World Changing:Soumitri Varadarajan

Submission DocumentNathan HollinsS3163873

Letter to a Friend

I changed myself because I was not myself at all. I used to be constricted through the assumption of what direction I was to take with design. You know when you find your comfort zone; somewhere you can be confident with the work you’re doing or the environment you’re in, you tend to stick to it. More often than not this works. However in this case, it was working against me. Prior to reviewing the means of designing, I was unaware I had transformed from a practical designer to a theorist.

The skills that I had developed and set me apart from others were being ignored for a trait that anyone with an imagination can pick up and apply. I’m not certain where this occurred but this was not the designer I ever wanted to be. I believe that the skill that I specialize in separates me from the typical theorist or engineer. Instead of picking up a drawing pad and pen, I went straight to past examples. Instead of developing an idea I diluted it with practicality. This is not a bad thing; but regarding the direction I wished to take, it wasn’t the correct method of designing. I have always had a strong stance over what separates industrial designers from everyone

else. Anyone can use a computer to generate a model and 3D print it to demonstrate an idea. Anyone has the capability of hybridizing a camera into every single existing project and throwing it to the market: hoping for some form of profit.

However, it is an industrial designer that can take a humble piece of paper and a pen and portray a vision unparalleled to anything existing. It is only an industrial designer that has the attributes and skill set that can be applied to all facets of the design process. I have always been sick of pretenders missing those critical skills; not realizing I had started to do exactly the same.

To my benefit, I was placed into a situation before I had no chance to change things. It was by chance that a semester break was all that was needed to refresh the vision I once had. I was bored of the monotonous dribble that I was producing; doing a project outside of the university boundaries was exactly what was needed. I was able to realize that there was no room in the industry for anyone who couldn’t sketch: who couldn’t think laterally, who needed a computer to do the work for them. I am appreciative for this.

This is where I have ventured back to my roots.

All of the work I had been doing was put on hold indefinitely. I forced myself to gather the skill set I had lost in order to become the designer I wished to be. To do so, I took the risk of deferring my studies for a while to practice what I was studying to be: an industrial designer. I dragged my sketchpad from the dusty closet and began drawing. I was shocked to see the deterioration of my drawing ability.

But I knew this was the only way I could go: I had taken the risk; there was no turning back. I also did something I feel every student should do: gain some actual experience. I was incredibly lucky to have such an opportunity fall in my lap: but there was a first step that was needed. I made the call to volunteer for something I felt as if to be a single venture: something that had no financial gain. I wasn’t in the frame of mind to do something for money.

I felt something I haven’t felt in a long time. I was pleased to get up in the morning and practice. I felt compelled to conjure ideas I though I could never accomplish. I was eager to return to my studies and continue to thrive on what was available. They say absence makes the heart grow fond; they were right. But in separating from my old habits, I had to sacrifice.

I found the environment I was in didn’t help the way I worked: both physical and others within that environment. Those that had been close friends through my study started to grow apart: the environment I worked in became uncomfortable. I needed a change. This is yet another reason why outside work from university is a huge advantage: there is another place to go to practice. Having a completely contrasting environment helped me to produce contrasting work. I feel without this separation, my transformation wouldn’t have occurred.

It has come to the end of this break away from the university system. My skills have been revised, and I am ready to produce something I can truly be proud to call my own. It is somewhat a sense of relief since I had great doubt in my studies. I have newfound faith in the profession I am to enter. But most importantly, my direction has changed and for that I am grateful.

Nathan Hollins

Risk Taking: Innovation through Ignorance

Risk taking is the action of placing something of value toward an outcome that may become an advantage to the individual or group. To take a risk requires two factors: the first something the person in question is willing to risk, and the end result: regardless of outcome. The temptation for that greener grass over the fence; knowing full-well there is the risk of the resulting being having nothing left at all, is what drives society to continuously make that call and place everything on the line for the luxury of what might be. But what counters this from occurring is a fear; the anxiety caused from the unknown result of risk taking. We are aware there will be an end result, but there is no means bar divine measure from knowing what the end result may be. It is very difficult to transform into someone who would be considered a risk taker; either you have it or it will be very hard to obtain. This paper will discuss the reasoning behind the difficulty of transforming one’s self to become someone who would be willing to place it all on the line.

