B R Y N D AV I E S A B I P P DESIGN THINKING
AN INTRODUCTION TO DESIGN THINKING During his hiatus as a stay-at-home dad and living in Malaysia throughout the pandemic, Bryn Davies ABIPP used his limited time productively to complete academic studies in photography and design respectively. Having relocated again to Portugal, he is back to work, and discussing his thoughts on how photography meets design.
CAN YOU DESCRIBE IN THE MOST SIMPLE WAY, WHAT IS DESIGN THINKING? Sure, I’ll try. Design thinking is regarded as the creative approach to problem solving. Popularised as being human-centered — design thinking evolved from a workflow for designers into creative tools used in anything from business, education and management. Like design in general, it positions itself at the meeting point of art, science (technology) and finance. Unlike artistic thinking, which is internal motivations of the individual — design thinking is essentially the service of creativity. It draws on professionals to use their toolkit of knowledge and experience to find new or improved ways of seeing and doing. I think as professional photographers we can relate to that.
WHAT RELATIONSHIP DOES DESIGN THINKING HAVE WITH PHOTOGRAPHY, AND HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THIS IDEA? Photography is a tool for research and documentation of the creative process. It also informs design thinkings core activities: inspiration, ideation, and implementation. In photography terms, developing new ideas, or better understanding clients/projects needs and wishes can involve a lot of these tasks. This first came to mind back in 2015. I had a project in the Liverpool International Photography Festival (LOOK). I was a black sheep in talks and discussion panels as I talked about processes and creative tools. My approach considered how I operate within the framework of a brief, and the challenge is meeting that. In contrast, most speakers would talk about their personal voice, while critics discussed points about ethics and truth. Anyone who spends time in academia may tell you theory and philosophical debate dominate the discourse in a lot of photography education. I’m more practice-based, finding meaning through the work. I consider photography, particularly the industry, to be more design than solely art or technology. So I set out to reframe its position when I did my masters and found there was no precedent, which was a bit daunting.
YOU MENTION THAT YOUR THESIS IS THE FIRST TO CONNECT DESIGN THINKING TO PHOTOGRAPHY, WHY IS THAT? In my view, photography suffered from an identity crisis in that it was trying too hard to be respected as art in its formative years. People who influence me, like László Moholy-Nagy, were also painters, graphic designers, architects — multi-skilled creatives that learnt-by-doing, and then wrote about it to share and educate. Photography is more fragmented than other creative disciplines such as graphic design or architecture. Several theorists in photography don’t have any background as a photographer. Maybe that contributes to the disconnect. Some arty types are almost embarrassed to say they work commercially alongside their promotion as an artist. We all need an income right! I see photography more interconnected within creative industry in general. Thankfully I’m not alone, celebrated contemporaries like Platon believe what they do is design. I’d like to see it more widely thought. 46 the PHOTOGRAPHER / 2023 / Issue Two
Images © Bryn Davies
Issue Two / 2023 / the PHOTOGRAPHER 47
