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Applying Product Semantics to Benchmark Physical Properties of Product Characters Through Design Teaching: Strategies for Shape Coding

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Research into Design for Communities, Volume 2 (ICoRD 2017)

Part of the book series: Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies ((SIST,volume 66))

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Abstract

The novelty of this study was to throw light on physical properties or intrinsic features which influence the communication of a product character and the teaching the skill of manipulating such properties to product design students. The paper benchmarks successful strategies for shape coding: playful, simple, and modern characters. These characters were selected because existing literature has claimed them as appearance attributes (product characters) universally recognized by ordinary users (non-professional designers) and expert users alike, resulting in their higher success rate for meaning communication. Although existing literature has explored relationships between product characters and physical properties using statistical and mathematical tools, this research attempts to establish that relationship from a more practical and hands-on approach by having Designers in training (students) develop design strategies through product forms. Professional designers and theoretical academicians regard product semantics in fundamentally different ways, where, designers tend to depend more on intuition and experience seldom using qualitative tools when dealing with meaning communication through form giving. The teaching discussed here contributes to bridge this gap by introducing a design process to students (designers in training) based on language structures while shaping intrinsic features of a product form.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge Divya Dave for collaborated in planning and teaching the workshop in the National Institute of Design (NID), India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Madeira (UMa), Madeira, Portugal

    Shujoy Chakraborty

  2. National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, India

    Shujoy Chakraborty

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  1. Shujoy Chakraborty
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Correspondence to Shujoy Chakraborty .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Product Design and Manufacturing, Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, Bangalore, India

    Amaresh Chakrabarti

  2. Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India

    Debkumar Chakrabarti

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Chakraborty, S. (2017). Applying Product Semantics to Benchmark Physical Properties of Product Characters Through Design Teaching: Strategies for Shape Coding. In: Chakrabarti, A., Chakrabarti, D. (eds) Research into Design for Communities, Volume 2. ICoRD 2017. Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol 66. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3521-0_73

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3521-0_73

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-3520-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-3521-0

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