by Kristina Reischl -

Joyful Design

Survey Part 01

The following post will examine the findings of my survey on the topic of joyful design. The goal of this survey was to outline characteristics and/or differences in perception of joyful design/a joyful object.

Method: Interview/Survey

Goal: Find characteristics and/or differences in perception of joyful design.

Number of Participants: 10

Age: 23—65


Question 01:
Which color do you associate with joy? (multiple answers possible)

7 x yellow
2 x orange
2 x turquoise blue

1 x green, 1 x lightblue, 1 x white, 1 x melon

Question 02:
Which shapes do you associate with joy? (multiple answers possible)

9 x round/circle
4 x star
3 x trefoil


2 x triangle, 2 x spiral
1 x half circle, 1 x heart, 1 x rhombus

Question 03:
Which sounds do you associate with joy? (multiple answers possible)

4 x birds
3 x sea sounds
3 x wind/trees

2 x high, clear sounds, 2 x laughter
1 x Horn (note: participant is musician/plays horn), 1 x Bass, 1 x fast rhythms, 1 x cartoon sounds, 1 x cooking/roasting sounds, 1 x bright music , 1 x 60’s Mod Music, 1 x K-Pop, 1 x opening carbonated drinks, 1 x Popcorn

Question 04:
Which scents do you associate with joy? (multiple answers possible)

4 x flowers
2 x roses
2 x sea breeze
2 x fresh cut grass

1 x lavender, 1 x new leather, 1 x computer water cooling, 1 x cinamon, 1 x fruit market, 1 x coconut, 1 x lemon, 1 x new furniture, 1 x books, 1 x sunscreen, 1 x fresh showered , 1 x fresh baked, 1 x candles, 1 x magnolia , 1 x forest, 1 x wood

Question 05:
Which taste do associate with joy? (multiple answers possible)

5 x fruity (watermelon, cherries, mango, raspberries)
4 x chocolate/nougat
2 x sour

1 x vanille, 1 x umami, 1 x coconut water, 1 x churches, 1 x sushi, 1 x summer wine, 1 x fresh orange juice

Question 06:
Which material feels better?
Options: glass, plastic, steel, wood, other

6 x wood
4 x glass

Question 07:
Which material feels better?
Options: silk, cotton, jute, faux fur, other

5 x cotton
4 x silk
1 x faux fur

Question 06:
Which images evokes the most positive feeling?

  • 2
  • 3

3 x

2 x

Question 06:
Which images evokes the most positive feeling?

9x

1 x

According to the survey a clear tendency to naturalistic elements is recognizable:

Color
Yellow, Orange, Turquoise:
According to my previous research, yellow could be described as the color of joy—that also reflects in my survey.

Orange and yellow make us feel alive and alert. Blue calms us down—this reactions may be rooted in our species quest for survive (this knowledge in turn connects to our joyful experience of rural landscapes—landscapes that where livable and therefore crucial environments for our survival). Also, we instinctively experience yellow as a happy or joyful color, because it is the color of sunshine and waking life. Whereas blue is connected with peacefulness and rest. [1]

Shapes
Round/circle, Star, Trefoil:
In general, organic shapes (round, trefoil) have been described as joyful—which can be linked to elements of nature. On the other hand the star also has been mentioned to be received as a joyful shape—that result can be described through cultural connotation.  In our history they have become sacred and spiritual symbols and are symbolic for protection and guidance. Stars are connotated with many different meaning—the most recognised image is the star as a symbol of excellence.

Sounds
Birds, Sea sounds, Wind/trees:
Sounds from nature were described as most joyful. Also, sounds that are linked to positive experiences are remembered as joyful. (Popcorn, cooking, favorite music, etc.). Participants also mentioned to perceive bright, clear and high sounds as joyful.

Scents
Flowers, Roses, Sea breeze, Fresh cut grass:
Natural scents—especially flowers—where from a vast majority described as joyful.

Taste
Fruity (watermelon, cherries, mango, raspberries), Chocolate/nougat, Sour:
Primarily sweet has been described as a joyful taste, followed up by sour. Again, natural tastes—fruits—were mentioned by a vast majority.

Materials
Wood, Cotton:
Natural materials such as wood and cotton were preferred by the vast majority of participants.

Environment
Woods, Beach:
The environment of woods with lake was perceived as most joyful, followed up by the image of a beach. That cresult an be described through the theory of our preference for Pastoral landscapes (= safe, propitious and liveable environment). Pastoral scenes are a part of our evolution, which is also the reason why we are so drawn to those scenes. Typical landscape scenes include, according to Denis Dutton, hills, water, trees, birds, animals and a path moving through the scene – an ideal landscape for humans, containing protection, water and food. Dutton notes that our species has evolved to feel a need for certain types of beauty in our lives and that this pull towards things such as theses landscapes has helped us to survive as a species. He also notes that all cultures value artwork that includes these scenes – regardless where people come from. [2]

Colors/Multiplicity vs Minimalism
Colors, Multiplicity:
The picture of a building working with colorful elements and multiplicity was preferred by nine participants. Only one participant voted for the neutral, minimalistic option. This result matches with my previous research where visual cues that evoke a feeling of happiness work with bright colors, multi-colored palettes and multiplicity.


