PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Bachelor year 2, semester 2
- ME I’m a second year Industrial Design student. The most important things about who I am are the following: I’m half Colombian, half Dutch, have lived in many countries and speak 4 languages. I’m 24 years old and I have a bachelor degree in Public Administration and Organization science with many extra curricular courses and completed the honors program. I started a second bachelor because Industrial Design excites me more as it combines what makes me happy in everyday life: cultures, society, aesthetic, solving problems and being creative.
- IDENTITY The type of designer I’ll be, will reflect my background, knowledge, taste and interests. As I grew up I experienced different cultures, languages and countries. Which helped me develop a so called ‘cultural intelligence’. “Cultural intelligence means being skilled and flexible about understanding a culture, learning more about it from your ongoing interactions with it, and gradually reshaping your thinking to be more sympathic to the culture and your behaviour to be more skilled an appropriate when interacting with others from the culture.” -Thomas, D.C. and Inkson K.C. (14-15, 2009) “Cultural intelligence: People skills for global business”, Berrett-Koehler Publishers: San Fransisco, CA.
Cultures and diversity, intrigue me as these aspects live amongst each other. The variety can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts, but this variety in points of view and interpretation offers many opportunities and richness.
Furthermore I find the look of objects important. I like simple forms, geometry, basic colors, classic looks, contrast and elegance. “Style - all who have it share one thing: originality”
-Diana Vreeland (notable fashion editor)
As my b1.1 coach, Maarten Versteeg described my showcase design: “CLASSIC and WORLDLY” This is how I would like to describe myself as a designer. In the following blog I’ve collected images that appeal to my intuitively: tamaratomoro.tumblr.com. The following words describe my understanding of “Classic and Worldly”: cities, architecture, grey, busy, intense, cultural, classic, lasting, changing, lines , modern, strong, radical, texture, balance, structure, fragile, delicate, contradiction, tropical, contrast, human, body, patterns, repetition, motif, shadow, travel, organic, shapes, straight, different, natural, graphical, geometrical, black and white.
- VISION Society In the field of industrial design, I see technology and it始s developments as major opportunities to bring about new solutions. With the development of new technologies I think we should/ can shift the way society has been organized. The development of open source platforms, crowd funding platforms, and 3d-printers, is moving the power of big companies back to the consumers. By the movement of power consumers become closer related to the production process and more related to the products we use. If the users become closer related to the products we use, I think it will contribute to a different society where we care more about the production process, create less waste and don始t buy just because it始s cheap. A designers role As a designer I see myself as a moderator between new technologies and poetic designs.
In my work I want the technology and poetry to merge into a so called technopoetry. Poetry evokes a human side, creates layers before understanding it and touches the emotions of people, while the technology addresses the pragmatic issues, by serving practical purposes and bringing static products to life. When looking at design I think a balance should be shown between technological practicalities and poetic imagination. Relation I believe designs should trigger the emotion of people, it should evoke some poetic feeling. People may think: I don始t know what it is or what it does but I want it. The user should then develop a relation with the product, it始s not about the product itself but the life the person lives with the product, and what you will do with it. My designs would express an identity for the users, they might look extrovert or very simple, but always classic and worldly.
Digitalization With the implementation of new technologies the functionality has changed from mechanic to digital, where the user often lacks understanding of the way it works. This change has brought about the need for designing interactions. In my eyes the product should be a merge of its functionality and its aesthetical perception. Therefor I refer to the paper of Djajadiningrat, Overbeeke and Wensveen (2000), who emphasizes how interaction can be designed in an aesthetical way. So I want to create: POETIC DESIGNS THAT INTEGRATE INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES TO SOLVE PROBLEMS, RISE AWARENESS OR CREATE POETIC EXPERIENCES.
Vision meets Identity The field were I currently see my vision and identity coming together is the field of wearables and materials. As I personally care about what I wear and also the materials, what feeling a material evokes or what look it gives.
- W H AT I WA N T T O DEVELOP My focus during my second year, second semeter will be on preparing and applying on an internship for after summer. Goals - VisionImprove vision & identity: rewrite, wrap it tighter to make more understandable. To do this I want to get feedback on my vision from my coach and 2 other coaches and write iterations on their feedback. The first iteration round I will do based on the feedback of my coach after the PDP deadline. Then I’ll ask an other coach to give feedback in week 13, and the last in week 18. This version I’ll check with my coach and finalize. - Communication This comes forth from my feedback on my vision and identity and my showcase, I need to write shorter and more concrete. To improve this I will rewrite my vision and go through this with my coach. Besides I will keep on improving my writing skills by writing for the UNiD. Finally the most important I will show this in my portfolio, where I need to present myself without much text. This I’ll do in workshops given by Henri in’t
Groen and by talking over my portfolio with my coach. (link portfolio: tamarahoogeweegen.com). I need to decide on how I’ll present my self, what story I tell. - Communication + Form & Senses - Computer skills To be prepared for an internship and to be able to communicate my work better I feel the need to learn/ improve skills in: 3D modeling & PhotoShop. As this is often required being an Industrial Designer. On wednesday I’ll work on this through online tutorials. For photoshop I have a series of tutorials: http://designreviver.com/tutorials/how-to-learn-photoshop-in-24-hrs For modeling in 3D I’d like to learn : Rhinoceros with grasshopper, this program gives the posibility to make generative designs. Besides the step from this program to Solidworks is not too big. - Integrating Technology + Form & Senses During last semester I realized how having crafting skills enables one to create things, otherwise one often stays limited to what one knows. Many steps in the design process are done in a digital way and also more products are interactive. Therefor I want to improve my digital crafting skills, such as programming skills and at the same time I want to improve my skills to communicate graphically. This I’d like to show in my showcase, portfolio and through out my project. Also generative design has caught my attention as it is a way to merge/meet the outer world with technology. I think that the skill of computational craft gives possibilities in the design process. In the assignment Visualizing Data I’ll merge this by visualizing data.
- User Focus & Perception + Ideas & Concepts Assignment Co-reflection This will give me insight in a different approach on the relation between designer and user. In the end the user is central to the design as he/she will use it, therefor I believe that a close relationship will give the best result. I hope this assignment will teach me more on how to do this. This I’ll do in the second quartile on this semester. Customer Centric Product Development & Innovating by Design This courses will also give me more insight on how through a close relationship of users one can co-create in a more valuable way. Each of these classes are in one of the quartiles of this semester. - Form & Sense + Ideas & Concepts I’m starting a course in silversmithing at the CKE. Jewelry is something I’m interested in and this way I gain skill in a different craft. When I’ll know how to use this craft, it will help me when generating ideas and designing. - Future When it comes to the next semester I need to think about what I want to get from the internship to also start thinking about my step after my bachelor Industrial design.
-Planning For this upcoming semester I need to prioritize in what I want to achieve in my planning, to find a balance between in what detailing of my work and development. Therefor I need to set goals and review them, this I’ll do for my project. For my RSDL-weeks I’ll make smart goal planning before hand to see then considering the circumstances what I’ll do and when.
- Internship Having done another bachelor degree, an exchange and now a second bachelor I feel I want to take a look into the field. By doing an internship I want to get a better image of what I’d see myself doing as a job later on. Right now I’m thinking about studios that combine wearables and technology, or material companies, or more straight forward (interactive) design studios. Furthermore I’m more inclined to choose a studio/company that isn’t too big (no multinational) to get more integrated into their common workflow.