This blog tracks learning in my Master of Design degree at Griffith University 2018–19. Courses include design thinking, social innovation, experience design, dissertation writing and a major design research project. Latest posts appear first – please see the Courses index for specific topics and projects.
The Samford Wellbeing Trail started off as an idea – how do we make it a reality? On face value it is a simple project involving designing, communicating and promoting an event. However, as a community project involving multiple stakeholders, there are a number of complex issues to be addressed before the visual communication design …
In week 7 of our Enhanced Design Tools course, guest lecturer Dale Patterson gave a talk about data visualisation and artificial intelligence. This article is a summary of some of the concepts he discussed. Data is all around us, and there is huge potential for designers to help people make sense of this sea of …
This report looks at the disruptive effect big data is having on the visualisation of information, by first investigating the objectives of visualising data, then examining the attributes, uses and risks of big data, and finally analysing the opportunities in this area of visual communication design.
For our second design thinking project, I have chosen to work on an initiative aimed at improving health and wellbeing in our local community (Samford, an outer suburb of Brisbane). The wellbeing initiative is part of a series of community-driven initiatives focused around social, economic and environmental sustainability.
Our first design thinking project was an interesting exercise in applying a design thinking mindset to a specific, human-centric problem. Although resources were limited due to this being a student project, all class members came up with relevant solutions that could be implemented if their project was taken further. And we had a lot of …
After learning the basics of wiring the ‘breadboard’ and programming the micro:bit we experimented with a few more features including using a potentiometer, accelerometer and setting up communication between devices.
This research report was prepared as part of our Experience Design (XD) course. The project involved selecting a service area to focus on, researching its context, and preparing a case study of a service operating in that area. The area our team focused on was the growing range of services in the ‘sharing economy’.
After selecting some ideas to take forward, the next step was to prototype these. Prototyping is a way of trying out ideas and unearthing issues or questions that can be investigated through further ideation, prototyping or user empathy research. It is not about building finished solutions. A prototype allows us to ask questions, and learn …
Design thinking is big business. At the time of writing, a Google search for the exact phrase ‘design thinking’ yielded over 13 million results. As a comparison, the term ‘Bauhaus’ yielded 39 million. This relatively close ratio of 1:3 is surprising given that Bauhaus was a highly influential design movement studied extensively over the last …
How are microcontrollers being used, and do they impact what visual designers do? Microcontrollers are used in all sorts of electronic devices, home appliances, medical equipment, vehicles, phones and countless other physical products. These are not what you may first think of in terms of graphic design and visual communication. However, the user interface, accessibility …
Microcontrollers and design – what’s the connection? Read More »
After empathising with users and defining the problem for our Design Thinking project, the next step was to start finding possible ways of solving the problem! This is called the ‘ideation’ phase. Ideas can be generated through means such as brainstorming, brainwriting, mindmaps, storyboards, challenging assumptions, sketching or many other methods.
Traditionally, design is about creating effective solutions to existing problems and human needs. Designers aim to generate creative, usable ideas for new or better designed products, services, structures, interfaces or pieces of communication. Sometimes in the process of doing this, they help make the world a better place. Speculative design is the opposite of designing …
A microcontroller is a small, programmable computer on a single integrated circuit. They are called embedded microcontrollers because they are usually embedded into a device in order to run a program to do a specific task. “A microcontroller takes input from the device it is controlling and controls the device by sending signals to different …
The second stage of our design thinking project involved defining the problem or problems we were trying to solve. We used insights from the empathy stage to determine ways of looking at the problem from a human perspective, restating it as a design challenge that can be addressed in the ideation stage. In order to do …
Defining the design challenge from a user’s perspective Read More »
3D printing involves making things – 3 dimensional objects – which is generally not what most people think graphic designers do. However, graphic designers have actually been designing 3D objects since the early days of visual communication – from books and brochures through to signs, packaging, merchandise, folders, cards and advertising hoardings. The question is, …
Uses of 3D printing in graphic design and visual communication Read More »
In our second practical class for Enhanced Design Tools we had an introduction to 3D printing. It was fun to see some samples of 3D printed work, as well as learning how to use 3D software and see our designs turned into cute little 3D objects. Here’s a summary of the steps we followed.
Laser cutting and etching is being used in various ways in the field of graphic design, marketing and visual communication. The precision of laser cutting machines and the affordability of low-end models has enabled designers to achieve results that previously would have taken a lot more time and money, as well as opening up new …
The first stage of design thinking relates to empathising with users – understanding their needs, motivations, thoughts and feelings. For our project we interviewed volunteers from the university as well as observing or interviewing people in external environments and researching friends and family connections.
In our first practical session for the Enhanced Design Tools course, we had an introduction to the Trotec laser cutting machine and software, which we then used to create a simple laser cut design out of cardboard. The brief was to create a prototype for a simple phone stand that could be created using laser …
How can we reduce the excess stuff in our lives? There are many community enterprises and initiatives aiming to help people be more sustainable, save money, reduce consumption, and swap, lend or recycle stuff they don’t need. There are also many services enabling people to share resources like time, as well as physical objects like …
Community sharing and swapping in the circular economy Read More »
