Problem Seeking and Problem Solving in Design and Art

Foundations of Design and Conceptual Invention

Visual Experience and Compositional Strength:
- Artworks are primarily experienced visually.
- Learning basic design elements and exploring compositional approaches enhances the visual impact of a work.
- Composition represents only a portion of the creative equation.
Emergence of Conceptual Invention:
- Cultural reliance on visual communication has made artistic and design ideas increasingly complex and varied.
- Conceptual invention holds equal importance to compositional strength in contemporary practice.
- Fresh ideas catalyze the development of novel visual imagery.
- The combination of a original concept and a compelling composition expands expression and visual communication.

Problem Seeking and the Design Process

Four Basic Steps of the Creative Process:
1. Determine what is required for the project.
2. Identify existing designs that are similar to the required design.
3. Analyze the differences between the existing designs and the required design.
4. Formulate methods to transform, combine, or expand upon existing designs.
Design Process vs. Fine Art Process:
- Design Process:
  - Generates utilitarian objects or solutions.
  - Problems are predominantly established by a client or external impetus.
  - Initiated when a client requests assistance or when a specific functional need is identified.
- Fine Art Process:
  - Sculptors, printmakers, filmmakers, and fine artists typically invent their own aesthetic problems.
  - Ideas originate from personal experiences and cultural context.
  - Artists blend self-awareness with empathy to translate specific events into universal statements.
  - Artists operate independently without rigid client-imposed deadlines.

Case Study: The Eames Chair Development

Background of Charles and Ray Eames:
- Charles Eames was trained as an architect, bringing expertise in engineering and design integration.
- Ray Eames was trained as a painter, contributing a mastery of visual structure, an adventurous aesthetic, and marketing comprehension.
- The husband-and-wife team collaborated across furniture design, toy design, exhibition curation, architecture, and directed over $80$ experimental films.
The 1940 MoMA Competition:
- The impetus for their breakthrough in furniture design was a competition sponsored by the Museum of Modern Art in $1940$
Analysis of Pre-Existing Chair Typologies:
- Overstuffed Chair:
  - Dominated American living rooms.
  - Utilized extensive padding mounted over a boxy framework.
  - Extremely comfortable, but bulky and aesthetically awkward.
- Adirondack Chair:
  - Constructed from flat wooden planes.
  - Easily mass-produced, but too large for standard interior residential spaces.
- Architect-Designed Modern Chairs:
  - Marcel Breuer, Armchair (Dessau, Germany, 1925): Constructed from tubular steel and canvas; dimensions $28\,11/15\,\text{in. h.} \times 30\,5/16\,\text{in. w.} \times 26\,3/4\,\text{in. d.}\quad (72.8 \times 77 \times 68\,\text{cm})$ .
  - Alvar Aalto, Paimio Lounge Chair (1931–33): Constructed from lacquered laminated birch and molded plywood; dimensions $26 \times 23\,3/4 \times 34\,7/8\,\text{in.}\quad (66 \times 60.5 \times 88.5\,\text{cm})$ .
  - Modern chairs displayed clear structural organization and utilized novel industrial materials; however, they were expensive and frequently uncomfortable.
Synthesis and Technological Innovation:
- Target Goal: Create a modern chair that was simultaneously comfortable, elegant, and inexpensive.
- World War II Technological Mastery: The Eames team designed and manufactured molded plywood splints for U.S. Navy doctors, mastering the process of steaming and molding plywood sheets into complex compound curves.
- First Plywood Chair: Created in collaboration with architect Eero Saarinen, winning first prize in the MoMA competition by integrating splint manufacturing techniques, modern architectural principles, and fine art composition.
- Model DCM (1946): Made of molded ash plywood, steel rod, and rubber shockmounts; dimensions $28\,3/4\,\text{in. h.} \times 19\,1/2\,\text{in. d.} \times 20\,1/2\,\text{in. w.}\quad (73 \times 49.5 \times 50.8\,\text{cm})$ .
- Mass Production: Subsequent iterations featured cast plastic shells, with individual designs mass-produced in quantities reaching hundreds of thousands.

