Design and Developing Countries
Kati Reijonen2003, Design Philosophy Papers
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Abstract
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The paper addresses the complexities and challenges of integrating design concepts within developing countries, particularly through the lens of handicraft development. It questions the applicability of Western design philosophy in contexts where the term 'design' is largely foreign and examines the ways in which traditional artisans relate to design in their cultural framework. By drawing on personal experiences and specific examples from the South Pacific, the author argues for a more nuanced approach to design that respects and incorporates local practices and values.
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Crafting the design: Connecting the changing societies through local designs that impact on global markets
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This paper explores the nature and practice of art and craft ideals as practised by local communities, study their socio-culturaland economic contexts, and explore their potentialities for application in contemporary design. The decorative arts in Africa has been explored extensively and applied in variegated ways in the contemporary design and consumer world, the success of which would have benefitted from a deeper and truer interpretation of local contexts. The Botswana arts and crafts scene has been largely unexplored and as such their inspirational potentialities in design remainuntapped and at best a curious passing reference. Two iconic art and craft references in particular have been identified as typical to Botswana, and these are used and practiced by different communities, especially women, across the country. The references studied are the Lekgapho design as found on the traditional houses and mural decorations and the basketry art deco. The arts and crafts references are...
Infusing Design In The Jua Kali (Informal Sector) Production Processes
IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2017
Since its inception in the mid-1970s and early 1980s, the Jua Kali (informal sector) has been popular to the consumers because of its affordable articles and proximity to residential areas. This paper looks at the amalgamation of design and production to offer solutions to problems artisans face in trying to meet consumer satisfaction. Materials, comfort, cost of articles, labour issues and skills, proprietors and apprentices terms of employment and how they can be interpreted to synthesis a brief to the satisfaction of the client were considered. It applied a case study model while applying a survey method for data collection. The sample size was 300 workshops in Gikomba market, Nairobi City of which 188 workshops were engaged in wood production while the rest of 112 workshops were engaged in metal production. The study found out that this informal sector grapples with the problem of quality, funding and the ability to purchase materials and adequate labour. The study established the sector has minimal or no specialisation in labour. However, it identifies one advantage that their products are affordable to most low income earners due to economies of scale in their production and proximity. It thus recommends that the informal sector considers acquiring requisite design skills, standardisation, quality control, ergonomics and aesthetics in production.
"An overview of the issues facing the craft industry and the potential for design, with a case study in Upper Northern Thailand". In: Design Research Society (DRS) Conference 2012, Bangkok, Thailand
This paper presents initial findings from an ongoing research project that explores opportunities for design to contribute to a sustainable future for the craft industry. The research asks "Are there potential areas for design to make a positive contribution to the craft industry in upper northern Thailand to help ensure its viable future, and if so, in what areas can design best contribute?" The research consists of three main components: (i) background research into crafts; (ii) identification of a specific study site; (iii) investigation of craft practices, products and issues of concern in the context of the study site. Background research includes: persistence of crafts in a period of Mass Production; principles of craft today; genres of crafts; relationship of crafts with tradition and design. The upper northern region of Thailand is identified as a major craft production area, with historical, cultural and socio-economic significance. Craft in this region are classified and the challenges for design and design management are identified. It is found that there is a need to integrate: (i) 'designers' and 'craft-makers' in practice; and (ii) traditions in commercial craft-product design.
Decolonizing design in Africa: A conversation with Francois-X. N.I. Nsenga, Indigenous designer
Research for Designers: A Guide to Methods and Practice, 2nd Edition, 2022
As designers, we design for others. We often design for people from cultures and societies other than our own. Yet, when left to our own devices, we tend to design in ways that best resonate with our culture and our own past experiences. In such cases, our implicit biases often work against us, and that means that they work against the people we are designing for. When we design for communities that we do not understand properly, we are not helping them. We are imposing ourselves upon them. We alter and dominate their lives in ways that we shouldn’t. More than 50 years ago, a small group of design educators tried to change this way of working on Africa. While their pioneering effort did not succeed at the time, their approach to teaching design resonates today with powerful effect. This is the story of how ethnographic research became a tool for decolonizing design in Africa. It is also the story of François-X. N.I. Nsenga, an indigenous designer from Rwanda.
