Design Studies: Creating The Questions

For our second last design studies assignment of the year (*tear*) we had the pretty cringy task of interviewing people.

Dealing with drunk strangers from the other side of the bar at work - no problem. Asking for assistance in a shop - no problem. Phoning up a call centre about something (albeit a tedious task) - is also no problem. Standing in the street like some sort of person you'd expect to be wearing a bib with "Greenpeace" or "Amnesty International" on it, no so easy. Watch as the people avoid you like you are some kind of Moses, parting the seas of people by your mere existence. Embarrassing.

So, myself and Kirsty from Jewellery (JMD) decided to tackle this assignment together, as we had both derived similar topics from The Tipping Point in first semester. I had covered a derivative of the Airwalk Case Study, where alternative advertising was discussed, and Kirsty had researched semiotics in advertising from The Stickiness Factor. As we had slightly different areas covered, we aimed to do two things: create a set of questions that suited both of our needs, as well as educate each other about the slightly different path from our own. Win, win really.

Below is the mind map we created in order to generate our questions. We were careful not to create closed questions - a question that can be answered by a simple "yes" or "no" - as less can be learnt from these. We tried to consider how to reveal the questions to the participant, so that there was a mix of content shown before an answer and vice versa where an answer to the question was given, then the content be shown.

click to enlarge

Our final questions are as follows:

General topic to pursue: "Does alternative advertising increase your knowledge of a product, and/or make it more memorable? Does this then lead to possible purchase of said product?"

Tell the participants the following:

Viral advertising is when a product is advertised through a “gimmick” that may or may not be related to the product itself. These are often released online, but can also be seen on TV. 

Questions for Assignment 4

1. Below are three adverts. How many, if any, are successful “viral” adverts?

2. After seeing the following popular advert(s), how were you left feeling?

3. Why do you think companies chose to use adverts that do not seem to connect with the product? 

4. Can you remember what music is used in any of the following adverts? 

5. Who is your mobile phone service provider?

6. Can you summarise what the advert(s) for Windows 7 are? Can you also tell me the tagline used throughout?

7. Listening to the short sound clip only, can you tell me what product this advert was for?

After creating our list of questions, we created our consent form for

participants to sign prior to interview. These allowed us to use their information during our write up.

Finally, we had a set of questions to use. As our questions required video footage, we decided to use Kirsty's iPad for this, to make it simple and easy for participants. 

And also cause I wanted to play with it.

Design Studies: Service Design Tools

For our current Design Studies assignment we had to visit some websites that document ways to help you when researching for design. One of these was designstudiestools, to which I found the case study for Blueprint quite helpful.

Blueprint is similar to how we work during the early stages of a project - listing the main issues on post it type notes and sticking them under the corresponding group. This enables you to see patterns and visualise connections between topics. This also ties in with my relatively recent interest in Infographics - which also aim to visualise information, in a more simplified form.

For future projects I may continue with my front line of attack with sticky post-its, however I may then re structure my findings in a more easily understood visualisation in the likes of Photoshop, for future reference. The clearer a picture you can get before delving into designing, the cleaner design you will end up with, so it would seem.

EcoOffice: Visit to SEPA Arbroath

On Wednesday, Paula, Christina and myself took a trip to Arbroath to interview one of the members of staff at SEPA's Arbroath offices. We tried to put together a selection of questions that the brief had not answered, and although he was very helpful, we have been left with some questioned still unanswered.

One of the main aspects that we were unsure about tackling, was a potential laboratory in the fictitious Dundee branch. Unfortunately, Arbroath is such a small office, it does not have such a facility. We were told however, that Aberdeen offices had recently opened their new building, which had labs. As a result of finding this out, we are currently deliberating wether or not to visit, as time is also becoming a factor.

The building itself in Arbroath was an old doctors surgery, and was reasonably old. Due to this, there was little sustainable aspects, and pretty much what you would imagine any office environment to be like. Coffee rings on desks, paper mounting up in piles, and the odd indoor plant to brighten things up. We also timed our visit just as it was being painted, with eco friendly paint I hope!

