A crash course in changing the world.
I've got a Game Design degree and for three years, I've been designing war-torn battlescapes, fantasy worlds and writing the narrative to suit all kinds of platforms in my spare time.
So how would I go about designing something that someone in one of my "worlds" could use practically?
Going from this link: http://designinafrica.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/innovation-in-africa... , this blog is meant to answer that question. The one thing that really jumped out at me was this:
Do the hard work needed to find a simple solution. As Leonardo da Vinci said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”—and it is the key to this type of design work.
It struck me that this was the gods-honest truth. In my final year at university, I took a class called "Interaction Design" that was meant to teach us good design practices. The idea was that, universally, people respond to simple designs. It's what made the iPod and the iPhone so practical and globally successful.
So what does this mean for design in Africa? Well, what about wiring an electrical system into the floor of a house or hut run on solar power, the panels of which form a greenhouse outside for growing tomatoes and the like. Or perhaps a bicycle that has a dynamo fitted to charge batteries as the cyclist pedals. The batteries can then be removed and used to power lights, cooking appliances, etc.
Thing is, designers are usually Western Civilisation magnates with more good intentions than actual common sense. Doing the research on the site and usage of the product is just as important as the design brief. It reminds me of when I received a brief as an assignment to design an installation for the state library. My design included the use of cameras, which opened up a wh*** can of worms regarding the monitoring of patrons, something I didn't consider would be a problem. It's a public place with CCTV already installed, surely this would not be an issue?
So yes, hard work to a simple solution. It's what all designers need to think about.
~@ G.
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