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Full-Text Articles in Art and Design

Reinventing Modernity Through Tradition: Product Development In Traditional Craftsmanship, Albio Nascimento Aug 2009

Reinventing Modernity Through Tradition: Product Development In Traditional Craftsmanship, Albio Nascimento

Nordes Conference Series

In modern times, where life is permanently accelerating, people loose natural sense for matter as well as their inherent awareness of the environment. Looking back in the history of products, we now acknowledge that the designed did not replace the crafted in all its sensitive and semiotic dimensions. Craft stands for authenticity, skill and tradition – things we naturally rely on – at the same time it's built on human- to-human relations. On the contrary, the industrial lacks the social engagement, the cultural recognition and the “human touch”.


Entangled Matter: Thinking Differently About Materials In Design, Maja Van Der Velden, Tone Bratteteig, Sisse Finken Aug 2009

Entangled Matter: Thinking Differently About Materials In Design, Maja Van Der Velden, Tone Bratteteig, Sisse Finken

Nordes Conference Series

What role do materials play in the communication of information in a public space? In this article we look at a metro station in Oslo and focus on how and where messages, such as posters, graffiti, and commercial advertisements, are connected to the station’s surfaces. How to understand this relationship between materials, surfaces, and messages? In a discussion of representational and ecological perspectives on the properties of materials, we propose to understand the station as a zone of entanglement. This enables us to see how the realities of the station, including the properties of its materials, are constantly produced in …


Symbiots: Conceptual Interventions Into Urban Energy Systems, Jenny Bergström, Ramia Mazé, Johan Redström, Anna Vallgårda Aug 2009

Symbiots: Conceptual Interventions Into Urban Energy Systems, Jenny Bergström, Ramia Mazé, Johan Redström, Anna Vallgårda

Nordes Conference Series

Symbiots set out to examine values such as ease-of-use, comfort, and rationality assumed within conventions of ‘good design’, in order to expose issues related to energy consumption and current human- (versus eco-) centered design paradigms. Exploring re-interpretations of graphical patterns, architectural configura- tions and electrical infrastructure typical in Swedish cities, Symbiots takes the form of a photo series in the genre of contemporary hy- per-real art photography. Painting a vivid pic- ture of alternatives to current local priorities around energy consumption, the three design concepts depicted are strangely familiar, al- ternatively humorous and sinister.


Collaborative Visualization Workshop: Engaging People, Perspectives, And Values, Lee Van Der Kooi, Pamela Napier Aug 2009

Collaborative Visualization Workshop: Engaging People, Perspectives, And Values, Lee Van Der Kooi, Pamela Napier

Nordes Conference Series

During this workshop participants will gain experience through doing collaborative visualization in a team to articulate values and perpectives, and connect facts, thoughts and ideas. They will develop a shared understanding of how their own personal values connect to a design process and the larger social, economic and environmental contexts in which design decisions are made.


The Discursive Agency Of Productive Ambiguity, Lisa Grocott Aug 2009

The Discursive Agency Of Productive Ambiguity, Lisa Grocott

Nordes Conference Series

This poster is an attempt to visually communicate the findings of a practice-led research study — a study that came to recognize the value of critical discussion provoked by the ambiguous readings of artifacts. Interested in considering how practitioners’ share the outcomes of research, the study was motivated to see the sharing of design research as less about wrapping up and more an invitation for ongoing critical reflection between the designer and audience. Within this context the poster works as a dissemination artifact that asks carefully crafted questions as opposed to presenting closed, definitive findings. This move seeks to engage …


Exploring Tools, Techniques And Technologies For A Performance-Oriented Integral Design Process, Defne Sunguroglu Hensel Aug 2009

Exploring Tools, Techniques And Technologies For A Performance-Oriented Integral Design Process, Defne Sunguroglu Hensel

Nordes Conference Series

Performance Oriented Integral Design Process focuses on complex hierarchical organisations and higher-level functionality in biological systems to extract analogies for design principles. In order to understand and explain biology's strategies for diversity, embedded complexity and functionality, scientists deploy advanced tools, techniques and technologies to model, simulate and analyze biological systems. The purpose of this article is to investigate specific tools, techniques and technologies that may provide potentials for both the generative and analytical aspects of the design process of material artefacts.


