Workshop

Conversational dimensions: 
The systems mindset and how to interact with complexity

The power of design lies in the relationships that it visualises, manifests and continuously co-creates. Design always lives in the dimensions of what it is used as and for. But how often do we explicitly name or explore those dimensions? In this 2-day workshop, we will explore tools and techniques for revealing alternative perspectives and facilitating expansive conversations.

Workshop outline

Designers already know how to interact with complexity, but many feel constricted by the narrow boundaries of their professional contexts. In this workshop we will practice looking for patterns and insights across different contexts and timeframes. We will explore how designers can hold a transdisciplinary lens to their observations and apply those patterns forward into the future. Looking beyond terms like systems change and design solutions, we will explore techniques that use our intuitive relational intelligence to interact with living systems.

We will look at the concerns being raised by prominent designers about the misuse of design in our current extractive economies. Weaving with these voices, we will explore how your own experiences align or differ from these perspectives. Using theories, visuals and examples we will also explore how dimensional frames can be applied to design problems (for example, structural, metaphysical, temporal, spatial, embodied, rational).

Framework

Shifting from strategic design by post-it note to strategic design by dimensional analysis, we will look at interesting ways of opening a problem to new perspectives. As a designer you already know that there are infinite unseen connections, but how do you go about visualising and rationalising them to a point where you can work with them? Before you think about mapping a system, we will look at ways of creating a robust canvas to work with. 

Application to your context

Either using one of your own design cases, or taking a real life design challenge from Dark Matter Labs, we will work with the dimensional frameworks to look for new angles and leverage points. You will develop an imaginative format for walking a client through this process and framing your proposed approach. 

For whom is this workshop? 

This workshop is suitable for designers at any stage of their career. It is aimed at designers who are frustrated by narrow contextual boundaries and would like to weave the complexity of living systems into the fabric of their work. 

The conversational hosts

The workshop will be hosted by Martin Lorenz and Emily Harris but will draw on the wide experience of the Dark Matter Lab Ecosystem. 

Martin Lorenz, PhD is the Conversational Design Lead at Dark Matter Labs. He holds a B.A. in Graphic and Typographic Design from the Royal Academy of Arts (KABK) in The Hague, Netherlands and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Design Research from the University of Barcelona, Spain. He is the co-founder of TwoPoints.Net, FlexibleVisualSystems.info and Coding Systems. Martin has taught Design since 2003 at over a dozen design schools around the world. His book Flexible Visual Systems has been published in English (5th edition), Spanish (2nd edition) and Japanese (1st edition). 

Emily Harris, FCA is the Next Economics Lab Lead at Dark Matter Labs. She is a Chartered Accountant and a Fellow of the ICAEW. She also holds an MA in Regenerative Economics (Distinction) from Schumacher College and a BSc in Medical Sciences from Imperial College. Completing her training with Deloitte in London, she was a manager in their Big Ticket Restructuring Team during the 2008 global financial crisis, before moving on to hold international CFO positions.

Practicalities: 

When:
June (Exact dates to be defined once we reach 15 participants.)

Format:
The workshops will be held online with no specialist equipment required. 

Cost:
200€ (We have set the costs of the workshop at a very low price to make it accessible. We invite additional contributions if you would like to support the continuation of the LED initiative.)

Register:
To register your interest please send us an email to emily@darkmatterlabs.org and martin@darkmatterlabs.org