A look at the construction of design problems

Abstract

When we think about design project the word ‘project’ may give the impression that it develops in well known steps which have purely the designer’s logic thoughts. However a project also takes into consideration a universe of less controlled ideas where the problem solutions bring new bad defined issues. Studies try to observe the designers work with the intent to understand better the creation process. An example can be found in the study of Philippe Stark’s ‘Lemon Skeezer’ creation process in the Adrian Forty’s book Objects of Desire: Design and Society (Forty, 2007). According to Forty, Stark’s individual creativity is considered the necessary condition for ‘Lemon Skeezer’ success, whereas it should be seen as a sufficient condition, as much important as other factors into the development process. Following this idea, the article goal is to show the design methodology features from studies in how the designers design. The aim, however, is not to put them as powerful beings in the creation process, but to understand the design problems based on their methods. In order to do that, first, we propose a study about the nature of the design problems and the designer’s role in this context. Then, we are going to show a case study where a graphic designer uses the visual thought as a problem solution method. The article is based on Donald Schön’s theories in Educating the Reflective Practitioner (Schön, 2000), Vilém Flusser’s The Codified World (2007) and Towards a Philosophy of Photography (2002) and also the articles from Kees Dorst (2008) and Gabriela Goldschmidt (1994), who represent the attributes of a design creation process.

Keywords: design, project, problem, visual thought.