Design Thinking Process
The article explore the way that designers think when they develop a solution for a graphic design object as a brand, and how the shape evolution can illustrate what kind of thinking process designers use to use in their daily work.
Develop
When teaching design, perhaps the most important thing is the development of “ analytical-creative” competence. For a good attitude towards its development it is necessary to have a conscience and valuation of its importance on human life, specially today when the xxi century economy needs innovative minds.
In education, this attitude must be present at a teacher and student level as well, expressing itself in an open mind to recognize and accept them, for which is necessary to re-educate our way of thinking.
In general, patterns of thinking applied at traditional education in primary and high school, consist on lineal thinking, this is, discover THE RIGHT ANSWER by the METHOD or path already designated. This way of thinking is rigid, starts from knowing one only true and one only model to get to it. However, the interpretation of reality depends on the observer and the context of interpretation he is using, so the same problem can be seen and described differently from two people. Someone with an “analytical/creative” mind will come up with many interpretations or different solutions. through its way of thinking and working, searches for alternative courses of action that reduce uncertainty and give structure to the different factors that come together in communication. In this process, the development of alternatives is the main thing, so that it drives the inspiration process of generating visual and innovative ideas.
By alternatives, we understand the evolution of a shape from a visually defined concept.
Developing Alternatives.
The process of developing alternatives starts from the understanding of the utility and necessity of doing such process to accomplish innovation. To start this search, is necessary to recognize “many paths of action, some of them will remain only as possibilities”, and others will grow deliberately through a never ending search from a “INTERESTED VIEWER”, that will allow us to discover the break points and inconsistencies. By itself, the process of developing alternatives is a break point process.
So, a formal evolution process starts inside the above limits. The constraints of the mind models belongs to the designer and are defined by his experience or framework, and the constraints of the project are defined by the needs of the task. Then, starting from a series of topological break points (Changes on the structure of the shape), derived from the interaction between shape and designer, we go on to the generation of formal alternatives with different angles of visual interest.
The next figure shows that innovation, most of the time, only comes up when there has been a long search for alternatives, this goes beyond the “expected period of development”, to generate and discover new shapes and new interpretations. This capability has to be with being able to see the different shape variations, that only occurs using divergent thinking. The shape selected will depend on the needs of the task. As a result, it can be any of the shapes developed in the process.
This exercise of perseverance has to be done specially by people who don´t have this ability by birth. In the case of students that have the ability to visualize alternatives making creative jumps, education should be focused on increasing the mind model by expanding the referential framework through reasonable experience.
The limitations or constraints in the mind models changes according to every new creative experience, adding these experiences to the new model developed.
Selecting an alternative.
The choosing of an alternative starts at the same time that the shape starts to change and evolve. When it comes to choosing, two aspects have to be consider:
a. the content of the message b. the shape or visual syntax
a. the content of the message
In one way, the idea you want to communicate or content of the message, interacts with shape, suggesting:
