Creative Design Process Research Articles

How to learn to be creative in design: Architecture students’ perceptions of design, design process, design learning, and their transformations throughout their education

The study explores students’ perceptions of experiential learning, design and design process, and design education, and whether these perceptions vary according to school year students are in based on qualitative and quantitative data collected from two architectural schools. We inquire into how creativity and design could be learned through repeated design tasks without structured instructions about the creative design process. The explorative study employs surveys and semi-structured focus group interviews. The results indicate problem-solving view of design is the most common characterization, students think design is not a straightforward problem solving and is most related to art and creativity. Finally, students report school has a limited impact on how they learn designing. We conclude experiential learning in the studio create shortcomings if not accompanied with a critical and reflective stance and that undertaking design tasks one after the other without explicit reflection on these tasks is an inefficient strategy in learning about the creative design process.

An Interactive Evolutionary Environment for Creative Design

A creative and/or innovative computer aided design environment is developed around the concept of an evolutionary optimization algorithm. Designs are generated within a set of prescribed design frameworks using a problem specific encoding and modified through operations including recombination, crossover and mutation. Evaluation of all candidate designs is performed by a user through a graphical user interface. A set of problems involving the creation of graphic images is presented. The examples include the generation of a set of two dimensional polygonal shapes, fractal images, path generation from a multi-degree freedom mechanical planar linkage and a mathematically prescribed pattern generation from a graphic design application utilized in quilting. Post design evaluation of the user input to the process provides insight into the individuals design strategy as well as determination of common user attributes in the creative design process.

Spatial Planning for Urban Resilience in the Face of the Flood Risk

The research was inspired by the increasing impact of extreme weather events and changing climate patterns on flood-prone regions and cities, and the consequent human and economic costs. Despite global efforts for flood resilience and climate adaptation involving climate analysts, economists, social scientists, politicians, hydrological engineers, spatial planners, and policymakers, it is only partially clear how best to construct resilience measures and implement concrete initiatives. The complexity of institutions is a key factor that is often neglected, and which needs further investigation. The thesis examines the institutional arrangements that determine the role of spatial planning in managing flood risk, through an in-depth case study of Guangzhou, one of the most vulnerable cities in China and globally. The thesis employs theories of historical institutionalism, planning procedure and planning tools, policy framing and collaborative governance, to explore the mechanisms and factors that influence the creative planning and design process. Content analysis, GIS-based mapping, stakeholder analysis and TOWS analysis are used to investigate data from official policy documents, grey literature, geo-information data and interview scripts. The findings indicate that institutional arrangements, such as long-established planning traditions, formal planning procedures and tools, policy framing patterns and contextual organisational factors, determine spatial planning’s role in managing flood risk. They do this through (1) the extent of the changeability of an established planning system towards expanded flood resilience measures; (2) the performance of cross-level communication and boundary-spanning work between planning and water management; (3) the legal framework that planners and hydrological engineers follow; and (4) the capacities of planning and water management institutions to work on flood issues. This research shows how to apply knowledge from policy science, political science, institutional science and administration, to analyse the nature of the planning process in tackling the urgent challenge of flood risk and climate change.

Spatial Planning for Urban Resilience in the Face of the Flood Risk

The research was inspired by the increasing impact of extreme weather events and changing climate patterns on flood-prone regions and cities, and the consequent human and economic costs. Despite global efforts for flood resilience and climate adaptation involving climate analysts, economists, social scientists, politicians, hydrological engineers, spatial planners, and policymakers, it is only partially clear how best to construct resilience measures and implement concrete initiatives. The complexity of institutions is a key factor that is often neglected, and which needs further investigation. The thesis examines the institutional arrangements that determine the role of spatial planning in managing flood risk, through an in-depth case study of Guangzhou, one of the most vulnerable cities in China and globally. The thesis employs theories of historical institutionalism, planning procedure and planning tools, policy framing and collaborative governance, to explore the mechanisms and factors that influence the creative planning and design process. Content analysis, GIS-based mapping, stakeholder analysis and TOWS analysis are used to investigate data from official policy documents, grey literature, geo-information data and interview scripts. The findings indicate that institutional arrangements, such as long-established planning traditions, formal planning procedures and tools, policy framing patterns and contextual organisational factors, determine spatial planning’s role in managing flood risk. They do this through (1) the extent of the changeability of an established planning system towards expanded flood resilience measures; (2) the performance of cross-level communication and boundary-spanning work between planning and water management; (3) the legal framework that planners and hydrological engineers follow; and (4) the capacities of planning and water management institutions to work on flood issues. This research shows how to apply knowledge from policy science, political science, institutional science and administration, to analyse the nature of the planning process in tackling the urgent challenge of flood risk and climate change.

