Video Reflection 5: Paul Bennett

Although the ‘big picture’ is always something to think about, in every sense of it whether it be a bill board made of pixels, a country made up of states etc, it is the small details that create and affect the overall end. As Paul Bennett says, we need to “reconcile the big with the small”, the small being the individual or the person.

Good ideas are always blatantly obvious, and its because sometimes we look too far ahead and too big, that we miss what is right in front of us. This is common with what a client expects for a product, however sometimes it is needed to, as Bennett tells us, “hold up a mirror in front of them, and say this is what’s really going on”.

Looking at the situation from the point of view of the person looking out, as opposed to the organisation looking in gives a whole lot of perspective on the little things that can be done/altered to make a difference, which can lead to a change in the overall product or project.
Design needs to have an ‘un-blinkered’ view, looking all the way to the edges to explore the never ending possibilities that can always come up. We use the world around us to create our own design solution and experiences, so an all over view is needed to extend these.

Another way to look at the smaller ‘picture’ of our projects is to plain not know, where we constantly put ourselves backwards, scraping our minds and looking at things afresh. This helps reframe the ordinary, putting ourselves in other people’s shoes, absorbing how they feel about situations and objects, and using that information in our own design solutions.

“Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win”