What constricts those from taking a risk? It comes down to the fear. The fear of loosing, the fear of coming off second best, is what constricts so many to their routines of daily life. There is no room for such behaviour within the design industry, since the market is on a constant search for the new rather than improved. Innovation comes from taking a risk from conventional practice and exploring the unknown; while having the will to acknowledge that the end result may not be what is desired. People are afraid of the unknown and constantly return to their safety blanket of conformity and routine. I can be observed that the most successful, not necessarily financially rich, people achieve such feats though the acknowledgement of the risks and the will to elect their desires over their reality. (JG March, 1987)

There are two factors that affect out judgement, those being thought and emotion. The phrase “to go with your gut” directly relates to the judgment being overruled by emotion (Furedi, 2002). This form of reaction is instantaneous; one that relates to existing experiences and in a split second can decide what to do. For example, a more common reaction to spiders is to move away from them quickly, rather than deliberate then execute your

decision. This comes not through the systematic analysis of the situation, rather the emotion of fear hard-wired into our systems that spiders can cause pain: therefore retreat from the area to avoid such discomfort. However allowing emotion to control our decisions results more often in a negative outcome. Another example; someone is to meet their ‘soul mate’ through a chat room on the internet. Their emotional dictator would suggest going see this person, who may be half way across the world; which could cost you a fortune. Turns out this person isn’t quite what their profile picture suggests; with the outcome being you no only lost finically, but the friendship has also been tarnished. If this were to be delegated through reasoning and a though process, the more likely outcome would be to retain that electronic barrier between you both.

The logical though process is a slower but surer process of delegation, since it strategically analyses each element of the situation and produces a result that would most likely favour the individual. Being a slow process, it usually comes at the expense of risking the situation expiring; hence the decision being more an emotion-influenced decision. Being a shrinking space and time society, there is little

room for those who are strictly logically orientated; which is why a fair majority of successors are those that are willing to accept and take risks based on a more emotion biased decision. One could suggest logical reasoning is brought on through a fear being produced either from the context surrounding the decision, or even being decision making itself. But the reason behind the extra caution is more commonly due to the lack of optimism in the forecasts from risk taking. (D Kahneman, 1993)

Within the local design community, there is a requirement to have a mixture of these processes, with a slight prejudice toward emotional risk taking. Since the local marketplace is so small, there is a requirement for rapid turnover: leaving little room for strategic analysis of a decision. If one believes the risk would deliver a result eight times out of ten, there would be little reason not to go with a ‘gut’ reaction. This is the pitfall a great majority of designers find themselves in; being they are afraid of failure. Without having anything to loose, be it reputation, financials, or even social elements, why do individuals still fear to jump into the unknown? It is due to the functionality of modern society being shaped by fear and anxiety.

Events such as terrorism, criminal acts and loss of finance litters the news producing a global fear of the selected stereotypes. The dodgy car salesman is an all too common description of someone who is actually recycling while earning an income. However this reality didn’t stop the adoption of the stereotype, being a person to exploit the innocent consumer out of their earnings. Is this generation of fear really where we want to be situated?

Innovation involves the exploration of the unknown; and having the will to take the risk of possessions, income and time, to what is believed through emotion a successful venture. In order to be innovative, one must continuously think outside the norm; and not be afraid to buck trends that may be more dominant in such markets (D Palich, 1995). Einstein was considered insane my the more common man but, whilst dancing to his own beat, was able to produce some of the world’s greatest discoveries. Would the same be possible through following a trend or being afraid of stepping out of line? One would think not. But the point is not to just take the risk, but also believe that such a decision will lead to success. It is this emotional attachment along with the risk taking that leads to standing out from the crowd.

It is evident that to progress in modern society, there is a requirement for risk taking. The absence of such prevents any form of distinction from the crowd; and will fade into the crowd with a strong fear of failure. To fail is a natural form of learning. How is it expected for an individual to take an alternate tangent from the norm without the realisation and experience of what the norm is? To progress into the unknown, one must be aware of ‘the known’ to begin with.

Works Cited

D Kahneman, D. L. (1993). Timid choices and bold forecasts: A cognitive perspective on risk taking.

D Palich, E. L. (1995). Using cognitive theory to explain entrepreneurial risk-taking: Challenging conventional wisdom.

Furedi, F. (2002). Culture of Fear: Risk-taking and the morality of low expectation.

JG March, Z. S. (1987). Managerial perspectives on risk and risk taking.