Survey:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9bs06weEihFmH5nQdUv-5maDB3wymeLUoHY63TRp4ITTABw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Sources:

[1] Lupton, Ellen: Design is Storytelling. New York: Cooper Hewitt 2017, p. 108

[2] TED. Denis Dutton: A Darwinian theory of beauty. URL: https://www.ted.com/talks/denis_dutton_a_darwinian_theory_of_beauty (last retrieved November 14, 2020)

by Theresa Dachauer -

Who inspires me #2

Here I go again, trying to figure out what I like and why. Today’s illustrator is Beatrice Blue (@beatrice.blue) an Art Director and author/illustrator working both on publishing and the animation industry. Her work is very playful and colorful. What draws me to her work is her use of different analog textures in a digital setting. I like her the color palettes she chooses, they harmonize with her painting style and motifs. The illustrations she creates feel soft and comforting, but also very playful.

I think the biggest reason why I like someones work is if it triggers some sort of emotional reaction whether it’s curiosity, happiness, longing or a feeling of understanding. The work of Beatrice Blue definitely invokes happy emotions.

by Sonja Zechner -

Informationstheorie

Die Gestaltpsychologie ging zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts von den Erkenntnissen der Wissenschaften Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts aus. In den darauffolgenden Jahren gab es immer mehr Einwände gegen diese Erkenntnisse, da sie zu sehr an subjektive Empfindungen geknüpft und nur schwer messbar waren. Die amerikanischen Mathematiker R. A. Fisher, C. E. Shannon und N. Wiener versuchten diese Mängel mit Hilfe ihrer in der Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts entwickelten Informationstheorie zu beheben. Die damalige Entwicklung von elektronischen Nachrichtenmedien und die Verbreitung von datenerfassenden und -verarbeitenden Rechenanlagen verlangte nach einer theoretischen Grundlage. In dieser Informationstheorie gibt es einen Sender der eine Nachricht in Wort und/oder Bild an einen Empfänger sendet. Die Nachrichten bestehen aus Zeichen die sowohl vom Sender als auch vom Empfänger gekannt und erkannt werden können. 
Wichtig ist dabei zu erkennen, dass sich der Gehalt, die Substanz einer Nachricht aus der Beziehung von Unvorhergesehenem – Neuen – zu bereits Bekanntem und Überflüssigem (der sogenannten Redundanz) ergibt.
Die optimale Nachricht besteht aus einem geringen Übergewicht an Neuem, das das Interesse und die Aufmerksamkeit weckt. 

An diesem Punkt überlappen sich die Gestalt- und die Informationstheorie. Die Verbindung zwischen beiden Lehren stellte der Psychologe und Soziologe Abraham Moles her. Er hat die Informationstheorie, die zunächst unter einem physikalisch-mathematischen Aspekt entwickelt und hauptsächlich auf materielle Systeme angewendet wurde, auf menschliche Empfindungen, sprich auf die Probleme der Wahrnehmung, angewendet. 

Der unvorhersehbare, schwer zu verstehende Teil einer Nachricht, der Originalitäts- oder Neuigkeitsgehalt, ist nach den Gestaltgesetzen mengenmäßig nicht zu erfassen. In der Informationstheorie ist dieser Gehalt allerdings in „bit“, der Maßeinheit für die kleinste Informationsmenge, meßbar. Ein Mensch hat eine Aufnahmekapazität von ungefähr 16 bit pro Sekunde. Es ist für die Gestaltung eines Bildes jedoch nicht notwendig einen Zahlenwert für seinen Neuigkeitsgehalt zu nennen. Wichtig ist nur zu erkennen, dass der Neuigkeitswert ein maßgeblicher Faktor in der Bildentwicklung ist.

Bedeutung der Gestalt- und Informationstheorie für die Bildgestaltung
Die Gestalttheorie lehrt uns, dass unser Wahrnehmungssystem stets bemüht ist, durch Ordnen und Zusammenfassen das Erkennen und Verstehen unserer Umwelt zu vereinfachen, damit wir uns leichter darin zurechtfinden.