Sharks With Arms: Exploring The Transformation From Natural Phenomenon To Innovation Object Via Applied Bionics, Harald Skulberg Aug 2009

Sharks With Arms: Exploring The Transformation From Natural Phenomenon To Innovation Object Via Applied Bionics, Harald Skulberg

Nordes Conference Series

Today, many researchers see nature as an immense resource of inspiration for creativity, enabling engineers and designers to transform knowledge gained from observations -combined with conceptual intentions – into innovation objects. The transfer of technology between natural life forms and synthetic constructs seem increasingly attractive. But what kind of methodology do designers and engineers rely on when transforming a natural phenomenon into an innovation object, using “bionic” principles? This design case investigates some of these design methods.


Are We The Tool?, Rosie Hornbuckle, Tracy Sutton, Clare Qualmann Aug 2009

Are We The Tool?, Rosie Hornbuckle, Tracy Sutton, Clare Qualmann

Nordes Conference Series

In sustainable design, the search for ‘the right tool’ is an obvious starting point, something to tell us – and those we serve – how to do it. Yet a tool, we have discovered, is what it is; useless without prior understanding of the system it is supposed to fix or the outcome it aims to achieve. An engagement with sustainability issues, debates and values are essential if tools are to be used and sustainable design to be attempted.


Design At Play: Immaterial Forms Of Consumption, Adriana Ionascu Aug 2009

Design At Play: Immaterial Forms Of Consumption, Adriana Ionascu

Nordes Conference Series

Objects serve mundane needs in many capacities in everyday life: “This is what gives them their ‘soul’...” (Baudrillard, J. 1986). The contexts in which objects are used give many insights on how people live. This article considers a theory of play to comment on user interaction with types of objects that cannot be ‘consumed’. It looks at a ‘problematic of use’, questioning the notion of production.


Textopia: A Geo-Literary Browser, Anders Sundnes Løvlie Aug 2009

Textopia: A Geo-Literary Browser, Anders Sundnes Løvlie

Nordes Conference Series

As scholars in the humanities and media studies take an increasing interest in spatial theory, location-based technology provides the opportunity to experiment with spatial media in practice. The textopia project aims to approach theory through practice, providing a system for experiencing place-bound literature in situ: A geo- literary browser.


Haptic Hedonism: Designing Pleasure For The Flesh, Ståle Stenslie Aug 2009

Haptic Hedonism: Designing Pleasure For The Flesh, Ståle Stenslie

Nordes Conference Series

Haptic hedonism is about producing sensual enjoyment through corporal stimulation. Haptic here referes to the sense of touch in all its forms, including proprioception and kinaesthesia, but in particular the cutaneous sensations of tactile pressure (mechanoreceptors) (Paterson 2007: ix). The context of art, design and technology frames this investigation on how corporal pleasures can become an integral part of interactive experiences. The focus on the design of haptic bodysuits relates to questions such as: How can corporal pleasure constitute the user experience? How can the sensations of the body be understood as an artistic and design specific ‘material’? And, can …


Artifactual Relations In Ucd, Mads Bødker Aug 2009

Artifactual Relations In Ucd, Mads Bødker

Nordes Conference Series

This explorative article presents theoretical and methodological implications of User Centered Design (UCD) from a perspective of socio material-relations and a theory of performative artifacts. The process of “asking users” is rarely treated as a design artifact that can be interrogated in and of itself. The article introduces a perspective on UCD as a “material-relational activity”. Thus, through the lens of a failed workshop, the article takes a closer look at the shaping properties artifacts, and how artifacts interact and produce results.


