Draft Manifesto

Designers rack their brains to looking for inspiration, they trying to create something new and original idea with new material or new technology during their design process to seek the innovation design. 

Actually, a good design should be back to simplicity, it can achieve the innovation design in the same way.

Simplify method

Achieve the simplicity is through thoughtful reduction. ‘It is not necessarily beneficial to add technology features just because we can’ (Maeda, 2006).

Reduce some unnecessary elements to pursue the truly exquisite.

Visual, repeated deliberation

The visual aspect is constantly changing until you find the satisfactory outcomes. Such as lines, shapes, and patterns with different sizes, thickness and color. Only rearrange those ultimate puzzles can come up with some new interpretations.

Cost - Time is money, friend~ Start with the simple material

Use the simplest and economical material that you can achieve at the beginning. For example, paper is an achievable material in everyday life. The idea starts with low cost material save your time and effort to create the prototype. It directly provides you a great deal of feedback and self-reflection which will result in the design of better idea.

Use your hands

Human hands have the duty to continuation of traditional and create the future. Contemporary designer should not just focusing on operate the complex digital software as their tools. Moreover, to develop the handling ability is more crucial than any time before, they should apply this basic designer thought and fundamental design philosophy into their product.

Emotion / humanistic sentiments given to the work

Emotional design should consider as an important role in innovation design. The personalities of product have much been tending to as the product itself (Norman, 2004, p.57). The product, whatever it is handicraft or digital work, they should have established the emotion connection with their target people.

Reference:

Maeda,J. (2006). The laws of simplicity. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press

Norman, D. A. (2003). Emotion Design: Why we love (or hate) everyday things New York: Basic Books

Research/ be inspire

'A representative star of Japanese graphic designer Ikko Tanaka (MUJI art director). The most defining aspect of his design work is his ability of combine Japanese tradition with modern techniques, counterpoising traditional value, principles and styles to be appreciated universally, regardless of culture.

This famous quote is also MUJI's belief, and it appear so many times in MUJI Award international design competition about simplicity :

"Simplicity should not be made inferior to extravaganza. Rather, it should be that in such world of simplicity, where unspoken sensibility and sensitivity are its pride, by expanding such value system one can enrich life with as little resource as possible"

This is one of his iconic work called 'japan' poster for Japanese Graphic Designers Association, it is direct reference from the one called Heike noyko (image 2) from the twelfth century. His style with little bit simplistic with clear and fluid line and shape, make it modern style not just suit for the japan but could be worldwide stage. It also the reason why the MUJI (Muji is short for mujirushi ryohin, translate into English as 'no label, quality goods') as design minimalism, recycling, even become a globalization brand reasons.

image 1: Japan for JAGDA (1986)

image 2: Heike Nokyo (12th Century)

Image 3: Ikko Tanaka and Future/Past/East/West of Design installation view at Tokyo's 21_21 Design Sight

John Maeda is also the master of simplicity, Ikko tanaka is his mentor.

In TED he had a speech about the simplicity and brief talking about why he wrote this book, he said  "Simplicity is about living life with more enjoyment and less pain." 

The MIT Media Lab's John Maeda

http://www.ted.com/talks/john_maeda_on_the_simple_life#t-804630

Rethink about the draft manifesto

Designers rack their brains to looking for inspiration, they trying to create something new and original idea with new material or new technology during their design process to seek the innovation design. Actually, a good design should back to simplicity, it can achieve the innovation design in the same way.

-          Use the simple method to create infinitive ideas

A simple method in design could through different lines, patterns with different sizes, thickness and colors, constantly compose with each others to develop your own creative thinking. It should be considered and have a certain priorities in your design process. The visual aspect is constantly changing until you find the satisfactory outcomes. Only rearrange those ultimate puzzles can come up with new interpretations.

-          Use the simple material.

Use the simplest and economical material that you can achieve. For example, paper is a achievable material in everyday life. Some designer use them to sketch, others through the origami and carve them to create the pleasant feelings. You can start to use it without have too much tools and skills and it also easy to shape. Think differently what you can achieve with the simple normal material and treat them well, you will find it also could be a challenge practice. If you work hard that even will become a self-improvement. Simple idea and material save time and effort to create the prototype as well. It seems simple method but this can provide a great deal of feedback and self-reflection which will result in the design of better products. Designer will always tweak their ideas and prototype. Use those as the first step to make it further approach. It is also worth and should be advocate because of it could be a lower cost and environmentally friendly.

-          Use your hands

Human hands have the duty to continuation of traditional and create the future. Craft exist as long as human history. It is represent our identity, skills and convey information in different period of history; After research more about the relationship between technology and craft, you will they are so close with each other. Today we rely on the technology and digital techniques to create things we want, digital visual design create the visual impact as a new way of seeing, computer aided manufacture to create the prototype in an efficient way. Contemporary designer should not just focusing on operate the digital software as their tools. Moreover, they should apply the designer thought and fundamental design philosophy into their product. It is the time to understand and improve craftsmanship which should be integral part of our design process. 

Some thoughts for project 2

Some thought for the manifesto draft idea

Design is about designer constantly deny their ideas and reinvent it again. 

For spending three years at design school, it is always a same question around my head again and again. What is design? I asked, what is the meaning of it. As i thought when i first coming in here, i think design is about to getting or become a smart person compare with other people. Afterwards, i thought that it is ''better design, better life''. The life is all based on your design. Design create the better world, a better one never provide it for you, you must achieve by yourself with good intent. Without asking yourself, what vision of good life do you want to live, how can you make a good design, without remodeling the idea and recreate them. Designer and design always ‘on the road’.

I might use the best and easiest way to access the material I got, that is the paper. By using the paper crafting and shaping it... to let other people see this world, what is the difference between designer/design thinker can create and the maker/ other people... and by using the economical material to telling people, it is all about the mind and handiwork. I thought in digital technology time, everything might be really easy to access such as you can draw stuff in Photoshop or making a modeling inside the 3D modeling tool. 

However, that is just a starting point, i also need to talk with my tutor about the idea and see how we going. As a media designer, i also concern that the technological problem and which it create themselves so fast enough which is let us to facing how we facing the world. how we facing that challenge... coz not everything can be handle by technology, isn't it?

Some random ideas i thought in my mind by using sketch on the paper

Some paper model just roughly idea about it... several different iteration to show the meaning of beauty.

Peer review uploading

Chris doing my peer review before Nehal, so he had not get the chance to see the last version of the essay...