Digging deep is digging hard
MINED – the overall theme for the Graduation Show 2017 – is not simply a reference to this years’ treasure trove awaiting the visitors of Design Academy Eindhoven. It also indicates how individual designers build on intelligence and empathy, and dig deep into themselves and into every available resource to share their ideas with the world.
# Mine
1 A mine is an abundant source
You are your own source and most important instrument. You work from your own personal fascinations, roots, history, compassion, vulnerability, talents, engagement and your connectedness to the world, near and far.
2 That it is mine doesn’t mean that it can’t be yours
You express your unique voice by intuitive aesthetics. You use material, form, shape, colour, dimensions, image, text, structure and function to create meaning. You are able to make your ideas tangible through universal designs that mean something to others.
# Mind
1 Mastering the cool mind and the warm heart
In your work you connect ratio, empathy, intuition and craftsmanship to give form to a design process that is rooted in expertise and commitment. This way you reveal mastery.
2 Taking care of one’s surroundings far and near is a prerequisite
Your work tells a story that is testament to a balanced perspective; between yours and the other’s, the greater good and your objectives, the now and the world to come. You achieve this through connecting, researching, and designing from empathy, urgency and engagement.
# Mined
1 It takes time, patience and perseverance to dig up a treasure
You know how to mine; to research and experiment, to dig up fragments and raw materials. The physical craft of making encourages you to reflect, to link your inner self with the external world and to cherish doubt as a valuable catalyst in the design process. The process of making — the intensive interaction with the material — forces you to listen critically to your inner voice. The acts of mining and making influence your sense and conception of form, which is vital in all types of design, however intangible. Doubt and expectation encourage experimentation, trial and error, and nourish your intuition. In the end merging into a unique vision and concept.
2 Lingering in the meantime, studying the mined fragments, leads to a different perspective
You know not to jump to conclusions, not to fixate on a solution without really knowing and understanding the question. Design is not about solving problems. You rather look for alternatives, inspired by the raw materials you have found inside and outside yourself. You make more intensive use of the mined resources by connecting to others. It doesn’t bother you to abide in an in-between, it’s the place where poetry and humanity prosper. It’s the birthplace of creative strategies that in the end can lead to world changing alternatives. All for the better.