Strategic Creativity
Strategic Creativity focussed on an exploration of the role of design and creativity in society and the economy in general, and in service innovation in particular. The Readership used the concept of ‘thinking through making’ as the core of its approach, with design and reflection working hand-in-hand.
The primary role of the Readership was in producing and describing a form of design research, which is key to the DNA of Design Academy Eindhoven.
The Readership was spearheaded by Dr Bas Raijmakers.
CRISP PARTNERSHIP
From 2011 until 2015, the Readership was a proud partner in CRISP, a Dutch national research programme in which Design Academy Eindhoven co-operated with the Technical Universities of Delft, Eindhoven and Twente, both Universities of Amsterdam and 60 companies and organisations in the creative industries or service delivery. Several of the Strategic Creativity Readership’s projects here were CRISP projects.
DESIGN EDUCATION
The Strategic Creativity readership was particularly concerned with the impact of design education on service innovation and how educational institutions could develop service design as a specific role. To this end, the Readership collaborated with a number of partners from academia, industry and government, as well as working closely with students within the Academy.
There was a clear connection between the research undertaken through the Readership and the development of education at Design Academy Eindhoven. An example of this was the Radical Ecologies Minor developed and run by the Readership from September 2018 to January 2019, which saw students working together in small groups to study complex systems in The Netherlands and India through design research.
THINKING THROUGH MAKING
In keeping with Design Academy Eindhoven’s overall conception of design research as a combination of both academia and skill-based design education, the programme’s central approach to learning was ‘thinking through making’.
Thinking is not only expressed through text but also through everything that is made. Thinking through making, therefore, is a process in which both making and thinking alternate back and forth rapidly, all the time. This helps to reinforce intuitive and insightful design, inform new concepts through trial and error, and opens up an opportunity to express knowledge through what is made.
Through this process, the programme aimed to further develop the field of design research itself, through exploring alternative methods of learning, both within the Academy and outside of it.
PROJECTS
The projects carried out under the Strategic Creativity Readerships sat within CRISP (Creative Industry Scientific Programme), a multi-partner initiative focussing on Product Service Systems (PSS). Product Service Systems are a type of business model that position function and accessibility above ownership. Design plays a crucial but increasingly difficult to define role within this model, with product design and service design combined in a single, connected, collaborative system. PSS require designers to think and work more broadly and strategically in response to large-scale societal challenges.
IMPLEMENTATION
The first half of the Readership was spent engaged in the CRISP Partnership, but the second was focussed on implementing the findings from this work. As well as looking at ways to shape education, the Readership team collaborated with designers and companies to find new ways of embedding design research into industry, society and science.
STRATEGIC CREATIVITY PEOPLE
The Strategic Creativity Readership team changed over time to accommodate different projects and requirements but consisted of between four and six people at any one time. The team was led by Bas Raijmakers and Danielle Arets.
Research associates joined on a project-by-project basis, usually for at least one year, often remaining involved in the Readership afterwards. Each research associate worked on their project alongside several partners from outside the Academy.
→ Dr. Bas Raijmakers
→ Danielle Arets