Design Mussings

Inspiring Thesis Exhibition, Garden I and II using peepholes to make participants indulge in voyeurism. Playing with placement in The Bambini to go against taking things for granted and creating the perfect setting for surprise, the unexpected and a humor.

‘Temporary Immersive Environment Experiments’ is a research on audio/visual installations by using the state called immersion which is the state of consciousness…

Marco Casagrande's  Sandworm is an interesting liminal space without new media. Can we recreate this feeling of space and light with new media? 

In this unmissable look at the magic of comics, Scott McCloud bends the presentation format into a cartoon-like experience, where colorful diversions whiz through childhood fascinations and imagined futures that our eyes can hear and touch.

Joseph Campbell describes how we search experiences that provides us with the sense of being alive and not necessarily those that provide meaning, the root of the process is the disruption of the normal state of being. This is resonating with what I think new media design should do, or maybe it is too much to ask for? 

Clip from his interviews on The power of Myth with Bill Moyer. 

Design that makes me smile, smart design, design for good, kind design, design that is memorable in a positive way, design made for people and not for designers, design that makes us reflect and accept ourselves, design that is aesthetically stunning but also conceptually driven. I often question which designs have made me feel emotions? And in broader terms, which art form has stirred my emotions, and no doubt, it is film that engages me like no other art form can. New media uses cinematic language, although I feel the design process in dynamic media differs from filmmaking in many ways.

The core of my previous reflection comes rooted in questions such as: How can I create emotional responses with new media? How can design be less arrogant and become more accessible? Are designers really designing for others or just for other designers? How can design approach people, culturally and visually. Can we accomplish this as well as cinema does it? Is the integration, in the design process, of the cinematic language into that of dynamic media the key to create a memorable experience? One, which leaves an imprint in the mind of the audience.

I feel design often tries to propel emotions and in most cases fails to deliver. Why is that? To much rationale, to much technicalities in the process, not enough depth, not enough gut, maybe not enough content as well. I also wish design gave you the same feeling as dancing does. I barely dance now, but I remember exactly how it feels. Feeling swept away, a mix of happiness, tingling sensations, arousing at times, erotic, passionate, motion that changes from slow to fast paced, unexpectedly, a feeling of wonder, at the root it is about being in control and out of control at the same time.

Films give us moving experiences; they tap into our psychology and create emotional and memorable moments. Could we use the principles of film language and apply them to design for the same purpose? Or rather can we take advantage of that which makes dynamic media a language on its own and superimpose cinematic language in the design process to create also memorable and transformative experiences? How do they do it, in which part of the design process should we think about applying these principles?

I feel dynamic media offers us many avenues to explore, but as Manovich expresses it should be regarded as a new language and designers have yet to tap into. The multidimensionality of new media reminds me of McCloud’s feelings about recognizing “the ultimate challenges of the infinite digital canvas”. The opportunity for dynamic media to engage participants is vast, in my opinion, but what differentiates a disruptive design from another banal and forgettable? Could the framing of the story have any influence in the final outcome? By framing I mean a more systematic approach, such as that of filmmaking.  The process for filmmaking is definitely well established, it is strictly structured and detail oriented, content is revised and deconstructed before technical aspects come into consideration. In films, the story is paramount, it comes first and it is comprehensibly constructed in such a manner that there is no chance for mistake. Symbolisms are carefully thought, the mind of the writer could maybe be the missing link to achieving what we are aiming for. My angle is that designers have to construct better stories before diving into the design process. How can designers become better storytellers?

In my opinion, one key element of storytelling is the use of thresholds, the audience is pushed emotionally to the verge between one stat and another, and also taken suddenly from one stage to another, in what could be considered a manipulated matter, but at the same time very effective.

What I am proposing is that this systematic and content driven process of filmmaking be incorporated into the design process in order to create emotional response in design. And serve as tools for designers to become better storytellers.