Design by Movement: Final Report

D e s i g n b y M o v e m e n t J u n e 9 , 2 0 1 0

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FINAL REPORT DESIGN BY MOVEMENT

JACQUELYN VAN KAMPEN

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JAAP MUSTERS

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Original Observations Composition

The movement is complex. Each bubble is similar in how it is formed. They each appear and move in similar ways. The movement is continuous. Even though each bubble forms in similar ways the sequence is not repeated exactly the same each time. That being said there is a similar movement happening without a clear beginning or end. Specific Qualities The qualities that represent our movement are: Space: through shape Time: fluent, irregular Forces: tensed Essence Through the exercise on ‘cleaning up’ we decided to leave out: a-symmetrical, focused, free and light force. These qualities did not define our movement in such a strong way as the other quali-ties. Through the exercise ‘comparison’ we found that a similar movement could be boiling water. Boiling water would be defined using the same qualities we chose however it might also be de-scribed as more of a strong force and vertical movement.

Original Clip

Mapping

Choreography

Choreography We looked at the chosen qualities and discussed which movements or gestures went along with each quality. We then put it all together and decided to film it just showing the hands versus showing the entire body. We prefer the final clip showing one set of hands because it commu-nicates fluent and trough shape clearly. It is also obvious that the hands are tensed while it is difficult to show tensed and still fluent movements with the entire body.


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Reflection of Original Observations

We learned about different qualities which a movement can have and how to define any movement based on those qualities. We learned to observe movements in nature and under-stand them better based on the qualities they possess. When observing movements it is not that important to pay attention to the context but more to the movement itself. The difficult part of defining a movement is in choosing the most suitable words. We could have improved that by doing more extensive essence finding tests. Once the key words were chosen the mapping and the choreography came rather easily. For the mapping we brainstormed based on the key words. We paid attention to every detail of each keyword’s characteristics and tried to make a purpose behind each decision.

Translation of Package Received We started the process of translating the other group’s package by choosing random qualities from their list and brainstormed about motions that can come from each quality. We then chose the motions which we thought would most clearly describe each quality. Focusing on different keywords allowed for a lot of variety in our cardboard models. Some of them encompassed more of the qualities from the list than others. Because we did not pay attention to all the quali-ties in one movement we found it difficult to move to the next step of combining all the quali-ties into one final design. We used the choreography in order to get a feeling for what the movement should or could look like but the key words were way more influential on our de-sign. The mapping was used primarily as an indicator for the importance of each quality.

Final Mechanism We received feedback from our peers and from the assignor about the cardboard models and which one to move forward with. We brainstormed ideas on how to develop the chosen card-board model and its movement into a product (gum ball machine) by focusing on the interac-tion that could come from it in terms of how the coin is inserted and how the gum ball will come out. One of the secondary cardboard models was used to function as the coin slot while the most appropriate prototype was used as the dispenser. The main thing that was missing from the cardboard prototypes was complexity. We worked toward including complexity by multiplying the number of ribbons (chosen cardboard model) that will be used to dispense gum balls.

The materials changed the movement which affected our final design. It was difficult to keep the functionality of the device while focusing on the desired movement. This was most appar-ent in the ribbons. The original cardboard prototype had ribbons made of a very light thin piece of fabric. This fabric acted differently when it was sewn together and attached to plastic tubes in


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the final prototype and therefore the effect of the movement became less clear. Our process could have been improved if we experimented more with the gum ball during prototyping to observe its effect on the mechanism. The final prototype contained all the qualities but it was still lacking complexity. This tells us that simply multiplying single movements does not always result in a complex movement.


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Individual Reflections Jacquelyn

This assignment gave me the opportunity to experiment with and gain a deeper understanding of movement and how it can be used to influence design. Movement is a form of communica-tion, when I learned how to read movements based on their qualities, I became more aware of what the movement could be telling me. It was very interesting when I was able to use specific movement qualities to form an interaction. I found it difficult to find the real essence of a given movement based on the qualities and how that essence makes it unique. A movement can con-tain many qualities but the difficult part was in removing qualities that were not necessarily adding to its essence.

The importance of capturing the essence of a movement became apparent when we swapped movements with another group. Only receiving the choreography, a mapping and the key-words meant that we had to work backwards and build the movement instead of the other way around. If the essence of the chosen keywords were off it would be difficult to develop a movement that matched the original.

Making the movement qualities into something physical was very enjoyable. Experimenting with different materials and shapes to see how they react when moved allowed me to get a real hands on feeling for the qualities of the movement. When it came time to make the movement into a device the restrictions of materials became even more apparent. We decided to make the flowing ribbon into a tube shape to allow for a gum ball to fall through it, however the move-ment had a different flow to it after it was sewn into a tube. We also had some difficulty in add-ing complexity to our final design. We added extra ribbons to the device but because they all moved in a synchronized way I am afraid that we were not able to achieve complexity.

During the final test I tried to judge the original videos based only on the qualities I saw through the prototypes, and not based on what I already knew should be portrayed in each pro-totype. Because it was a small class, I already knew what movement qualities each device was supposed to contain so it was hard to judge their qualities and view each one from a fresh per-spective.

I now understand what makes a certain movement unique and I am able to make links between interaction and movement.

Jaap

Before starting with this assignment I expected to learn about the aesthetics of movements and how to use them in my design. Since my previous semester was very technique-focused, I was excited to start with this assignment. I hoped to learn things about how to define a movement


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and how to use the gained knowledge in my own designs as well. I think the communication of natural movements is interesting and useful, because people tend to experience these move-ments in the same way. Also, design is also about the user understanding your product, and what better way to achieve this is by using common movements?

In the first meetings of this assignment I learned about the fact that a motion communicates more than I’ve expected. This lesson was gained after focusing on the movement itself, rather than the context, material, color or whatever other aspect that usually draws attention first. This also made me aware of the fact that context is not important when finding the essence of a movement. After analyzing our own movement video, I became aware of the different qualities a motion can have. The difficult part was, however, to translate our motion into qualities, mak-ing sure that the group that would receive our quality list could understand them as well. I think we managed to translate our motion into qualities quite well, leaving less important quali-ties out, while emphasizing on important qualities through the use of a visual mapping. Through several ways of testing the quality list, I learned how to define a movement, although I am not sure if it is easy to find the very essence of a motion myself. This means that, when working in pairs, there is always someone to give feedback or discuss my input. Perhaps the list with qualities would have been different if I made it on my own…

Of course the big step in this assignment was translating several qualities into a moving design. Thinking of prototypes which contained few of the qualities listed was pretty easy, but making sure that the prototype contained all the motion qualities was quite difficult. I found it however interesting to brainstorm about motions which contained as much of the qualities as possible. The final design contained all qualities, but was lacking complexity. From this, I learned that just multiplying simple movements does not necessarily lead to complexity, but rather symme-try.

I really enjoyed finally being able to not worry about electronics, but focusing on the communi-cative part of a design and trying to make sure other students would interpret them the same way as I did. This also tells me that this assignment has led to more awareness in the User Focus & Perspective. In future projects or assignments I definitely want to try to bring more natural communication through the use of form or movement into my designs.

Documents

Design by Movement: Final Report