One of the questions we asked was if there was a running theme throughout the offices, and the answer was basically they would like to have the SEPA logo colours incorporated throughout. It's a teal colour, not unlike some of the typeface on my blog. This I assume, is not difficult for us to use during the remainder of our task.

A lot of our answers were based around what SEPA do as an organisation, and not so much about design itself. Although at first I was unsure as to how much help this may be, I have come to realise that the better we understand how they work, the easier it is for us to understand how to improve working conditions - and only after this, incorporate the sustainability factor. One of the things that is a result of this was realising that office employees also have a role out with the office itself, as they sometimes visit sites. An offshoot of this is that they also use equipment on site that in Arbroath's case, is currently kept in garage space some 10 minutes away. This is food for thought, as equipment space was not a requirement of the initial brief.

A lot of the facts that we were told can be found on their website, including annual pdf reports, documenting statistical data regarding SEPA's office emissions.

All in all it was a useful trip as it let us get an insight into how they work, although ultimately a trip to their Aberdeen offices would also be beneficial.

filing space seems to be an issue

...definitely need more filing space

a bit of a theme appears to be coming apparent

recycling efforts - I'm sure we could aim higher!

as a borderline OCD sufferer for organisation - this stresses me out!

Design Studies: There's a Moose Loose, Aboot Yer Hoose

Well perhaps not exactly a moose, more me - and no cheek about there being no difference thank you very much.

Anyhow, moving swiftly on - as the title suggests we were effectively let loose in our partners homes to "snoop" - a term psychologist Sam Gosling coined in his book of the same name. Below he explains what he researched.

For the original interview source and more from Sam Gosling, visit bigthink.

I was teamed with Joanne White of Textiles, who sent me several pictures of both her residence while at University, and her bedroom back at her parents home. 

Immediately I picked up on the "girly" factor - the purple bed covers and matching curtains in one, and pink in the other, along with an arrangement of toiletry products. There was also a kids pillow on one of the beds, and from this I assume she is playful and young, but not necessarily immature. Light hearted things like childish cushions may symbolise memories from being younger, and a longing to return to then, or in fact that Joanne herself is in fact just young at heart. Secondly, I noticed that on the wall there are framed school photos. These may be significant to her as she may be a relatively new school leaver and thus have sentimental value for it. I think it shows that she still deems that part of her life as valuable - enough that is, to warrant wall space. 

There are several coats hung up at the door, and as this is in her student residence room and not at a front door, I assume it's safe to make the assumption that they are all hers. From this I can gather that she is fashion conscious, as she has different outerwear for different occasions. To add to this, there is also a few clothes shop carrier bags scattered throughout the images, suggesting she clothes shops regularly.

There is a card on the shelves with a ribbon and heart on it, which is being held by a bear. As there are not several other cards to suggest a recent birthday, I assume this is from a partner, meaning she is not single. 

Amongst the items on her shelves, aside from the card, is the previously mentioned toiletries. On closer inspection of these, there appears to be several cans of hair spray - which could mean that she is image conscious, although I would assume that this is perhaps more geared towards evenings out. This is likely, as paired with the information gathered by the collection of coats and clothes shop carrier bags, it is safe to come to this conclusion. 

Further to the "girlie" aspect that I mentioned at the beginning, I have noticed that there are a few soft toys perched on a shelf in her bedroom at her parents house. These depict the same character that was on the cushion - so this may in fact be a specific interest in this character, and not a general children's character interest. 

Everything is neat and appears to have it's own specific place. This could borderline on neuroticism, but the bedroom used while at University is marginally messier - thus meaning that the tidiness could just be because the room at her parents is used less. Her University residence is more "lived in"- but not messy.