A model and rubric to guide the creative design process with ICTs

A model and rubric to guide the creative design process with ICTs

The process for individuating TRIZ Inventive Principles: deterministic, stochastic or domain-oriented?

Abstract Although TRIZ is widely acknowledged as a powerful aid to improve efficacy and efficiency of the creative design process, practitioners diffusedly experience difficulties in the selection of the most suitable tool. Such an issue represents a severe limitation in consideration of the large number of tools TRIZ offers. Here, Inventive Principles (IPs) are acknowledged as the most popular TRIZ technique, and their conjointly use with the Contradiction Matrix makes the selection of the appropriate IP a sufficiently supported task. However, the reliability of the Contradiction Matrix is often questioned and an agreement on a solid and reliable procedure for the selection of IPs is far from being reached. In such a context, the paper investigates the recurrence of IPs to solve contradictions, with reference to a classification framework that takes into consideration the nature of the problem to be solved and the technical-scientific domain it belongs to. The outcomes of the analysis reveal that leveraged IPs are considerably related with the technical-scientific domain and the nature of the problem to be solved. The found relationships are worth delving into and translating into selection guidelines.

A Second Look at Primary Generators

Jane Darke’s 1979 article “The Primary Generator and the Design Process” appeared in the very first issue of Design Studies. In the four decades of design research that followed, the article became a classic. In the article’s revaluation of the role subjectivity plays in design, Darke posits a construct called the “the primary generator”—a limited set of (typically subjective) constraints—as a way for architects to engage with design tasks characterized by complexity. The primary generator acts as a random starting point, located within a subset of constraints, which is iteratively adjusted as the design process takes place. It may be construed as a subjectively valued organizing principle driving the design process. It may also be read as either a liberating force of subjective creative freedom, or as a subjective source of bias and fixation that the architect may be unwilling or unable to later escape. Darke herself held both these positions over time. Her ideas on the malleability of the design space and the very initiation of the creative design process by imposition of constraints have been critical in the evolution of constraint research, which represents a rich strand of interdisciplinary design research.

ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPETENCE OF FUTURE WEB-DESIGNERS

The article substantiates the essence and structure of entrepreneurial competence of web-designers. The author positions the entrepreneurial competence of web-designers as an integral complex structure of a designer's personality, which characterizes his intentions, aspirations, aspirations, readiness and ability to realize personal potential in starting his own business and its further successful implementation in design. The author characterizes the content and structure of entrepreneurial competence of web-designers in accordance with the specific nature of design as an art form that combines techniques (design, construction) and decorative effects; creative method, process and result of artistic and technical design of industrial products, their complexes and systems, focused on achieving the fullest compliance of the created objects and the environment as a whole with the possibilities, human needs, both utilitarian and aesthetic.

Online Format of Extracurricular Education: a New Reality of Project-Based Education for Senior High School Students

