Design Diary Week Seven

As you have probably deduced from my previous posts, product designers have a problem with others understanding what we do exactly. Because of this, communication has been a theme for most of my posts. Communication is connection, and making things connect is what design is all about. It was an odd discovery for me, the day I realized communication and connection were fundamental to everything, because I am a terrible communicator. It is something I’ve always struggled with and it’s led to many a problem in my life.Solely because I am void of the tact to translate what’s in my head into words. It was worrisome at first knowing that the health of my career would depend on my ability to communicate. But I have accepted it as a challenge and I struggle and strive everyday to get improve.

The general population’s lack of a concrete identity for design and my poor communication skills have created, for me, a poisonous mix. First of all, it is incredibly difficult to describe what a designer actually does. The best answer that applies to the design community at large is that ‘we make things.’ How do we make things? Well, to that every designer has a different answer, a different approach and in conjunction, a different philosophy. Which is part of the reason there is such an ambiguous understanding. The population of those who can call themselves designers is expanding and the entire industry is in flux. An industry that I’m new to, simply trying to wrap my head around the past and present. The future? I don’t even know where to start. Each day, I read at least one article with the words ‘our industry is rapidly changing.’ The best thing I can do is not to go too deep and keep my education as broad and multidisciplinary as possible now, with my goals for later in mind and, eventually, I’ll find my direction; the connecting path between the two.

I would like to start really broadening my horizons by visiting established designers in their workspace, to see what they use to solve their problems. At school, we have many means and methods at our disposal; studio space, computer labs, photo labs and studios, rapid prototyping labs, a wood shop, a metal shop, and more. We are spoiled. Here at Runius Design, in central Stockholm, we don’t have as much makerspace directly at our disposal. It is a new problem for me that doesn’t exist in school. One’s approach is at the mercy of their workspace, tools and machines. Just because it exists somewhere doesn’t mean it’s an option, it’s about working within constraints (the biggest being money). In a way, this is positive; limits foster creativity. You must take immediate action and get resourceful with the materials at hand if you want to get things done. If you have everything, you expect more; there’s always something better.

For one of our projects I was going about the usual order of events. The multitude and diversity of stores in central Stockholm made the field research and benchmarking a dream, better than ever before. From there, 2D sketching and CAD modelling ensued but then when I felt it was time to bring the idea into 3D, there was no workshop to be found! So, I made due with a paper prototype.

These are the lessons that cannot be taught, but must be experienced. It is the learning that’s done on the job, on co-op, that you can’t find anywhere in a syllabus.

Thanks again for checking back! See you again next week.

Codee Adams
Product Designer