Exploring social design in a development context : the case of a handcraft pottery community in Cambodia
2018
This thesis argues for an alternative methodology in social design to counter existing approaches to development work. It is based on a field study conducted in a handcraft pottery community in Cambodia over twenty months. From a cross-disciplinary perspective that combines design culture, development studies and sociology, the thesis Table of contents List of diagrams………………………………………..……………………………8 List of figures………………………………………..………………………………9 List of tables………………………………………..………………………………12 List of boxes………………………………………..……………………………… 13 List of maps………………………………………………………………………..
Design and poverty: a review of contexts, roles of poor people, and methods
Research in Engineering Design, 2018
Design is essential to fulfil unmet or under-served needs of resource-poor societies, supporting their social and human development. A great deal of design research has been undertaken in such low resource settings, and is discussed under different names, such as 'community development engineering', 'humanitarian engineering', 'appropriate technology', 'design for development', 'design at the Base of the Pyramid', etc. This has created an important need to know what has been examined and learnt so far and to plan for further investigation. To address this, we review a broad range of literature, with close examination of 30 design studies in this field. This reveals a multifaceted picture, showing a great diversity in investigation and reporting of attributes of context (income, rural and urban, design sectors, countries, and gender), the roles of poor people (consumers, producers, and co-designers), characteristics of research methods employed (e.g. descriptive and prescriptive, data collection methods, qualitative and quantitative aspects, and unit of analysis), and design topics. Based on the review results, we offer recommendations for further research, identifying concerns that researchers ought to have about this field and suggesting ways in which research in this field can be undertaken and reported. Keywords Poverty • Design process • Design research • Developing countries • Frugal innovations 1 Introduction Forty percent of the world population subsists on less than 2 dollars a day, and twenty percent on less than 1.25 dollars per day, living in extreme poverty (World Bank 2010). Although poverty is decreasing, it is still a widespread and tenacious problem with causes, effects and potential solutions at individual, institutional, and structural levels. Whilst Mahatma Gandhi called the problems faced by these resource-poor people as 'the worst form of violence', Amartya Sen defines them as lack of freedom and inability to make life choices (Sen 2001). Others again define them in terms of high mortality rates, ill-health or as a monetary issue (e.g. Jönsson et al. 2012). These marginalised people generally cannot change their living conditions and livelihood opportunities, as their access to financial and other resources is weak, with pressing need for immediate consumption (Karelis 2007, Jerneck 2014). They often face significant challenges to satisfy basic needs, such as food, shelter, and clothing, and lack access to basic facilities, such as public health (Maxted 2011; Zurovcik et al. 2011), education (e.g. Gordon 1997; Gustavsson 2007), safe drinking water (Baumgartner et al. 2007; Matlack et al. 2011), sanitation (e.g. Chaplin 1999; Burra et al. 2003; Lopes et al. 2012), infrastructure (Prahalad 2004), and security (Jerneck 2014). Design is imperative to satisfy unmet or under-served needs of marginalised people living in resource-limited societies (Papanek and Fuller 1972). Appropriately designed products have the potential to create significant impact, contributing towards social and human development of disadvantaged societies (e.g. Schumacher 1973). Such products include, among others, smokeless cookstoves, incomegenerating products, medical devices, educational devices, communication products or any other products that support development of resource-poor individuals or enhance their capabilities (e.g. Jerneck and Olsson 2013; Aranda Jan et al. 2014). Such design is undertaken, for instance, by
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE INDIGENOUS CRAFT PRACTICES AND THE DESIGN THINKING PROCESS
Dogo Rangsang Research Journal : ISSN 2347-7180 with IF=5.127 Vol. 13, Issue. 5, No. 3, May : 2023 UGC Care Approved, Group I, Peer Reviewed, Bilingual and Referred Journal, 2023
This abstract addresses the comparison of Indian traditional craft techniques with the design thinking process. Traditional crafts and design thinking both involve problem-solving, creativity, and innovation. The two methodologies simultaneously depend heavily on empathy, ideation, prototyping, and testing. However, traditional crafts frequently use an intuitive and organic approach to design and production, whereas design thinking is a more structured and established process. The study concludes that both methodologies can support one another in preserving and promoting traditional crafts while also enhancing their viability and profitability. The comparative research sheds light on how design thinking might be applied to support and preserve traditional craft techniques while also catering to the demands of contemporary consumers. Design thinking and craft practice can innovate while retaining old skills and procedures to produce goods and services that are both innovative and sustainable.
