Making Meaning: An Introduction to Designing Objects, Part I

Overview

Part 1 of Making Meaning: An Introduction to Designing Objects provides an overview of the theories and practices object designers are engaged in today, and how designers use signs, style and utility to generate substance. It also examines the design process in detail, revealing models to help us make sense of its complexity. Starting by illustrating the breadth of the field, the course goes on to explore the power relations and semiotic structures which lie behind object making. It covers how we use objects to express our identity and position ourselves within subcultures, and it analyzes the process of design as it unfolds in the designer’s mind, on paper, through model making, and via other generative “thinking tools”. Incorporating interviews with contemporary professionals the course offers rare insight into the way designers work, the thinking behind their projects, and the methods that lead to successful object-making.

Syllabus

Mission Creep: Product Design Goes Plural

The first session defines what we mean by object design - how it differs from, but overlaps with, the arts and sciences - what skills are needed to practice it - and what different specialisms it includes.

A Generative Process: Design in the Mind, on the Page, and in the Hand

In Session 4 we look at different design methodologies and thinking tools that enable us to push our ideas-generation further, and provide the widest range of options from which to select the right direction. We also cover visualization and prototyping tools that allow us to represent our ideas and test them.

Style and Substance: The Overt and Covert Politics of Design

Session 2 is about object design’s relationship to value, power, and meaning. It explains how we use objects to express our identity and position ourselves within subcultures, and how design becomes a persuasive tool when we choose to design a certain type of object, or convince a manufacturer to use one material over another.

Reading and Writing Form: The Visual Language of Designed Objects

Designed objects display visual language - the way an object communicates to us with its outward appearance. Session 3 looks at the structures and uses of that language