Lecture 10 | The Innovative

What have you learnt in semester (in theories) that has changed your perspective?

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What have you learnt in semester (in theories) that has changed your perspective? This is the last question in last day of this class. I was wondering what I have learnt in this class that has changed my perspective when I saw this question. Actually, I am still confusing even until now. I just found that what has changed my perspective is ALL lessons that I have learnt in this class because every is in the details. It is because every sentence or even a word can be an inspiration to change our view and mind. There will be effect and change our perspective gradually.

However, I can say that the things that most surprising me and makes me learnt is designing with senses.

Designing with senses

I think many people know about 5 senses, but with basically knowledge on it, just like me. After the lesson of learning this, it really has changed my perspective. We know that our perceptions of the world are built on multiple senses. They interact to help us make sense of our surroundings, but the way how we use to represent it is superficiality. For instance, every space has aural sense through air element or the vision even through the imagination. Sound sense can be created by the foot steps, the friction between two objects such as chairs and the floor. And the sound of water from the pool. Ear is more closer than eye. People can hear the sound through hearing or viewing and then imagine in the brain. This is what I did not know before the lessons.

Is Multi-Sensorial Design A New Approach?

Everything can be designing with senses, not just architecture. The concept of multi-sensory design has existed for more than a decade. But what I address the idea of multi-sensory design as it applies to brands. I believe that applying multi-sensory design to all the touch points (moments of contact with a user) allows a product or service to produce a more complete, and ultimately better brand experience.

But how? Does it mean creating something that looks, sounds, smells, feels—possibly even tastes—good? Does it mean offering a message that appeals to all our senses at once? I don’t think so. We often think of our senses as taking leading and supporting roles in particular situations. For instance when listening to someone speaking we might think our hearing is "in charge", but this is not true.

Our brain takes in all sensory input simultaneously, and I believe what’s called for in brand design is the orchestration of all the senses to provide one single message about the brand values.

Communicating One Message

For people not interested in a car’s power, the noise the engine makes is just that: a noise. However, for those looking for power, it’s not a noise but a sound, and one with a specific name: the "exhaust note." Some performance cars even have glass bonnets, to help visualize the power of the engine. Here the car industry excels at using the senses of sound and vision to communicate a message of "power" and is a good example of multi-sensory design.

And, this is the same principle to use on architecture design. Of course, it depends on the design intention and concept that wants to show.

This lesson has really changed my perspective and makes me learnt a lot. Thus, I am trying to apply and fix it to my current design.