Watch the Ted Talks of Ross Lovegrove, Paola Antonelli, and Alice Rawsthorn and then leave a reflection based on the following prompt. “How [do] you find these three talks assisting in [the] understanding [of] the use of 3D design?”
Reflections
Ross Lovegrove “Organic Design, inspired by nature”
From Lovegrove’s talk, I found that it helps in understanding the use of 3D design as it showed how important efficiency is in the creation of a product but also how vital inspiration, and where it comes from, is as well.
Lovegrove’s main concept derives from Design, Nature, and Art (DNA); what Lovegrove means by this is that all of these elements must play into one another to create the most successful products. Items that remove unnecessary design or “fat” are the ones of the future because they are the most efficient and beautiful, thus fulfilling two significant aspects of 3D design. I find this quite interesting as the basis of all life, is nature. Nature has created some of the most complex products out there from the wings of a falcon that can outspeed a top of the line sports car to the human brain capable of designing and building structures 830 meters in height. For us to create products on the same level of magnitude as nature, it is only logical that the next step is to use nature as inspiration.
Paola Antonelli “Treat design as art”
Designers are synthesizers according to Antonelli. They create an equation that looks at human needs, the economy, available materials, and the environment to create their products. I found this to be very inspiring as designers are people who can create things for the betterment of society not just for a niche group, although this is possible.
Not only that, but designers are often people who can see things beyond what they may at first seem to be. This skill of observation is critical as a designer feeds of their surroundings and then uses their imagination to create products – truly inspiring!
The last aspect of Antonelli’s speech that captivated me was her discussion on how designers, good designers, look at human behavior rather than pre-existing products to create innovative designs. This was very interesting to me as human behavior is a lot more telling of how one thinks and it is also a major signal of how society thinks and acts as well. Understanding and implementing this, services so many more people.
Alice Rawsthorn “Pirates, nurses, and other rebel designers”
Rawsthorn highlights that designers are people who can think in a certain way that helps them achieve their end. Long before the vocation/profession of a designer was solidified, people who we may not have considered designers were completing significant feats within the field. From examples of the General who established the Chinese Empire to the Pirate Blackbeard and his wild persona, the speaker highlights that these people used elements of design to accomplish their goal. They looked past the status quo and saw an opportunity to fix something that wasn’t working the best that it could. For their circumstances, they were “mavericks” as Rawsthorn puts.
I was intrigued by the speaker’s thoughts as she states that some of the best designers are these “unlikely” ones. The reason was that it highlights how designers come from a frame of mind, not necessarily a rigid profession. They use this ability they have to see beyond what some can to solve issues.