Purpose of the study.The paper presents data and analyzes the practice of transferring a major All-Russian event in the system of extracurricular education – the Russian National Junior Water Competition – to a distance format due to the coronavirus pandemic. The system of extracurricular education for senior high school students formed within the framework of the Water Competition for the adaptation of school graduates to the technological and communication realities of “adult life” combines project-based training with the format of a competitive component. As part of the preparation and implementation of research projects, a student receives methodological, organizational and educational support from teachers and consultants from universities and academic institutions, attends special seminars, trainings and master classes on project activities.The system has been developing using the model of cooperation in the educational sphere “NPO-state-business” since 2003, and over these years, 32 thousand schoolchildren from all regions have completedand submitted 23 thousand research and applied projects to solve environmental problems. The winners of the regional stages take part in the All-Russian final held annually in Moscow. The winner of the final represents the country at the international Stockholm competition. 2020 events coincided with the coronavirus epidemic. It was necessary to transfer the offline final to online within a month and ensure information interaction between all participants so that the online event was a complete analogue of the offline final.Materials and methods.The transferring of traditional public events of the final into a remote format was carried out using a set of organizational measures and information technologies according to the following algorithm: the choice of technologies for videoconference and broadcasting, work with the website, training and testing of the technical capabilities of participants, work on synchronization, support and assistance to participants with a final questionnaire.Results.The obvious advantage of the online format is a significant expansion of the external audience and an exponential growth of the information footprint: during the month, more than 400 publications were posted on the Internet; the number of views was 300 thousand. The ER (Engagement Rate) ratio – an indicator of the audience’s reaction to the publication, has shown a rapid increase in comparison with previous years. The questioning of the participants made it possible to understand the mood and assessment of the events by the target audiences. The number of viewers of each broadcast event ranged from 2 to 5-6 thousand people. The online final allowed to involve in the general system of adaptation training, in addition to schoolchildren, teachers and regional partners, an interested audience, while 77% of respondents supported the full-time final, 23% – remote, noting that the organizers managed to preserve the emotional atmosphere of the final events.Conclusion.In general, the system of extracurricular education for schoolchildren, combined with a competitive component, turned out to be capable of prompt reformatting while maintaining the level and quality of events in the face of new challenges. In the process of transferring the final events of the cycle of additional adaptation education, combined with the All-Russian competition of projects for senior high school students to the remote mode, the possibility of online implementation of almost all types of interaction with the target audience – junior participants, including master classes, general discussions and personal consultations and the competitive component is shown.The possibility of using the remote format for the implementation of the organizational and information infrastructure, the operational correction of educational adaptation programs following the spread of innovative technologies that are gaining priority importance for the modern period of socio-economic development is demonstrated. At the same time, the entire volume of training cannot be reduced to formalized forms without the direct presence of teachers and consultants in the creative design process. Direct communication becomes especially relevant at the beginning of the journey when choosing a topic for training and a general understanding of environmental and related problems. It is also obvious that the effectiveness of the remote format is significantly increased for a prepared audience of participants: those who have completed additional training offline with the project development itself.

Creative Decision-Making Processes in Parametric Design

Decision-making in design is a cognitive process wherein alternatives are generated and evaluated, potentially enabling a more creative design process. In recent years parametric design’s heightened capacity for automatically generating and evaluating options has been celebrated by researchers and designers, but it has also placed an increased emphasis on decision-making activities which have not previously been studied in this context. This paper conducts the first in-depth protocol analysis of the decision-making process (DMP) in parametric design. Using empirical data, it identifies three parametric DMPs at the conceptual design stage: (i) “conclusive” DMP, (ii) “confirmative” DMP, and (iii) “simulative” DMP. The results of this research indicate that while conclusive DMP generates and evaluates design alternatives, its “forward incrementation” approach has only limited potential for creativity. The confirmative DMP develops three creative operation loops in parametric design, suggesting it may be an important creative process. The simulative DMP simultaneously addresses divergent and convergent thinking, also indicating potential creative operations and outcomes. The identification and analysis of these DMPs contributes to developing new knowledge about the processes used in parametric design and their capacity to support creative results.

A model and rubric to guide the creative design process with ICTs

In this study, the authors designed a five-stage model to support creativity in contexts of the design of artefacts using ICTs in educational settings. The model also includes a rubric that parallels the five stages. The goal in this study was to trial and test the model. Participants were pre-service teachers enrolled in a course on graphic design in a Bachelor of Computer Education program and divided into a control (n = 30) and an experimental section (n = 30). Three evaluators applied the rubric to judge the pre-service teachers' engagement in the stages of creativity. Application of the Torrance test of creativity and of the rubric showed significantly higher levels of engagement in creativity for the experimental section.