Design and Craftsmanship: The Brazilian Experience
Design Issues, 2013
Artesanías vs Design: Unveiling Design Hegemonies over Traditional Crafts in Chile
Proceedings of the DHS Annual Conference 2021 "Memory Full? Reimagining The Relations Between Design And History", 2022
This contribution critically follows design as a component for economic and cultural production interwoven with craftsmanship in Chile, putting in tension the promotion of modern design in 'artesanías' as a tool for development that has been encouraged in the country and the region via discourses of modernity, growth and progress. From these perspectives, and following UNESCO's vision of human development, diverse Chilean institutions have considered the design discipline to innovate among the cultural industries, mainly in crafts, since design suppose to assist, improve and stimulate the consumption of artisanal production. However, the interactions between designers and artisans remain controversial since the latter has firmly rejected their need for professional design in recent encounters. Against this background, this contribution traces frictions in discourses and different design interventions over crafts deployed in Chile after the 1990s, mainly through the analysis of press clips from the Programa de Artesanía UC archive. At the same time, and based on an ethnographic approach, it examines the extent of the modern design interventions in the village of Pomaire, a relevant community of pottery makers in the country that has been associated with artisanal tradition and with national identity. From this case study and based on the perception of the artisans about design interventions, this paper addresses two hegemonic paths through which modern design operates in artisanal production, assessing how, through the use of historic, aesthetics and manufacturing aspects, design for crafts can be related to an 'economy of enrichment' that turns cultural production into commodities.
When the Butter Got Done: The Resilience of Indigenous Design Processes During Dictatorial Regime in Uganda Between 1971-1978 and Their Continued Use in Kiruhura District in S.W. Uganda
Although African continent and Uganda in particular experienced the influence of the western economies which came with exploration, missionary work, and colonialism, and which put the indigenous design creativity to sleep, communities have continued to show resilience in utilizing indigenous design processes whenever there is a shift in the cosmetic African-West relationship. This paper describes and assesses how indigenous processes become fundamental and sustained a fragile economy of Uganda after the military takeover of government by Idi Amin in 1971. It looks at how Ugandan artisans employed their long forgotten skills in designing processes that allowed communities to function. For example artisans made spare parts for the abandoned factories, made soap, and processed salt for consumption. The paper takes a pro-vocal approach and traces how this worked, how it is still working even when the country is presumably peaceful with the majority of the population engaged in agriculture production. The author carried out an ethnographic study on 90 participants in Kiruhura district in S.W. Uganda to establish how families integrate indigenous design processes in their daily activities. The author investigated why families continue to use indigenous material cultural items such as carvings, pottery, baskets, and iron work yet government policy emphases commercial agriculture. Results indicate that most families still use indigenous design processes in agriculture, housing, and treatment because of the superficial and unstructured ability by most families to use western made technologies, and that many of them do not have the necessary resources to acquire the modern technology. Results further indicate that families have a special attachment to indigenous materials which gives them an identity and ownership and that some items work better than the Western designed products. The paper concludes that those indigenous design processes are fundamentally good opportunities for entrepreneur actions that could be viable household enterprises. In addition to improving household incomes, the author theorize that re-engaging indigenous design processes, may facilitate ownership, resilience, and creativity of indigenous African creativity and design processes that could lead to sustainable development.
