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Week 15 - Room for Error

Since the semester is coming to a close and our projects are mostly over, I decided to look at Steelcase’s article “Room for Error”. Of course, none of our designs are perfect, so there are plenty of opportunities for us to learn from our mistakes. In this article, Steelcase points out the fact that pacemakers, Post-It Notes, as well as Cornflakes all came from failures. Glitches can become textile patterns or used in video art. Out of focus photographs can be considered high art. It is what you do with your failures that can turn into successes. This way of thinking reminds me of receiving critiques and continually being able to develop, refine, and better our projects. It’s nice that our profession allows us to constantly improve as designers.


Part of developing as designers includes trying different types of design – whether it be residential, office, healthcare, education, hospitality, and so on. Office and healthcare design has stood out to me specifically for different reasons. I love office design because I lose motivation easily, so if I could create atmospheres that encourage employees I would feel fulfilled as a designer. I love healthcare design because too many hospitals create mundane and sad environments for patients and family members. If I could create healthcare environments that relax and create a happy atmosphere for everyone, I would also feel fulfilled. While I have these interests as a designer, as long as I’m positively impacting others I’d be happy doing just about anything.

Comments

  1. UnknownDecember 1, 2017 at 4:35 PM

    Catie,
    I love this article. I find that so often we forget that everyone makes mistakes. Everyone experiences glitches, and it is in those glitches, that we sometimes find the greatest innovations.
    I also find healthcare and office design interesting, and I agree that either form offers the ability for us as designers to make an impact. I know that wherever God may lead you, you will give it your all, no matter where you end up.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownDecember 2, 2017 at 10:09 PM

    It's really important that as designers, we realize that failure is a good thing. I know for me, it's often very hard for me to accept that I've failed and I take it very personally. But failure is good because we can learn from it. I'm glad you found this article and brought up this topic of conversation!
    I could see you very easily fitting into either the field of healthcare or office design. I think you have personal connections to both fields, so therefore you have something to offer to both of them. I can't wait to see where your passions take you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownDecember 3, 2017 at 9:37 AM

    Catie, I really loved reading this article. It kind of brings back memories of freshman and sophomore year when we were still kind of clumsy in our designs and had to learn how to make a project out of our initial mistakes and hundreds of concept models that were torn apart and reworked. I remember using scraps of chipboard in random shapes to try to come up with something when I was stuck. I actually kind of miss model making for that reason! I think it's really interesting how if you don't give yourself any restraints or boundaries as to what you think a project should be, you can come up with some pretty cool out of the box ideas and let the initial "failures" turn into something good.
    I can definitely see you fitting well in either field. You're always committed to making the project about the client, which is important in both. I think you have a lot to offer in the design world, wherever you end up!

    ReplyDelete

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