Diversity and innovation have always been important elements of design.
In the past two years, affected by the epidemic, life has become unstable and restricted, and the various "new normals" brought about by the epidemic have unexpectedly become an opportunity to stimulate innovative ideas.
The annual PolyU Design Exhibition officially opened a few days ago. Professor Li Jianpiao, Dean of the School of Design, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, pointed out that compared with previous years, most of the works of graduating students this year are created based on social issues: "There are many variables in the epidemic. The relationship between the two is affected. Because of such strong changes and restrictions, designers have to get rid of the past too free and flexible living conditions, create from various restrictions, and create more creative works.” And this year, the School of Design It also promoted interdisciplinary creation for the first time, inspiring more new sparks.
Photography: Ou Jiale
Cross-department cooperation graduation works break through the design framework to learn from each other
Changes are not limited to life patterns and creative directions. This year's PolyU Design Exhibition, under the suggestion of Professor Li, brought together students with different design majors for the first time to create a graduation project (Integrated Capstone Project).
"In my age, if I only studied product design, my future career development would only focus on this direction, with a single skill. However, the design of the current generation requires many skills. For example, store interior design may cover innovative applications and communication design. And so on, it's relatively complicated, and it also involves a complete set of complicated design systems. I hope that students from various disciplines can experience this design ecology and working environment, and learn each other's skills and ideas through communication, observation and creation together. At the same time, positive It is precisely because of cooperation with other majors that students can better recognize their own expertise and uniqueness."
The integration of various design directions and elements helps to develop sustainable designs that are more in line with social needs.
Take one of the Integrated Capstone Projects this year, "ISOASIS: Light up Your Quarantine experience" as an example. Students from product design, communication design, and environment and interior design departments conceived a new isolation experience plan, imagining travelers coming After Hong Kong moved to the center of the island for isolation, through a series of rooms, equipment design, and indoor entertainment experience, etc., a new isolation system was used to take care of the body, mind, and soul of the quarantined.
"When the epidemic has passed, the construction and furniture in the center will continue to be used." Professor Li said.
Breaking the existing practice of major subjects, breaking through the limitations, thinking and practicing creation from a new design perspective, in order to train more comprehensive skills, more flexible ideas, and complement each other.
The professors and tutors of various subjects also communicate with each other in the process of guidance and explore more possibilities with the students.
Professor Li Jianpiao, Dean of the School of Design of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, explained that interdisciplinary creation allows students to learn from each other, and to experience the collaborative life of the workplace early and learn how to coordinate with others to create better works.
Breaking social stereotypes with creation, designing technological products to facilitate life
The interdisciplinary cooperation in the first year has inspired works that are not only close to life, but also more comprehensive and sustainable.
In fact, in this year's design exhibition, the personal works of other students are also related to many social issues, such as paying attention to the relationship between people and solving the life difficulties of people in need.
Destiny, a recent social innovation design graduate, has liked to collect dolls since she was a child. However, many people think that "playing with dolls" is a naive behavior, and they also feel that collecting dolls is a waste of money.
Based on his own experience, Destiny personally interviewed more than 80 stories about dolls and established the project "Keep Doll Friends".
She discovered that to the owner of the doll, each one has its own unique meaning and meaning, and can also be a source of friends and spiritual support.
Through this project, Destiny divides "playing with dolls" into four experiences: making doll friends, meeting doll friends, repairing doll friends, and sharing doll friends. Destiny points out that the dolls actually bring many benefits, such as during the production process. Inject personal elements such as personality and preferences. Empathy can also be cultivated by taking care of dolls and sharing dolls, and communication skills can be practiced. "A doll is an emotional connection between people. Family, friends, and even other people become Opportunities to build relationships with each other. They also contain a lot of stories. I want to prove that dolls have their value, not the feelings of "big thin road" and "otaku" that others label."
Social innovation design graduate Chen Huichang (Destiny) used old clothes as materials for hand-made dolls, and tried to receive dolls donated by friends.
She said that she can express herself through creation, and she can also feel the significance of inheritance and cherish from the collection process.
On the other hand, product design graduate Peggy Zhang (Peggy), who is concerned about the health of the elderly and the burden of caregivers, conceived a new technological product omnom.
Peggy noticed that personal caregivers and elderly home staff need to spend a lot of time feeding the elderly who have difficulty swallowing, and they also have to pay close attention to it. It is very difficult to take care of them.
The omnom. is composed of five components, which can solve the elderly’s dietary problems in one stop. The smart dining cart is used to hold the components. In addition, a special spoon made of soft silicone can facilitate the elderly to suck food and massage the elderly’s mouth. Muscles.
The smart dinner plate can monitor the daily food intake and nutrient absorption of the elderly, and it is convenient to adjust the amount and the softness of the meal.
The smart neck brace can collect swallowing frequency and data to help analyze the health of the elderly.
Finally, omnom.'s mobile application allows family members to keep an eye on the above collected health data analysis.
"Data related to eating is not just observation. Get rid of blind spots and use technology to integrate into the smart life of the elderly, saving feeding time, and by observing detailed data, you can formulate healthy diet plans for the elderly to reduce the shortage of manpower in the homes. problem."
Peggy Zhang did a lot of data collection and research beforehand. He first understood the key reasons for elders’ dysphagia and the shortcomings of the equipment before designing the omnom.
Affected by the epidemic, this year's PolyU Design Exhibition continued to use virtual exhibitions to present student designs. Physical exhibitions and guided tours were also held on campus.
PolyU Design Exhibition 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝘆𝗨 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭 for
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: June 18 to July 31 for
more information: https://2021.com.
