Thinking Design was an exhibtion curated by me in 2013 that provided an opportunity to showcase the design processes behind the making of products.

Overview:

Thinking Design is an inversion of the term Design Thinking and highlights the hidden thoughtfulness that goes into a design, or the solving of a design problem. This is an overt consciously systematic and iterative process. Thinking Design focuses on the physical artefacts generated through this process from five professional industrial designers – all alumni from the University of Johannesburg’s Department of Industrial Design. The artefacts included research, sketches, renderings, development models, user-testing, engineering, development prototypes and final manufactured prototypes. This exhibition was enlightening for design students and the broader public by tangibly making visible the complex process of getting to a final design ‘solution’.

The exhibition opened on the 7 August 2013 and ran until the 28 August 2013 at the FADA Gallery, University of Johannesburg, Bunting Road Campus. The five exhibitors consisted of Peter Harrison from Harrison Designs, Trevor Hollard & Rowan Mardghum from Maeker & Amoq, and Jonathan Fundudis & David Holgreaves from Snapp Design.

Outcomes:

• Campbell, A.D. 2014. Thinking Design: UJ Industrial Design Alumni Exhibition. Research as Practice, 1:16-18.
• Campbell, A.D. 2013. Thinking Design: UJ Industrial Design Alumni Exhibition, 2013 Exhibition Catalogue.
• Thinking Design Facebook event site
• Design Indaba. 2013. Thinking & Design. 20th August. Available: http://www.designindaba.com/articles/creative-work/thinking-design
• SA Plastics Composites and Rubber. 2013. Thinking Design on Show at the University of Johannesburg. Vol II Nr 4 August / September, pp. 24-25.