Stage acoustics and parametric design: The development of an integrated early design tool

Traditional ray tracing software tools (e.g. Odeon, CATT-Acoustic, EASE) enable detailed analysis of stage acoustics; however, they are typically undertaken in later design stages and lack the flexibility required for early design development. This paper, which follows from a poster presentation at ISRA 2019, investigates the use of a three-dimensional modelling platform (Rhinoceros/Grasshopper) to quickly assess the influence of architectural changes on reflections that support orchestral ensemble. This approach enables immediate feedback, a more creative design process and better integration of architecture and acoustics. Early reflections have been found to be vital for effective orchestral ensemble. Therefore, the study focused on the investigation of early energy distribution on stage with ray tracing analysis using a parametric tool. This tool also considers cross-stage shielding effects from the orchestra and the directivity of instruments. The results of the tool have been compared to an existing acoustic modelling software to determine its accuracy and reliability. Additionally, the expansion of the tool with an evolutionary solver has also been explored. The development of a Rhinoceros/Grasshopper design tool has been found to be beneficial in the analysis of stage conditions and enhances the design collaboration during early design phases.

Reducing the Incidence of Skin Cancer through Landscape Architecture Design Education

There is a high and growing incidence of skin cancer associated with overexposure to the sun. Most of a person’s exposure occurs during their first eighteen years of life. While many children are taught to wear hats and sunscreen, studies indicate these are inadequate. There is a pressing need to improve the design of our landscapes to reduce exposure. Landscape architects can play a key role in driving this process, but only if they understand the factors determining sun protection behaviours among children in the landscape, and how to design for these. We introduced a systematic evidence-based teaching approach to landscape architecture students in New Zealand where the incidence of skin cancer is one of the highest in the world. In this paper, we describe the methods we used to integrate scientific information into a creative design process that included four design phases: (1) review, summary and translation of evidential theory into design guidelines; (2) inventory and analysis of existing schoolyard; (3) redesign of schoolyard; and (4) final design evaluation. We found this process was effective in developing student appreciation for the need to improve sun protection through design, for increasing their understanding of the evidential science, in addition to developing their ability to translate, often inaccessible, evidential data into its spatial form implications. Furthermore, the process led to a high degree of confidence and pride among many students as their resulting design solutions were not only supported by evidence but were often highly creative. Such evidence-based design courses are essential for preparing future landscape architects to design landscapes that significantly reduce the incidence and health effects of skin cancer.

Human–robot collaboration: a fabrication framework for the sequential design and construction of unplanned spatial structures

ABSTRACT Robots in traditional fabrication applications act as passive participants in the process of creation—simply performing a set of predetermined actions to materialize a completed design. We propose a novel bottom-up design framework in which robots are instead given the opportunity to participate centrally within a creative design process. This paper describes how two 6-axis industrial robotic arms were used to cooperatively aggregate a collection of solid spherical units. The branching spatial structure being constructed is unplanned at the outset of this process, and is instead designed in pseudo-realtime during construction. This ‘design-as-you-build’ approach relies on robotic input, in the form of path-planning constraints, in tandem with human evaluation and decision-making. The resulting structure emerges from a human–robot design collaboration operating within the specified physical domain.

Virtual Collaborative Design Environment: Supporting Seamless Integration of Multitouch Table and Immersive VR

Throughout the design of a new building it is essential that all involved stakeholders understand, communicate, participate, and collaborate with each other to acquire a high-quality result. To support these shared and creative design processes, this paper presents the design and evaluation of virtual collaborative design environment (ViCoDE) - a new collaborative design system. ViCoDE features seamless integration of several immersive VR systems and a multitouch table that facilitates collaborative and interactive design work with immediate feedback. The evaluation of the system has been done during two real-life collaborative design workshops in a context of designing new healthcare environments. The results show that the VR system and multitouch table complement each other very well by facilitating both collaborative, and individual design spaces - and that it fosters better understanding, participation, communication, knowledge sharing, and collaboration among the different stakeholders. The contribution is two-fold: presentation of a new collaborative design system and the evaluation of its use in a real-life design context, which demonstrate how these new technology-based workshops may facilitate design management.