Die Informationstheorie lehrt uns; gegensätzliche Bestandteile einer Information, wie Neues und Bekanntes, so aufeinander abzustimmen, dass sich sowohl eine verständliche als auch eine interessante Nachricht ergibt. Während die Gestalttheorie eine formalästhetische Beurteilung von Bildern ermöglicht, dient die Informationstheorie einer Beurteilung des Neuigkeitsgehaltes. Einen unbedingten Maßstab dafür gibt es jedoch nicht; denn was dem einen neu ist, mag dem anderen schon seit langem bekannt sein. Die Originalität hängt wesentlich vom Wissens- und Erfahrungsschatz des Betrachters ab. (Weber 1990)

Eine Bildnachricht kann kein absolutes Abbild der Wirklichkeit sein, denn zwischen Sender und Kanal – Objekt, Fotograf und Foto – besteht eine Wechselbeziehung, in der die Subjektivität des Fotografen, wie er die Dinge sieht, zum Ausdruck kommt. Dem Empfänger – Betrachter – bleibt es überlassen, wiederum subjektiv, das Maß an Übereinstimmung zwischen Realität und Abbildung auszuloten und das Bild zu bewerten.

Quelle:
Weber 1990 Ernst A.Weber: Sehen, Gestalten und Fotografieren. Basen; Boston; Berlin: Birkhäuser, 1990
Bilder:
Weber 1990, Seite 28

by Sonja Zechner -

Die Figur-Grundbeziehung

Auge und Gehirn arbeiten nicht wie eine Kamera rein registrierend. Es werden Bilder weder für eine kurze Zeit noch auf Dauer als ein beständiges Bild aufgezeichnet. „Der Sehvorgang ist ein vielmehr konstruktiver Prozess, bei dem vollständige Muster wahrgenommen und mit bereits im Gehirn gespeicherten Mustern und Erfahrungen verglichen werden, um zu einer Erkenntnis und Bestimmung des Gesehenen zu gelangen.“ (Weber 1990, S.15) Der österreichische Physiker, Psychologe und Philosoph Ernst Mach hat mit seinem Buch „Die Analyse der Empfindung“ 1886 den Anstoß zur Begründung der Schule der Gestaltungspsychologie gegeben. Er erkannte, dass bei der Wahrnehmung von nicht zu komplizierten Gegenständen die Form als Ganzes über die weiteren Unterscheidungsmerkmale dominiert. 

Bei einem Baum werden nicht die einzelnen Blätter, Äste und der Stamm gesehen, sondern er wird als Ganzes wahrgenommen. Ebenso verhält es sich mit dem Dromedar.
(Weber 1990, S.15)

Um 1910 wurde in der Folge von den Psychologen Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler und Kurt Koffka, den bedeutendsten Vertretern der Gestaltpsychologie, die Unterscheidung zwischen Figur und Grund als ein wesentliches Kriterium der Gestalttheorie formuliert.

Gestalt
Wenn sich ein Objekt durch Kontrast von seiner Umgebung abhebt, kann es wahrgenommen werden. Diese Unterscheidungsgrenze formt die äußere Gestalt des Objekts. Seine „Gestalt“ entsteht durch spontanes Ordnen und Gruppieren einzelner visueller Elemente zu einem Ganzen. „Die Gestalt bildet eine klar erkennbare Ganzheit, die gegliedert und geschlossen ist und sich von ihrer Umgebung deutlich hervorhebt. […] Das Ganze unterscheidet sich von der Summe seiner einzelnen visuellen Elemente.“ (Weber 1990, S.16)

Um den Übergang vom Kleinen zum großen Ganzen zu veranschaulichen wird hier die Venus von Milo als Beispiel gezeigt. Aus einzelnen Buchstaben wurde der Torso der Venus zusammengesetzt. Man kann entweder jeden einzelnen Buchstaben, jedes einzelne visuelle Element, oder die Gruppierung der Buchstaben zu einem Ganzen, die Gestalt, erkennen. (Rechenzentrum der Technischen Universität Berlin)

Die Figur-Grundbeziehung
Die wichtigste Einsicht in der Gestaltungstheorie liegt in der Unterscheidung zwischen Figur und Grund.

Wenn wir ein Bild betrachten wählen wir in der ersten 1/100 Sekunde unwillkürlich ein Objekt vor der übrigen Szene, dem Hintergrund, als Figur aus. Wir unterscheiden also in der ersten Wahrnehmungsphase zwischen der (uns wichtig erscheinenden) Figur und dem (uns unwichtig erscheinenden) Hintergrund.

Im Gegensatz zur freistehenden Kugel auf dem rechten Bild unterscheidet sie sich links kaum als Figur vom Grund. (Nach A. A. Moles aus „Kunst und Computer“)

5 Faktoren bestimmen die Unterscheidung zwischen Figur und Grund:
1. Die Figur muss sich vom Grund abheben.
2. Die kleinere Fläche wird meist als Figur, die größere eher als Grund gesehen.
3. Figur und Grund können nicht zugleich wahrgenommen werden.
4. Vor allem dicht beieinanderliegende, sich ähnelnde visuelle Elemente werden zu einer Figur zusammengefasst.
5. Symmetrie und geschlossene Formen werden bevorzugt als Figur wahrgenommen.

