Establishing Design Methods

In order to address my topic with design methods, I try to come up with different ways I can tackle the issue.


1. Irony / Satire - contradicting common perceptions of gardening
(ie. high maintenance, hippy. challenging, time consuming, etc.)

2. Humour - where can you see GREEN in your space that will make you think?

3. Senses - Stimulate sensual impacts using sense of touch, smell, vision, etc.

All these approaches are valid and effective if use appropriately. The directions I choose will determine how I will approach the problem, and come up with a visual form.

Criteria Breakdown

After finishing with design brief, I started a series of literary explorations, using words and descriptions to define what I want to achieve with my design. These descriptive criteria and detailed factors are mainly based on information gathered throughout my research process. Such as what people prefer to have, how they prefer to use the products, where it may be used, and what would it be for.

I try to provide a visual reference, something that would portray the concept of these factors.

Design Brief

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been compiling the research results from different methods of research to put together the Design Brief. I'm still trying to define more specifically regarding some of the project criteria. Time's ticking fast though, a lot of work still ahead. I need to narrow down my focus ASAP, to get into the design phase.

The Design Brief can be viewed HERE.
Changes and additional info might be added as the project progresses.

MOBY Visit

Thursday afternoon, I visited the community garden MOBY (My Own Back Yard), originally started by ECU ID graduate Jason few years ago. The community garden is located on 11th and commercial, with approximately 30 plots, and 5 accessible plots for seniors, people with disability, pregnant women, and etc.

Tina, was generous and extremely helpful. :) I was very fortunate to get her feedback and suggestions on my research and design directions. She mentioned, as an urban gardener, the reasons for self food production are much more than simply reducing food cost, but rather, to regain the connection with nature, the pleasure and gratification of being self-sufficient.

People don't seem to know where their food come from anymore. We take food for granted. We choose to ignore, and neglect the process which it takes from farm land to get to our dinner plate.

This makes me re-think about my project. Providing a design solution that enables urban agriculture is NOT enough.. it takes a lot more for people to change their behaviours than simply presenting them what's possible. I want to be able to communicate the gratification, the satisfaction, and the pride which urban gardeners like Tina value, to people that have yet to decide to participate in such activities.

Lately I've been focusing on developing my Project Design Brief, which will be uploaded in the next post. This is a milestone, marking the crossing from our analytical phase, to the chaotic, yet innovative stage.. :)

1st Hand Research Study Report & Project Focus

This week's class included a 5-minute presentation from each student on research study results and project directions. It's pretty damn exciting to see all the different research methods incorporated. The probing method was contradictory in terms of purpose and focus, but fascinating in terms of feedback and responses of the users.

My 1st Hand Research Study Report can be found HERE.


The following 2 weeks will be dedicated for information analysis and data organizations, in order to put together the Design Brief. I still need to figure out a clear and effective way to present my data in a measurable presentation. Perhaps a graph, or a diagram would be useful.

After meeting with my instructor, Tom Bechor, I started to re-think about my project. Tom mentioned, it's critical to define the THEME, FOCUS, and MEDIUM of my project. By determining the differences and the definitions of each, the design criteria and my approach will be clear. What is my theme? it can be well-being.. gardening.. food production.. or even sustainability. Maybe, gardening in a limited space is ONLY the medium of my project, in order to communicate my theme of well-being. However I define it, will definitely determine how I approach this project. Honestly, this is the first time since I started this project, that I'm starting to think that the final solution can go WAY beyond balconies, patios, or window counters.. maybe, it can even be an installation piece? a performance?