Abstract
Because of the availability of new materials and innovative techniques, the design process of studio jewellers is becoming more and more complex. Moreover, on top of this increasing complexity, there is a lot of variation in design strategies used by studio jewellers. The complexity and diversity within the design strategies and the tacit nature of this kind of knowledge seems to suggest that these strategies cannot be easily communicated in an explicit way. Based on the existing literature and a series of group conversations with studio jewellers and designers of objects, this paper tries to define a conceptual framework in which the diversity in design strategies used by studio jewellers is described. It can also be used to communicate about the design processes despite the implicit nature of this knowledge and despite the uniqueness of each design process. Within the conceptual framework the design processes are described as a series of reflective moments where design parameters (potentialities) are turned into constraints (actualities) imposed on a design space. By means of a possibility to reconsider previously imposed constraints (backtracking), the design process of studio jewellers can be described as a continuous reflective search through design space. Moreover, because constraints can be imposed both by thinking and by doing, the conceptual framework can be used to describe this particular property of the design process of studio jewellers (both design by thinking and by doing).
Keywords
Studio jewellers; diversity; design process; reflection; conceptual framework
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2009.111
Citation
Wuytens, K.,and Willems, B.(2009) Diversity in the design processes of studio jewellers, in Niedderer, K., Reilly, L., Roworth-Stokes, S., Smith, C. (eds.), EKSIG 2009: Experiential Knowledge, Method & Methodology, 19 June 2009, London, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2009.111
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Diversity in the design processes of studio jewellers
Because of the availability of new materials and innovative techniques, the design process of studio jewellers is becoming more and more complex. Moreover, on top of this increasing complexity, there is a lot of variation in design strategies used by studio jewellers. The complexity and diversity within the design strategies and the tacit nature of this kind of knowledge seems to suggest that these strategies cannot be easily communicated in an explicit way. Based on the existing literature and a series of group conversations with studio jewellers and designers of objects, this paper tries to define a conceptual framework in which the diversity in design strategies used by studio jewellers is described. It can also be used to communicate about the design processes despite the implicit nature of this knowledge and despite the uniqueness of each design process. Within the conceptual framework the design processes are described as a series of reflective moments where design parameters (potentialities) are turned into constraints (actualities) imposed on a design space. By means of a possibility to reconsider previously imposed constraints (backtracking), the design process of studio jewellers can be described as a continuous reflective search through design space. Moreover, because constraints can be imposed both by thinking and by doing, the conceptual framework can be used to describe this particular property of the design process of studio jewellers (both design by thinking and by doing).