Eckert and Stacey ( 2000 ) conducted a lengthy ethnographic study of knitwear designers. It is an interesting paper, but a difficult one to summarise—they appear to shift between discussing their study and discussing design in general, and it is difficult to isolate the claims for which they have empirical evidence and those which they assume can be taken as descriptive of most design practices. Many of their assertions are not illustrated with specific reference to their data. However, their study was of seven years duration, surveying 25 different companies across three European countries, and in such a case, perhaps one may take their observations at face value.
They note that knitwear designers frequently express their ideas with reference to previous designed products, or aspects of previous products. Such elements serve as inspiration for designers in developing new ideas. Eckert and Stacey claim that these also help define the context of an emerging concept, trigger new ideas, and conceptualise the developing product. Designers use these ‘sources of inspiration’ to communicate ideas about specific products, product ranges and the moods expressed by fashion items. The authors maintain that the cultural context that the designers share is fundamental to and enables this communicative process.
Unusually for ethnographic research, Eckert and Stacey then review findings in cognitive psychology about the nature of mental imagery, and relate these findings to their observations. The following are some of their claims that emerge from this venture:
• The use of examples can be verbal shorthand for communicating complex visiospatial information to others, because examples carry information about both details and context.
• A reliance on examples biases new designs, tending them to be similar to existing products.
• Ideas that are too innovative are inhibited because they are more difficult to communicate effectively in terms of examples, and more difficult to conceive in imagination without such precedents from which to be based.
|
[ListAllPages] |