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Social Design as a Creative Device in Developing Countries:
The Case of a Handcraft Pottery Community in Cambodia
International Journal of Design, 2016
This article presents social design as an alternative to designerly approaches in developing countries, based on a field study conducted to improve the ceramic production and trade of a handcraft community in Cambodia. The study points out that existing interventions tend to impose modernist approaches with technological fixes and have attitudes which reflect cultural imperialism, often resulting in weak continuity and the production of inequalities. Instead, the study demonstrates the ways in which social design practice can respond to the challenges of complex social problems, and to the discontinuity and cultural barriers that are often faced in the development context. Based on Latour’s notion of the social (2005), social design and social designers might be used to reconfigure and create better social-cultural- technical relations, thereby constructing sustainable social infrastructures grounded in local participation and indigenous knowledge. The fieldwork reported in this paper illustrates the narrative process of a participatory action research based Social Design Workshop, which highlights the significance of the problematisation process that revealed kilns as troubling actors, and devised inventive approaches for capacity building. The research suggests that successful social design practices are based on the notion of situatedness and the agency of designers as catalysts, which results in the creation of mutual relationships between the people, the community, the sociocultural context, technology, and artefacts, which together encourage sustainable development.
An Overview of the Issues facing the Craft Industry and the Potential for Design, with a Case Study in Upper Northern Thailand
2012
This paper presents initial findings from an ongoing research project that explores opportunities for design to contribute to a sustainable future for the craft industry. The research asks “Are there potential areas for design to make a positive contribution to the craft industry in upper northern Thailand to help ensure its viable future, and if so, in what areas can design best contribute?” The research consists of three main components: (i) background research into crafts; (ii) identification of a specific study site; (iii) investigation of craft practices, products and issues of concern in the context of the study site. Background research includes: persistence of crafts in a period of Mass Production; principles of craft today; genres of crafts; relationship of crafts with tradition and design. The upper northern region of Thailand is identified as a major craft production area, with historical, cultural and socio-economic significance. Craft in this region are classified and t...
Design Education for Local Development
Development projects in the 60s and 70s focused on supporting industry as a driver of development and a focus on design was part of this effort. In 1977, UNIDO and the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) signed the Ahmedabad Declaration on Industrial Design for Development. The Plan of Action promoted design competencies as an important element in socio-economic development while emphasizing the role of design in preserving and promoting local cultural traditions. UNIDO and also UNESCO supported the Ahmedabad Declaration by commissioning research and chairing meetings that brought together a wide range of professionals to seek design-based solutions to practical challenges related to e.g. the establishment of rural health centers or schools. These activities also stimulated more academic discussions of cross-cultural design practices with contributions from people like Victor Papanek (Design for the Real World), Gui Bonsiepe, A. Charterjee, ('Design in Developing Countries'), A. G. Rao, and S. M. Idris( 'A framework for design policies in Third World development' ). In the last decades, however, this dialogue has had a much smaller impact on what is actually happening in development programmes and design education in many countries of the world. The cross-cultural design debate today tends to focus on high-profile projects and mainstream developments. Hence it is clear that while advanced economies have been exploiting design as an asset for their economic advantage, developing countries mostly have disregarded design as a tool for economic and social development (see Raulik, Cawood, and Larsen, Design Journal, Vol. 11/2, 2008, pp. 119-135). The 2013 Papanek Symposium: Emerging and Alternative Economies of Design which discussed the explosive growth of design and innovation initiatives in China and social dimensions of design and design policies in emerging economies with speakers such as Sulfikar Amir(Singapore), Vinay Venkatraman (Denmark), and Xu Ping (Shanghai) is a refreshing exception to this trend. In recent years, issues of design have also increasingly featured as an aspect of cultural diversity and sustainability agendas. The specific conditions that led to the emergence of the modern concept and practices associated with the notion of design in industrialized societies have not existed in many of the countries and cultures we are considering in this article. Many poor areas in the world have in fact not experienced industrialization at all, but are now entering directly into a post-industrial economy requiring a very different way of doing things. While the fundamental, core elements of design exist in all human creation, the lack of the western concept and practice of design as a methodology is a logical consequence of this development. However, as emphasized in the Ahmedabad Declaration design competences provide a useful perspective for development of crafts-based industries that may help negotiating the gap between traditional practices and new technology and the market. In general, design practice and product design capabilities for local development appear under-researched in many countries. There is of course a language issue involved due to our limitations vis-a-vis local languages (which may be one reason that India has taken a prominent role in alternative approaches to design). The best source of information is therefore often case stories and UN reports rather than pure academic research. In the western part of the world, rather than a quality attached to material objects the concept of design is increasingly perceived as a central means of how we organize the world and imbue it with (cultural) meaning. In this article we are interested in what concept of design is implied in typical design training activities in different cultural context (Morocco, India, Thailand, Mexico, and Singapore). Drawing on research and project experience from many countries, the article outlines approaches and efforts to establish design competence with a particular view to the fostering of sustainable economic and cultural development in local communities. These observations may stimulate an awareness of the important impact of notions of design in terms of innovation and cultural diversity and may even give rise to more research into these issues.
