Edward Prince Furniture Design - Creativity - Design processes

Design literature acknowledges two primary aspects of design. Firstly, the design process. The steps a designer follows from conception to solution. Secondly, Design as part of a system and strategic planning role for product development. This diversity of ideas ranging from trendy people in back rooms, to a force inherent in every action a company takes makes the formation of a balanced view of design difficult.

Design involves some skills that are so generic that we could reasonably say they apply to all forms of creative practice. It also seems likely that some skills are quite specific to certain types of design. Therefore, it would also seem reasonable to suggest the skills required by each designer depends upon their discipline. 

Perception of the role of design.
Certainly all designers need to be creative. Some designers such as architects, interior designers and product designers need a highly developed visual sense and usually need to be able to draw well. Designers at the engineering end of the spectrum require a higher level of numeracy skills. Abilities in tactile, colour, empathy or entrepreneurship would be other needs.

The Purpose of Design
What do we mean by the term design? Are there differences between the designer and the artist? Victor Papanek states that “The planning and patterning of any act towards a desired, foreseeable end constitutes the design process… Design is the conscious and intuitive effort to impose meaningful order”.

An essential element in the act of designing is the formulation of a conceptual model for a finished work in advance. The second element is the expectation of the realisation of an artefact that takes place through a creative step. This definition covers the central activities of architecture, engineering, certain sciences, industrial design and applied art and craft. This implies a purposeful seeking after solutions and the existence of limitations.

There can be no solution without a problem; no problem without constraints and no constraints without need. Therefore design begins with a need. Either the need is met and therefore there is no problem or there are no obstacles that need to be met. The objective of design is elaborated upon by David Pye as a process to satisfy some type of need stating that. “Design in all fields is the profession of satisfying particular requirements”.

Design fulfils its purpose through its function. Function is comprised of many elements of which aesthetics is one and these elements cannot be divorced from function. This form of systemic thinking employed by some design professionals shows the error of the adage “form follows function”. Objects that embody a principal for example a sitting can be expressed using a range of forms that have no effect on the principal.

The Process of Designing
The science of design has not yet agreed upon an accepted principal or even terminology. However, some common ground exists particularly in the design process. The Internal stages relate to how the designer thinks through a problem and the external stages are concerned with the products of design thinking. In practice, the stages are overlapping and often confused, with frequent returns to early stages when difficulties are encountered and obscurities found.

A Breakdown of Basic Design Processes
The table below is based on Wallas’s (1926) classic four-stage model of the creative process. This shows the range of thinking styles required in design and their place in each part of the design process. The table also illustrates the relationship between the design stages and the thinking qualities required in each stage of the creative process. (from the Hermann Brain Dominance Indicator (HBDI) A = analytical, B = organisational, C = interpersonal, D = Synthesising). The thinking styles range from visual and analytical perception in the initial stages of the design. Continuing with the ability to accumulate information. To the ability to use exploration, intuition, reasoning and the ability to synthesise perceptions into a coherent and workable solution.

The main phases of the Design Process.

Phase	Process	HBDI	Application
Analytical phase	Interest	All Quadrants
	Preparation	A / B	Gathering facts, organising, planning
Creative phase	Incubation	C / D	Subconscious processing, visualisation, sensing, reflection.
	Illumination	D	Idea formulated non-verbally
Executive phase	Verification	A /	Recording, capturing ideas, checking for effective resolution
	Application	All Quadrants	Starting in B then moving through A, C, D.

Reasoning in the analytical phase and imagining in the creative phase are the most important skills required for three-dimensional designing. The analytical phase begins and requires objective observation and inductive reasoning, This reasoning is directed towards a particular conclusion, including logic, problem solving and concept formation. The creative phase at the heart of design requires involvement, subjective judgement and deductive reasoning. Through imagining individuals, draw upon personal experience, combining material in a relatively unstructured and aimless way. Once crucial decisions are made the process continues with the execution of orthographic drawings, schedules, etc. again in an objective and descriptive mood.

One of the unique aspects of design behaviour is the constant generation of new task goals and redefinition of task constraints. Consequently, all aspects of design involve analysis. Similarly, solution development occurs as early as the first page of the brief. Not all solutions arise from an analysis of all relevant aspects of the problem. Often a few cues in the environment are enough to evoke a pre-compiled solution in the mind of the designer. This implies that different aspects of the design activity are hierarchically dependant upon each other.

Evaluative Criteria of Design.
The current tendency in design is to consider the whole system of which the product is one part. Victor Papanek in his book 'Design for the real world' illustrates this systemic approach to design. The model shows why the dynamic actions and relationships of key elements make the functional considerations of design a complex formula.

This model indicates all aspects of design: the soft-hard, feeling-thinking, intuitive-intellectual mix, that determines the six evaluative criteria. These criteria can be reduced to three human factors (motivation, ergonomics, aesthetics), three technical factors (function, mechanism, structure) three general factors (production, economics, presentation) factors of which a designer must be conscious.

In the role of design management the process of design is part of a total process of product innovation and development. Beginning with defining the nature of the problem to be solved and establishing a brief, through to the output of the production phase, distribution, advertising and evaluation. This system of total design is seen in the model developed by David Walker which integrates market research, marketing strategy, engineering, product design, production planning, distribution and environmental monitoring within one cyclical model.

The Total Process of Design within Management

This illustrates the extent to which a designer can be involved in multiple roles and reflects the generic nature of design thinking. These roles can require a designer to have awareness of the whole process into which their thinking can be involved which includes aesthetics, as well as economics. The diverse nature of these roles and the cognitive skills appropriate for each role shows how a designer must be able to use different types and languages for their thinking and have the mental flexibility to move between them.