DITTO PRESS 01: DESIGN METHODOLIGIES

Today Ben from Ditto Press came into college to talk to us about our design methodologies. Ben first spoke to us about his life and creative practice, he has had a very different experience than I have as he did not attend university until his late 20's and also carried out an MA at the RCA. 

Above are some pieces of work that had been produced at the company, I really like the colours and stock used in their designs and the 'cheeky' illustrations where also entertaining. After the presentation, Ben then set the class a brief which is listed below.

The brief  —

Your task is to develop your own research methodology and find a way to communicate that. It could take the form of a meta-project, or it could be more pragmatic and grounded in reality.

The important thing to develop in this project is a clear and defined way of looking at the world, filtering it and editing what you find to fit your interests and working practice.

Most successful designers have finely honed methodologies and this is your chance to really explore your own.

IMPORTANT: This project is not about producing pretty things, We don't care what it looks like, only how well considered and useful it is. 

We were split into groups where we had to come up with a collective answer to this brief whilst also developing our own unique response. Below is detailed my usual steps that I do when taking on a brief.

1. Keywords — select the words that stand out to you

2. Mind Map — explore those words or create a visual mood board

3. Visit — somewhere to inform the brief — shop, studio, place.

4. Images — take images

5. Interview — network, speak to professionals, advice

6. Events — attend a place thats relevant or not, exhibition, a show or gig.

7. Online — secondary research

8. Refine — choose the research that excites you

9. Develop — create outcomes or proposed ideas

10. Finalise — conclude findings and make a product.

However when sharing ideas we felt that we came up with a lot of the same methods, possibly due to being in the same working environment and the way in which have learned of the course.

Todays brief was really interesting in the points ben had to make about students leaving a design degree and all approaching a brief the same way. Alternatively I have grown accustomed to my kind of methodology and have been taught in this way for so long that I was quite frustrated when I could't think of something more individual, I think with this brief it's going to be a constant discovery, trying out different methods and concepts of research until I nail down a type of way the works for me! Overall this brief was very different from anything I have done before and had me thinking critically which was a nice change.