Mash To The Future

2d Image Manipulation As A Driver For Ideation
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2d Image Manipulation As A Driver For Ideation
Karl Hurn, Ian Storer
Loughborough University

Mash To The Future

2d Image Manipulation As A Driver For Ideation
Mash.png

Industrial Designers are renowned for their ability to work effectively with diverse and disparate individuals, disciplines and organisations during the creative process (Hurn, 2006). This is part of the makeup of the Industrial Designer that led to Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO coining the term ‘T-shape’ designer. The symbolic shape of the ‘T’ refers to the depth and breadth of the designers abilities; with the vertical stroke of the ‘T’ being the depth of skill that allows them to contribute to the creative process, and the horizontal stroke being the disposition for collaboration across disciplines (Hansen, 2010).

During the initial ideation phase of the design process, professional Industrial Designers use a variety of 2D source images as a jump off point to feed the creative process (Hurn, 2011). Concept artist Scott Robertson cities the building of a visual library of resource images as an important skill for Industrial Designers to inspire and inform their form and styling development process (Robertson, 2012). Professional Industrial Designers might be expected to take this lead, or be provided with source material by Marketers or Brand Managers working for prospective clients. Either way, students are taught to mirror this process of mood board or Pinterest visual language board creation to inform their ideation.

However, previous studies by the authors have shown that students collect these visual language image resources but that there is a disconnect in their application to the ideation process, meaning that students do not use this resource and complete the task simply to gain an academic mark (McDonagh & Storer, 2004).

There has been a continuing theme in the authors teaching within Loughborough Design School to encourage student engagement with visual resource materials during the creative process (McCardle et al, 2011). Form analysis criteria was used in this 2011 study to good effect however the authors observed that there was a lack of depth in the students understanding of the semantic messages expressed by the product form.

A 2008 study within Loughborough Design School also found that students’ lack of confidence in their sketching ability was creating a barrier to creativity, and hampering their ability to accurately depict form, texture and materials (Storer, 2008).

This new study conducted with postgraduate Industrial Design students within Loughborough Design School integrates the collection and collation of visual language images into the ideation process by encouraging students to manipulate and combine those images using image manipulation software to create considered high quality conceptual start points directly from those images. Therefore providing the threefold benefits of a) removing the disconnect of visual research and ideation, b) removing the initial sketching barrier to creativity for some student’s and c) allowing students to manipulate and understand high quality form, texture and materials through the direct use of those images.

 

Year: 2015