Design Journal #2 - How Designer's Think

Enthusiasm and Disillusionment!

Those are the first two words in Lawson's How Designer's Think and I feel that it best describes the stage that I am at in the design of my project. I was so intrigued by this article as it describes the design process as "a map" of different phases. If I were to use the RIBA practice and management handbook that breaks up design into four phases, I would conclude that this past week, I have been enthusiastic about the "assimilation phase - accumulation and ordering of general information and information specifically related to the problem at hand (24)". Since I had gone through the Element K training on the basics of Photoshop, it has opened my eyes to the strength of this program. You can think of any idea or look and go on the web and find a Photoshop tutorial to learn how to do it. Photoshop has consumed my life a bit during these past few days. I can admit that I woke up in the middle of the night (twice!) and started clicking away on the program to see what I could create. There isn't a lot to show, but a few practice files, but I have learned so much and have had so much fun doing so! Photoshop tutorials on the web are a bit addicting in that I find something I like, and now I want to somehow incorporate it into my project. This is where the "disillusionment" comes in. Has the scope of my idea grown to large? Am I biting off more than I can chew--- and I haven't even touched the food (project) yet! As a true addict, I am making myself go on a 12 step program and stop spending most of my time learning new techniques by tonight. From here on, I am working specifically on my project, Elisa's scrapbook. According to RIBA, the next phase of design (which is not necessarily sequential) is "General Study - the investigation of the nature of the problem, and possible means of solution (24)."
The problem: Create a digital scrapbook for Elisa
The solution : Create the scrapbook pages using Photoshop. Order the pages online using Dreamweaver. Present the pages using Flash.
Right now, If I get to the Photoshop and Dreamweaver section of my project, I am happy. If I don't get to Flash, I still feel as I can create a successful project.

I loved how Lawson compared design to a chess game. " The procedure suggests that first our player might analyse the current position(27)." Looking back, this is the first step that I did in my design process, as I analyzed my current position. I had the Dreamweaver background, so I knew that I would need a quick refresher course. The main bulk of my learning came with the Photoshop program. Before a few weeks ago, the only thing that I knew how to do in Photoshop was open a file. "The next task would be to clarify objectives - synthesis phase (27)." Since I feel that the semester is going by so quickly, I hope to set up a plan of objectives and time lines to complete this project. If I don't set time lines, I will be stuck in that endless loop of questing the "look" of something over and over again without making much progress to the project as a whole. In my synthesis phase, I will need to "suggest a move and complete ideas (27)" until I have a final project. From there, I can reflect on the end result and "evaluate against the objectives (27)."


Things I have done:

• Gone overboard learning fun and interesting Photoshop techniques
  

I really appreciated Lawson's reading. I think that if I wasn't at the design stage that I am in, I wouldn't have appreciated the importance of a map and the different stages. From here, I will:

Next Steps:

• List objectives and plan my design phase
• Suggest a move!
  

References:
Lawson, B. (1980). How designers think. London: The Architectural Press, Ltd. (Chapter 3: Descriptions of the design process.)