There is a bag in the waste paper bin to catch the rubbish - suggesting that Joanne is someone who likes things to be done properly, neatly, and efficiently, as by doing this it saves time later when emptying, and it also reduces possible mess.

Overall I would say Joanne is a tidy person without being a neat freak. Sometimes things may pile up during more stressful times, however her parents home shows she is a neat and tidy person when she has the time. I think she could be prone to getting stressed, and perhaps be slightly shy as there are few bold statements made in any of the images - however this could be a result of not being allowed to fully personalise rented accommodation.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Well, after the meeting I had with Joanne and a few others, it turns out the above is pretty accurate! She agreed with nearly all of it - and added further reasoning to my conclusions, all of which continue down the assumptions I had made.

Scarily, her analysis of me was also very accurate. From my images she got that I am bold, loud, outspoken about my beliefs and creative. She also got that I am borderline obsessive compulsive about my organising of things, pointing out that I often over arrange things - such as my hangers. Pretty much spot on (although I'm more things, not a horrid unbearable loud brute, I hope!) Another thing that was brought to my attention is my selection of Andy Warhol quotes on my bedroom wall. One stated that "one's company, two's a crowd and three's a party". From this she got that I'm light hearted, and up for having a laugh and enjoy company. She also got this from my halloween costume where I was dressed as a Pacman ghost. My choice of decor, namely the assortment of frames in the hallway indicate I am creative and take pride in presentation. My decision to tattoo the Andy Warhol banana to myself she said, was another indication to my personal beliefs - showing that I have no issues with being outspoken, and not concerning myself with what others think about me.

As I said, pretty accurate!

We also had to complete the Joharis Window task - a task that requires us to fill in adjectives into the relevant box, revealing areas of your personality that you may not be aware of. Groups of key words tended to be together under the various areas you may place them. The boxes include Open - which is the field that descriptions that are obvious to both you and others are places. Blind is the box that is traits obvious to others, but not yourself. Hidden is the field that are traits you know you have but others do not, and unknown are any other uncategorizable traits. Below are my findings (I used a standard set of 56 adjectives) :

Mac Update

I recently updated my MBP after continuously declining, and came to the inevitable conclusion that I was eventually going to have to accept a software update.

Included in this, aside from changing my iTunes logo (to my annoyance) was the new addition of the AppStore in my dock. It's quite a nice feature really. I'm currently in the process of downloading the Twitter app to allow desktop updates - along with a feature that allows control-click tweets from anywhere.

While browsing the free app's catagory, I noticed the top rated one was "MindNote". This is a nice little app to create mind maps with, so will be downloading that when I remember my AppleID login - which amused me, as you are redirected to "iForgot" to reset your details. Lolz.

Furniture Design: DeFrustrate - ReFrustrate

Currently we are in a bit of a state of limbo - and as a result, I'm not sure as to where this project is going anymore. We have had some what of a turning point. I guess every good story has one, so here it is.

A short chat with our tutor has revealed that we are going down a "brutalistic" route, which, given architecturally the building in which we study - seems apt to me. An open brief such as ours, and with subsequent in-depth research, surely means that we are open to interoperate the brief and outcome in any such way we see fit.

Not only this, but we had gained only 4 brand new pallets, with later access to limitless materials, however not in quite such perfect condition. We had been advised to break down the pallets into the blocks we wished to work in, and play with compositions, documenting the process by photograph for development purposes. However, as a result of going through the aforementioned process, it means the pallets that we wished to maintain as our surface material due to their condition have been sawn into blocks - which may (and undoubtably will, given my recent luck in life) render them useless as we move towards a new direction.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to what direction the group are to move in next, as not only do we have a diverse group in terms of opinion - which previously proved difficult when narrowing down design from endless and vast variations, but we also have to go through this process all over again - with only 17 days until presentation.

Crap.