Quelle:
Weber 1990 Ernst A.Weber: Sehen, Gestalten und Fotografieren. Basel; Boston; Berlin: Birkhäuser 1990
Bilder:
Weber 1990, Seite 15, 16 

by Jan Adams -

Test: Code and Typo-Matrix

Nach einem Test Typo direkt hartcodiert zu verarbeiten möchte ich nun Text extern einlesen. Für diesen Versuch möchte ich Daten/Text aus dem Internet abgreifen.

Zu meiner obigen Anforderung muss ich mir ein Anwendungsbeispiel überlegen.

Buchstaben/Wörter zählen?

Buchstaben/Wort-Statistiken vergleichen?

Nachdem keine Idee meinen Ansprüchen entsprochen hat, habe ich mir ein abstraktes Anwendungsbeispiel überlegt.

Matrix

Matrizen sind im Programmieren/Mathematik sehr bekannt, jedoch soll es in meinem Beispiel um eine Hommage an den Film „Matrix“ gehen.
Die meisten kennen die Grün/Schwarze Matrix aus dem Kultfilm:

Nach einem Test Typo direkt hartcodiert zu verarbeiten möchte ich nun Text extern einlesen. Für diesen Versuch möchte ich Daten/Text aus dem Internet abgreifen.

Zu meiner obigen Anforderung muss ich mir ein Anwendungsbeispiel überlegen.

Buchstaben/Wörter zählen?

Buchstaben/Wort-Statistiken vergleichen?

Nachdem keine Idee meinen Ansprüchen entsprochen hat, habe ich mir ein abstraktes Anwendungsbeispiel überlegt.

Matrix

Matrizen sind im Programmieren/Mathematik sehr bekannt, jedoch soll es in meinem Beispiel um eine Hommage an den Film „Matrix“ gehen.
Die meisten kennen die Grün/Schwarze Matrix aus dem Kultfilm:

Von Jamie Zawinski, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3792993

Mein Beispiel: Optical line/gradient illusion

Ziel:

Es soll Text/Zeichen aus einer Website geladen werden und im „klassischen“ Matrix Look dargestellt werden. Des Weiteren soll diese Matrix-Darstellung durch eine User-Interaktion ausgelöst werden.

Zusätzliche Testfälle

Gag / bzw. Easter Egg, immer wichtig bei geek projekten

Verschiedene Effekte anwenden

Umsetzung/Erkenntnisse:

Als erstes hole ich mir die Zeichen von einer Website, dies sollte in Processing mittels loadStrings() schnell realisierbar sein.
Danach lege ich daraus eine Line-Matrix an und lösche alle non-ASCI Zeichen, control characters und non-printable Zeichen.

Nach einigen Ausgabe-Tests mit diesen Zeilen überlege ich mir die nächsten Schritte: Ich brauche die Zeilenaausgabe senkrecht, nicht horizontal.  

Aus jeder Zeile erstelle ich nun ein eigenes Objekt (um meine OOP-Kenntnisse aufzufrischen). Jedes Objekt/Zeile darf nun selbst entscheiden von welcher Position an die Screen sie startet.
Pro Zeile wird nun jedes Zeichen durch iteriert und auf entlang der Y-Achse ausgegeben. Nach einigen Tests merke ich, dass es für den originalen Look essentiell ist von welcher Position die Zeichenketten starten. So müssen etwa einige Zeichenketten im X-Minusbereich starten um ein vollständiges Bild zu erzielen.

*Spoiler alert*
Als User-Interaktion fällt mir die Konversation zwischen Neo und Morpheus ein, in welcher er sich entscheiden muss, in welcher „Realität“ er weiterleben möchte. Symbolisch muss Neo zwischen einer roten Pille, oder einer blauen Pille wählen.
Diese Entscheidung möchte ich in meiner Arbeit aufgreifen und den User entscheiden lassen.

by ADAMS

Zusätzliche Testfälle – Erkenntnisse:

Verschiedene Effekte anwenden

Ich habe mich für den Einsatz von preset-filtern entschieden. Manche funktionieren besser als andere und werden aufgrund der Menge sehr rechenintensiv. à Ruckler entstehen

Ich habe mich für Zwei entschieden, der User kann mittels B und E Taste den Filter switchen.

Filter1:

by ADAMS

Filter2:

by ADAMS

Gag/Easter Egg

Den Text für diese Matrix hole ich aus dem Wikipedia-Eintrag vom „Höhlengleichnis“

Blaue Pille:

by ADAMS
by Theresa Dachauer -

Who inspires me #1

I’ve been thinking a lot about different styles and in which direction I want to go with my personal illustration style in the future. Because the option are endless I’ve settled on looking at artists and illustrators who’s work inspires me or speaks to me in some way at the moment.

