Week 5: 2D

CHALLENGING ASSUMPTIONS

Challenging assumptions can be one of the best ways to generate new ideas. Every time a person is faced with a problem, they bring their own experience and knowledge to it, including biases. There are so many aspects that we just assume – consciously and unconsciously. By having all this existing information or “mental baggage” it can be difficult to come up with new and inventive ideas.

REFERENCE: http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/creativity_challenging_assumptions.html

http://www.999ideas.com/challenge-assumptions.html

To challenge our assumptions, we first have to identify them.

For our group exercise, we started by discussing the following questions:

Q1. Relatives - A doctor in London had a brother in Manchester, who was a lawyer - but

the lawyer in Manchester did not have a brother in London who was a doctor. Why?

ASSUMPTION: When we first read this question, we assume the doctor is male, most likely due to the male references used (i.e. brother).

ANSWER: The doctor is a female, the sister of the lawyer in Manchester.

Q2. Bottled Money - If you put a small coin piece in an empty bottle and replaced the

cork, how would you get the coin out of the bottle without taking out the cork or breaking

the bottle?

ASSUMPTION: We assume that the only way we can make an opening in the bottle, is to take the cork out.

ANSWER: However, we can also get the coin out by pushing the cork in.

Q3. The Restaurant Meal - Three women each have two daughters, and they all go into a

restaurant for a meal. There are only seven vacant seats in the restaurant, but each has

a seat for herself. How do they manage it?

ASSUMPTION: We assume they are three women who are of the same generation and not related.

ANSWER: They are women of different generations; there is the grandmother (woman 1) who has two daughters (women 2 and 3). The daughters also have to daughters each, making them the granddaughters, so in actual case; there are 7 women, 3 of which have two daughters each.

We then had to read the following story, then list and challenge our assumptions:

MIKE’S AUDITION

Have you ever been in Los Angeles freeway traffic? We were once in bumper‐to‐bumper traffic, trying to get to the airport at 10:30 at night. I didn't know that there were traffic jams until late in the evening.

In any case, if you have had a similar experience, you can relate to the following problem, which will show us how challenging assumptions leads to more creative solutions.

Mike had an audition for a movie role at eight the next morning. But it was in Hollywood, and he lived on the other side of Los Angeles. He was notified of the audition late, and now it was one in the morning.

This was a problem, because it could take as much as four hours to get through the morning traffic, and he needed time to shower and get ready. He would have to get up by a little after three that morning.

He thought about this. Just two hours of sleep, followed by hours on the freeway ‐ this might affect his performance. This would be his first important role if he was hired, so his mind started scrambling for solutions. Taking the bus might be faster than driving his van, but he didn't know the bus schedules, and it was too late to find out. He looked at a map of the city, hoping for a better route, and he might have found one, but it seemed dangerous to guess about routes he wasn't familiar with at this point.

He suddenly recalled a problem solving technique his friend Steve had told him about, and decided to try it. He did the assumption‐challenging exercise, starting with a pen and piece of paper and writing a

list of assumptions.

ASSUMPTIONS:

·      We assume he is driving

·      It takes 4 hours to get through the morning traffic in Hollywood

·      Traffic is going to be bad

·      He is leaving in the morning

·      Assuming he is going to have a nap before he leaves

CHALLENGE:

·      He doesn’t have to drive – he could take any number of alternate transport options.

·      He doesn’t have to drive through the morning traffic. He could plan to arrive at a different time during the day to avoid the four hours in traffic.

·      Traffic may not be bad

·      Again, he doesn’t have to leave in the morning. He could choose to leave at an alternate time.

·      He doesn’t have to have a nap before he leaves, he could have one when he gets there, or not at all.

SOLUTION:

Start driving at 1am, get to Hollywood, sleep, shower, etc before the audition, and he will also beat the morning traffic.

DESIGN CHALLENGE/REFLECT & REFINE

For our practical this week, we have to critique our 2D design concept and make a list of two assumptions about our design, then challenge these, and finally, refine and solve the challenges.

Assumption 1: I assume that the lanterns will be made from paper.

THE CHALLENGE: Paper is quite a common material used for lanterns, due to the fact that it is light weight, cheap, relatively transparent, flexible and so on. Based on these things, I assumed that mine would be paper also – especially because I plan to design and print patterns onto them.

But, why should they be paper?

The criteria for material for a lantern would be quite simple:

·      Lightweight

·      Strong

·      Translucent

What other materials could be considered?

·      Fabric – this is lightweight and strong, but I would probably need to create some sort of frame to support it and keep the lanterns shape. I could also look at some sort of fabric stiffener. I also need to consider how the designs will reproduce on the fabric.

·      Ribbon – I would also need to create some sort of frame first and then I could perhaps incorporate some sort of woven design. Again, there may be some printing issues.

·      String – Again, I would need some sort of lightweight frame. Printing on the actual string itself presents a challenge, however I might be able to incorporate and integrate patterns in amongst the string, rather than on it.

·      Plastic – lightweight like a plastic bag or cellophane, again this may need some sort of frame. Not so eco-friendly if it gets too hot from a light/candle.

·      Lace – I could either use lace itself, or design a lace-pattern. Perhaps I could incorporate the two.

REFINEMENTS: Initially, for some of the lightweight materials, I was thinking I would need to construct some sort of lightweight frame to support the materials not strong enough to hold their weight or keep the desired shape of the lantern. Something like this could be created with bamboo skewers for example, however, it may be possible to create a translucent layer that will hold its shape and then I could attach the patterned layer. If I used a plastic similar to the one used for overhead projector sheets, it would allow for more flexibility in the materials used. For example, I could use tissue paper or fabric on top and it would be strong enough to hold the shape.

Assumption 2: I’m assuming the designs I come up with will be printed on the lanterns

THE CHALLENGE: Because I am creating designs for the lanterns in Illustrator, I assume that I’ll be printing them out, most likely on plain white paper or cardboard.

Why do the designs need to be printed?

The designs could be:

·      Hand drawn

·      Painted

·      Embossed

·      Cut out

·      Sketched

·      Etched

I still want to use the techniques and skills I have learnt in graphic design to make the patterns/designs and I guess to some extent, I would still need to print out my design, but it doesn’t just need to be about patterns and colour.

REFINEMENTS:

I really like the idea of incorporating the effect of cutting out or embossing with my designs/patterns. With these sorts of effects, it may eliminate the need to have lots of colour – the designs can be more subtle.

One of the major parts of pulling this idea off effectively is how I cut out the shapes. The first tool that comes to mind is a scalpel or Stanley knife which allows for flexible cutting, however sometimes the cut edges aren’t always smooth. Some sort of stamp out would be effective.