DESIGN LAB PRACTICE
This course explores the technical, social and ethical dimensions of producing and creating content to be shared and consumed online. Exploration of the varying modalities of communication is undertaken by looking at content through the phases of production, dissemination and consumption and exploring the impacts of this process on disciplines of creative arts and design.
​
Exploration of a variety of methods for producing, collecting, collating and curating online content is undertaken with the goal of working with a client to create a brief and then designing, curating and producing a product that is successful in meeting the clients requests by communicating and justifying each designs decision. The impact of technology on content production and curation will also be examined through out the process.
​
3580QCA
This project aims to demonstrate a range of design tools to create visually engaging content.
MODULE 1: INTRODUCTION
LECTURE REFLECTION
Forming a group for the assessments in the course commenced with identifying commonalities between classmates in response to the question "from what perspective would you like to respond to the climate crisis?"
Given the recent bushfire crisis and the increasing amount of time spent sitting in traffic on Gold Coast roads, my group formed to design solutions that combat these issues that are incredibly close to home.
Our strengths lie in the fact that we have all been impacted in some way by both these events and our team is multidisciplinary; with group members experienced in graphic design, film making, hand drawing, 3D modelling and rendering. This week we all chose an element of our topics to research with the intention being to come back next week and create a problem statement or question that our design project will be responding to. I chose to look at the zones of bush fire hazard and flood risk on the Gold Coast.
PROJECT BRIEF
Climate Crisis
Creative Conscience is an awards program for students and graduates (up to two years) with the goal of creating a space for people to make real, tangible change. They offer a variety of briefs in different areas however, for this project we are focusing on the ever evolving 'Climate Crisis'.
​
To create this project brief Creative Conscience has teamed up with Extinction Rebellion. The goal for this project is to create a two minute film and supporting documentation that creates a change within one or more of the following themes:
-
Community
-
Education & Learning
-
Environment & Sustainability
-
Equality & Justice
-
Health, Wellbeing & Disability
-
War & Crisis
​
The submission will be judged on it's creative approach and potential impact, with students having the opportunity to submit their project directly to Creative Conscience and Extinction Rebellion as well as the university if they wish.
RESEARCH
Floods, Fire and the Future: Planning & Natural Hazard Management on the Gold Coast, Australia
In 2008, a paper was presented to the ACSP-AESOP 4th Joint Congress in Chicago, USA. The conference theme the year was “Bridging the Divide: Celebrating the City” focused on the mediating role of cities in conflicts between racial and ethnic groups. This paper identified the environmental hazards or 'wicked problems' that, combined with the increasing impacts of climate change and the rising population and urbanisation of the Gold Coast, the extent of these hazardous events appeared to be increasing. Gold Coast communities are impacted by environmental hazards that include bush fires, landslips, flooding, cyclones, storm surges and drought.
​
The Australian Government operates on a system that means it is the State Governments jurisdiction to respond to and assist with environmental hazards, with the federal government taking a purely advisory role. As the state governments are also responsible for planning and zoning land use they are in the unique position of responsible for managing the increased environmental hazards and urbanisation and population growth.
​
The paper discusses multiple case studies on land that was to be developed into low to medium residential spaces. These case studies showed that most hazard mitigation plans put in place are oriented towards the history and previous environmental hazards instead of exploring the potential future dangers that occur through climate change.
IDENTIFYING (POTENTIAL) SAFE ZONES
ORMEAU
HIGHLAND PARK
ASHMORE
ROBINA
MODULE 2: AUSTRALIAN CONTEXT
LECTURE REFLECTION
Our westernised history of design follows on singular story of great (white) men creating great things. However, this leaves out design by other cultures and the narratives that went on behind the biggest movements in design. There is a conception that design fits into a series of labels that design for people when design is now moving to a phase that allows us to design with people.
​
Praxis is the theory and practise that creates informed and committed action; this is the philosophy of a design lab. A design lab extends beyond the traditional paradigms of design (interior, graphic, fashion etc.) and instead focuses on large issues such as climate change and rising population. Design Labs aim to analyse and synthesise knowledge in order to inform their design solutions. They work with people to research and undertake projects the work to solve systemic wicked problems and propose design solutions to divert the futures course from their current trajectory.
​
My understanding is that the purpose of a design lab is to lead discussion with a community, often on behalf of government organisations (whether local, state or federal). Design labs do not design for trend or profit but rather for social and environmental benefit. Our current ways of being in the world are problematic because they are not sustainable in the long term. These ways of being are not just environmentally unsustainable but also politically, economically, socially and technologically.Design labs go through the process of designing to shift these ways of being in a social context. As part of this, the self-reflection and awareness of your own value set forms part of the design process with day to day decisions impacting on the process, consciously and subconsciously.
​
As there are so few Australian design labs it is heard to imagine that they are doing enough to transition to radically new social, economic, and political paradigms. More design labs are needed to see real change, however the limited amount we have now are likely doing as much as they can within the constraints of their size. Australian Design labs could engage in Arturo Excobar's understanding of autonomous design by working with local communities across the country to prevent whitewashing and ensuring direct solutions are found without looking at a problem and design solution from a North Western perspective that can't be translated to a South Eastern sphere.