The first Timothy Von Rueden (@vonnart) an independent artist from Wisconsin. His main focus is pencil drawings and I think his work is inspiring to me because of the way he uses light and shadows as well as white space to enhance his pieces. The way he uses the medium to his advantage creates dynamic drawing the capture the eyes (or mine at least). Another reason why his artwork always captures my interest is because of his attention to detail and his intricate subjects.

by Marcelino Zus -

Print experiment: “reality is analog”, part III–hand set lettering

Altough the printing method using movable letters has already been known in Eastern parts of the world it was the German goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg who improved this technique in 1450 which lead to a revolution in print setting and production of books and thus made the spread of information and knowledge available to a broader public. Before Gutenberg’s invention, in Europe it was the job of clerics to write and design (religious) stories and especially copies of the bible by hand, which of course was a slow but also quite expensive process. Due to this only the very wealthy part of the population was able to afford books and the contents they conveyed.

Compared to nowadays spread of information Gutenberg’s invention was also very slow and expensive, but his invention did not only speed up the reproduction of knowledge–by giving craftsmen the possibility to produce books and newspapers, the catholic church subsequently lost control over publishing and thus knowledge and science, leading to an empowerment of the bourgeoisie.

For over 500 years then, the method of letterpress printing was the predominant form to combine texts with woodcuts and later linocuts, or metallic printing plates.

In Graz the Druckzeug is the local museum for antique and 20th century printing techniques, that besides numerous printing machines holds a huge collection of wooden and lead letters. In addition to the moveable letters in various fonts, sizes and cuts, the typeset workshop is fully equipped with spacebands and leads, as well as all the tools you need to prepare everything from a single one word lettering, abstract type-sets and full page texts for your personal letterpress print experience.

Browsing through Allez hopp! Buchstaben aufräumen : die Handsatzschriften in der Buchdruckerei Alexander Bauer, Graz by IND10 student Ursula Bogner, a font catalog containing the biggest part of fonts and typefaces available at Druckzeug, you can learn more about the history, categorization and use of the fonts. Besides depiction of the typefaces the catalog also contains a register in which drawer you will find the various fonts.

At first for my experiment I planned to test four to five different fonts, but soon found out that not every font provides a complete set of letters and also you won’t find every cut or font size that you would need for your desired printing purpose.

Besides, for the unexperienced type setter, working with hand set letters is another quite time consuming and intense work–first you need to pick out the letters you need for your text, then find suitable spacebands and fill your set with non printing pieces of normed lead to fix your letters, so they won’t fly away during the print run. In addition you should always keep in mind that after printing you have to put back in place every piece you used!

So in general it’s good to think about font, cut and size first and to begin with this printing method it’s a great deal to keep it simple, as the more material you use, the more adjustments you will need for a proper printing image. (Not only that various fonts may have slightly different printing heights, you will find that especially bigger wooden letters need a lot of adjustments as they can be rather worn, resulting in a vintage print look).

However, I finally decided to use a set of 14pt Akzidenz Grotesk regular as well as (assumably) 60pt Anzeigen-Grotesk bold to test some arrangements and layouts for the proof press.

In general the method working with single letters and truly manual spacing seemed to give another perspective for typography, but also for the necessity of white space and it’s arrangement. On the one hand the use of physical letters sharpens the perception of typographic characteristics, while creating an awareness for the advantages of well made digital fonts. Secondly, the use of standardized sizes of fonts and leads, provides a rather intuitive approach to efficient use of spacing and proportions, compared to seemingly unlimited possibilities offered by a screen based layout.

However, compared to working on the digital desktop, to see the result of your letterset it’s even more important to make a proof print–first of all, only the proof print will reveal the right reading direction as the printing letters are always mirror-inverted. Additionally the font size of the letters appear bigger in their physical than in printed state. And of course, while you can add spacing to your letter set before the first print, only the print will show if spacing is used properly.

In the case of my experiment, although some adjustment in spacing between the letters was need, the typefaces turned out to be a great choice as the lead letters still had sharp edges for a clean and clear printing image.

To see the printed results, look out for part four of the experiment: proof press.

Sources:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchdruck

by Marcelino Zus -

Print experiment: “reality is analog”, part II–linocut

For letterpress printing linoleum makes a great and very affordable opportunity to create your own printing plate. Equipped with a special set of knifes with various widths to carve from thin lines to bigger areas, you can easily draw your design on the lino or transfer your layout from a simple inkjet print–either by using acetone to transfer the toner from print to lino, using carbon paper or simply by covering the back of the print with graphite and tracing your image by hand. For this be aware, that the image on your linocut has to be mirror inverted!

As mentioned before I wasn’t highly experienced in the field of linocuts, so I checked the web to find these highly useful tips:

– Always cut in the direction away from your body and hands, not to injure yourself!

– Before transfering your image you can prepare the lino plate and slightly grind the surface. Putting a solid layer of printing ink on your piece of linoleum will help you make your design better visible for carving and is also likely to improve your print result as eventually the surface of the lino-plate is evenly smooth.

