Week 6: Interdisciplinary Insights – New Approaches and Creative Partnerships
In this week's podcast lecture, we have Louize Harries, a former graduate from Central St Martins with a background in textiles. After completing her BA in the mid-90s, Louize ventured into diverse roles, including running her own label, co-founding a collaborative textile craft practice, and managing her own studio. However, her journey took an educational turn in 2016 when she pursued an MA in Material Futures, driven by her curiosity about the methodologies and scientific aspects of the craft. During the conversation, Louize shares her inspirations from influential institutions like the Bauhaus and Black Mountain College, the latter being located in California.
During the podcast, Louize explains her collaborative project with Katie Mae Boyd, known as the Drone project, which was developed for the Biodesign Challenge—an equivalent of the iGEM for designers. Their objective was to create a visually captivating and thought-provoking piece of work that shed light on the legal thresholds of air pollution in London.
Research Task:
Research the various meanings of interdisciplinary collaboration and how such approaches can form exciting partnerships in graphic design.
The design of ‘interactions,’ ‘services,’ and ‘experiences’ often include combined and coordinated applications of communications, products, and spaces. Therefore, a collaboration between the graphic design, industrial design, and interior design disciplines (along with others) may be required. (Nini, 2020).
As designers, it is important for us to understand why we should interact with other disciplines; interacting with other disciplines of design can give our project work a unique edge.
For example, a brief for a project could involve producing advertising billboards for a sofa company. If a designer for this project had a combined knowledge or understanding of interior design in. addition to graphics, this could embellish the project’s final outcome further with an enhanced result.
I came across the Dracula billboard advert, showcasing the BBC’s new show. This clever way of advertising, broke the traditional rules of graphic design by mixing a different specialism, that of set design, to create an even more coherent piece of work that sparked conversation and engagement.
“With so many incarnations of the horror icon already in existence on film and TV, BBC Creative wanted UK audiences to engage with the Dracula legend in a really surprising way. It created a special build poster using light and shadow to bring the out of home campaign to life, like the Count himself, as night fell. It engaged viewers online with a 10-second time lapse of the transformation at sunset, which drove the online conversation pointing viewers towards the show”. - D&AD,2020
This piece of work shows two different specialisms of design working together in a balanced way. It conforms to the principles of graphic design displaying hierarchy, balance and white space. This white space is then elevated over time, by the shadows produced by the stakes. These are seen to be nailed into the billboard itself, producing a 3D look in the daytime creating interest over time, and unveiling the star and villain of the show.
In conclusion, the importance of collaboration between different design disciplines can help create innovative and impactful projects. By combining knowledge and understanding from various fields, designers can enhance the final outcome and add a unique edge to their work. The example of the Dracula billboard advert showcases the successful integration of set design and graphic design, breaking traditional rules and creating a coherent and engaging piece of work.
The collaboration between these two specialisms resulted in a visually striking poster that utilised light, shadow, and physical elements to bring the campaign to life.
This collaboration not only captured viewers' attention but also sparked conversations and drove online engagement. It demonstrates how the integration of different disciplines can elevate design principles, such as hierarchy, balance, and white space, while creating a dynamic and immersive experience for the audience. Overall, utilising different diciplines highlights the value of collaboration in design, as it allows for exploration and creativity.
2. Brainstorm design ideas to encourage interdisciplinary dialogue and co-creation.
The key for collaboration is to create opportunities and platforms where designers from different disciplines can come together, exchange ideas, and collaborate on projects.
There are many opportunities out there for designer to come together and share ideas.
Every year design exhibitions are held all over the country, some exhibitions are small hosted by universities showcasing students work. These exhibitions offer opportunities for collaborating and can give great insight into a designers style of work. In addition to exhibitions, conferences and award ceremonies are another platform where designer can work together. Every year the D&ad Awards showcases the best pieces of work from all disciplines of design.
For designers who are just in the early stages of their careers there are design mentorship programmes. These programmes are on offer a lot of the time within agencies or design studios. It is not uncommon for the largest of design agencies to offer mentoring programmes.
The London based design agency Pearlfisher offer opportunities all year round.
“A placement or internship with us is about getting stuck in and involved in everything we do, so that’s why we need to make sure we select the right person with the right attitude.” (Pearlfisher. 2023)
Online platforms such as 99designs and Behance are also a very helpful tools for co-creation. These online spaces allow designers from different disciplines to come together and solve specific design challenges. By encouraging brainstorming sessions, idea sharing, and collaborative problem-solving, these spaces can foster interdisciplinary dialogue and co-creation.
References:
Nini, P.J. (2020) Interdisciplinary collaboration in design: Context and opportunities, Medium. Available at: https://pjn123.medium.com/interdisciplinary-collaboration-in-design-context-and-opportunities-92e63828a4ed (Accessed: 16 July 2023).
Pearlfisher (2021) Creative Design & Branding Agency Jobs, Pearlfisher. Available at: https://www.pearlfisher.com/careers/ (Accessed: 17 July 2023)
D&ad (2020) Dracula – Special Build, Dracula – Special Build | BBC Creative | BBC | D&AD Awards 2020 Shortlist | Existing Sites Poster Advertising | D&AD. Available at: https://www.dandad.org/awards/professional/2020/232751/dracula-special-build/#:~:text=With%20so%20many%20incarnations%20of,count%20himself%2C%20as%20night%20fell. (Accessed: 17 July 2023).
