The Social Life of Everyday Objects: Situating the Designer in a Collaborative-Creative Practice

The everyday objects that we surround ourselves with are deeply connected to our understanding of the world. These objects have the power to manifest and propagate particular world-views. This makes it particularly important for designers to study artefacts and the engagement we have with them. The meaning we (as introspective and social beings) draw from or affix to our objects is rooted in the socio-cultural perspectives of the world, an understanding that is largely created through actions of storytelling. This thesis explores the act of narrative-building through the process of making. It considers the significance of this in relation to understanding and expressing personal identity through objects. It seeks out ways a designer might use narratives as a means to: understand and make sense of personal experiences; situate oneself in relation in the act of making itself; create new forms and; engage with people around oneself. The research employs a reflective material practice made up of design methods such as research through design, heuristic inquiry, narrative inquiry and participatory workshops with peers in the studio. These were used as ways to actively respond to theories connected to emotional design, product longevity and shared practices of making. Through the act of making, the research explores unfamiliar ways of engaging with objects as a way to consider the multi-faceted relationships that can be found - between groups of people, between people and their everyday objects, people and their construction of identity in relation to their socio-cultural backgrounds. Through sharing the empirical learnings and insightful outcomes of these acts of building narrative and generative making with others, the research proposes a methodological framework that situates the designer within a collaborative-creative practice, driven by a heuristic inquiry.