! No one was speaking except the bingo caller. We walked past the watchful eyes and up the stairs to get a seat. I felt like a trespasser. From upstairs we had a view of the whole hall and the people playing.

The numbers were being called out by a man who sounded like he was singing them, I’m not sure why this was maybe it gives the players some sort of rhythm when looking for the number called. The current number was also displayed on TV screens which are dotted around the hall for those who can’t hear the caller.

The hall had a very structured layout the tables and chairs were bolted to the floor in rows and had either 2 or four chairs round a table. The hall was also divided into sections by the colour of seat, green, blue or orange. The seat colours made it easier for the caller to direct the employee on the floor towards a potential winner to check their card.

The people playing were mainly over 60 and female although there were a few males there of the same age group. Their clothing was all fairly similar and nothing radical; plain colours, cardigans, blouses, and skirts or trousers. Most people that afternoon were sitting on their own or in pairs. The pairs would sit across the table from each other with their bags and jackets on the spare seat next to them. No one spoke until someone shouted “HOUSE!” then there was a buzz of chatting and I noticed that they spoke to people at the next table not just who they were with. It made the place feel a little friendlier until the numbers started getting called again and the silence returned. Some players used a hand held computer device instead of using the traditional cards and a pen.

The Bingo did make me feel like an outsider, walking in and leaving were awkward experiences where I just wanted to quickly sit down or get out. After a little while I became relaxed and joined in one of the games you could play on the table. Sadly I didn’t win anything. I found it stressful, panic filled me as the number was shouted out and I searched for it on my board. It seemed like the caller spoke quicker when I decided to play. The one thing I did find quite sad was that when someone won there was no round of applause or mini celebration the game just started again.

What I found links with Pierre Bourdieu’s theory that people do not go certain places as they are unsure how to act and feel uncomfortable. He also mentions that people have a preconception of what a place will be like, this may be in some cases a stereotypical view.  I did think that the Bingo would be filled with pensioners however I thought it would be a little livelier and a lot noisier.

My secondary site was the bus on my journey home. Everyone usually queues slightly back from the sign in a straight line next to each other. As more people join they usually go to side of the sign that has more people on it and join, or ask if it’s the back of the queue to be polite. Once the bus arrives it’s an unspoken rule that you wait for others to get off the bus before you get on and you let the people go on in the order of who was waiting at the bus stop first. When on the bus the teenagers and school kids usually go upstairs. Everyone takes a seat trying not to sit next to anyone unless completely necessary. When someone gets a double seat they either sit at the aisle seat leaving the window seat blocked off for anyone else or sit at the window and put all their belongings on the aisle seat to keep others away. Only when the bus is full do people grudgingly move towards the window or shift their coat.

In my observations one of the main things I found was that territory is a key theme and people mark their territory with their belongings. People like to be at least a seats distance apart from others I could see this in the Bingo and on the bus. Thinking about it now every time I go to the cinema I claim the seat next to me with my bag and the films I don’t enjoy are always the times when I’m sitting uncomfortably in a busy screen with a stranger next to me. Maybe not having the comfort of enough personal space ruins certain experiences. People who ride the bus regularly seem to have a preferred seat I always see a familiar face in the same area on the bus. You can see this in our Design Studies lecture every week, all the jewellers sit together in the same section, as do textiles, graphics, interiors and the product design students get moved to the front row. People don’t like change and feeling uncomfortable. I don’t know for sure but I would guess that in the Bingo hall all the regulars probably sit in the same seats every time they go.

I found this assignment a little tricky trying to identify which observations were important and what greater meaning they had. Hopefully with time my snooping will improve and give me a better insight into people’s lives.

Assignment 3 (B): Ethnography Primer.

After reading the 'Ethnography Primer'  I have a greater understanding of Ethnography. I had never come across the word before but the meaning is something I had known about and find very interesting, Ethnography is a valuable part of design.

Ethnography is a type of research that involves observing people in their natural environment. It will give a designer insight into what someone actually does and why they do it. This will prove more useful than simply asking a person a few questions in unfamiliar surroundings an ethnographer may observe things that the person may not even notice about themselves. “What people say is not what they do.”

When reading ‘Snoop’ by Sam Gosling the chapter I found most interesting was chapter 11 ‘Bringing it Home’. It introduces Chris Travis who creates homes for his clients that are perfectly matched to their personalities. He does this by identifying peoples connections to places both emotional and psychological. He then integrates these connections into the design. He does this at the beginning of the design process so that every step of the way the house is designed to fit the occupants. Although the book does not label Chris Travis as an ethnographer you can see that he works using this tool to his advantage.

I would love to create my designs using Ethnography it would give greater satisfaction to me and hopefully the user to know I have designed keeping them in mind creating something meaningful and useful to them. I have been trying to do this in my current project where I am designing offices for SEPA. However as they are a hypothetical client it has not been possible to observe them in their day to day activities but books such as ‘The New Office’ by Francis Duffy give insight into how people in office environments like to work and which layouts are proven to be more productive.

“A designer should care about ethnography because it can help produce more compelling, innovative design that really connects with users—in a way that creates delight.”

—Darrel Rhea, design research consultant.