Topic of Discussion: "Culture in Design"
Post no. 6
I attended a cultural talk led by Mr. SER at the TGV Cinemas on the 10th of July with a couple of my classmates Shireen, Carmen, Melissa, Gerry and Daniel (My Lecturer for MC&H). We didn't know we had to pay beforehand! Thought we woke up early for nothing. They let us in anyway, after hearing that we were degree students. Ha-ha.
Anyway, I found the talk pretty enlightening as he introduced different cultures and their symbols and how they influence product design. ALSO, the way he presents his talk in an eccentric and enjoyable manner really helped me in the processing the information. I could tell it was pretty dull at first; from his nerves maybe, he did mention it but it turned out excitable in the end. Most of the examples he showed us were greatly influenced by the Chinese Tai ji symbol, the Yin Yang. (As shown above) Will elaborate more about this later.
But first, he started off the talk on the definition on culture.
It said, culture was a way of life for an entire society. As long as person B follows a particular action of person A, and as it spreads across the whole society, it would be known as culture.
He gave examples on how an ancient man would use a bamboo shoot to drink from a waterfall. If his other village mates follow him, it would be known as a piece of culture for that village.
He then stated that there were 3 Cultural Levels which were the PHYSICAL , SOCIAL , and SPIRITUAL levels.
The three levels are divided as such:
Physical - Material Culture
- Outer Level (Appearance)
- Colors, textures and patterns of a product.
- Tangible
Social - Behavioral Culture
- Mid Level (Function)
- Function and Usability of a product.
Spiritual - Ideal Culture
- Inner Level (Self-Image)
- Special content, stories and emotions of a product.
- Intangible
Those statements made a lot of sense to me as they were breakdowns on how good designs are made. There is a lot of thought.
Another thing he mentioned was the 4 steps into creating a design product.
1. Investigation (Research)
2. Interaction (I'm not really sure what this meant, I think I was spacing at the time)
3. Development (Sketches)
4. Implementation (Designing the product)
This way, good designs would be legal and comprehensible by your target market.
Below are a few products which are influenced by the Yin Yang symbol above.
A couch,
And a thermos set.
I found it pretty clever on how the designers implemented the designs into the products. There's also one more tea cup design which is absolutely amazing. I couldn't find the picture for it on the net. *sobs*
Basically its a traditional clay cup with a separation down the middle with its shape like a curve. You're supposed to place the tea leaves on one side of the cup and pour hot water into it. The separation has the words Tai Ji carved in it (in Mandarin).
Therefore, the brewed tea would flow to the other side of the separation trough the carved words. So, you're kinda like brewing your tea right in the tea cup instead of using the teapot.
Oh! He did encourage us to visit the Thailand Creative & Design Center if we ever visited Thailand.
It's address would be the Th Sukhumvit btwn Soi 22 & 24 6th fl, Emporium.
Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thailand/bangkok/sights/arts-crafts/thailand-creative-design#ixzz21LDz2CGG
-Charissa Ong
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