Expanding Design
An Ethics of Creation: Designing the Human View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Fernando Carvalho
If human life is dependent upon material support, then any artificial support designed by people will foster certain ways of living which afford some advantages while limiting or excluding other alternative realities. Objects made by humans may not have an independent value system of their own, but they act as mirrors, reflecting the values of those who designed them. Therefore, it would be incorrect to ascertain that design or technology are themselves amoral or pre-moral in that, the making of the world is the very realisation of an envisioned reality, that has first been imagined or desired by the people whose choices are then actualised through design and technology. This paper analyses the writings of Langdon Winner and Jürgen Habermas to discuss the distinctions between the grown and the made; nature and culture; the human and the artificial. While Winner debates the ethical boundaries of things designed by people, Habermas reflects on the ethics of designing people. Arguably, humanity has reached a point where it can design itself only because, before, humans have created and recreated an artificial world governed by technological progress: A world in which, now, technology and science have made it possible for people to design not only things, but also other people. The dynamic between these dilemmas – what world should humans design, and whether humans should (re)design humanity itself – will guide a reflection towards a design ethics, and its implications to the education and practice of future designers.
Aleatory Agency: Exploring Typographic Decision-making and Skills Development Through Chance and Game Play View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Nathan Matteson, Lee Zelenak
Typography instruction has been the bedrock of graphic design practice and instruction for as long as we have been practicing design and teaching others to do the same. Unavoidably a canon of exemplary work and best practices has formed over this period. Such canons tend to form around reasonable inputs—e.g. the peer-based review of work, the limits of the human perceptual apparatus, etc.. However any canonical basis for design instruction runs the risk of becoming rotely instructed—as a canon tends to deflect further criticism—and disenfranchising—as a canon tends towards an implied authoritarianism. This project is an attempt to create a tool that (1) fosters a sense of agency in students’ typographic decision-making, while it (2) encourages exploration of typographic possibilities outside the comfort zone of prior instruction, and (3) assists in long term retention of basic skills. It takes the form of a deck of cards. Cards are selected at random and each card contains a prompt for a typographic constraint, precedents, or method of technical execution. The irregular combination of prompts leads to exploration and experimentation that encourages risk taking in typographic design. Currently we are working with a group of undergraduate design students who are suggesting revisions to the contents of the cards; designing the cards’ faces; and developing gameplay scenarios, which as yet involve designing a given page of text based on random draws of a number of cards. Our paper covers the work done to this point and the future of the project.
Unblurring Computational Design Landscape Across Fields of Knowledge: An Integrative Model Proposal View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Diogo Carvalho
With the evolution of computational design, industrial designers, architects and mechanical engineers have never had so many tools and techniques to create and develop their solutions. Moving beyond the common passive use of computer tools, in all these fields, professionals are using computer-based approaches to augment their spectrum of possibilities, enabling the creation of optimized structures, the rapid and easy change of parameters, the sweeping of a vast space of solutions, the creative exploration of shapes and more. While all these contributions arising from various fields have been adding to build knowledge on the topic, their distinct origins have created a blurred landscape, in which similar terms such as parametric design, algorithmic design and generative design are frequently used indiscriminately to designate different things. This uncritical approach, typical of emerging research topics, leads to misconception and creates constraints in the learning and research process. Following an integrative literature review approach, where concepts connected with computational design and how they are defined and applied in different fields of knowledge are compared, this paper aims to contribute with an integrative model for computational design. Beyond the necessary discursive clarification among fields of knowledge, the model intends to redefine computational design key concepts, clarifying their definitions and foundations, related design phases, classification criteria, relationships and relative positions, and, when possible, where their boundaries, overlapping and intersecting lines can be draw.