– Attaching your lino-plate to some cutting board or just a big sheet of paper will help you to turn your plate and likewise fix the lino with your second hand in a rather safe area, away from the carving knife.

– There’s two possibilities to create your printing image. Number one is the so called “Weißlinienschnitt” (white line cut) which results in the cut lines not to be printed. Second to that you can also make a “Schwarzlinienschnitt” (black line cut) for which you cut out areas resulting in lines and shadings to carry ink and appear on your print. The second option is of course more time consuming but provides better possibilities in creating detailed pictures. Whatever you do, keep in mind that what is cut out from the linoleum will not be visible on your print.

– After you have carved your design into the lino, you can ink the printing plate and by pressing a sheet of paper on it you will have a first impression of what the print is going to look like and help you to find out if you need to extend line-widths or clean up your image if needed.

– If you don’t have a printing press at hand, for small editions it is also possible to use a spoon to wear through your printing plate on paper or even use a rolling pin to print your image.

– As soon as your happy with your printing result you’re ready for the print run. Working with letter press machines you will have to attach your linocut to a piece of wood in order to achieve printing height–the linoleum is 3mm thick, so you can get a piece of 18mm thick press board to attach your linocut and put cardboard or paper under it to reach the standard height of 23,6mm.

So as I had a linoleum plate size A3, I cut away a piece that I didn’t use for my design and before starting the proper linocut, I had a first test to see how transferring the image works and also to check out various knives and see how thick the lines have to be for the print and use the chance to get a little feeling for handling the knives and carving in linoleum. I was quite astounded how thin the lines for my white line cut could be and still be perfectly visible in print. After the first test cut and print I started working on the final linocut.

As you can imagine the circles were rather tricky to carve but also for the straight lines a calm hand was needed. In general I had the feeling for doing a linocut you should relax and take your time, but definitely don’t carve hastily, especially when your a rookie in the field. The good thing about this is, as long as your not in a hurry, the process of cutting has quite a relaxing effect anyway.

After about three and a half hours in total–transferring the design, first careful cut followed by a second carving run to broaden the lines and do some corrections, the lino cut was finished and I was ready for the next step: choice of fonts and preparing the lettering.


In general I can say that I was amazed by the result and even if I wasn’t able to create a highly precise printing plate with perfect lines and circles, the appearance of the linocut was just what I expected with all it’s inaccuracies but specific characteristics that come with the method, all adding up to the topic of this experiment.

For all who are interested in doing their first linocuts I can recommend this tutorial on Youtube.

Besides you should also check out Maarit Hanninen’s prints to see possibilities in linocut printing and get a better impression about the process of hand made linocut printing.

by Kristina Reischl -

Joyful Design

In this post, the concept of happiness as a basis for possibility-driven design and the challenges of happiness as a design goal and “possibilities” as key to reach this goal, will be addressed. While a problem-driven approach takes a problem as a start, a possibility-driven approach looks out for a possibility. The possibility has to be rooted in our knowledge of happiness, in human practice and human needs. 

Happiness

Happiness is an ultimate goal, for every human being. According to a study of Laura King and Sheri Broyles (1997) [1], where they invited people to make three wishes for “anything at all,” happiness was found to be the most common wish. In other words: a happy life is highly desirable.

To be happy is a quality in itself and a lot of research has been devoted to identify the conditions for, and the causes of, happiness. Moreover, in the last years, several beneficial consequences of happiness have been empirically demonstrated: happy people are successful in many life domains and these successes are at least in part due to their happiness. Happy people are more social, altruistic, active, like themselves and others more, have strong bodies and immune systems, and better conflict resolution skills. Moreover, happiness promotes constructive and creative thinking. Simply said, happy people are healthier, more successful, and contribute more to the lives of others. [2]

So it seems only natural to make happiness therefore a major objective for design. Designers need to find answers to questions such as: what causes happiness? How can people become happier? Can we deliberately make them happier? Even though the answers to these questions seem to be fundamental to our understanding of human functioning and flourishing, empirical re-search in the social and behavioral sciences on happiness is a rather recent phenomenon (Larsen & Eid, 2008). [3] This phenomenon led to a completely new discipline of psychology called Positive Psychology. Researchers working in this field argue that happiness has an affective and a cognitive component. The affective component is the balance of negative versus positive affect experienced on a day-to-day basis. The cognitive component is the amount of global satisfaction individuals express with their lives. In other words, a happy person is feeling good most of the time and is satisfied with life. An unhappy person is feeling bad most of the time and is dissatisfied with life. There is not one “ingredient for happiness” but there are several crucial ingredients, none of them alone sufficient to make a person happy. Within the research of happiness there are two views, which have been identified and labeled after Aristotle’s (350 B.C.E./1998 C.E.) classical distinction between Hedonism and Eudaimonia. [4]

Hedonic View [5]
The focus is on happiness that stems from savoring life’s pleasures. This requires an ability to enjoy beautiful sunsets, a delicious meal, a warm bath and good company. Hedonic happiness arises from the experience of positive feelings, per se. It involves not only the pursuit of activities that are pleasurable, but also the pursuit of one’s ability to truly enjoy these activities. In other words, becoming happier does not necessarily require more pleasurable activities, but can also be realized by taking more pleasure in our activities.

