Generation S

Baby boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Gen Z are generation labels used in order to explain the core ideas and beliefs of a generation, which ultimately shape the world in which the following generation will live. But what really determines a generation leap? Are we witnessing the birth of a new generation marked by the effects of Covid-19? Generational analysis was pioneered by the German sociologist Karl Manheim (1893-1947) and subsequent generational studies have focused on how to better understand trends in consumerism, political participation and preferences in the workplace that contribute to making each generation unique. Although generation labels can only partially explain what makes generations different from each other, they hold value in that they help us understand the place we occupy in a changing world. And so, in the context of design in a digital age, the ideation workshop could be a venue for demonstrating the importance of generations in the use of conceptual tools, and sketching in particular. Or, what Generation(s) S(ketch)?

Workshop in progress

Designing is a skill that designers are continuously building. Even when a solution has been found or a task feel accomplished, designers are always working to become even better. We might say that our development as designers is always in progress. That is to say, something that is not yet complete. And so with ideation. A non-linear, iterative and onging process that is practised in the ideation workshop. A practice that makes use of ideation tools, from words and drawing to modelling and computing. But a practice that is not prescriptive or formatted but informal and illuminating. Indeed practice makes progress.

Learning from the workshop

Digital tools, that is electronic hardware (digital devices) and software (programs, apps or platforms), are part of the ideation tool box , tools which complement analogue, or traditional tools in the design process. That is to say, ideators use digital tools for implementing text, images, audio, and video for creating presentations that convey visual concepts and ideas. Digital tools, then, as instruments both for idea generation and idea communicatiom reflect a kind of digital pragmatism where the digital is not in opposition to the analogue. In so doing, visualisation, from assemblage, bricolage and collage to drawing and video, may inspire words, and words, in turn may inspire visualisation. This picture-word dialogue, then, helps generate ideas expressed in, say, the picture book format combining visual and verbal narratives. Moreover, hybrid ideation tools applied both in the studio environment and on digital platforms can transform the ideation process by connecting ideators to a wide range of content and resources thereby improving the ideation process as both an individual and collaborative learning experience.

Form follows eccentricity

Ideation is about ways of generating and communicating ideas. But does ideation adhere to methods, techniques or principles? Such as Louis Sullivan's maxim "form follows function", Mies van der Rohe's "less is more", or Dieter Ram's "principles of good design"? Or, is it rooted in designers' personal style developed through practice and theory? MVRDV, the Dutch design practice, claims, through elaborate research, that they seek not to develop a specific style of architecture but to provide and develop different methods in designing architecture and urban space.Yet the start of MVRDV's design process for Depot Boijmans art museum in Rotterdam, built with panels of mirror-coated glass clipped on to a concrete bowl, and which officially opened in November this year, did not reflect the practice's cherished design methodology. Instead, during a lunchtime brainstorming session, the design team was inspired by a piece of IKEA table ware, in the form of a stainless salad bowl. Indeed MVRDV revels in turning design models upside down, or inside out, or grabbing whatever is to hand and adding it to the mix of ideas. Such is the design process of a practice that embraces eccentric spectacle. It seems, then, there's method in eccentricity.

The workshop as exemplar for flexible learning

Education was adapting to the digital world long before Covid 19 but, as with so many other human activities, the pandemic has given learning a huge shove towards the virtual. Overnight, schools and universities closed and teachers and students had to find ways to do what they do exclusively via the internet. Covid highlighted how critical the social aspect of learning is, and that something extra happens when students and their teacher share a physical space. education needs to be more adventurous and captivating – and, above all, more flexible. To achieve this, three major changes should happen: The first concerns the content, which should emphasise such things as creativity, critical thinking and entrepreneurship, rather than collecting and storing information. The second is that students should have more control over their learning, with the teacher’s role shifting from instructor to curator of learning resources, counsellor and motivator, or "active learning" where students learn in a hands-on way – through discussion and interactive technologies. Thirdly, students learn better from their own or others’ failed attempts to solve a problem, before or even instead of being told how to solve it. Indeed, design education already embodies these proposed changes. For example, the studio/workshop space, essential to creativity, active learning and experimentation, does not and cannot exist apart from the events and activities within which it is implicated. That is, as a socially and culturally produced space, the studio combines the cognitive, the physical and emotional.constituted by human experience, attachment and involvement. Or, simply, design education as a vehicle for learning through the lived experience. Reference: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/nov/08/the-big-idea-should-we-leave-the-classroom-behind

Ideation freedom

Although ideation, ideally, has no limits, often there are constraints set by the brief or the client. But there might be self-imposed constraints too, that is, ideators confine themselves to tried and tested ideas that have worked well in the past. So, to minimise self-imposed limitations or restrictions, be aware what kind of thinking and behaviour might be holding back unencumbered ideation. Such awareness may include stepping out of your comfort zone and, for example, rather than logging in to the computer first thing, scribble a poem on the theme of the brief. Or, taking risks, say, making a small sketch modell and then crumbling or setting fire to it (health & safety rules considered). Or, taking a totally different conceptual approch to the task in hand by, say, figuratively speaking, "putting the cart before the horse". And so on and so forth. Indeed surprise yourself!

Why sketch or make models?

Exploring ideas in a quick, informal, and rough manner, as might be sketched out on a scrap of paper (such as the back of an envelope), also known as a thumbnail sketch, is core to the design process and the ideation workshop. Equally, a physical 3D sketch model, hastily made and incomplete may serve the purpose of expressing first thoughts and ideas. In contrast, producing 2D sketches or 3D sketch models using software (CAD), arguably lacks the immediacy of physical ideation tools. So why sketch on paper or make physical models? Says Gavin Henderson of Stanton Williams, the Sterling-prize winning architecture practice: 'I take a pencil and make marks on paper. I take pieces of card and hold them together, reconfigure, cut, pin, add, fold, subtract, assemble, carve, disassemble, reassemble. In each case the hand thinks.' He continues: 'Making by hand explores thoughts that are unpremeditated, pre-verbal, non-linear. The idea evolves before the brain has had time to set boundaries, enforce preconceptions. The craft of making things, whether drawings or models, is the essence of design.' Moreover: 'The model provides a shared focus for design discussion in a way that promotes interaction, the exchange of ideas and an engagement with the messy, physical, creative process of designing the world in which we live.' Reference: https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/opinion/why-make-models