An experiment was conducted in Moscow Ziferblat aimed to show some basic design principles to adults involved in professions other than design.
We used the ideas argued in a famous manual conceived over 50 years starting in the 40s by Rowena Reed. The hypothesis is that composition principles can be understood without previous studies relying on an innate sense of order and space. Without worrying about Gestalt, Semiotics and Russian Suprematism we put our hands at work!
The first experience was dedicated to Line in Space. We created 6 lines out of the 11 described by Reed, using a metal wire for creating spatial compositions.
Participants created interesting objects experiencing infinite configurations using only a few principles. It allowed them to see reality and space with designers’ eyes and get an important aspect of creativity:
The endless possibility does not mean chaos, means discovering a personal modus operandi which is correct in the wide space of a few rules. There are endless possibilities but still, some configurations are correct some are not. - If Reed's theory works (and it does) means that the correct composition will be automatically visually pleassant.
As for the second experiment, we studied Planar Constructions.
Dominant, subdominant and subordinate shapes gave some hard times for the group, but with a bit of goodwill (from the facilitator : ) we came over difficulties.
We end up our 4 hours section with a team-building activity: The blind portrait.
Participants drew each other’s portraits without looking at the paper, only staring at each other’s eyes.
Guidelines used for the experiment.