Sources of Creative Inspiration

Transforming Common Objects:
- Frank Gehry designed the Cross Check Armchair ( $1992$ ; maple, $33\,7/8\,\text{in. h.} \times 28\,1/2\,\text{in. d.} \times 28\,1/2\,\text{in. w.}\quad [85.3 \times 72.4 \times 72.4\,\text{cm}]$ ) by deriving its form from agricultural wood-strip bushel baskets.
- Everyday items such as car keys, scissors, baseball gloves, or drafting compasses serve as generative catalysts for formal design.
Observing Nature:
- Ray Rogers, Vessel (New Zealand, 1984): Large, pit-fired, porous, nonfunctional ceramic vessel featuring "fungoid" relief decoration with a diameter of approximately $21\,5/8\,\text{in.}\quad (55\,\text{cm})$ ; derived from observations of mushrooms, stones, and aquatic organisms.
- Vera Liskova, Porcupine (1972–80): Flame-worked glass sculpture; dimensions $4\,1/4 \times 11\,\text{in.}\quad (10.8 \times 28.2\,\text{cm})$ ; utilizes the fluid transparency of glass to reinterpret natural forms.
Museum Research and Cultural Artifacts:
- Studying non-Western visual art provides non-traditional compositional frameworks and conceptual strategies.
- Beau Dick, Mugamtl Mask (Crooked Beak) (1993): Red cedar, cedar bark, and paint; dimensions $24 \times 26 \times 16\,\text{in.}\quad (61 \times 66 \times 40.6\,\text{cm})$ ; depicts supernatural flight abilities acquired by an ancestor following revival from a deadly illness, establishing ceremonial rights for descendants.
Additional Personal and Contextual Sources:
- Nancy Callahan and Diane Gallo: Created Storefront Stories driven by memories of small-town American life.
- Heidi Lasher-Oakes: Derives sculptural forms from biological systems.
- David MacDonald: Utilizes ordinary vegetables and traditional African pottery vessels for ceramic forms.
- Rodger Mack: Draws sculptural content directly from mythology.

Characteristics of a Good Design Problem

Significant:
- Prioritizes high-consequence challenges when allocating time, labor, and financial resources.
- Requires evaluating personal or project goals within broader frameworks (e.g., building the Pyramids at Giza or completing a bachelor's degree).
- Balances analytical prudence with adventurous risk-taking.
Socially Responsible:
- Considers ecological and global impacts given a human population exceeding $6 \times 10^9$ people ( $6\,\text{billion}$ ).
- Requires auditing resource consumption and waste management/disposal methods.
- Integrates environmental criteria alongside traditional economic considerations.
Comprehensible:
- Demands a thorough understanding of the parameters before attempting solutions.
- Requires active clarification of project goals when ambiguities arise.
Leaves Room for Experimentation:
- Distinguishes between precise parameter definition and overly restrictive constraints.
- Broad Definition Example: Arranging $10$ photocopies to express an emotion (open solution).
- Restrictive Limitation Example: Arranging $10$ Mathew Brady Civil War photographs to recount Abraham Lincoln's biography (over-constrained solution).
- Excessive constraints reduce creative efficacy across all skill levels.
Ambitious, Yet Achievable:
- Tasks that are too simple yield minimal educational development.
- Tasks that are overly complex cause excessive delays and cost overruns.
Authentic:
- Encourages framing problems through personal perspectives and unique contextual connections.
- Requires understanding underlying substantive criteria rather than superficial formatting.