Motion Design Social Agenda: Features and Narrative Strategies for Supporting and Promoting Non-profit Organizations View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Vincenzo Maselli, Giulia Panadisi
In the last years motion design practices have played a significant role in advertising societal issues and promoting social agendas as they are direct and visually appealing tools for helping to improve local, regional, and global issues related to public health, poverty and community development (Maselli & Panadisi 2022, Normoyle 2019, Resnick 2016). In this paper we consider motion design social agenda in educational scenarios using different narrative strategies and visual languages to address complex contexts and visually translating the values and concerns of non-profit organizations and NGOs (Alam 2022). After a quick overview of successful videos produced for supporting organizations by triggering a strong emotional response – such as Caritas Internationals, Childline, Greenpeace, The Girl Effect, Refugee Council – the paper reports a didactic experiment that engaged design students in producing animated artifacts to narrate and promote the Italian NGO SftruttaZero. SfruttaZero is a cooperative project developed in south Italy that involves migrants, precarious farmers and unemployed young people in producing local products with the aims to build solidarity relationships, fair working environment and sustainable economies in the area. Produced outputs challenge motion design’s informative power, visual qualities and technical features and address the topic under different perspectives, spotlighting either the sustainable production process or the organization's social responsibility. The paper, in conclusion, aims at demonstrating that motion design should integrate social agendas within educational context as students are more likely exposed to opportunities for experimenting their design knowledge and skills to support socially responsible actions.
Design of a Dynamic Acoustic Control Solution for Private or Public Spaces View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Daniel Vieira, Bernardo Providência
The present work proposes the design of an acoustic system for noise control and attenuation. This system was thought, developed and patented, focusing on the acoustic panel industry. More specifically, it is a product built by modular hexagonal modules, each module when tensioned forms an independent acoustic funnel that allows controlling the reflection and absorption of sound in an indoor environment. This module comprises a core and a mechanical plunger connected to a microphone, which in turn is associated with an Arduino; an electric motor is associated with a mechanism that provides the back-and-forth movement in the lining. This movement deforms the outer surface of the module and creates an acoustic funnel (positive/extended; negative/retracted; neutral/normal), promoting through dynamic control the reduction of reflection and the increase of sound absorption. In a preferential situation, this acoustic control system can detect sounds/noises with frequencies between 20 Hz and 20 kHz, volume that on a human scales range between the threshold of hearing 0 dB and the maximum audible volume before causing pain 140 dB. When the sound value is higher than 100 dB, the human auditory system becomes more sensitive to high and low frequencies. In this sense, an incorporation of this acoustic control system in private or public spaces will allow us to interact with the deformation of sound production and thus minimise the impact of noise, creating acoustically pleasant spaces. Finally, potential challenges and future works are identified.
Design of a Smart Fencing Garment with Inertial Measurement Unit Sensors View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Helder Carvalho, Daniel Vieira, Bernardo Providência
This study describes the design of an intelligent fencing uniform, through the integration of inertial measurement units (IMU) to capture the athlete's movements. Through the use of the Smartsuit ProTM with 19 IMUs, it was possible to establish a preliminarily contact with the IMU technology and carry out three-dimensional movement capture exercises in real time. One of the exercises was the comparison of right arm adduction (correct and incorrect). Data obtained in the Rokoko Studio software and exported in CSV, allowed analyzing the positions on the X, Y and Z axes of the shoulder, arm, forearm and hand during the movement. For the design of the concept, information obtained through direct observation of competition and training was used. Compared to the standard uniform, this approach could allow for a more informative and interactive design. The integration of this technology adds new functionalities to the fencing uniform, allowing the athlete to improve his performance and the coach to obtain more information about the athlete. For modelling and planning of the uniform, the “theory of kinetic construction of clothing” was used. Through this theory, a guideline is proposed for the development of a future advanced prototype. The complete development of this prototype is outside the scope of this work. It requires complex prototyping with IMU sensors and the development of appropriate software allowing signal processing and analysis in real time, calling for close interdisciplinary cooperation. Future work could include exploring other viable ways of prototyping and integrating the technology.
