Blog 3

A valuable and fun experience I had would defiantly have to be when a designer by the name of Peter Sheehan came in and shared his passion In furniture whilst giving us some insights on how his tough process and mindscape works when trying to make ideas for his designs.

In the class he went through how he enjoys walking through the beaches, and allowing himself to be spontaneous, build a rock tower there, put a chair on there. And suddenly an idea comes in. this ability to just relax and explore a surrounding you love and letting your imagination flow without restriction is something I hope to do at some point.

He shared with us, his expertise in bush craft and tough us how to make traditional Irish stools out of wooden sticks. This was not only a good break from the massive amount of work but also a good experience as it brought us into his world a bit. The action of finding a nice place, taking in the surroundings and just building something.

This also gave me a new insight on materials and their end of life, because at the end of the day everything you design will have to be manufactured. So, what will happen next, what’s the end of life and how can it be recycled.  This stool could be taken apart and used as firewood repurposed into something else (maybe a 3-legged stool) or be upgraded further. It’s a simple idea but hard to execute and easy to forget about.

Most will look at this assignment and laugh, think that all we do is muck about and do no work, but I feel as designers that’s the point. To muck about, go into a beach build a wall of stone, build a stool out of wood, let the mind constantly filter new ideas and keep the mindscape healthy and enjoy the process. We are humans designing for humans. So, we need to be grounded yet, fearless to being ourselves and allow that freedom to guide us. Its that freedom that makes us stand out as designers.

So, if your ever stuck on an idea, take a break, take a walk and learn to be free.