Design Studies: Storms-a Brewin'

Finally, the four of us finally got some time today after our lecture to finish our brainstorming from earlier in the week. We then went on to do the related discussion. Below are images documenting the rest of our brainstorm: 

After completion of our brainstorm, it was on to the discussion; to which we rearranged some of our ideas into better groups: 

By the end, we had added a lot of ideas and information to our sheets. Thinking back to the beginning of this assignment, we never thought we would have so much to discuss. It definitely became easier as we went on, and using the contexts in which we learned about the issues brought up in the book to help relate the topics to design helped a lot. I never realised how much of the book I was able to retain until now!

...and then it was time for a break

Design Studies: Think BIG!

After it being commented on during the lecture that everybody had posted their Design Studies work during the night before the deadline - I thought I would take the opportunity to get my work up early. As keen as it sounds, my previous work for Design Studies had in fact been posted for a few days, but as a draft - so I hope you are reading this, Jonathan! Yeah!

That aside, myself, Ross, Fawn and Esther decided to begin Assignment 2: Think Big! We took over a small section of the gallery outside the I&ED studios. Stupidly - it was decided to do this during the Bomb Project, which was chaos. Probably not the best idea we've ever had. Fret not however, as we ploughed into it all quite keen to get it done none the less! The fun atmosphere around us actually helped rather than hindered, as I had suspected it may at first.

This was when we realised that the task itself was not as easy as first thought - due to our initial topics discussed. Esther and myself had both covered the "Airwalk" section of The Tipping Point, which as a group we decided to tackle first. Viral advertising is essentially what Lambesis created for Airwalk - so it was questioned how we could relate this to design. Viral-ad campaigns are becoming increasingly popular, so it is highly likely that we will come into contact with these in our line of work.

The remainder of our brainstorming will be completed and updated tomorrow - as one must dash.

I have work y'know.

Furniture Design: And So It Begins...

Hurrah! Finally, a new project to get my grisly teeth into! 

Out with Jute and in with furniture! Again, this is a group work task, and for this, I shall be working alongside Emma and Hamish. 

recycled planks have been cleaned 

up and used as surface materials

So far, after a matter of hours, we have several ideas buzzing around in our busy little beaver heads. Wood. What woods? Hard woods? Scottish woods? Salvaged woods? Wood at all?

Plastic? Vinyl? Lamination? The list goes on! Melting old vinyl records into shape has also been discussed - another way to recycle (at least we can disguise it as that, but really it would be sweet revenge on the ear bleeders of the 70's).

We seem to collectively have taken to the reuse-recyle aspect of the brief, which is always a plus given the economic climate, with costs of plastics in particular fluctuating more than Amy Winehouse's rehab status.

hide yo stumps, hide yo doors, cause we stealin'
errthing out there!

But, where to start with things like this? Of course we don't want to get in any serious trouble while foraging for salvageable materials, although I'm sure a cheeky rap on the knuckles would be worth it - in the name of art! You must suffer for your art after all, I guess. Stray planks we find by "chance" for example isn't hurting anybody, or a few delivery pallets. We may draw the line at front doors though. 

Throughout this post is a selection of research I have accumulated already, with particular interest focussing on raw bark use and the use of recycled planks. I'd love to get my hands on some of those well known delivery crates, however that may be a tad more tricky. I may need to be a bit of a "Connector" and call upon some of my sources and acquaintances! See what I did there? 

It is of course, only the first day of the brief so lets not run away with ourselves quite yet. Tomorrow we plan to use some of our new found mind mapping skills to gain some kind of order over all the ideas that instantly start buzzing around. The straight forward "chair" piece has been pretty much disregarded as it has been highly dominant throughout several of the previous years, although that is not to say that we will not design a new, highly successful pioneering chair design which will transform us into multi millionaires. Ok, I know it's unlikely, but I can dream, can't I?

I'm not kidding about the goat idea.

In all seriousness though, I think we want to steer away from that, edging towards something different. We're not sure if it's a table, a lamp, or a goat we're going for, but whatever it is, I reckon we will aim to do something entirely different from the previous example outcomes seen from this module.