For todays session the objective is to delve deeper into our web subject matter and find a concept worth developing. The session requires us to ask questions about our subject matter and constantly question why. We were asked to identify the following;
What is your subject matter?
What are you trying to communicate?
Who will be / could be your audience or 'end user'?
What will be the most appropriate / effective form of content?
What is the function and purpose?
I've been struggling a lot with this brief because what I want to create is already out there in the form of quite a few websites. Therefore to start out I created a mind map basically of everything that springs to mind when I think of Dieter Rams.
This process didn't really get me anywhere, I found myself stuck in the exact same situation as when I started. It really started to annoy me so I had a chat with the tutor and basically came up with a set of questions to ask myself to give me a foundation and some form of direction.
What is the problem, why am I stuck?
Lack of creative subject and ideas, I feel like I'm regurgitating information that is already out there in the form of websites just in a different aesthetic or style.
And why is this a problem?
There are websites already out there doing similar jobs, there is plenty of information on these sites that is easily accessible and tells you al you need to know about him.
Why is this a problem?
This is blocking my creative thoughts because I feel whatever I produce will be very similar to pre existing sites. I look at them and can't seem to move away from that exact same idea or something very similar concept wise.
Why?
I can't get away from similar concepts because these websites are already successful at reaching their target audiences and delivering their message be it to educate or to inform, they do their job very well.
What's the message these websites offer?
The message is to tell the audience / viewers of the website about his design, his background, his influences on design nowadays and his legacy.
What's the point in this message?
To influence, inspire but also provide contextual research.
At this point we had a bit of a chat and discovered his design principles influence me just as much as his design and could prove to be a stronger foundation / starting block.
Why are the 10 design principles important?
The provide a foundation to create design considered to be 'good' They've not dated since they were created and can be applied across multiple disciplines.
Why would anyone care about the principles?
They provide a basic understanding of design, a foundation for those who aren't necesarily within the design world or take a huge interest in the subject.
We then had another discussion and decided that this type of person wouldn't really go out of their way to find and look at this website, it'd be more for young students like myself.
Who are the people who would be interested?
Well educated, young students, studing designers, someone who has an outside interest in design, someone who know's of them but wants their memory refreshing and someone who is looking for contextual influence.
How would the 10 principles be communicated?
Through the medium of a website, informing, text & image based, visual examples interacting and engaging the viewer.