Eudaimonic View [6]
Also named virtue-based view, focuses on happiness that stems from the fulfillment through engaging in meaningful activity and the actualization of one’s true potential. This requires an ability to identify meaningful life goals, and to attain them. That means striving for something personally significant, whether it is learning a new craft, changing careers, or raising moral children. Those people are happier than those who do not have strong dreams or aspirations. Meaningful goals provide direction. Committed goal pursuit provides a sense of purpose and a feeling of control over our lives. The process of working towards a goal, participating in a valued and challenging activity, is as important to well-being as its attainment itself. Meaningful goals connect abstract values, such as being autonomous or feeling related, to everyday activities. Examples are: developing a drawing talent, contributing to the lives of others, bringing joy to people through music, raising children in the best possible way. Ed Diener and Eunkook Suh (1999) [7] proposed that effective meaningful goals involve approaching a desirable outcome (as opposed to avoiding an undesirable outcome), and enable a person to continually experience new challenges, take on new opportunities, and have a variety of experiences. In that sense, meaningful goals are possibilities rather than problems solved.

While Hedonism simply recommends identifying and enjoying the enjoyable, Eudaimonia takes a more normative stance. It prescribes ways of living in the world, which eventually lead to fulfillment and, thus, happiness, but may not be common practice or at least may not be easy to implement. It may need an “intervention,” that is, making someone doing something.

Hedonic Treadmill Theory [8]
A classic theory is the Hedonic Treadmill theory, originally proposed by Philip Brickman and Donald Campbell (1971). This theory suggests that people adapt to both good and bad events and return, over time, to their he- donic set point. For example, after an extremely good event, a person initially reacts with strong Positive Affect but eventually adapts and returns to his or her baseline level of Positive Affect. A similar adaption process occurs for negative events. A person reacts to a bad event with strong Negative Affect but eventually adapts and returns to his or her baseline level of Negative Affect. However, negative events produce relatively more intense and longer-lasting affective reactions than positive events: we adapt more quickly to good events than to bad events (Brickman et al., 1978). But, the rate and extent of adaptation to various events show wide variability across individuals, and there are opportunities to “overcome” the Hedonic Treadmill by employing strategies that stimulate cognitive reappraisals, that is, rethinking a given situation.

There is clearly an opportunity for design, by seducing, stimulating, or challenging people to overcome the Hedonic Treadmill and other barriers to their happiness through designed interventions.

An example: Martin Seligman and colleagues’ (2005) “gratitude visit” [9]: Participants had one week to write and deliver a letter of gratitude in person to someone, who had been especially kind to them but had never been properly thanked. This simple exercise led to a significant increase in happiness directly after the exercise—compared to a placebo control group—which then lasted for a month. While these kinds of activities make us happy—at least for a while—it requires some external impulse to actually do it. This is typical for eudaimonic happiness. The hedonic is more obvious to us and much easier to implement. [10]

The distinction between Hedonism and Eudaimonia is sometimes referred to as “the pleasurable life versus the good life”. This distinction is especially useful for possibility-driven design. Because we may need two different strategies to design for happiness [11]:

1) design for the pleasurable life/hedonism
the design of products that become direct sources of pleasure by creating pleasurable experiences rooted in human values and evidently pleasurable activities.

2) design for the good life/eudaimonia
the design of products that represent meaningful, but maybe non-obvious goals and help people attaining those goals.

Conclusion: Design can contribute to happiness by creating positive experiences (the pleasurable life/hedonism), but also by stimulating people’s awareness of their abilities to increase their happiness (the good life/eudaimonia). According to Desmet and Hassenzahl, products that create or mediate positive experiences can even rescript existing experiences to be more pleasurable. Products that increase one’s awareness, on the other hand, will challenge or inspire its user to act or think in a different, bus assumingly better way. [12]

Sources

[1] King, L.A., & Broyles, S.J. (1997). Wishes, gender, personality, and well-being. Journal of Personality, 65, 49-76.

[2] Desmet, Pieter / Hassenzahl, Marc: Towards Happiness. Possibility-Driven Design. Delft University of Technology 2012. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233850646

[3] Larsen, R.J., & Eid, M. (2008). Ed Diener and the science of subjective well- being. In: M. Eid, & R.J. Larsen (Eds.), The science of subjective well-being (pp. 1-16). New York: The Guilford Press.

[4] [5] [6]Desmet, Pieter / Hassenzahl, Marc: Towards Happiness. Possibility-Driven Design. Delft University of Technology 2012. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233850646

[7] Diener, E., & Suh, E.M. (1999). National differences in subjective well-being. In D. Kahneman, E. Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 434-450). New York: Sage.

