Design Mashup: Personal Objects meet Narrative in Contemporary Design
Year: 2011
Editor: Kovacevic, Ahmed, Ion, William, McMahon, Chris, Buck, Lyndon and Hogarth, Peter
Author: Howell, Bryan; Christensen, Seth
Series: E&PDE
Section: Design Methodology and Education 3
Page(s): 571-576
Abstract
An engaging story is at the heart of every notable design. this paper proposes a method of teaching students hw to employ narrative in their own design work. Students first construct a short, written narrative about an object that is meaningful to them. Then they discover how notable contemporary designers use narrative by collecting images of products that resonate with them. After collecting images of products, students define the essence of its narrative in one word. Finally students are asked to design a product with a new narrative by combining the narrative of their meaningful object with one of the narrative trends that they discover in their exploration of contemporary design. This paper gives an example of how the development of narrative helped students create meaningfully designed products. Ultimately, Design Mashup is a method of teaching students that narrative is an essential component of any impactful design, and it shows them how their own design work can be enriched by incorporating it into their design process.
Keywords: Mashup, Creativity, Trends, Favorite Objects