Reflections.

What is Industrial Design?

Industrial design for me is when art meets practicality. Designers produce products for consumers to make life easier but also balancing aesthetics into environments.

Where does my skill set fit in?

Being a hands on person, who loves to design objects around me, I find my strengths will be perfect to develop into the way of an Industrial designer.

How does an Industrial Designer communicate their work?

Being an industrial designer, we work with community, therefore we need to have effective ways of communication. I found that sketches, well laid out ideas and finalised product portfolios are the best way to show someone your process and goal for the project your working on.

Does the process matter as much as the outcome?

I found that not only is the end goal important, but its about the process you go though, and furthermore, its story on how it came to life. The people you work with or the consumer who use the product need to be told a story which helps them connect with the product they use. Narrative doesn't just help people connect but also to allow people to understand the problems the new product solves.

Why is reflection important to a designer?

Reflections are key, it's the heart of developing ideas. Without reflection, we don't develop new brain patterns and no ideas are kept and documented. Without ideas, the backbone of industrial design is ruined.

How do I capture and develop ideas in real time?

I have found recently that when i come up with an idea in my head, I need to get it down on paper ASAP. I use any technique necessary, the best being sketching the image in my head, writing to describe an object or even just scribbling till I see my thought.

How does a growth mindset shape design practice?

Industrial design isn't all about me, it's about clients and partners too, therefore feedback is going to be inevitable. Without attacking feedback with a strong mind, your ideas wont flourish and ultimately the product can't grow from idea to genuine product.

How does mapping a personal design process help?

Mapping the design process, for a theoretical project, has helped. Now when I tackle a project, I can get an understanding for when and how to move onto a next stage in the process, allowing myself to continually moving forward and not getting stuck on one stage. I feel like following other designers processes does not let me grow and flow a though a project well enough, but documenting and reflecting on the way I do it helps me flow through design better with more ease and vision.

What challenge does the Double Diamond present?

For me, the most difficult part of the double diamond structure would be the define stage. Mainly because it's so easy to change little things from feedback which always challenges your mind to think of new solutions or ideas.

Which design words resonate with my practice?

Below are some of my favourite design words, mainly because I use their concept in my personal designs often. Also because they just relate to the way I visulise design in general.

• — Contrast (Getting more interested in colour theory recently)
• — Symmetry
• — Monochromatic (Grey scale)
• — Balance
• — Repetition (I loved exploring this concept when developing die cut artworks)

Which parts of my design process will aid me most in future projects?

Upon reflecting and documenting on my own theoretical design process believe each part does its job fairly, and no part is more important and aids me the most. I feel this way mainly because it's my own process and i can connect deeply with each stage equally. Furthermore, if its someone elses design process, I don't connect with it as much because i may not understand what these parts of the process mean and why they are there. For example, in the double diamond design process, I feel the first diamond is all one part, where as my design process has multiple neich sections that are specific to the way I work as a designer. In addition, my process shares CAD as a primary part of the process, whereas no other processes focus on this as a main part of the process.

How do I approach product analysis?

This topic can either be something I struggle with, or something I do really easily. I found having a list of the design princaples and elements next to me helps me focus on what to truely look at in a design or object. However soetimes my brain locks onto a real unique factor of an object which makes it really easy to analyse in detail.

What are the most important design elements and principles?

During tasks that involved looking and analysing these two concepts, i found the word emphasis coming up alot, mainly because it has so much effect on the brain. When looking at objects, there is so much emphasis, to help humans distinguish which parts to touch and which components are separated from others in a model. Secondly, form is so important when thinking in 3D because its what give a flat, characterless object is distinctive feel, look, and uniqueness in an environment; everything starts from form.

How can lines function as a design tool?

Utilising such a simple element in the world as the only tool in an artwork turns out to be quite interesting. It's not till after I sat down and sketched on paper some thumbnail ideation, till I realised how much power and story only 5 lines can tell. Utilising line weight, and arranging them in harmonious ways allows simple lines to become a full image which shows a story and also a design principle. I found all of the principles to be just as hard as each other to draw with 5 lines, but after laying down some ideations, a strong idea is formed. Furthermore, working with peers helps grow the way my brain perceives a design principle, which will help aid me in the way I design actual products in life.

What are the most important Gestalt principles?

After watching and learning about the gestalt theory, I was already hooked. Seeing the way our brains work to perceive things that aren't truly there is just fascinating. Its how standard designers can be distinguished from experienced designers as they are able to generate ideas and objects in a space which isnt even there. I found closure is the best principle to this theory because its the most psychologically driven principle; it makes the brain work and fill in spaces even when nothing's there. I also feel this principle is the most common in gestalt artworks, telling me that it's the most important.

Precision, Lines, Repetition — what did die cutting teach me?

Exploring die cut artworks is very tedious, but it allowed me to visualise design differently, but also further develop my hands on skills. Although a line is so simple, using use hand to cut it with a knife somehow becomes so difficult. It proves that humans are not robots, and although the most 'simple' tasks may be difficult, it allows us to grow and generate more skill which I can implement into drawing too. Ensuring that I did a line repetition practice die cut truly helped polish my hand and steadiness skills for my five main die cuts. Furthermore, when ideating for my five die cuts, I came across a realisation that although repetition is not seen as creative because its one thing over and over, if you use the gestalt principles such as space to arrange these repeated shapes or lines, you can create artworks that are seen as creative. Overall, I see repetition in my everyday life from now on and its made me see that architecture and interior design is a bit advocate for this design principle; everything from windows, ceiling patterns, brick walls, floorboards, tree leaves, and much more.