Sem 2 Creative and Critical Thinking

Six Thinking Hats

Dr Edward de Bono is one of the very few people in history who can be said to have had a major impact on the way we think. In many ways he could be said to be the best known thinker internationally. He has came up with a surprisingle simple and proven technique for thinking -- "Six Thinking Hats"

	The White Hat calls for information known or needed. "The facts, just the facts."
	The Yellow Hat symbolizes brightness and optimism. Under this hat you explore the positives and probe for value and benefit.
	The Black Hat is judgment - the devil's advocate or why something may not work. Spot the difficulties and dangers; where things might go wrong. Probably the most powerful and useful of the Hats but a problem if overused.
	The Red Hat signifies feelings, hunches and intuition. When using this hat you can express emotions and feelings and share fears, likes, dislikes, loves, and hates.
	The Green Hat focuses on creativity; the possibilities, alternatives, and new ideas. It's an opportunity to express new concepts and new perceptions.
	The Blue Hat is used to manage the thinking process. It's the control mechanism that ensures the Six Thinking Hats® guidelines are observed.

information and image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_de_Bono ,

http://www.edwdebono.com/debono/worksh.htm , 

http://www.debonogroup.com/six_thinking_hats.php

I am very fascinated by how thinking can be so easy and "guided"! Since the beginning of the course, we as students have always been encouraged and pushed to brainstorm ideas, especially when it comes to assignments and competitions. Creativity has become a key to our achievements. Hence, there were times when I really struggled to come up with an idea which was good enough both for the client and myself, as I did not clear and organize the way I think, including the fact that I shoould make the effort to look for facts and go through them. All I did was sit and struggle with my mind. 

Therefore, "Six Thinking Hats" is a real life-saver, as I am someone with alot of ideas but I may not know how to bring the best out of it. (:

10 Commandments of Good Design

"My heart belongs to the details. I actually always found them to be more important than the big picture.

Nothing works without details. They are everything, the baseline of quality

"

—  Dieter Rams

Dieter Rams is the founder of the 10 Commandments of Good Design which is so important and encourages us to create designs which are not only good, but responsible.The detailed list of commandments is just as the quote he mentioned above, the detail is the content and the quality. These commandments make sure the product of design is complete, trustworthy, and qualified. It brings honor and respect to the designer as the design is an outcome of great principles. This has taught me to reflect on my designs more, to allow myself to be directed and grow towards established guidelines.

Below are the 10 commandments :-

Good Design Is Innovative : The possibilities for innovation are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative design. But innovative design always develops in tandem with innovative technology, and can never be an end in itself.

Good Design Makes a Product Useful : A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasizes the usefulness of a product while disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.

Good Design Is Aesthetic : The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products are used every day and have an effect on people and their well-being. Only well-executed objects can be beautiful.

Good Design Makes A Product Understandable : It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product clearly express its function by making use of the user’s intuition. At best, it is self-explanatory.

Good Design Is Unobtrusive : Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user’s self-expression.

Good Design Is Honest : It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept

Good Design Is Long-lasting : It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years – even in today’s throwaway society.

Good Design Is Thorough Down to the Last Detail : Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the consumer.

Good Design Is Environmentally Friendly : Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimises physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.

Good Design Is as Little Design as Possible : Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity, back to simplicity.

information source : http://dieterrams.tumblr.com/ ,

http://www.archdaily.com/198583/dieter-rams-10-principles-of-%E2%80%9Cgood-design%E2%80%9D/

Multiple Intelligence(s) by Howard Garder

The Genius Of Design

Episode 1 - BBC The Genius Of Design 1 of 5 Ghosts In The Machine 2010

   It's been an amazing exposure watching The Genius of Design series. The first episode talks about what design is and who designers are. My favourite quote is "Designers always worry about how to make things better", and that it's important that designers solve the problems in our daily lives, even if it's just a tiny problem like a measuring jar. Design is the element of history, of how human advance, because of the problem solving within. As design grows, designers start to debate which is more important between the functionality and the appearance design of an object. Then industrialization kicks in which greatly affects the whole world, and came another debate of whether design should go with industry, mass production. There were obvious and extreme pros and cons to design of products at the early period.

Episode 2 - BBC The Genius Of Design 2 of 5 Designs For Living 2010

   This episode talks about architecture and interior design. How designers start to make things smaller and even more functional, with less unnecessary space. It's amazing how designers back then used filming as a way of analyzing little actions taken by people to complete daily tasks. With that, they figure out and design the most amazing kitchens and such. With the industrial revolution, designers take on the break through of materials in building. I like how in the episode designers are described as "T", in which they have the depth and at the same time broad enough in their designs and work; whereas architects are described as "I", they have the depth, but the breadth isn't there. Other than that, I like how there are so many angles to see from when it comes to design, like the example given in the episode, Americans design are mainstream, to make big money, whereas British designs are more into artistic and sophistication.

Episode 3 - BBC The Genius Of Design 3 of 5 Blueprints For War 2010

   This is my favourite episode out of the five. It has captured my attention since the beginning of the show with "Here's something you don't learn at school", and that is very true for the fact! I never knew that design is so important to this extent, the extent of creating history in a sense where countries rely on designs for war, to win by designing better weapons to kill more people. It was more like a battle of design! How amazing and incredible this is. One of my favourite products in this episode is the Mosquito plane. This plane is designed to fly at a very fast rate and what's genius about it is, it is made of plywood where the enemy aircrafts could not detect its presence in their radar. There are extraordinary things in this episode which I didn't know and didn't expected as well, for example a toy designer helped improve the design of war guns. And also how Hitler was crazy about having greater designs for his war, already tragic as it was. There came a part in the video where it mentioned how "Quantity is The Quality itself", when it talks about the German and Russian tanks. Though German tanks are the most sophisticated, detailed, quality-product, it was defeated by the great amount of cheap Russian tanks. The episode ends with an amazing conclusion, that people took a war to finally realize that industry and design must come together.

