Seminar and Design-Jam 2012: "Designing Human Interaction"

24 April at 2 pm - till late. Venue: In the Degree Show at Permanenten.

In connection to the MA-degree show Substans, we arrange a annual seminar that highlights the theme and thus lifting the projects and design into a greater context. The department of design invite participants, also from other professional areas, from all over the world. In this way design can be seen from a different social perspective, and together we search for tendencies through lectures and discussions.This reflection on the theme happens in the midst of the MA-student's exhibited projects at the museum.

The speakers
To give us new dimensions on "Designing Human Interaction" we welcome Hoon Kim from Why Not Smile, Vinay Venkatraman from Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, and Jenny Pfau from Cradle to Cradle EPEA.

Vinay Venkatraman
Vinay Venkatraman is partner at Copanhagen Institute of Interaction Design, a institution incorporating education, research and counseling. CIID aspires to be a hub blending design and technology, with a number of international collaborators. Vinay is a interaction designer, with a background from industrial design in India, and with experience from film, product design, software and now counseling at CIID. "The designer is a bridge between what technology can offer and what real humans need. We promote ourselves as people who humanize technology." Vinay on YouTube on "what design means" to him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7rc8zwzfls

Jenny Pfau
Jenny Pfau is from Cradle to Cradle EPEA. Cradle to Cradle is a method of production built on three principles that put human interaction into a global perspective: improved consumer quality for the user, not pose a health risk for anyone who comes into contact with the products, and be both economic and ecological beneficial. In this presentation we get to see examples of projects where these principles are being realized.  http://epea-hamburg.org/index.php?id=69 

Hoon Kim
Why Not Smile is "a independent graphic design workshop" founded by Hoon Kim. The New York-based studio works across various media; printed matter, branding, exhibition design, motion graphics, and websites. Through a real-time video presentation, Hoon Kim tells stories from a handful of Why Not Smile's projects and how these relate to interaction between humans. He says that interaction also can happen in the static, like printed media: "I see printed matter as a space to linger and interact. Sometimes I tell my clients that I 'build' design in books for readers to travel." Under "new media" on http://whynotsmile.com/ , you can explore the studio's playful and experimental approach to interaction in space.

The seminar is relieved by the design-jam, where regional- and local creatives come together to inspire each other. The jam gives us a taste of what's fresh, focusing on a dynamic and interesting design community in Bergen.