Unit 2: New Practice Methodologies #1

With the closing of Unit 1, which was filled with fun, exploration and academically excited phase; I moved into Unit 2, where my mind was filled with lot of expectation in order to accelerate my learning process as a designer in the field of research methods.

During the process of self-evaluation, I realized that the central theme of my critical research aims to validate various practices in relation to contemporary culture, design methodologies/practices in order to encompass some valuable contribution to the field of design. The aim was to explore and critically analyze trans-disciplinary nature of design and to search for the new opportunities and problem arising out of it.

It is a fact that with globalization of design practices and deep interaction of various cultures, evolving design processes have thrown new challenges and at the same time opened new windows of opportunities. This has also facilitated to access collective evidence, stratification and built relations across inter disciplinary subjects. Because this term focuses upon building a particular voice and identity of your own, my approach to have systemic research on trans-disciplinary including theory and practices has moved beyond the traditional literature review, which lacks quality and specific methodology and practical application. My emphasis was more upon the concept of ‘Research through Practice’.

In order to deep dive in to different type of objects related to my research, the methodology of classification based on usage, culture, material types etc. was adopted having correlation on specific common characteristics. A system model was devised to support the categorization. In order to explore deeply, time and again I confronted myself with inspirations and experiences taking me out of my comfort zones which led to constant changes in my critical research. As I travelled on such a journey, I started discovering my abilities, this helped me to unravel my potential through the course-work and activities in the wonderful land of design.

My last three months have been eye-opening in terms of research methodology and explorative process of self-practice as a Maker at UAL: Camberwell college of Arts which sets it apart from what I had learnt in my previous college or field of work. Hence, the transition was slightly difficult and slow during the initial pre-Easter days. However, the curriculum is designed to emphasize on the explorative method encompassing varied aspects of product design and at the same time providing adequate facilities for knowledge up-gradation and product development experimentation. Recently, I ventured into a new realm of mass manufacturing process- 3D printing which is quiet exciting to be honest. At UAL the professors consider an iterative process of independent study and critical evaluation during research as a key factor for students’ growth and I do strongly believe that it needs to be inculcated into our practice. The sooner the better.

This Unit we got to see more of Mr. Tony Hayward through his tours in London and Cambridge where I was able to know more about him as a person. And who could forget the Reading Rooms organized by him; good to know that he has such an interesting collection of books which almost took him a lifetime to collect. It wasn’t just about the books, the reading room showcased a variety of vintage magazines, cards, brochures, catalogues and some of his personal favorites. When you are around Tony, he would always emphasize the importance to explore new places at least within the city because this may act as a staging point for many of the initial inspirations in terms of resemblances to start with our respective research works.

Moving on, I personally liked the class regarding ‘Qualities’ conducted by Mr. Simon Kinneir. In short, the Quality class aimed at dismantling and splitting the topic of importance into specific keywords. Qualities act as an initial incursion to Research Methodology. These keywords helped me navigate towards different directions from one single focal point making a cobweb of multifaceted junctions of complex information snowballing towards a comprehensive narrative. This complex process led to the start of contextual mapping leading to critical thinking and analysis.

For me contextual mapping played a quintessential role paving the path towards critical research because it let me navigate towards 5-6 different directions bringing out unique traits from each one which could then be interlayered to improve quality over quantity.