Design Process
• Imagine a brick……
• List sequentially, 12 things you could do
with a brick.
• Don’t confer, don’t ask questions – there
are no right or wrong ways of doing this!
• Linear/sequential process
• Rhizomatically ‘expansive’ not vertically
‘progressive’
• Applies to; concept development,
materials, processes, visual elements
(line, tone, colour, texture, shape/form),
composition, curation etc.
12 bricks
Stages of thinking
•Physicality of the from = paper weight
•Physical deconstruction = drainage gravel
•Known uses = step
•Surreal uses = paint red, call him Fred
•Original thought =…..............
Often we start with the most obvious solution (which can sometimes be the template for
the best solution), in this case the known uses and properties of the brick i.e. '1. Build a
wall', '2. Prop a door open.'
If we keep going we reassess our idea of ‘brick’ (separate what we know it to be from what
it is/does) or design problem and create solutions that are slightly less obvious i.e. '6. A
bird bath in the type with depressions', '5. A hollow brick can be used as a container for
paper plans'.
•
Design process
•First insight
Design brief or conceptual idea
•Research
Image, idea and information gathering
•Incubation
Initial sketches of the design’s form
•Eureka
Moment or moments when design fulfils its potential
•Verification
Creating, making concrete the design
• We then also 'think outside the box' and really push our imagination
often creating solutions that would either be impractical or
fantastical! i.e '21. To hide something not nice behind it', '4. Video it,
give it a title and exhibit it at the Tate.'
Other stages include deconstruction of the brick into a new form, this
could be grinding the brick into powder and painting with it, which in
design terms is the equivalent of deconstructing either your previous
ideas or previous formal elements (line, shape, colour etc). My other
favourite stage is the personification of the brick!
• In summary, the important thing to remember is that creative
thinking is something you have to really stretch and develop, and be
aware that however far you stretch it, it will always shrink back a
little bit in order to meet the brief/corporeal practicalities!
Picasso’s Bulls
Theo Van Doesburg, Cows. 1918