Effects of virtual reality on creative design performance and creative experiential learning

ABSTRACT This study investigated the effects of teaching via virtual reality (VR) on creative design performance and creative experiential learning processes by using a pretest–post-test nonequivalent group design to sample 138 seventh graders from a junior high school in Taipei City. The main conclusions from this study are: (1) VR has significant positive effects on creative design processes, particularly in the design and planning, testing and revision and thoughts and appreciation stages. (2) VR has significant positive effects on creative design outcomes, with high- and low-level effects on creative design and functional appropriateness, respectively. (3) The learning process for VR and creative experiential learning shifts from concrete experiences to reflective observations, abstract conceptualization and, finally, innovative applications. Behaviors of reflective observation and innovative application are active and vital to the performance of creative processes and outcomes.

THE HISTORICAL/ CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON STAR WARS CHARACTER QUEEN PADME COSTUME DESIGN

The research is about the role of the costume designer and the extent of its effectiveness in achieving the balance between character design that reflects the ideals and goals of movie, and finding the appropriate reference, whether historical or civilized influence, through the design idea on which it is based. For example, the research was taken from the costume design of the star wars movie in a condition that applies to the elements of a suitable design and limited the analysis On Queen Padmé character from the series of star wars movies, the research mentioned three costumes that appeared during the film; throne room gown with its elements inspired in the creative process of design, the lake gown, and the travel gown with its details which Inspired by different civilizations like old historical Russian dress.

Apologia for an Architecture of Play

Ricchezza e ambiguità della progettazione architettonica sono legate alla libertà delle attitudini progettuali individuali, in cui il dominio dell’immaginario è rappresentato da un processo di progettazione creativa che, nonostante proceda per diversi gradi di complessità talvolta si evolve a partire da un’intenzione giocosa. Mentre la nozione di gioco appare come una forza trascinante nella faticosa ricerca di una possibile risposta appropriata ad un determinato problema, le diverse soluzioni progettuali approntate mostrano le potenziali opportunità che un progetto architettonico può offrire. Il gioco appartiene alla natura del processo di progettazione in termini di astrazione e di manipolazione geometrica, intersecando il lavoro architettonico con le qualità specifiche dello spazio, come nelle opere contemporanee di Pezo von Ellrichshausen dedicate alla continua ricerca di strutture infinite dello spazio.

Impact of Knowledge Search Practices on the Originality of Inventions in the Oil & Gas Industry

The paper suggests a new taxonomy of knowledge search modes to describe the creative process of new invention design, in particular how firms combine knowledge components from their own knowledge base—taking into account both the components and the structures of knowledge bases—with those from newly acquired or newly internally developed. Using network theory techniques, we defined four knowledge search modes: (1) refinement, (2) clustering, (3) absorption and (4) recomposition. We conducted an exploratory study on the oil & gas industry, reviewing 50,776 utility patents filed by 16 major firms between 1989 and 2016. The results showed, first, that firms relied to varying extents on different knowledge search modes in their invention design processes. Second, reviewing the technological originality of the designed inventions showed that simply absorbing new knowledge components, without major changes in knowledge base structure, was associated with low technological originality, but constituted one of the main knowledge search modes used by the analyzed firms. In contrast, major changes in knowledge base structure favored technological originality, with or without new knowledge components, but were nevertheless the least used mode. Understanding organizational learning practices associated with the phenomena described here can foster innovation performance in firms.

A framework for interactive human–robot design exploration

This study seeks to identify key aspects for increased integration of interactive robotics within the creative design process. Through its character as foundational research, the study aims to contribute to the advancement of new explorative design methods to support architects in their exploration of fabrication and assembly of an integrated performance-driven architecture. The article describes and investigates a proposed design framework for supporting an interactive human–robot design process. The proposed framework is examined through a 3-week architectural studio, with university master students exploring the design of a brick construction with the support of an interactive robotic platform. Evaluation of the proposed framework was done by triangulation of the authors’ qualitative user observations, quantitative logging of the students’ individual design processes, and through questionnaires completed after finishing the studies. The result suggests that interactive human–robot fabrication is a relevant mode of design with positive effect on the process of creative design exploration.