Problem-Solving Strategies: Convergent Thinking

Definition and Operational Dynamics:
- Convergent thinking involves working toward a predetermined target using linear, highly focused, empirical methodology.
- Modeled on the scientific method; governed by clear boundaries and rigid constraints.
- The desired end dictates the analytical means.
- Optimal for tasks requiring rational evaluation, sequential logic, clear problem boundaries, and strict deadlines.
- Widely employed in business administration, physical sciences, and graphic design.
The PROSE Step-by-Step Method:
1. P - Define the Problem: Clarify exact requirements, style guidelines, technical requirements, and delivery dates.
2. R - Do Research: Gather visual, technical, and historical data to build connections.
3. O - Determine Your Objective: Identify exact communication targets, refine concepts, eliminate cliches, and confirm feasibility within constraints.
4. S - Devise a Strategy: Plan material sourcing, workspace selection, and time management.
5. E - Execute the Strategy: Maintain dedicated focus and complete physical production without early second-guessing.
6. Evaluate Results: Assess visual and structural performance upon completion to prepare for critique.
Case Study (Jeremy):
- Definition: Researched dictionary definitions for "story," "image," and "library," selecting turn-of-the-century Irish immigration as a subject.
- Research: Gathered primary historical documents, immigrant diaries, and period images of ships, urban centers, and people.
- Objective: Streamlined narrative complexity to center on a single main character to meet deadline constraints.

Problem-Solving Strategies: Divergent Thinking

Definition and Operational Dynamics:
- Divergent thinking is an open-ended, nonlinear approach where the process or means determines the ultimate outcome.
- Generates broad inquiry, high creative risk, and unexpected conceptual breakthroughs.
- Accommodates broad problem definitions, expansive research, and open-ended experimentation.
- Emphasizes process over product, welcoming mistakes and multiple design iterations.
- Optimal when initial problems are evolving or ambiguous, rational outcomes are unnecessary, sequential steps are redundant, and deadlines remain flexible.
Case Study (Angela):
- Process: Sourced $30$ diverse photographs across $12$ library books (spanning train stations to trapeze artists), created scaled photocopies, and rearranged them to allow visual narrative patterns to emerge intuitively.
- Result: Discarded $20$ images, introduced $5$ supplementary images, and produced a dreamlike, non-linear conceptual narrative.
Surrealism as Historical Exemplar:
- Surrealist artists between World War I and World War II rejected strict rationalism to explore subconscious states.
- Yves Tanguy, Multiplication of the Arcs (1954): Oil on canvas; dimensions $40 \times 60\,\text{in.}\quad (101.6 \times 152.4\,\text{cm})$ ; utilized evocative abstract forms to probe the essential substance of visual ideas.
- Giorgio de Chirico, The Mystery and Melancholy of a Street (1914): Oil on canvas; dimensions $24\,1/4 \times 28\,1/2\,\text{in.}\quad (62 \times 72\,\text{cm})$ ; used distorted perspective, spatial repetition, and ominous cast shadows to induce psychological anxiety.

Brainstorming Methodologies and Exploration Strategies

List-Making Technique:
- Generate exhaustive written inventories without immediate self-censorship.
- Analytical Grid Strategy (e.g., Target Emotion: Anger):
  - Annoyance: Cause = Wrong-number call at $5\,\text{A.M.}$ ; Effect = Slammed down phone.
  - Smoldering Rage: Cause = Friend receives an award you desired; Effect = Verbal argument with friend.
  - Desperate Anger: Cause = Fired from employment; Effect = Shouted at child.
  - Anger at Self: Cause = Poor test performance; Effect = Intensive studying.
Thesaurus Utilization:
- Consult conceptual thesauruses (e.g., The Concise Roget's International Thesaurus) categorized by broad ideas such as "Feelings."
- Expands vocabulary networks (e.g., exploring Resentment and Anger through terms like wrath, ire, indignation, heat, dudgeon, fit of anger, tantrum, outburst, explosion, storm, scene, passion, fury, burn, vehemence, violence, vent one's anger, seethe, simmer, sizzle).
Visual Mapping:
- Construct visual word diagrams branching outward from a central concept to diagram thought connections.
Exploration of Connections (Keith Smith Method):
- Detailed in Structure of the Visual Book; advocates total immersion in a subject to enable intuitive visual execution.
- Bicycle Conceptual Deconstruction Example:
  - Profile Analysis: Contrast significant profiles (side view) with minimal profiles (top-down, front, or back at eye-level), where the vehicle collapses visually into a thin vertical line with horizontal projections (pedals, seat, handlebars).
  - Structural Forces: Analyze the suspension of wheels, rims, riders, and frames floating in space, held together purely by tensioned thin spokes.
  - Linear Journeys: Observe tread patterns left on wet pavement from puddles, interpreting them metaphorically as themes of friendship, connection, and isolation.
  - Geometric Shifts: Conceptualize cycles, full moons, and rotating circular tires transitioning into spatial ellipses and ultimate straight lines: "A circle is a line. A circle is a straight line."