Identity Tool Kit, Henriette Maria Koblanck Aug 2009

Identity Tool Kit, Henriette Maria Koblanck

Nordes Conference Series

This is an explorative article detailing the development of a novel and comprehensive method to create a more inclusive and easily accessible design method applicable to a wide array of design projects, academic and professional. The purpose of this article is to introduce the “Identity Tool Kit” (ITK) - a method aimed at assisting designers and clients in the creation of visual platforms and identities in relation to product and service development. The formulation of the method began 10 years ago and it has been employed by approximately 600 university students within several disciplines and in numerous projects outside of …


Exploring Environmental Dimensions: On Sustainability As An Architectural Problem; Why It Is Not Enough To Discuss Space And Time Only, Maria Davidova Aug 2009

Exploring Environmental Dimensions: On Sustainability As An Architectural Problem; Why It Is Not Enough To Discuss Space And Time Only, Maria Davidova

Nordes Conference Series

My research aims to explore how architecture responds to environmental input. It claims that this to a large degree is done today by “add-on” technology, e.g. sound environment is modified with specialized dampening materials, and climatic issues are addressed with increasingly complex and energy consuming ventilation systems. The conceptual and/or artistic architectural expressions are often not approaching those aspects in direct consideration (except i.e. project "Morpho-Ecologies", Responsive or Performative Architectures). As a critique of this division of environmental criteria from the architectural overall performance the research seeks to demonstrate and systematize an integral approach where the environmental responses are met …


“Made By” Vs. “Designed By”: Two Approaches In Sustainable Development Collaborations With Artisan Communities, Cynthia Lawson Aug 2009

“Made By” Vs. “Designed By”: Two Approaches In Sustainable Development Collaborations With Artisan Communities, Cynthia Lawson

Nordes Conference Series

Myriad organizations such as Aid to Artisans (Aid to Artisans 2009), individuals, and most recently, universities, have embarked on projects through which they hope to create a significant, and positive, impact on artisan communities in the areas of design, marketing, and business, with the principal goal for these communities to generate income via the sale of their artisan goods. This exploratory article discusses how the “Designed By” and “Made By” models can be used at different times, and with very different goals, and talks about the challenges and advantages of each.


Exploring The Interplay Between Emotions And Interaction, Sus Lundgren Aug 2009

Exploring The Interplay Between Emotions And Interaction, Sus Lundgren

Nordes Conference Series

There seems to be a Catch-22 involved in designing interaction; it’s very hard to do it without designing an artifact too. How can we keep our main focus away from purpose, function, form and material in order to put interaction first? This article presents two design exercises that in combination highlight how emotions and expressions affect each other in design, an how interaction in turn, can be used to strengthen or express an emotion.


Peepholes As Means Of Engagement In Interaction Design, Christian Dindler, Peter Dalsgaard Aug 2009

Peepholes As Means Of Engagement In Interaction Design, Christian Dindler, Peter Dalsgaard

Nordes Conference Series

We present and discuss the concept of peepholes as a means for creating engaging interactions. By peepholes, we refer to aspects of interactive artifacts and environments that utilize the tension between what is hidden and what is revealed to foster engagement. As a foundation for discussing the qualities of peepholes, we outline a pragmatist perspective on engagement, emphasising the reciprocal relation between people, technology, and environment. We articulate peepholes as an example of a concrete means of engagement. Through a range of examples and two design cases, we explore peepholes as a means of engagement and discuss the pragmatist conception …


Creation Of Artifacts As A Vehicle For Design Research, Nithikul Nimkulrat Aug 2009

Creation Of Artifacts As A Vehicle For Design Research, Nithikul Nimkulrat

Nordes Conference Series

Although material artifacts, with their forms and meanings, have manifested the significance of craft design practice, their role and the role of their creative productions in design research have rarely been discussed. This article aims to uncover how the creation of artifacts can serve as a vehicle of design research. My doctoral research, which explores the relationship between a physical material and artistic expression in the creation of textile art and design, is given as the example. The research emphasizes the utilization of the researcher’s design artifacts and their productions as a vehicle of theoretical inquiry. The study offers the …


The Ambivalence Of Engaging Technology: Artifacts As Products And Processes, Cristiano Storni Aug 2009

The Ambivalence Of Engaging Technology: Artifacts As Products And Processes, Cristiano Storni