Anthropology Of, For, and With Design: A Philippine Perspective
AghamTao vol. 23 , 2014
The intersection of the fields of design and anthropology emerges as fertile ground for study as societies increasingly acknowledge the tremendous impact the objects we create for ourselves have on our lives. As anthropologists and ethnographers involved in running our own design research company in the Philippines, negotiating the alignments and contradictions between the two fields of knowledge is an essential component of our everyday research practice. This paper outlines different models of the relationships between design and anthropology as systems of knowledge and practice. We first extend a theoretical framework that distinguishes between anthropology of, anthropology for, and anthropology with design (Gunn and Donovan 2013): we maintain that anthropology with design underlies an approach increasingly used in commercial industries known as "design thinking", and describe the different ways by which knowledge is generated and mobilized in each of these relationships; we further describe how the artifacts of design can be seen to either materialize, shape, or probe culturally-mediated meanings, power relations, and values. We illustrate these concepts through client-commissioned projects that our organization has conducted in the Philippines. We next examine how and when these design-anthropology relationships are realized when working with clients. While anthropology with design will likely create better outcomes for our clients, larger clients must often settle for anthropology for design; we describe how we have negotiated these tensions and present our outcomes from our engagement with them. We end with a call for the development of local prism through which practitioners in the field of design can further engage in critical reflection of the production of artifacts, particular those created with the intent of addressing social concerns. Specifically, we call for more localized conceptual frameworks of design that can be patterned (for instance) on India's notion of jugaad, and advance an increased engagement for anthropology with design across various sectors of Philippine society. Keywords: design anthropology, design ethnography, business anthropology
© (2012) Rodriguez-Martinez, Jorge; and Ferruzca, Marco. “Design, a creative economic activity that contributes with better products and services to human development”, The 7th Forum of the World Association for Political Economy (WAPE). .
Abstract Human development is a basic aspiration for any person and has different dimensions: social development; economic development; educational development; cultural development; health development; and sustainable development, to name but a few. To fulfill and satisfy individual or group needs there are different options, this paper will highlight the important role design may play. Design is a basic human activity that contributes to the material culture through the creation of spaces, products and visual images that aim not only to satisfy needs but also to improve the quality of life and human development. A person, such as a designer, has a positive perspective that the world may be improved; has the unique capability to create concepts and shape ideas, from a simple hand tool to state of the art environments (Papanek, 1984; Heskett, 2002). Design is a creative industry that has its origin in the individual and collective creativity and ability, has the potential to generate products and services which are susceptible to be protected by intellectual property law (Piedras, 2010). It is a complex economic and strategic activity that creates jobs, integrates different disciplines and interests, “humanizes technology”, gives value added to products and services by differentiating them, and making them safer, easier to use and more attractive to the consumer.
Navigating Design History with a More Culturally Calibrated Compass
Journal of New Zealand Art, Media and Design History, Backstory , 2017
It seems remiss that while New Zealand’s design prowess continues to impress globally, that the indigenous and cultural knowledge that has for centuries inspired and informed aesthetic languages worldwide has not been recognized for its contribution. Forgotten, or perhaps conveniently ignored, is the praise of both the New Zealand Māori and Pacific people’s use of nature’s harmonies to achieve beauty in aesthetics made in 1852 by education and aesthetic reformist, Owen Jones (1809 -1874) in his seminal and determinative work, The Grammar of Ornament. In order to reinstate Jones’ claim, this paper asserts it is critical that we revisit design’s history from a less Eurocentric perspective. This offers an opportunity to debunk the counter-claim that indigeneity was counter-productive to the development of modernity. By recalibrating design’s history with a more accurate and culturally orientated compass, the contributions made by indigenous knowledge to the endeavours of some of design history’s most iconic contributors becomes tangible. Having made these connections, this study will introduce Māori and Pasifika ideologies of time, space and connectivity to demonstrate a pathway forward in which this knowledge can be understood, acknowledged, respected and most importantly appropriately included within design’s histories, current practices and future endeavours.
Sustainable Design Approaches for Handicraft Community Development in Machakos County
2018
This paper highlights the important role played by design in shaping the new African continent economically, socially and environmentally. This role is highly linked to the rich interaction between religion, art and culture in Africa. Africa thrives well through networks formed by different cultures, customs, history and people spirit of working together. It is in such setups that handicrafts communities thrives well, however, Africa has been left behind in the sustainability of the practice key to rural development. This paper is aimed at exploring ways in which design can play a key role in the process of developing sustainable handicraft communities from inception to full implementation. It also explores the barriers for the uptake of community development initiatives in the design profession in Africa. Qualitative analysis and case studies are the major research strategies used. Wamunyu area will be used as the case study of a handicraft community existing in Machakos County. Da...
Er, Alpay (1997) Development patterns of industrial design in the Third World: a conceptual model for newly industrialized countries
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DesignBuild in Postcolonial Contexts. A Critical Interrogation
DesignBuild in Postcolonial Contexts. A Critical Interrogation, 2024
In the publication, nine authors approach the DesignBuild learning method from a postcolonial perspective. By analyzing specific examples, this practice-oriented approach is critically examined. Special attention is given to the international engagement of European and US students who apply their newly acquired knowledge in foreign cultures. The publication examines their methodological approaches, planned collaborations, and individual experience and design processes through various projects. Furthermore, initiatives from students in Latin America, Asia, and Africa are analyzed and documented, who use the DesignBuild method as an experimental field to address, among other things, colonial norms. The authors problematize the challenges in architectural education and explain the new goals pursued with the action-oriented practice, as well as the necessary steps to achieve them. A particular focus is placed on the participatory strategies and their effectiveness – arguably the most complex part of the learning method. The individual contributions consider not only the perspectives of the students but also those of the community, the educators, and the supporters, highlighting the problems, challenges, and opportunities that all participants ultimately face.
Gunn, W and Donovan J. 2016 (2012). Design Anthropology: Building Relations Between Designing and Using. In Gunn, W and Donovan, J. (Eds), Design and Anthropology. Anthropological Studies of Creativity and Perception, vol. 5. London: Routledge, pp. 1-16.
Where and when can anthropology inform practices of design? and Where and when can design inform practices of anthropology? Both disciplines have distinct identities. Each discipline has its own methods and methodologies. Nevertheless practitioners from within these disciplines continue to realize the benefits of learning with each other. This however does not imply distinctions between the disciplines should be made equivocal. Rather in-the-acts of coming together could suggest different ways of building relations between designing and using. Within a collaborative process of designing what do anthropologists engaged in doing design anthropology bring to the table? And within a collaborative process of designing what do designers engaged in doing design anthropology bring to the table? Addressing questions of where and when things could have been different, anthropologists bring: theoretical concepts based upon grounded ethnographic inquiry; understandings of practices of designing and using; ways of involving theory as a form of practice and juxtaposition of different scales and timelines. Designers bring: critical and material practices of engagement and future making. Both disciplines conduct research investigations of, with and for design. Our aim in the volume is indeed to contribute towards the emerging field of Design Anthropology. Individual chapters address central questions or open lines of inquiry concerning the relations (and how they may be built) between using and producing, designing and using, people and things. The three-section volume is the result of a series of prior collaborations including research seminars held at the Sønderborg Participatory Innovation Research Centre (SPIRE)1 at the University of Southern Denmark between 2007 and 2010, the programme on Designing Environments for Life held at Scottish Universities Insight Institute 2, in autumn 2009, and the international PhD course on Design Anthropology3 held at the Universities of Aberdeen and University of Southern Denmark in March and May 2010. The section leads (Ingold, Redström, Verbeek) with backgrounds respectively in anthropology, design and philosophy of technology, have been asked to frame each section by posing fundamental questions to which the contributors will respond. Contributors come from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, and we regard this as a positive feature of the book. We also believe that it is important that research issues presented should be addressed through the findings of substantive research, rather than purely in the abstract.
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