Research Techniques for Visual and Conceptual Planning

Library and Digital Research:
- Computerized index systems allow keyword, author, title, and subject searches across specialized databases.
- Websites provide quick contextual overviews and immediate data.
- Books provide comprehensive, validated, and in-depth historical or technical content.
Thumbnail Sketches:
- Small preliminary visual drawings measuring approximately $1.5 \times 2\,\text{in.}\quad (3.8 \times 5.1\,\text{cm})$ .
- Bound by clear outer structural frames to evaluate spatial tension.
- Rapid, non-judgmental execution producing $10$ to $20$ composition options.
Three-Dimensional Sketching (Thinking with Your Fingers):
- Rapid construction using low-cost modeling materials (paper, chipboard, wire, plasticine).
- Susan Cohn, Cosmetic Manipulations (1992):
  - Preparatory Sketch (5.15A): Constructed from silver, binding wire, and masking tape.
  - Final Earring (5.15B): Fabricated from $750$ yellow gold ( $18\,\text{karat}$ ), $375$ pink gold ( $9\,\text{karat}$ ), and anodized aluminum; earring piece dimensions $2\,1/2 \times 3\,1/2\,\text{in.}\quad (6.5 \times 9\,\text{cm})$ , earring line length $4\,\text{in.}\quad (10\,\text{cm})$ .
Models, Maquettes, and Prototypes:
- Maquette: A developed three-dimensional sketch used to evaluate scale and construction method.
  - Peter Forbes, Shelter/Surveillance Sculpture (1994): Preliminary chipboard models measuring $10\,1/2 \times 9\,1/2 \times 9\,\text{in.}\quad (27 \times 24 \times 23\,\text{cm})$ established spatial scale relative to the human viewer, enabling confident execution of the final mixed-media sculpture measuring $11\,\text{ft}\,2\,\text{in.} \times 10\,\text{ft}\,4\,\text{in.} \times 10\,\text{ft}\quad (3.4 \times 3.2 \times 3\,\text{m})$ .
- Model: A targeted technical experiment testing physical assembly and material stability.
- Prototype: A fully functional, highly refined test piece (e.g., automotive concept test vehicles).