READING REFLECTION
On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal
The introduction of Naomi Klein's book highlights the huge problem that the human species has created for themselves. Climate change is not a new problem, in fact, the climate has always been changing. But as we see glaciers continue to melt, cyclones batter communities across the globe, families lose their homes to flood and fire and plants and species disappear forever, climate change is everyone's problem now. On a local scale we have seen bush fires, floods and drought impact communities across Australia in a few short months. I believe that these climate disasters are highlighting the weak points in our current systems, leaving in their wake a time for trans-formative design to better prepare and prevent.
​
What I believe Naomi is saying in her introduction is that the Anglosphere's want to continue taking from every new world they inhabit comes from a lack of connection to country. This capitalist society that has been enforced (largely by the British) on pre-colonial Australia and America are largely to blame for the climate crisis these countries face and yet these countries choose to focus on issues of the economy and closing boarders to refugees rather than considerations for the fast approaching future. The ironic part of this whole debate is that in a global world we are all immigrants and we all need to solve this problem.
RESEARCH
How We Travel
The 2019 book 'Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men' by Caroline Criado Perez explores the design industries biggest flaw of design for the "average" person (often a straight, white, middle-aged, western man) and how good design can be undertaken with out this bias. My following research has been taken from case studies in her book.
​
There is a key difference in how men and women travel (obviously this does not apply to ALL men and women, but in this circumstance I am going to generalise). Men are more likely to travel directly to their destination and then directly home, this means they tend to travel on the larger arterial roads or main transport routes (the ones our current system is design to support). However, women are more likely to trip-chain. This means that a woman's journey often has multiple stops and these mean that she is more likely to travel on smaller roads to multiple locations in one journey: taking the kids to school, running an errand, dropping in on an elderly relative, going to work, picking kids up, taking them to after school activities etc. Whilst it is important to support the workers who travel into the local hubs everyday, it is also important to support the people who trip-chain as they are the ones who contribute the largest amount of unpaid work to our society. Globally women do three times the amount of unpaid care work men do, and this is incredibly beneficial to a local economy.
In order cater for both types of travel, the Gold Coast's transport network needs redevelopment because currently the most efficient way to trip chain is by car. A possible solution is that the Gold Coast could adopt an orthogonal bus route which is a grid based route much better suited to those who are trip-chaining as opposed to a spiderweb, which condenses into a 'city centre' where it is assumed all transport users are travelling to. Additionally, it is highlighted that public transport needs to develop more 'intermediate services' like mini buses or small battery powered cars to allow people to reach areas that the main lines of public transport miss.
MINI ACTIVITY
Design Lab: PaperGiant
PaperGiant is a national design lab with offices based in Melbourne and Canberra. They "combine research, design and strategy to create human-centred solutions to the complex problems that the world, people and organisations face". My interpretation of this is that they focus largely on experience design and ethnography. They appear to do extensive research into the areas that they are designing for and addressing the problems of, making themselves experts in the field before designing a response.
READING REFLECTION
Autonomous Design and the Emergent Transnational Critical Design Studies Field
Design is an industry of change so it makes sense that it is one of the disciplines that is most open to adaptation.
​
Arturo Escobar identifies design as a world-making practice, what does this mean for design in the context of the climate crisis?
How does Escobar's discussion on decentering design from Eurocentric accounts relate to Klein's point on the myths of the Anglosphere?
Summarise the concept of Autonomous Design. Why might this be beneficial in tackling the climate crisis?
Pick a word from either reading and find out more about what it means.
DEFINITION
Anthropocentrism
Anthropocentrism is the belief that human beings are the most important entity in the universe. Anthropocentrism interprets or regards the world in terms of human values and experiences.
RESEARCH
Station Design
Written by the Department of Transport and Main Roads in 2016 is a 56 page manual on Bus Stop Infrastructure that outlines in great detail the guidelines and expectations of a bus stop. There are a few key flaws that stand out to me in this guide that I believe are worth redesigning (or at least some discussion). Whilst the document is quick to inform the reader of the disability accessibility requirements that are required, it does little to remind us that the users of this space are actually people.
​
The first flaw that stood out to me is that bus stops in low-density suburban and rural have limited to no seating. Not only does this marginalise those who are unable to stand for long periods (the elderly or injured etc.), it prevents people from comfortably waiting for longer periods of time as the buses that stop at these stations often come far more infrequently than buses in the city centre. Additionally, these bus stops are less likely to be covered making it uncomfortable to wait for public transport if it is hot or raining. Another flaw that came to light is that bus stops often have limited space for interaction. If there is seating it is placed in an antisocial way; facing away from others with arm wrests dividing seating places. Understandably, encouraging interaction could be a safety concern for some but given to the lack of lighting that is installed at these stops, clearly neither of these factors have been considered. I have focused mostly on smaller bus stops that exist in places other than town centres as those areas are often more considered as it is assumed that this is where people with to travel to and congregate. However, given the research brought to light in my exploration of 'Invisible Women', the way most women (and some men) travel is through these smaller residential zones that are currently lacking the facilities to support them.
MODULE 3: INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT