Dear All,
My approach towards investigating the influence of cultural values on products may shed some lights on the subject matter. This approach has been explained within some of my publications. Below are links to my book and some of my papers on this topic:
http://www.amazon.com/Cultural-Values-Products-Mohammad-Razzaghi/dp/3844390618
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142694X08001075
http://www.sd.polyu.edu.hk/designedconference2008/programme.php
Culturally-inspired innovation: An approach to product differentiation in our today’s globalized world
http://connected2010.com.au/program.html
Industrial Design Curriculum: A Tabula Rasa For Users’ Cultural Needs
Proposing to teach cultural affordance to industrial design students
Regards,
Mohammad
_____________________________
D r M o h a m m a d R a z z a g h i
Program Director | Industrial Design
Department of Industrial Design
Faculty of Applied Arts | University of Art
Vali-e-Asr Ave., Tehran 1591634311 - IRAN
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+98(21) 6646-3193
Please always consider the environment
________________________________________
From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Don Norman [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 11:28 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Does Culture Matter for Product Design?
Recently, Jinan posted a query on this discussion list about the role
of design and culture. To be specific, he stated:
----
My name is Jinan from India and my research is around the impact of
design education in destroying cultural diversity. If any one is doing
some work i this area I would like to connect. This is a study of 20
long years working with rural/ tribal artisan communities, children
and design students etc. The study focuses on how a homogenized and
ontologically reversed design education impact the learner.
-----
I have long pondered the role of culture in product design. Jinan's
request triggered me to write up my thoughts, which I paste below.
Yes, this is a long essay because, after I get feedback from you, I
will revise and submit it as my column on the internet design
magazine, core77.com.
Although I disagree with Jinan's premises, I hope that this
disagreement can be viewed as a positive critique and difference in
approach and philosophy. That is, it is my intention that any
disagreements are informative and constructive. This is how we all
earn. I have long believed that I learn far more from people who
disagree with me than from people who agree.
What do I disagree with in his question? First, I disagree that the
lack of cultural differentiation in today's products have much to do
with design education. Second, I disagree that we are losing critical
cultural diversity. Third, probably because of serious deficiencies in
my education and self-acquired knowledge, I have no idea what the
phrase "ontologically reversed design education" could possibly mean.
And fourth I believe that what Jinan is really talking about is crafts
whereas what I talk about is mass-produced products.
Here is my essay. I welcome constructive criticism.
Don
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