Strategies for Conceptual Expansion

Variations on a Theme:
- Executing serial iterations ( $30$ or more) to exhaust the formal and conceptual possibilities of a subject.
- Katsushika Hokusai, Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (c. 1830, Edo Period):
  - Created at age $70$ utilizing color woodblock printmaking.
  - Under the Mannen Bridge at Fukagawa: Dimensions $10\,1/8 \times 14\,11/16\,\text{in.}\quad (25.7 \times 37.5\,\text{cm})$ .
  - The Great Wave off Kanagawa: Dimensions $10\,3/16 \times 14\,15/16\,\text{in.}\quad (25.9 \times 37.5\,\text{cm})$ .
  - Near Umezawa in Sagami Province: Dimensions $10\,1/8 \times 14\,7/8\,\text{in.}\quad (25.6 \times 37.8\,\text{cm})$ .
  - Maintained central iconography (Mount Fuji) while altering seasonal, atmospheric, and spatial viewpoints.
- Comparative Bracelet Series:
  - Leslie Leupp, Three Bracelets: Solidified Reality, Frivolous Vitality, Compound Simplicity (1984): Steel, plastic, linoleum, laminate, aluminum; constructed; dimensions each $3 \times 4 \times 3\,\text{in.}\quad (8 \times 10 \times 8\,\text{cm})$ ; projects open, playful interactions between linear volumes and negative space.
  - Lisa Gralnick, Three Bracelets (1988): Black acrylic, gold, hollow construction; dimensions left to right: $3 \times 3\,1/2 \times 3\,1/2\,\text{in.}\quad (7.6 \times 8.9 \times 8.9\,\text{cm})$ ; $4\,1/2 \times 3\,1/2 \times 3\,\text{in.}\quad (11.4 \times 8.9 \times 7.6\,\text{cm})$ ; $3\,1/2 \times 3\,1/2 \times 3\,1/2\,\text{in.}\quad (8.9 \times 8.9 \times 8.9\,\text{cm})$ ; dense, crisp, dark aesthetic evoking body armor.
Metaphorical Thinking:
- Establishes visual or linguistic bridges transferring properties between distinct ideas.
- Linguistic Similes: Robert Burns's "My love is like a red red rose" attributes fragrance, color, thorns, and transience to love.
- Advertising Metaphor: Iomega Corporation Y2K print advertisement uses a tidal wave to represent potential global computer failures on January 1, 2000.
- Pablo Picasso, Guernica (1937):
  - Oil on canvas; dimensions $11\,\text{ft}\,5\,1/2\,\text{in.} \times 25\,\text{ft}\,5\,1/4\,\text{in.}\quad (3.5 \times 7.8\,\text{m})$ .
  - Painted in response to the $1937$ military bombing of a Basque village.
  - Analyzed by Henry Sayre (A World of Art):
    - Speared, Dying Horse (center left): Symbolizes the tragic fate of creative imagination.
    - Surveilling Bull: Represents Spain, the dual heroism and tragedy of bullfighting, and the Minotaur (embodying irrational human psychological forces).
    - Electric Light Bulb (top center) & Oil Lamp (held by window figure): Contrast modern technological vision with traditional observation methods.
Interdisciplinary Thinking:
- Broadens creative connections by integrating diverse academic disciplines.
- Michelangelo: Mastered painting, sculpture, and poetry.
- Leonardo da Vinci: Integrated visual art, human biology, and mechanical engineering.
- Bill Viola and Robert Irwin: Synthesize fine art practice with formal philosophical inquiry.
- Laurie Anderson: Blends performance art, instrumental music, and contemporary literature.

Core Terminology and Key Concepts

Analogy: A similarity or comparability established between two distinct situations or ideas.
Brainstorming: Open-ended, creative idea-generation methodologies (including list-making, thesaurus mapping, and visual branching).
Convergent Thinking: A linear, rational, goal-driven problem-solving method aimed at a single, predetermined outcome.
Divergent Thinking: An open-ended, exploratory problem-solving method where experimental processes drive unexpected conclusions.
Interdisciplinary Thinking: The synthesis of concepts, tools, and perspectives from multiple academic disciplines.
Maquette: A preliminary three-dimensional scale sketch used to plan sculptural or architectural works.
Metaphor: A figure of speech or visual link where a word or image implicitly characterizes an unrelated object or idea.
Model: A physical construction designed to test structural, spatial, or technical parameters.
Prototype: A fully functional, refined test model representing the final manufacturing target.
Simile: A figure of speech explicitly comparing two distinct things using connecting words such as "like" or "as."