Episode 4 - BBC The Genius of Design 4 of 5 Better Living Through Chemistry 2010

  This episode has finally come to talk about the world we live in today -- plastic world. With advancing science and greater chemistry achievements, design was exposed to a great variety and potential materials, which led to a whole new world of flexible, extraordinary, yet functional designs. It was a revolution in the design world, and the lifestyle of people. It even broke tradition, with the young generation chasing after plastic goods rather than sticking to what their parents pass down to them. Plastic design products were at their highest during the 1960s, when plastic created such optimistic, light and colourful sensation. Other than having fun, plastic contributed the mass production of daily goods such as chairs. On top of that, the wonderful invention, or shall I say, the design of tupperware. Plastic become so involved in people's lives that people started taking granted for it, that they even hate it. But still there are people, designers who appreciate and adore this material called plastic, because of how it takes form so easily, allowing any design to come true.

Episode 5 - BBC The Genius of Design 5 of 5 Objects Of Desire 2010

  As mass production and design fulfill the needs of people, and there so many variety and functionality provided to them, consumers start to go for what connects them emotionally. Hence in this episode it showcases designers who design by not only the functionality, but the personality in the designs which so connects with the consumers emotionally. People start t pay attention to what draws them, attracts them, such as luxury. But of course, most people could not afford them. And so other designers come to add on tiny yet intellectual details to functional designers, and those received great consumer responses. As time moves on, designs got so small to the point it was becoming "invisible" -- computer design. Things getting smaller is related to the design of electronics, whereas the "invisible" designs are the design of what's inside a computer -- data. But as the world become more in tact with the ever so intellectual, so humane electronics, people are starting to loose the true humane in them. And this is what worries designers, in which they think, they can design anything, but the question is, should they?. With the massive usage of resources for the past decades of design, the world now is in short of materials, and it is a time of designing things that either go back to the soil or to the industry. Hence design nowadays need to really take this into account when it comes to design. Design isn't about the brand or the typography or whatsoever, but it is about mankind and it's creation, and that's a big issue.

Final Project - Infographic

Team members : Me, Greyson Louis, Danny Ho, Kwan, Gunalan and John

Process of design :

Result :

PROBLEM- PEOPLE IN KUALA LUMPUR DON'T LIKE TO TAKE A BUS.THE REASON IS TAKING A BUS , WE NEVER KNOW WHEN WILL THE BUS ARRIVE , AND WE WILL WASTE A LOT OF TIME ON THAT . SOMETIME WE WAIT UNTIL LATE AT NIGHT , IT'S NOT SAVE TO BE ALONE IN THE DARK . EVEN THOUGHT WE GET A BUS BUT SOMETIME WE STILL NEED TO SQUEEZE IN TO IT . IN THE BUS IT'S WAY TOO NOISY BECAUSE IT'S FULL OF PEOPLE ,SOMETIME I CAN'T EVEN STAND PROPERLY .THE FIRST TIME I ARRIVED IN KUALA LUMPUR I DON'T KNOW TO TO TAKE A BUS TO SOME PLACE THAT I WANT TO GO ...... 

SOLUTION / RECOMMENDATION - CREATE AN APP. FROM THE APP WE CAN KNOW THE DESTINATION OF THE BUS, AND IN THE SAME TIME WE CAN KNOW WHERE IS THE BUS FROM THE MAP . WE CAN ALSO KNOW WHEN WILL THE SECOND BUS ARRIVE , HEHE ... WE CAN ALSO USE OUR PHONE TO PREPAID OUR BUS TICKET , AFTER WE HAD PAID FOR THE TICKET OUR PHONE WILL RECEIVE A ''QR'' CODE.
UPGRADE THE BUS STOP ,IN THE BUS STOP , THERE WILL BE A LED SCREEN SHOWING THE BUS AND THE MAP , FROM THE MAP WE CAN SEE WHERE IS THE BUS AND THE NUMBER OF IT ,UNDER THE MAP THERE IS THE INFORMATION OF THE BUS DESTINATIONS .IN THE BUS STOP , THERE WILL BE TWO SENSOR, WHICH IS TO SENSE ,IS THERE ANY PEOPLE IN THE BUS STOP SO THE BUS WILL STOP AT THAT MOMENT .IN THE BUS STOP THERE IS A DIGITAL CLOCK , WHERE WE CAN KNOW THE TIME AND WHEN WILL THE SECOND BUS ARRIVE , THESE SYSTEM IS FOR THOSE WHO DIDN'T HAVE A SMART PHONE OR APP. THE BUS STOP IS SURROUNDED BY GLASS , WHERE WE NEED TO SCAN THE BUS STOP USER CARD ON THE SCANNER THAN THE DOOR WILL OPEN AND WE CAN GO IN TO IT .IT'S SAFER , AND IT'S A PRIVATE COMPANY BUS IT'S NOT PUBLIC.
UPGRADE THE BUS , IN THE BUS THERE WILL BE A SCANNER IN THE FRONT THIS SCANNER IS TO SCAN YOUR ''QR'' CODE OR YOUR USER CARD , THEN FOR USER CARD HOLDER THEY NEED TO PRESS THE BUTTON OF THE DESTINATION THEN SCAN THE CARD TO PAY FOR THE TICKET . OVER THE SEAT , THERE WILL BE A SENSOR , WHICH IS TO SENSE IS THERE ANY PEOPLE ON THE SEAT THEN IT WILL CONNECT TO THE MAP AND THE APP , WE WILL KNOW IS THE BUS FULL OR STILL HAVE SOME SEAT IS AVAILABLE .