Piñatex Sprint

An information design sprint about the visual communication of product lifecycles

In their recent report, “Beyond Net Zero: A Systemic Approach to Design” the Design Council emphasise the vital role that designers play in building ‘a bridge between technological research and innovation and their application to social practice (p6).’ There are calls from within design education for new approaches that combine traditional design skills and thinking with both sustainability literacy and critical contextual transdisciplinary knowledge.

The ‘live brief’ within Graphic Design has traditionally been a space for commercial work - often in response to competition. I wanted to experiment with ways for students to creatively engage with current research knowledge as part of a live brief and so in Spring 2021 I worked with Prof. Kate Goldsworthy at the Centre for Circular Design to develop an information design sprint for their research partner Annas Annam.

Background

Annas Annam make Piñatex; an innovative natural textile made from waste pineapple leaf fibre. I designed the sprint around the development and proposal of alternative visualisations of the Piñatex lifecycle.

Students used research methods developed within the course in a week-long project over three studio sessions, beginning with a breifing from the client and the CCD. Students used the methods to translate the different stages of the Piñatex lifecycle into icons, symbols and then into a diagrammatic system..

Outcomes

Students developed 32 individual proposals which were then presented back to the Piñatex. The process exposed students to their first ‘live brief’ within the course.

The process exposed the client to a range of insights into the ways that the company, its products and their product lifecycle had been understood and interpreted by the students, as well as multiple visual alternatives to their own communications.

This project was a pilot. We intend to build on the approach to develop more opportunities for students to interact with research, knowledge and innovation as part of the curriculum.

Item on UAL Research online

Laura Knight (2021) Visualising the Piñatex Lifecycle: An information design sprint about the visual communication of product lifecycles.