Nordes Conference Series

In this article, I will discuss several cases in order to explore how technological artifacts engage and are engaged in larger sociotechnical arrangements. I will show how they inscribe a certain relationship between users and designers and a certain level of engagement. At the same time, I intend to show how these relationship and levels of engagement are not intrinsic characters of artifacts per se but rather they are effects that are produced and reproduced within socio-technical assemblages. In this sense, different artifacts entangled within different socio-technical assemblages afford different levels of engagement and different instances of a user/designer relationship. …


Peeling Apples: Prototyping Design Experiments As Research, Tuuli Mattelmäki, Ben Matthews Aug 2009

Peeling Apples: Prototyping Design Experiments As Research, Tuuli Mattelmäki, Ben Matthews

Nordes Conference Series

Design research often includes design experiments. But the discourse generated by the idea of ‘research through design’ has not always been a helpful starting point for novice design researchers who intend to incorporate design as a component of their research inquiries. In this article we make two contributions. Firstly, we present a short analysis of six design research exemplars that involve design as a constituent part of the research. We do this in an effort to demonstrate that there is a multitude of ways that design can, and has, formed the basis for research contributions. Following from that observation, we …


Enacting Design: Understanding Co-Design As Embodied Practice, Kirsikka Vaajakallio Aug 2009

Enacting Design: Understanding Co-Design As Embodied Practice, Kirsikka Vaajakallio

Nordes Conference Series

A growing number of researchers and designers share the ambition to involve diverse groups of actors in design activities. While new approaches arise continuously, there is a need for studies to explore in detail what happens among the participants during collaborative design sessions. The article presents an account of interaction between two participants in a specific co-design session in order to better understand how co- design emerges through the embodied practice evolving between the participants. The analytical perspective chosen, employing interaction analysis of the video-recorded interactions and the re-drawing of bodily gestures, focused the analysis on how the design evolved …


Free Beer And Engaging Tools: Chains Of Analogies In Superflex, Troels Degn Johansson Aug 2009

Free Beer And Engaging Tools: Chains Of Analogies In Superflex, Troels Degn Johansson

Nordes Conference Series

This article presents an analysis of art collective Superflex' FREE BEER project; a beer brand and an art work that seeks to promote a critical understanding of free creativity and intellectual property rights by inviting beer enthusiasts to brew their own beer. The article seeks to demonstrate how the project contributes to Superflex' profile as contemporary avant-garde artists and how their work has contributed to the field of design. More specifically the article seeks to demonstrate how the FREE BEER project succeeds in establishing a context of meaning that involves a political as well as a business dimension, and which …


Social Navimation: Engaging Interfaces In Social Media, Jon Olav Eikenes Aug 2009

Social Navimation: Engaging Interfaces In Social Media, Jon Olav Eikenes

Nordes Conference Series

Social media are now an integrated part of culture and digitally mediated social activities. Screen-based devices now employ sophisticated graphics including visual movement on a variety of platforms. This article explores how visually dynamic interfaces can enhance social media applications. A socio-cultural view on communication and interaction design is combined with a practice-based research approach incorporating design production with textual analysis. The term social navimation is introduced and applied in the analysis of multimodal interfaces. A set of semiotic resources are identified that should be of interest for the practice and theory of dynamic interfaces and interaction design.


Facilitating Teamwork In The Design Process: Repertory Grid As An Approach To Exploratory Inquiry, Anne Louise Bang, Kirsten Nissen Aug 2009

Facilitating Teamwork In The Design Process: Repertory Grid As An Approach To Exploratory Inquiry, Anne Louise Bang, Kirsten Nissen

Nordes Conference Series

By approaching the Repertory Grid as an exploratory design game and drawing on insight in diagrammatic reasoning we argue that this approach is useful in supporting team work in the design process. In this article we draw on two courses inviting textile design students to contribute to the development of the Repertory Grid – originated in psychology as a one-to-one interview technique – into a tool for articulation and dialogue. Especially the concept of eliciting bipolar constructs using the triadic difference – asking how two elements are alike but different from a third one – proves to support in-depth investigations, …


