Design DNA as a principle of creation: terms of meditativeness, contemplativeness, and their reflection in the design
Ing. arch. Martin Somora, ArtD., M.A.
In the presented dissertation thesis titled: DNA, or Fundamental Principles of the Creative Process in Design. Meditativeness, Contemplativeness and their Reflection in Design, I focused on the ways in which these notions are used in the creative process generally, and in design specifically. I examine their original meaning and compare it with how they are used nowadays. Furthermore, I compare and contrast various theoretical bases found in designers’ theoretical works. The creative process can be defined as a chain of concepts with an inherent phase associated with the notions of meditativeness and contemplativeness. In contrast, the final work may offer wide possibilities for meditative and contemplative perception. I have studied the use of selected terms in design works realized in Slovak setting. I present possibilities for creating new meanings in design, through the application of innovative material in traditionally perceived products, works of designs. Such new products undergo a multi-layer change, which brings a new multilayer meaning as a result of the transformation process. At the beginning, theoretical works focused on such transformations were my inspiration for the research. The presented way of thinking, which naturally refers to the notions of meditativeness and contemplativeness as a part, or DNA, of the design, is expressed in real work which is clearly influenced by the creation of new meanings, new metaphors at a specific site, characterized by its own genius loci. Our project was named Contemplative terrace – floating. In addition, I present three virtual projects I, II, and III. As the Bench over Water, their design is explored with respect to the transformation of significance of materials, in the rural environment.
- PhD thesis approved in the study programme Design at the Faculty of Architecture STU in Bratislava
Methodological approach in product design
Mgr. art. Matej Rudinský, ArtD.
The thesis explores the issue of methodological approach in product design as a reaction to the as-yet absent description of the design creation process of individual designers and also designer teams. In practice, this means that each designer approaches this issue individually (based on their own intuition or experience or other determinants). This lack of concept often causes considerable managerial and design uncertainties in the creative process with significant economic impact, and this unnecessarily complicates the process and reduces efficiency where it is the most desirable. The impact on the qualitative parameters of the product is more than significant, especially with respect to complex tasks such as transport design and digital product design. The thesis focuses on a methodological approach to creating a digital product as a future leading concept in the world of design whose nature is so complicated that without clearer procedures and methodologies it is unmanageable due to the large number of inputs that come into it at each stage of the creative process. The work aims to describe this ever-changing matrix, which is flexible and provides individual designers as well as designer teams with solid ground under their feet. It also focuses more closely on the development and completion of digital products, the social circumstances of their creation prior to the current global 2020 crisis. It promotes the concept of transdisciplinary synergy in response to a new level of cooperation and also stresses the need for concentrating on the issue of the design team.
- PhD thesis approved in the study programme Design at the Faculty of Architecture STU in Bratislava
- Thesis available online at: https://opac.crzp.sk/?fn=detailBiblioForm&sid=F0D9EA643ED4040315E1131BE0B8&seo=CRZP-detail-kniha (in Slovak)