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- Andersson, Torbjörn
(författare)
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Aesthetic Flexibility : Modularity of Visual Form in Product Portfolios and Branded Products
- 2016
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The increase in competition amongst companies that produce complex or large product portfolios has created a need to utilise modularity strategies not only to flexibly manage technical complexity in a costeffective manner but also for visual appearance. This research aims to understand how the visual appearance of products is affected by modular product development strategies. Specifically, the aim is to understand how such strategies induce constraints and generate possibilities for management of visual appearance in the design process.Five studies have been conducted during the course of this licentiate thesis. Two were conducted with professionals and students in design, while the remaining three are theoretical studies based on findings in the literature, theory building, and experimental research. The goal has been to investigate how designers work when they are put to the task of changing and developing the designs of complex products that are part of a portfolio. The challenge has been to study what suitable strategies exist that manage complex products and product brands, then investigate how these influence designers’ practices.The first study examined how coherence towards a product category influences the design of new products. The outcome of the study was a method to explore visual coherence and diversity in the appearance of a product category.The remaining four studies investigated how modularity, brand management and the redesign of product portfolios influence a design process. The second study described a design phenomenon known as aesthetic flexibility, which was further explored in studies three and five. The outcome from these studies was a proposal for four aesthetic flexibility strategies.The fourth study investigated in what way portfolio extension strategies found in brand management and design research are related, and how such strategies influence aesthetic flexibility. The results from study four were illustrated as a model.The main contribution of this work is the phenomenon of ‘aesthetic flexibility’, which helps understand the factors that influence designers when working with branded modular products. Understanding visual flexibility serves as a starting point in further investigations of how different development strategies affect the possibilities for visual product design.The findings of this work serve to illustrate and explain a complex and multi-facetted design phenomenon which many designers manage more or less intuitively today, thus advancing academics’, teachers’ and professional designers’ understanding of the field.
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| 2. |
- Halldórsson, Halldór Björn, 1971-
(författare)
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Tacit : A research journey into the methods, processes and knowledge of graphic designers
- 2022
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Konstnärligt arbete (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- By exploring the potential effects of digitisation on graphic design methods, this thesis aims to highlight some of the tacit knowledge possessed by graphic designers and to show that this knowledge can both be externalised and made communicable. Beginning with an interview study where professional designers’ views were gathered and analysed, the work continued through a participatory study where designers’ knowledge was highlighted in a documented design project. Finally, alternative ways of externalising knowledge were employed in an exhibition, displaying the creative outcomes of this thesis. The work shows that the hitherto largely hidden knowledge of graphic designers can be uncovered and made more communicable, strengthening designers’ professional identity and making the field more accessible to students. Furthermore, using versatile approaches in a design project can encourage conceptual development and even professional enjoyment, as well as increasing historical awareness. The thesis uses an experimental approach to research method design and thus contributes to the development of graphic design research methodology. As such, in addition to expanding our understanding of graphic design knowledge, this work will enable a deeper exploration of methods, identity, and the definition of the profession’s taxonomy.
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| 3. |
- Andersson, Torbjörn, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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Product gist : An approach to identifying form characteristics of the current product sign
- 2013
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In today's competitive market it is essential for companies to have a clear brand identity towards it consumers and users in order to be successful. Consumers have often a variety of products to choose from and the challenge for a company's products is to be discovered and remembered. An important factor is recognition of a product and how it is conceived through our perception which is mainly an identification process based on familiarity, resemblance or similarity. Furthermore, the visual part of the brain organizes the surrounding into patterns which are used as a guide for us, and to capture the surrounding is called getting its gist. The process of finding resemblance in a design space is often done by the designer as an implicit part in the design process. If this implicit knowledge could be more objectively visualised it might be a helpful tool to create a visual baseline of how consumers would experience the product segment. To show similarities and differences of design features quantitatively can facilitate the communication in a design development project. This paper explores how the concept of a product gist may be used to create a conceptual product sign and also how it could be used to analyse what the design space looks like in a given product segment. By quantitatively overlaying transparent pictures in a product segment visual pattern emerges that can be used as a communication tool in a design process when discussing brand recognition. In this paper a power drill is used as a simple application to illustrate the usage of the proposed product gist.
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| 4. |
- Derelöv, Micael, 1973-
(författare)
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On Evaluation of Design Concepts : Modelling Approaches for Enhancing the Understanding of Design Solutions
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation embraces the issue of evaluating design concepts. Being able to sort out the potential“best solutions” from a set of solutions is a central and important part of the design process. The subjectdiscussed in this dissertation has its origins in the lack of knowledge about design concepts, somethingwhich is characteristic of the initial part of the design process and which frequently causes problems whenit comes to evaluation and selection of solutions. The purpose of this dissertation is to develop aids andmethods that enhance the understanding of design concepts in the early phases of the design process.From deductive reasoning about the fundamental mechanisms of the evaluation activity, the work hasbeen divided into three different areas: process and system modelling, concept optimisation, andidentification of potential failures.The bearing of the work within the area of process and system modelling has a verifying character. Theobjective of the work has been to analyse how established design methodology, which has its commonapplications within traditional engineering industry, may be applied within an area that is characterised bymore multidisciplinary interfaces, like biotechnology. The result of a number of case studies, in whichdifferent types of biotechnical systems where analysed and modelled, shows that the methodology isapplicable even for biotechnical products. During the work the methodology has also been furtherelaborated on in order to better suit the distinguishing characteristics exhibited in the development ofbiotechnical systems.Within the area of concept optimisation, an approach for optimising the concept generation has beenelaborated. By formalising the step in both concept generation and evaluation, it has been possible toapply genetic algorithms in order to optimise the process. The work has resulted in a model thatautomatically creates and sorts out a number of potential solutions from a defined solution space and adefined set of goals.The last area, which deals with identification of potential failures, has resulted in a rather novel way toconsider and model the behaviour of a system. The approach is an elaboration of the modellingtechniques within system theory, and deduces the system’s behaviour from known physical phenomenaand the system’s ability to effectuate them. The way the different behaviours interact with one another, byaffecting the properties of the system, determines the potential for a failure to occur. A “failure”,according to the model, is described as an unintended behaviour which obstructs the system’sfunctionality, i.e. which affects the conditions of a desired behaviour.The dissertation has resulted in three different means for approaching the difficulties associated with theevaluation of design concepts. The means are applicable during different parts of the design process, butthey all address the same issue, viz. to enhance the understanding of the design solutions.
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