Visual Experience and Compositional Strength:
- Artworks are primarily experienced visually.
- Learning basic design elements enhances visual impact.
- Composition is a part of the creative equation.
Emergence of Conceptual Invention:
- Visual communication has made artistic ideas complex.
- Conceptual invention is equally important as compositional strength.
- Fresh ideas lead to novel visual imagery.
- Combining original concepts with compelling compositions expands expression.
Four Basic Steps of the Creative Process:
1. Determine project requirements.
2. Identify similar existing designs.
3. Analyze differences between existing and required designs.
4. Formulate methods to transform existing designs.
Design Process vs. Fine Art Process:
- Design Process: Generates utilitarian objects; initiated by a client’s needs.
- Fine Art Process: Invents aesthetic problems from personal experiences; operates independently.
Case Study: The Eames Chair Development:
- Charles Eames was trained as an architect; Ray Eames as a painter.
- Their breakthrough in furniture design came from a 1940 MoMA competition.
- Analysis of existing chair typologies led to the first plywood chair design.
- Technological mastery in WWII aided their design innovation.
- Mass production of designs featured innovative materials and comfort.
Sources of Creative Inspiration:
- Transforming common objects can inspire design.
- Observing nature contributes to artistic ideas.
- Museum research provides non-traditional frameworks.
- Personal experiences and memories can drive creativity.
Characteristics of a Good Design Problem:
- Significant, socially responsible, comprehensible, allows experimentation, ambitious yet achievable, and authentic.
Problem-Solving Strategies:
- Convergent Thinking: Goal-driven, linear approach; suited for strict deadlines.
- Divergent Thinking: Open-ended inquiry; suitable for ambiguous problems.
Brainstorming Methodologies: Includes list-making, thesaurus use, visual mapping, and exploration of connections.
Research Techniques for Visual and Conceptual Planning: Utilize library, digital resources, thumbnail sketches, and prototypes for planning.
Strategies for Conceptual Expansion: Variations on themes, metaphorical thinking, and interdisciplinary approaches foster creative growth.

List-Making Technique:
- Generate exhaustive written inventories without immediate self-censorship.
- Analytical Grid Strategy (e.g., Target Emotion: Anger):
- Annoyance: Cause = Wrong-number call at $5 \text{ A.M.}$ ; Effect = Slammed down phone.
- Smoldering Rage: Cause = Friend receives an award you desired; Effect = Verbal argument with friend.
- Desperate Anger: Cause = Fired from employment; Effect = Shouted at child.
- Anger at Self: Cause = Poor test performance; Effect = Intensive studying.
Thesaurus Utilization:
- Consult conceptual thesauruses (e.g., The Concise Roget's International Thesaurus) categorized by broad ideas such as "Feelings."
- Expands vocabulary networks (e.g., exploring Resentment and Anger through terms like wrath, ire, indignation, heat, dudgeon, fit of anger, tantrum, outburst, explosion, storm, scene, passion, fury, burn, vehemence, violence, vent one's anger, seethe, simmer, sizzle).
Visual Mapping:
- Construct visual word diagrams branching outward from a central concept to diagram thought connections.
Exploration of Connections (Keith Smith Method):
- Detailed in *Structure of the Visual Book*; advocates total immersion in a subject to enable intuitive visual execution. - **Bicycle Conceptual Deconstruction Example**: - **Profile Analysis**: Contrast significant profiles (side view) with minimal profiles (top-down, front, or back at eye-level), where the vehicle collapses visually into a thin vertical line with horizontal projections (pedals, seat, handlebars). - **Structural Forces**: Analyze the suspension of wheels, rims, riders, and frames floating in space, held together purely by tensioned thin spokes. - **Linear Journeys**: Observe tread patterns left on wet pavement from puddles, interpreting them metaphorically as themes of friendship, connection, and isolation. - **Geometric Shifts**: Conceptualize cycles, full moons, and rotating circular tires transitioning into spatial ellipses and ultimate straight lines: "A circle is a line. A circle is a straight line."
- Detailed in Structure of the Visual Book; advocates total immersion in a subject to enable intuitive visual execution.
- Bicycle Conceptual Deconstruction Example:
- Profile Analysis: Contrast significant profiles (side view) with minimal profiles (top-down, front, or back at eye-level), where the vehicle collapses visually into a thin vertical line with horizontal projections (pedals, seat, handlebars).
- Structural Forces: Analyze the suspension of wheels, rims, riders, and frames floating in space, held together purely by tensioned thin spokes.
- Linear Journeys: Observe tread patterns left on wet pavement from puddles, interpreting them metaphorically as themes of friendship, connection, and isolation.
- Geometric Shifts: Conceptualize cycles, full moons, and rotating circular tires transitioning into spatial ellipses and ultimate straight lines: "A circle is a line. A circle is a straight line."