It was advised as part of our recommended reading within our group to explore the work of Ellen Lupton and read Sensory Design (Lupton, 2018). This is because sensory design is one of many important aspects of materiality and can enhance a piece of work for a given audience. I decided to explore this and see if I could glean from her understanding of this so that I could then apply it to my own working practice.
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Screenshot showing the cover of The Senses: Design Beyond Vision.
Lupton, E., & Lipps, A. (Eds.). (2018). |
It was interesting to find out that the work presented within Lupton's book explores "design is primarily a visual pursuit and that the senses accompany a major exhibition at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum that explores how space, materials, sound, and light affect the mind and body" (Lupton & Hewitt, 2020).
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Joy Monice Malnar and Frank Vodvarka, Ranges of the Senses, from Sensory Design, University of Minnesota Press; © 2004 by Joy Monice Malnar and Frank Vodvarka
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The example above, clearly shows a visual illustration towards the aspects to which our sensors come into play when we engage with something. From a scientific stance, human senses play a pivotal role in sensory design, which focuses on creating experiences that engage one or more of the senses. The traditional human senses include sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. All of these are important in their own light, which makes this a personal experience of an immersive nature.
Sensory design involves the intentional aspect of allowing others to engage with one or more of these senses to create immersive, memorable, and user-centred experiences. It's about understanding how sensory stimuli influence perception and behaviour, and then leveraging this knowledge to design spaces, products, or interfaces that resonate with people on a sensory level.
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| Lupton, E., & Lipps, A. (Eds.). (2018). The senses: Design beyond vision. Princeton Architectural Press. |
Lupton identifies the importance of materiality within the design as an invitation to the user to allow them to respond to what is in front of them. What I found fascinating was that the work of Roos Meerman, "uses tactility to humanise our interactions within technology. A great example that I found showcases Meerman's work below called organic iterations, uses our sensors of sound to "merge our voices between history, technology and art (Meermann, 2023).
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Organic Iterations — Fillip Studios. (2023, November 28). Fillip Studios. https://www.fillipstudios.com/project/organic-iterations/ |
Materiality to me is becoming more of an important part of design and can elevate your work dramatically towards the user experience. I feel that it gives a lasting impression towards the user, allowing them to engage fully and remember what they had experienced from it.
Another great example of this form of materiality comes from my recent trip away to Krakow, where I attended a contemporary exhibition at the Mocak Museum. Below shares my immersive experience analysing the futura typeface inside a small box room. The room as you can see was rather small but yet felt large to be in there, this is due to the illusion of the single letterforms situated all around the room.
My expression says it all really, this was my way of engaging with typography on a personal level to appreciate one of my favourite typefaces. This clearly outlines a strong use of materiality that got my senses engaged from the use of sight that I was able to analyse the type up close and investigate the kerning and traction (major type geek moment). As well as this, I was able to use my senses of touch which I was able to feel the smooth walls which actually was rather cold to touch, creating some parts of this experience rather unsettling at times.
However, the bright halogen lights somewhat took away this feeling of discovery, allowing the light to brighten up the room and focus my senses primarily on the typography being the focal point.
A link to the full exhibition of Dróżdż work can be seen here.
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| Photo taken at Mocak Contemporary Museum, showcasing the work of Stanisław Dróżdż (2023) |
Looking back now I didn't even realise at the time that this would be a form of materiality and that it would benefit me later on in my practice of understanding how this display links to sensory design.
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