FINGERPRINTED
FINGERPRINTED
This thesis exploration aimed to record the messy, yet individualistic, marks of the design process through the creation of an evidential artifact; one that sets a legacy in motion. Covered in beautiful ethereal patterns born from the designer’s time in a printmaking studio, the apron reflects the human quality that drives the act of making. The color mixing recipes, moments of observation, and emotional responses to the processes of print became the visualized data points of the experience, revealing a “performer” who yearns for physicality and is conflicted by uncertainty.
✻ IT IS THE IDEOLOGIES OF CRAFT, WHICH MIRROR THE WHIMSICAL ELEMENTS OF BAKING, THAT INSPIRE UNIQUE PROCESSES OF DOCUMENTATION. ✻
DESIGN KITCHEN
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DESIGN KITCHEN ✻
HOW DOES INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE INFORM CREATIVE DECISIONS?
HOW CAN DESIGNERS CAPTURE THE ESSENCE OF THEIR DESIGN PROCESS?
The creation of the Design Kitchen aims to do just that. Part two of the visual exploration takes the ideas explored through the thesis paper and develops them into an interactive installation that engages the visiting audience. Replicating the equally enchanting qualities found in my grandmothers baking performance.
Providing designers with a Pantry of ingredients, the creative experiment asks its participants to visualize the essence of their identity, assembling their own design recipe. Filled with a varied assortment of materials, from markers to crayons, to dried flowers and sticker the Pantry is infused with wonder and playfulness, traits used to spark audience interest. These materials, however, hold significance on their own, the adjective labeling found in the crystal containers queues the designers as to potential meanings.
The participants are prompted to write their name, put together an image, or perhaps, even tell a story with these materials. They may cut, glue, sketch, embellish, or stain, no specific rules are established, it is up to the designer to make the rules. The ultimate collection of design recipes, infused with individualistic narratives, will then be collected and archived in the Design Kitchen Instagram acting as a “cookbook” of Design.
During the graduate exhibition on March 4th, 2022, the stage was set for the attendees to become creative bakers within the design kitchen. The level of interaction was everything I’d hoped for, with participants drawn to the makers table eager to both exercise their individuality and witness others do so. The results are a beautiful compilation of diverse narratives, the variety in the use of this specific offering of materials showed that each participant has a distinct approach to materiality. The recipe cards in itself are a great demonstration of the previous statement, some makers taking on the illustrative face of the card as the canvas for their creation.
