Without this expertise area, Industrial Design wouldn’t exist. Creativity is a necessity for design and innovation. Whenever there is brainstorming involved, creativity is needed. I am fortunate that my creativity has sparked numerous ideas during my studies, it is always a nice feeling when an idea of mine is appreciated and taken further in a process. But I am also able to recognise someone else’s creative ideas and iterate further on those. Creativity often works best in a team setting, but individually it is also possible.
Throughout my studies, I have developed my ideating and brainstorming abilities. At the start, I remained careful to speak out my ideas and often was not sure how to formulate them. Worrying too much about the feasibility of my idea, I often neglected it and decided against sharing it because I didn’t think it would be possible to achieve. However, I quickly learned that this wasn’t right. However crazy an idea might seem, it is always good to share it. Worst case, it just inspires better ideas. Best case, it can be adapted to become feasible. I quickly started getting more comfortable with sharing any ideas which come to mind, and actively participating in group discussions. I noticed how I got inspired by the ideas other people shared so I figured that my ideas could also form as inspiration for others. Something I also try during group meetings, is to maintain a “lightweight” atmosphere through small jokes and humor. I believe this allows for a more creative environment, ultimately improving whatever ideas emerge.
Since very first course I followed, from idea to design, I already started developing my expertise in creativity and aesthetics and never stopped doing so. During this course, design elements like fonts, colours, shapes and more were introduced and explained. Since then, I started paying attention to the fonts and colours I use in my designs as they can often change how it looks and feels entirely. For example, using a serif (classical looking) font in a design which is supposed to be playful won’t work.
In my first project, I made sure the interactive video I made fit within the general style we chose, and I came with the idea to deliver an interactive report optimised to read on a screen. In my second project I made sure to follow the existing style by our client in our deliverable as closely as possible, while making some improvement here and there. This included using the same font and colours. In my third project, I made my first poster for a Demoday, also paying close attention to how the colours and fonts feel. Even in most group reports I submitted, unless we had to follow some strict template, I was usually the one to make it visually pleasing by selecting colours, fonts and graphics.
Creativity and Aesthetics is not just about visuals, looks and feels. It is just as much about interactions as well. A painting can be beautiful, but a dance can be beautiful as well. Similarly, a product can be aesthetic, but the interaction with a product can be made aesthetic as well. At first, I was very confused during this course. But later, I started to understand, things started to click. Interactions with a product can be considered aesthetic when they feel good, and are relatable to what is happening. For example, pressing a button can’t really be related to sending a message, yet this is how we always do it. The interaction of sending a message is not aesthetic, it’s basic. But if you were to take this message, and throw it into the cloud, or swipe it towards the recipient, suddenly the interaction makes sense and can be related to the thing that’s happening. When this interaction becomes self-explanatory, that’s when it becomes aesthetic.
It took me a resit assignment (of which I am pretty proud) to discover this fully, but now that I do I can see the opportunities that emerge from this. I think finding the right balance between making interactions intuitive and aesthetic is important and is something I will continue to be mindful of in future projects. In my final bachelor project, it was also a goal of mine to include an aesthetic interaction in my design. Sliding the handle sideways is both intuitive, but also aesthetic, as it can easily be related to the intention to turn, whereas a button would not be as relatable.
Looks are still and will always be an important aspect of a design’s aesthetics, so I have developed my skill when it comes to this as well. Most notably, the exploratory sketching techniques I learned are a very relevant way to focus on the aesthetics of a design. While the colours can easily be considered this way, the shape and certain design details are easy to tweak, add or remove while creating quick exploratory sketches. The techniques are multifunctional, as they can also be used to determine the general functionality of a design. Similarly, the exploratory making techniques can be used for determining the shape, functionality and interaction with a design. Especially since I aim to focus on physical or hybrid products in the future, being skilled in these techniques will prove to be incredibly helpful and sometimes even necessary.