Staging Urban Atmospheres In Interaction Design, Peter Dalsgaard, Karen Johanne Kortbek Aug 2009

Staging Urban Atmospheres In Interaction Design, Peter Dalsgaard, Karen Johanne Kortbek

Nordes Conference Series

In this article, we address the concept of atmosphere from a designerly perspective and discuss challenges facing interaction designers who seek to stage atmospheres in urban settings. We outline previous academic works on atmosphere and the emergence of atmosphere as a subject-space encounter, primarily on the basis on Gernot Böhme’s notion of atmosphere. We then present the argument that, in the field of interaction design, it is worthwhile to expand an analytical and operational understanding of atmosphere to encompass technological, social and temporal concerns, as these are central to interaction design discourse. In order to explore this expanded notion of …


Gender Bending Through Design: An Account Of A Student Project On Gender, Lena Hansson, Marcus Jahnke Aug 2009

Gender Bending Through Design: An Account Of A Student Project On Gender, Lena Hansson, Marcus Jahnke

Nordes Conference Series

This article deals with an explorative student project which was conducted as part of a consumer research project on gender in design. In the project master students in design explored and reflected on gender issues through practice, and the resulting objects were assembled into a public exhibition. Departing from gender theory we describe and reflect on the experiences of the students and the reactions to the objects and the exhibition.


Understanding Affective Engagement As A Resource In Interaction Design, Jonas Fritsch Aug 2009

Understanding Affective Engagement As A Resource In Interaction Design, Jonas Fritsch

Nordes Conference Series

This article proposes affective engagement as a possible resource when designing interactive environments. The notion of affect and affective experience as developed by Brian Massumi in cultural theory is presented as a theoretical foundation for conceptualizing experience in interaction design. In particular, it is shown how Massumi provides a non-informational understanding of affect as distinct from emotions. Instead, Massumi offers a processual and relational account of affective experience as a part of dynamic events of becoming. Through an analysis of the interactive installation Touched Echoes, the concept of affective engagement is introduced to inform the practical work when designing experiential …


Critical Artefact Methods: Using Provocative Conceptual Designs Within Participatory Human-Centred Design, Simon John Bowen, Peter Wright Aug 2009

Critical Artefact Methods: Using Provocative Conceptual Designs Within Participatory Human-Centred Design, Simon John Bowen, Peter Wright

Nordes Conference Series

In this workshop participants will have hands-on experience of ‘critical artefact methods’. Through practical experience of these design methods and discussion of their underlying methodology, we intend to generate debate about the use of ‘critical artefacts’ (the products of critical design and related practices) within human-centred and participatory design processes, and enable designers to explore how they could utilise similar techniques in their own practice.


Visualizations As Tools For Research: Service Designers On Visualizations, Fabian Segelström, Stefan Holmlid Aug 2009

Visualizations As Tools For Research: Service Designers On Visualizations, Fabian Segelström, Stefan Holmlid

Nordes Conference Series

Service design is a relatively new design field not explored in research as extensively as other design disciplines. One of the distinguishing practices is the extensive use of visualization techniques in early stages of the design process. This article explores what service designers say about how and when visualizations are used in the user research phase of service design projects. Data was collected through 14 interviews with practicing service designers. It was found that all of the interviewees use visualization techniques in their work process, and that these are used extensively in the research phase of service design projects. Visualizations …


Engaging Artifacts In Cultural Heritage, Marjo Mäenpää, Halina Gottlieb, Dagny Stuedahl Aug 2009

Engaging Artifacts In Cultural Heritage, Marjo Mäenpää, Halina Gottlieb, Dagny Stuedahl

Nordes Conference Series

Artefacts and objects have an important position in museums and cultural heritage institutions. Here artefacts are the authentic objects which audience could have an experience of historical phenomena or of art works. Digital media and communication technologies bring new perspectives into the field that involves new practices both among the audience and visitors and among the different departments of the institutions. Well-designed, inclusive artefacts could increase accessibility and participation in various ways in cultural heritage issues. The workshop will explore various ways of building engagement with cultural heritage issues and sites.