"There is no meaning in the aesthetics of a design, the person perceiving the aesthetics gives meaning to it. The only thing we do while designing is giving them a set of characteristics of which we hope they are perceived in the way it was meant to be. This aesthetic is not only based around the appearance of the design but also around the interaction. When designing you always design for interaction, this is why it is important to not only consider the beauty in appearance but also the beauty in interaction. People interact with the design based on a thousand other similar interactions they had before. All these interactions create your image of reality. When designing, you want the design to fit the persons image of reality, because that determines their perception of the design."
The text above was part of the introduction I wrote for my pictorial. In this course we are challenged to think about a design in its interactions and aesthetics. I loved the detailed analysis of interactions and how they can be expressive, surprising or dynamic. We designed a shape changing pillow to suit the needs of our extreme character, a wildlife photographer. Shape changing interfaces really piqued my interest, I loved how they often add an extra dimension to your design. We tried to give the pillow a sense of animacy in the way it moved, something I would never have thought about before the course but loved thinking about. We tried to make the movement surprising by limiting the affordances in the design. Making it look like a big pillow and not showing any technical properties.
We designed a shape changing pillow to suit the needs of our extreme character, a wildlife photographer. Shape changing inter faces really piqued my interest, I loved how they often add an extra dimension to your design. We tried to give the pillow a sense of animacy in the way it moved, something I would never have thought about before the course but loved thinking about. We tried to make the movement surprising by limiting the affordances in the design. Making it look like a big pillow and not showing any technical properties.
Overall, I learned a lot from this course. I loved how certain details in a design inspired me when I would not have noticed them before. You can see more details of what I designed in this course in my pictorial.