[8] Desmet, Pieter / Hassenzahl, Marc: Towards Happiness. Possibility-Driven Design. Delft University of Technology 2012. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233850646

[9] Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psy- chology progress. Empirical validation of interventions. American Psycholo- gist, 60, 410-421.

[10] [11] [12]Desmet, Pieter / Hassenzahl, Marc: Towards Happiness. Possibility-Driven Design. Delft University of Technology 2012. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233850646

by Kristina Reischl -

Joyful Design

Possibility Driven Design

When searching for articles about joyful and positive design I came across the article “Towards Happiness: Possibility-Driven Design” by Pieter Desmet and Marc Hassenzahl. [1] Possibility-driven design acts as an alternative to the common problem-driven approach. Throughout their research, Desmet and Hassenzahl hope to lay ground for an approach to design, which draws upon happiness to motivate the design of future technologies.

“This will help establishing a culture of humane innovation, which understands technology as a possibility to improve life directly.”—Desmet & Hassenzahl.

From problems to possibilities [2]

Today, design techniques mostly favour a problem-driven approach, where design acts as an activity focused on removing problems (i.e., to make something easier, cleaner, cheaper, safer or smaller). The goal: to make the world a better place through solving its problems—instead of focusing on what makes us happy. Desmet describes problem-driven design as the mere attempt to “keep the demons asleep.” Which means, that problem-driven design primarily is about avoiding, solving, or neutralizing the negative, the moment it arises—removing prevailing problems. But, removing the negative must not necessarily generate a positive experience. It only guarantees the transition from a negative state to a neutral state. But, to generate a positive state from neutral may requires more than a problem-driven approach. For example, there is a difference between facilitating well-being indirectly through a more functional kitchen and the direct joy from a family gathering that takes place in that kitchen. Therefore, Desmet and Hassenzahl propose a possibility rather than problem-driven approach to design, to unlock its full potential of contributing to human flourishing.

They mentioned an example regarding leg prosthetics. “Instead of understanding the absence of legs as primarily a problem to be solved, the designers used a seemingly problematic situation as a possibility to explore material and technology to create a new type of leg. For a while, these legs where even considered better than natural one’s, which led to Pistorius being ruled ineligible for competitions, including the 2008 Summer Olympics – a decision reversed later.”— Desmet & Hassenzahl.

Although the FlexFoot successfully turned a problem into a possibility, it is still very much rooted in an anomaly—the absence of legs

That perfectly states, that a possibility driven design approach strives for more—the goal is to design products without referring to a problem, but still rooted in human practice and needs.

Another example from another industry—the game and entertainment industries—is Bandai’s Tamagotchi.

Tamagotchi—a little creature, which hatches from an egg when switching on the device for the first time. From then on, one must raise the Tamagotchi, feed it, play games with it, keep it healthy, clean it, punish and praise it. If left unattended, it will soon die.

The Tamagotchi was a cult in the mid 90ties of the last century, with an ongoing revival since 2004. The games concept inspired a range of games following the same basic principle, from Will Wright’s Sims published in 2000 to Sony’s recent EyePets. The Tamagotchi does not necessarily solve a problem, but appeals to the basic psychological need of relatedness and the associated interest in nurturing, care, and enjoyment created by taking on responsibility. Desmet & Hassenzahl compare it to the similarity of the enjoyment from having pets or from indulging in recreational gardening. Therefore, according to Desmet & Hassenzahl, a Tamagotchi is a possibility of fulfilling an everpresent need.

Even though, the Tamagotchi’s can be seen as a solution to the problem of “loneliness”. So, possibility driven design can also be seen as solving a problem on a more abstract level. However, Desmet & Hassenzahl disagree. “Relatedness, the need primarily addressed by the Tamagotchi, is sufficient and meaningful in itself. A technology that addresses relatedness will be, thus, meaningful, too. Now there are plenty of ways to satisfy relatedness, some more viable for certain people than others. As a result, people may prefer plants over pets or virtual pets over real ones. Or just have all the alternatives side by side. In other words, pets do not primarily solve a problem. It is just enjoyable to have them because they address important human needs […] TheTamagotchi is not a solution but a new way to craft technology to create a mean- ingful, fulfilling experience. Just for the sake of it.”—Desmet & Hassenzahl

There is an increasing interest in a possibility-driven approach to design, both with a focus on the pleasurable life and the good life. This interest is reflected in a broad focus on pleasure and enjoyment aka (positive) emotions as a design goal. All these new experimental design approaches primarily address humans, their experiences, joys and misfortunes and emphasize possibilities for new ways of happiness rather than the removal of problems.

Sources

[1] Desmet, Pieter / Hassenzahl, Marc: Towards Happiness. Possibility-Driven Design. Delft University of Technology 2012. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233850646

[2] ebda.