Reykjavík Grapevine - 14.03.2014, Blaðsíða 46

6
Margar gerðir
af búningasilfri.
Þetta er ódýrasta
mynstrið.
Allt sem þarf
á upphlutinn,
settið frá 90.530 kr.
Allar upplýsingar um hefð
og gerðir búninga eru
veittar á staðnum.
Allar upplýsingar um hefð
GULLKISTAN
Frakkastíg 10 / sími: 551-3160
thjodbuningasilfur.is
singar um hefð
A designer, curator and teacher at Kon-
stfack University College of Arts, Crafts
and Design in Stockholm, Sweden,
Hlín Helga Guðlaugsdóttir is active in
design education initiatives around the
world, and has led workshops in India,
China and Iceland on a variety of topics,
such as future thinking and experience
design, theme-based course design
and applying design methodologies to
complicated problems in fields such as
healthcare. She also curated this year’s
DesignTalks, an all-day panel series
which opens DesignMarch and will
feature leading international designers,
architects and creative professionals.
Co-moderating with Stephan Sigrist,
the founder of Zurich-based think
tank W.I.R.E., Hlín Helga will tackle the
day’s theme—“Dealing with Reality”—in
conversation with a diverse group of
speakers such as Calvin Klein, Robert
Wong (the Chief Creative Officer of
Google Creative Lab) and Kathryn Firth
(the Chief of Design at London Legacy
Development Corporation). She took
some time this month to talk to Grape-
vine about this year’s DesignTalks and
some of the more pressing challenges
of design today.
The subject of this year's Design-
Talks is "Dealing with Reality," a
more practically-oriented theme
than say last year's "The Magic
of Creativity." Do designers today
need to contend with more difficult
realities than they have in the past?
Designers have always dealt with
reality, in one way or the other, but I’m
hoping we can explore new ways of
doing it by looking through different
lenses, discussing design in a larger
context and showing the world what
can be achieved by design. It’s about
new perspectives, collaborations across
disciplines, visionary thinking and, ulti-
mately, alternative futures. This whole
discussion goes hand in hand with the
need for designers to take initiative and
redefine their roles. I’m not proposing
that designers can (or should try to)
fix everything, or that they are today’s
superheroes, but they should be “added
to the mix” with other disciplines—sit-
ting at the decision-making table when
tackling the challenges of today’s
broken systems, institutions and even
democracies. Whatever the subject,
for the best results it’s important that
designers are involved from the early
stages and not just brought in after-
wards to “make it look good,” as has
been too common.
What do you think are some of the
more complicated realities of de-
sign today? Certainly these will vary
from one discipline to another, but
are there common challenges?
There are different challenges across
various design disciplines, but at the
same time, there are global and un-
derlying imperatives, such as the need
for sustainable solutions, the demand
for visionary thinking and designer ac-
countability. It’s not all about social in-
novation—such as rethinking healthcare
or designing for inclusion—but this kind
of thinking should be intrinsic to our
approach as graphic designers, product
designers, and architects, whatever
the subject may be. Collaborations and
conversations across disciplines and
within our communities are crucial.
Then there is reality and “reality.”
We do not all perceive reality in the
same way, and on top of that, there is
also an increasingly blurred area at the
intersection of the virtual and the “real.”
This fact has led to the emergence of
yet another design discipline, which has
been dubbed “invisible design.” Invisible
design deals with the seamless integra-
tion of those two realities. In some
ways, I find it liberating as a designer
to think in terms of infinite realities, to
think in terms of alternative futures.
To speculate, imagine, and in some in-
stances, even lie, as is done in the ‘The
book of Scotlands. Every Lie Creates a
Parallel World. The World in Which it is
True.’ This book outlines 156 Scotlands
which do not exist, but present a neces-
sary “delirium of visions, realistic and
absurd” that serve to contextualise cur-
rent discussions about “real” Scotland’s
independence and future(s).
What are some of the ways in
which design can have measurable,
practical impacts on fields such as
healthcare?
A concrete example would be the Bu-
taro Hospital Project in Rwanda, Africa,
administered by the MASS Design
Group. Working with the community,
MASS built good healthcare facilities at
a low cost. They created buildings that
promote health and empower not only
the staff but also the whole community.
They’ve really gone beyond design,
because the project has attracted tal-
ented individuals to its hospitals. They,
in turn, save lives and contribute to the
progression of those communities.
This question of metrics is actually a
very interesting, complex and urgent
one: how should designers and archi-
tects prove their worth? How do we
measure this? We designers need to
get better at working with metrics when
working with and in other disciplinary
fields, to find ways to measure the truly
important things that only the heart
can see.
Visionary Thinking
For Alternative
Futures
Hlín Helga Guðlaugsdóttir
on this year’s DesignTalks
By Larissa Kyzer
Sigrún Sæmundsen
Graphic Designer
What effect did the crash have on design in Iceland, or
on your work personally?
It seems that there was a shift in creative energy—people
were struggling to find something to do after losing jobs and
savings. As bad as it was, I believe it had a positive influence
on design. For example, by people finding ways to make
things less expensive by making them reusable, recyclable
and biodegradable. For me, I had just returned from a
backpacking trip at the time and pursuing studies in visual
communication seemed like a good idea, a venue where frus-
tration and bewilderment could be channelled in something
creative.
Dröfn Sæmundsdóttir
Product Designer
What effect did the crisis have on design in Iceland or
on your work personally?
I think it affected us all in some way. People (including me)
had to take a step back and search within themselves for the
reasons behind everything they did and do.
Is there a particularly ugly landmark in Reykjavík that
you would bulldoze if you could?
Maybe Höfðatorg. I’m not a huge fan of tall buildings or sky-
scrapers in Iceland that ruin our beautiful view.
Borghildur Ína Sölvadóttir
Graphic Designer
How is the unique Icelandic landscape and atmosphere
reflected in your creative process? Where do you get
your ideas?
I went to an international summer school in Basel one year
and we each had to choose between red, green and blue to
work with as a part of our assignment. The students from
Arizona and Saudi Arabia chose red, the girl from Holland
chose green and the two Icelanders chose blue. I think this
shows that even though we think we are really international
or whatever, we can’t really get away from where we grew up
and all the things in our environment—the colours, stories,
weather and so on that really shaped us growing up.
Q&A's
By Fred Q. Labelle
Gullkistan - Frakkastíg 10 - Sími: 551-3160.
SENDUM Í PÓSTKRÖFU.