Excursion: RSA Design Talk at Edge Hill University
On Tuesday 14th November 2017, the Industrial Design Society organised a trip for students to Edge Hill University to attend a talk given by Eric Woodcock, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a UoL Mechanical Engineer, on “Is good design all about form follows function?”.
Students were able to delve into the history of different aspects of design, not only from product but into architecture and art. Other guests at the event challenged the speaker at the event with their background and views of what design is, whether it was from government representatives, a book art exhibitor or people from civil engineering. Both home and XJTLU students soon jumped in on the debate, leading to a highly intellectual discussion from all present.
Eric spoke about bringing key elements of design, answering the question 'what is form followed by function'. This was summarised into different subcategories such as emotional, economical, essential, environmental, quality and feeling. Quality to Eric meant not only that a product can be long lasting but also that the product performs in the way that the consumer expects.
The talk was sponsored by Bang and Olufsen, who provided inspirational brochures for the students to take home.
The event was a terrific out of classroom activity that helped to immerse students in design. It also served as a fantastic platform for the students to network, and strengthened our connection as a university with the RSA.