02 - DNA of a Project
“Having a strong concept statement allows you as a designer to have a backbone to come back to when your debating with the design team or the client, should it be this or should it be that. You will have an easier job finding your answer and navigating the rest of the design process through construction if the project has a clear concept statement.”
-Elizabeth
Overview
The DNA of a project. The CONCEPT.
My goal is to help you translate what you might have focused on in school and are now leaving to the wayside while you focus on design development, billable hours and project budgets.
We will look at:
· The importance of a strong concept
· How it is different than project goals or a design narrative
· How to write a strong concept statement
· How concept statements can be applied
SHOW SUMMARY
What is a concept statement
It is the backbone to a project. A strong concept statement allows a design team to subjectively develop the project by bringing together the project requirements, character, nature and personality of the brand and or user. Having a strong concept statement keeps the project subjective by making it about the context, the program and the client’s brand.
As Roberto Rengel states in Shaping Interior Space, “While some concepts consist of a single idea, most consist of a handful of ideas that together, constitute a single, or at least consistent, approach.” He recommends “thinking in terms of a series of ideas pointing to a dominant approach.”
A strong concept statement informs
The program
Relationships of spaces
Form of spaces
Materiality and light quality
The detailing and final execution
The difference between concept statement, project goals, and design narrative
1. A concept statement is a poetic inspirational statement that weaves together the program, the clients brand, the context and merges it with the principles and elements of design to create a vision for the project.
2. Project goals are usually developed before a concept is created to make sure all the programmatic concerns are addressed.
3. A design narrative is a day in the life of a building occupant. It is more descriptive than a concept statement. It is also one of the last elements you develop as the design is being flushed out. It allows one to understand what a user will see, hear, touch, smell and maybe even taste as the space is experienced.
How to write a powerful concept statement
1. No more than three sentences to start. Using What, Why and How
2. Take out filler words
3. Keep it abstract to allow options to evolve during the design process
4. The statement should evokes emotion, mood, spatial definition, design moves, materiality and detailing.
The What, Why and How Statement
The What of a concept statement is the identification of the design problem.
The Why of a concept statement is the re-frame and changes you wish to make on a project. This can pull from the project goals.
The How of a concept statement is the implementation with adjectives. Descriptions of how the team plans to address the what and the why.
In a concept statement it is important to keep it high level when you describe materiality or form in a space. Avoid getting into the weeds and stating brass accents or calling out a specific product. If there is a product that feels appropriate for the project and it is an inspiration to the team then study the object and list adjectives to describe the object.
Example
“The power to imagine leads to the ability to discover. Creative play and tangible learning stimulate the senses while encouraging individuality. Natural materials echo familiar surroundings while tranquil colors give a calm and peaceful atmosphere that allows for mental stimulation and imagination to run wild.”
- written by Maria Ritchie for a kindergarten school
Exercise. World Cafe
Ideally with a team write down on three separate sheets of paper. Try using:
o Project context
o Programmatic elements influencing the project
o Clients brand, user’s aesthetic and/or mood
Exercise
1. Mindmap on each theme for 15 min. Generating adjectives to describe each theme.
2. Rapidly write each adjective on a sticky note.
Keep the exercise generative and avoid trying to problem solve.
3. After 15min synthesize the sticky notes into categories.
4. Take the adjectives and find abstract imagery to support the word.
5. Create abstract models using random office supplies to describe each adjective with form/textures.
6. Once you have some solid imagery in your head for the direction of the concept. Write the adjectives into a concept statement.
“When we collaborate, creativity unfolds across people; the sparks fly faster and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Collaboration drives creativity because innovation always emerges from a series of sparks-never a single flash of insight”
-Keith Sawyer, Group Genius
Statement
Don’t forget the what, why and how in your statement.
The What of a concept statement is the identification of the design problem.
The Why of a concept statement is the reframe and changes you wish to make on a project. This can pull from the project goals.
The How of a concept statement is the implementation with adjectives. Descriptions of how the team plans to address the what and the why.
Don’t forget to use principles and elements of design to describe the how.
Principles of Design
Contrast, Balance, Emphasis, Movement, Proportion, Hierarchy, Repetition, Rhythm, Pattern, Unity, and Figure Ground.
Elements of Design
Line, Shape, Color, Value, Form, Texture, and Space
Or make up your own! This is your chance to get poetic and to set the tone for the rest of the project. Have fun with it!
“The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them.” Throughout her book she explores the notion that ideas are floating beings that are waiting for a host to execute them. I am sure you have had a moment when your mind finally brings a design problem into focus and you feel frantic to jot it all down before the thought leaves you again. Could this be BIG MAGIC?
-Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic
Vessel
Example
The program for this example is to build a 6’x8’ sand box for 4 children to safely play in. I know super simple and many of you I am sure are working on massive projects with complex design opportunities. But for the sake of time and clarity were sticking with the sand box.
Project Goals
To hold sand
Allow children to safely climb in
Evoke exploration and imaginative play
Use natural material
Concept Statement
Its a vessel. Its a space ship. Its a tree house. The blurred container radiates endless possibilities to evoke exploration and imaginative play. Connecting imagination to tactile surfaces, natural materials intrinsically dappling light.
Design Narrative
As the children climb into the sandbox they await discovery. They touch the rustic cedar edge that has been carefully sanded to assure ease of movement without splinters. The fine sand warms and cools as the day transitions. The torn sail overhead casts dappled light. The children become one with the vessel imagining its a pirate ship in the open sea, then a spaceship orbiting between the stars then a tree house high in the forest canopy.
Wrap Up
· Write a concept statement and write them well
· Write them in collaboration
· Advocate for rooting the concept statement into the design process
If you have any thoughts, insights, what has worked and not worked as part of your conceptual design process. We would love to hear from you by visiting https://www.milelongtrace.com/contact. We look forwarding to hearing from you and helping to elevate your commercial interior design practice.
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Keep on designing y’all.
References
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert, 2015
Group Genius: Creative Power of Collaboration by Keith Sawyer, 2007
Shaping Interior Space by Roberto Rangel, 2003
World Café http://www.theworldcafe.com
Credit
Branding & Graphic Design work by Andrea Schwoebel https://www.andreaschwoebel.com/
Photo by Sasha Yudaev https://unsplash.com/photos/FOYsU4uQqqM
Photo by Maria Ritchie
Photo by You X Ventures https://unsplash.com/photos/Oalh2MojUuk
Photo by Sep https://unsplash.com/photos/ocv7U4nAB3E