Abstract

This article proposes a method that utilizes expressive narratives to inspire design, especially in the conceptualization process leading to design ideas. In this method, expressive narratives need to be deconstructed by designers through the identification of metaphors. These metaphors are then examined to discover the concepts they embody. While interpreting the metaphors the designers try to find alternative representations referring to the same concepts by creating generative metaphors, which open up new ways of looking at the situation by defining new connections. Eventually, the proposed method assists designers particularly in the development of coherent scenarios, abstraction and re-contextualization of objects, and generation of new meanings in their conceptualization process.

Keywords

design methods, metaphors, idea generation, narrative, retelling

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

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Jul 9th, 12:00 AM

When rabbits lead to ideas: Inspiring design by retelling stories through metaphors

This article proposes a method that utilizes expressive narratives to inspire design, especially in the conceptualization process leading to design ideas. In this method, expressive narratives need to be deconstructed by designers through the identification of metaphors. These metaphors are then examined to discover the concepts they embody. While interpreting the metaphors the designers try to find alternative representations referring to the same concepts by creating generative metaphors, which open up new ways of looking at the situation by defining new connections. Eventually, the proposed method assists designers particularly in the development of coherent scenarios, abstraction and re-contextualization of objects, and generation of new meanings in their conceptualization process.

 

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