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Our design component is about seeing differently. Practice in design spills into every aspect of our lives from presenting ourselves to others -- to succeeding in the workforce -- to setting a beautiful table. Practice in design develops keener mindfulness – an enhanced awareness of our surroundings and how we interact with our environment. It is a springboard to creativity and entrepreneurship.

SOME IMPORTANT ASSUMPTIONS

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY “DESIGN”?

Design is a high-concept, high-touch sense that involves creating something beautiful or emotionally appealing as well as useful. This means all the objects we use, our homes, offices, clothes, appliances—literally everything from the car we drive to the toilet brush we use to clean the bathroom.

WHAT'S EVEN MORE CRUCIAL:

Design is not a luxury anymore, but a necessity in the United States.

WHAT'S THE REASON?

The world has changed. In India and China lower paid, skilled workers provide cheaper objects than we can and in greater abundance. We can no longer compete with these countries on the basis of cost or supply. This means that to survive and be successful, we must develop products and spaces that are more than merely functional and inexpensive. By taking an entirely different approach, a different way of thinking, we can provide what these countries cannot: namely, meaning and beauty in what we do, what we own, where we live and what we produce.

BUT HOW TO DO IT?

By applying the concept of DESIGN to what we make, build and inhabit, we can make these objects and spaces SIGNIFICANT and not simply useful. In other words, by combining utility and significance we give meaning to our lives. Lower paid workers all over the world can manufacture useful products and at prices little imagined just a few years ago. We Americans must offer something else: a new way of thinking, the application of DESIGN to every aspect of our lives.

MOST OF US ARE NOT PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS. CAN WE LEARN TO BE DESIGNERS?

Absolutely! In fact, through our “hands-on”training workshops, people of all backgrounds, ages, education and professions can become DESIGNERS. They can significantly change their world, expand their minds, create new markets that don't yet exist, and make their lives and the lives of others much better.

WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS TRAINING?

Teachers Corporate Executives

Entrepreneurs Married Couples

School Board Members Doctors

Craftsmen Restaurant Owners

Parents/Grandparents and Children High School Students

Job Seekers: High School Graduates & College Graduates

Anyone who wants his/her business to be more successful

THIS IS WHAT WE'LL STUDY AND PUT OUR SENSE OF DESIGN TO WORK IN PRACTICAL WAYS:

1. Each participant will learn how to create a Design Notebook to be used daily during training.

2. Each participant will learn how to select items that annoy you. You will then learn ways to redesign the annoying object to make it better. You will follow up by sending your suggested improvement along with a letter to the manufacturer of the annoying item.

3. Each participant will become familiar with several design magazines, and catelogues of successful manufacturers. You will then describe an article that you believe matches the focus of the magazine, giving your reasons. You will send your proposed article to the selected magazine after discussing your proposal with the other participants in the training. (Here are some excellent design magazines: AMBIDEXTROUS; DWELL; HOW; iD; METROPOLIS; O MAGAZINE; PRINT; REAL SIMPLE. The catalog for RESTORATION HARDWARE is another excellent example of how Design is used in a meaningful way in the presentation of ordinary poducts like towels, rugs and tables.)

4. Each participant will visit the following places. You will write about the spaces in each location that feel good to you and tell why in as much detail as possible:

a. the home of a friend or neighbor

b. a restaurant

c. an office

d. a doctor's waiting room

5. Each participant will design his/her own personal pair of shoes, taking into consideration comfort, purpose and aesthetics. (Use pencil and paper at minimum; if you really get into this assignment, use actual materials of your choice).

6. Each participant will collect at least 3 brochures from businesses and analyze why each one is good or not. (See if you can figure out your reasons before we discuss the elements of good graphic design in class). You will then redesign one of the brochures to make it better.

7. Each participant will bring an object to class that has a special place in your heart. Place it on the table in front of you. Look at it for several minutes. Then write all the reasons you can think of that explains why you feel so good about it. (We will then discuss the reasons any given object makes us feel good.)

8. Each participant will select his/her favorite academic subject in school. Write all the reasons you think this was your favorite. Now select any of the elements of Design we have discussed in the workshop and explain how this academic subject could be taught using that element of Design as the focus.

9. Do the same thing with your least favorite academic subject.

10. By the conclusion of the 6 training sessions each participant will have sharpened his/her design abilities and will have recognized how these new abilities can be applied to every aspect of his/her life.

11. Each participant will be able to demonstrate to others in the training session how you have learned to view the world differently and how these activities have paved the way to new meaning in your life.

Several of the activities in the Design workshop training can be modified for young children. Classes will be small so that all the children participate. (For a short period of time, an entire class in a school could engage in these design activities!) The actual time period would be geared to the children's attention span.

SAMPLE LESSON FOR CHILDREN

Group is sitting in a circle on the floor. Leader says "who is an artist in this group?" (Most 5 year olds would shoot their hands straight up, crying "Me," "Me..." "Great," says the Leader with a big smile; "that's what I thought. Tell me what you do as an artist." (Answers will vary from "paint pictures," to "make clay animals," etc., etc. There will always be answers from 5-year olds if an adult listens.)

"Making art includes other things, too," says the Leader. "This chair, for example that I'm putting in the middle of the circle, has been designed by an artist. Who can tell me why?" (Any chair can work as long as it has some attractive features...they will say "because it's red," or "because it has four legs," etc.) Next the Leader places a plain or ugly chair in the circle and says "which chair is the best art?" Of course the pretty one is selected.

The Leader says "oh, but can't you sit in both chairs?" The Leader has several children do the actual sitting. "Yes," is the answer. "Don't both chairs have four legs?" "Yes,' etc. The Leader's questions, however, lead the group to the conclusion that they like the pretty chair best "because it's art." (In other words, an element of design has been used.)

Other functional objects can serve the same purpose: a waste paper basket, a casserole dish, a toilet brush....the point being that this simple exercise sharpens the ability of even a five year old to see that beauty added to functionality makes life happier or prettier (or whatever words five year olds use.)

The Instructor: Martha Mabey, PhD

Dr. Mabey brings a wealth of experience to Helping Light. She is an educator, writer, businesswoman, art advocate and former gallery owner. Her books include the biography of Mexican artist Rodolpho Morales, and two novels, “Artists Die Best in Black” and “The Anointing”. She is the author of numerous articles for the Richmond Times Dispatch and the Sun Herald. Through her art galleries, she has promoted local artists, connected students with unique opportunities and contributed to the economic revitalization of Gulfport and Biloxi.