DT&D&T Newsletter 2:
Design focus, plus 3D printing and reading on the cheap
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25-5-17
Welcome to the second Disruptive Technologies and D&T newsletter; If you didn’t see the first one, it is available in the archive and, if you want to know what it’s all about, there is an explanatory blog post.
The focus in this newsletter is on resources related to design, ranging from articles about the cultural significance of design, through a series of articles on artificial intelligence (AI) and design, to resources that may help your students break out of narrow, fixated ways of thinking about their designing.
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Please note that you should vet all links before sharing them with pupils.
I avoid obviously offensive material, but I can't guarantee the absence of fruity language or ideas that may not be suitable for under-18s.
Caveat Lector
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Design and culture
Backchannel has an interesting article on the cultural ramifications of typography that seems especially pertinent in our current political climate.
“Typography can silently influence: It can signify dangerous ideas, normalize dictatorships, and sever broken nations. In some cases it may be a matter of life and death. And it can do this as powerfully as the words it depicts.”
John Maeda produces an annual Design in Tech Report for the SXSW conference. It’s a substantial piece of analysis, but one worth examining as it provides an authoritative overview of the importance of design in industry. A key takeaway from the 2017 report is that If You Want to Survive in Design, You Better Learn to Code. The implication of this for D&T as a school subject is that we really do need to take seriously the emphasis on embedded control and intelligent products that both the national curriculum and the new GCSE require. If we skimp on this we’re selling the subject short.
Medium has been running a series on ‘AI and the future of Design’. Part 1 (The Inevitability of Crisis) provides a general overview of where AI is up to and explores some of the likely social implications. Part 2 (The Safety Zone) focuses on whether design as an occupation could be taken over – and concludes, with caveats, probably not just yet. The third (and probably final) Part is What will the designer of 2025 look like? and it “...argues that designers may well provide the missing link between AI and humanity”. A key idea emerging is that the future of design might be not so much to design artefacts as to design and curate systems that design artefacts. An example of this that you can explore now is Nervous System;
“…a generative design studio that works at the intersection of science, art, and technology. Drawing inspiration from natural phenomena, we create computer simulations to generate designs and use digital fabrication to realize products.”
In short, their website allows you to use parametric design to develop items of jewellery and then have them made using a range of materials in a process that includes 3D printing. I’ve used Nervous System to design and have made a very organic looking silver bracelet that was very well-received by my partner.
Stimulus materials that broaden students’ ideas about what design can look like are always useful. Two rather different approaches have crossed my path recently.
The first is Skylar Jessen’s Decompressed Design; an exploration of how design can make our technologically compressed lives more human. Jeesson’s ideas include a lamp that senses when two people are having a conversation and shuts off all digital notifications until it’s over, and a messaging app that
“…explores how we can design a digital conversation to capture a deeper level of presence, and have more intentional connection, much like the way face to face conversations work.”
Note that these have been developed for Jesson’s thesis project at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program so exist only as prototypes, at the moment.
The second is Steven M. Johnson’s Patent Depending: Armbrella, Sofa Shower, Unzipped Fly Alarm and Other Essential Products; a collection of mad-but-thought-provoking design sketches. Core77 has a preview of a range of inventions from the book; I can only urge you to have a look at them.
Additive manufacturing
A new Kickstarter is offering a $99 3D Printer with auto-levelling, Wi-Fi, and mobile support. One would want to be cautious about buying this as a workhorse for the classroom (!), but it seems like a cheap way to get into personal 3D printing or as a way to support a club. The company offering this is linked to digistump – and I’ve backed previous Kickstarters from them with no problems of delivery or quality. For an extra $75 you get a machine with a heated, PEI bed, a full enclosure and a display. The prices above don’t include $45 for shipping to the UK. This means that, at the current exchange rate, the total cost of the top range version is about £170.
Humble Bundle of Make: books
Every now and then Humble Bundle put on an offer of Make: books. For a tiny, minimum, sum you get a virtual pile of e-books, all DRM free. The current offer includes a wide range of about 24 books for a minimum price of less than £12. I’m not going to describe the books on offer – go look it up and, if at least one of them looks attractive to you, then it’s worth buying the bundle. Offer runs out at some point on the 31st May (that's next week!).
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Links and comments from the community
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Biomimicry
Hat-tip to Ed Charlwood (@mrcharlwood) for noting that Your Umbrella May Be Getting an Upgrade Thanks to Ladybug Wings. Turns out that they fold their wings in three to fit under their elytra (the pretty wing cases) using origami-like folds and no joints. See also New Scientist. It seems that we’ve been building umbrellas the hard way for 2000 years – or perhaps longer.
Do you have interesting news items you'd like to share?
If so, send them to me and I'll link to them in this section with appropriate acknowledgements.
And I welcome commentary and discussion on items that have taken your interest (or raised your ire!); again, with permission, I’ll be very happy to include elements of such feedback.
You can send items and comments by simply replying to this email.
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I’ll be back soon,
Cheers, Torben
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