Jasmin Xie: The two-way street of learning page 119
curiosity process learning support exploration
community
Foreword
‘Design’ is instilled in the identity, pedagogy, and the way of working of Aalto Design Factory. However, besides the content of our teaching, what is it that actually creates ‘us’ as a design-driven organization? How do we strive to foster a culture and develop resources that enable both students, staff and the larger community to be creative, experiment, and learn in a supportive atmosphere?
Sometimes the old proverb 'the shoemaker’s children go barefoot' feels all too relevant as we focus our efforts on day-to-day work, narrowing our perspective of the bigger picture to the level of silent knowledge. For this publication, I wanted to invite some of our design professionals working for physical and visual impact to share their points of view. In a series of intimate conversations, they shed light on their responsibilities, practices, and motivations, while also showcasing some of their projects.
My kind thanks to the photographers whose work is featured in this publication (detailed list: Appendix, p.1xx) along with ADF'S Postdoc Researcher Teo Keipi for his support and impeccable hawk's eye during the writing process.
Anna Kuukka Editor, ADF Design Coordinator
Aalto Design Factory, 2025
designfactory.aalto.fi
George Atanassov ADF Services Manager Freelance Photographer & Videographer
I can probably make compromises with other people far more easily than with myself.
“ Facilitating a culture of human connection
Accumulating knowledge is something that drives me, feeds me energy. At the same time I can get quite intense and stubborn about it, knowing I could do less, but I'm just curious and I'll go through the whole process. Over time, I've learned to be a little bit more selective about how committed I’m going to be to a project. But then for certain things, it’s rewarding to indulge in something new and challenging ‒ going fully in it because then you're basically giving yourself an open field.
What sort of defines me is that I was at ADF from the very beginning, just being curious and doing everything, and thus became a jack of all trades. My background is in mechanical engineering and product engineering, and from there I got interested in design, and through that the perspective changed a little bit more about expression. Mostly I developed my skills at the early phases of building the DF environment because we literally started with a blank slate. We occupied a large building of 3000 square meters which was only supposed to be used for a few months, two years tops. We didn't have a lot of money to do things the way universities do them, so we had to renovate and set up 1.0
Tune in to listen the entire interview
the infrastructure in small bits, and also to learn how to document it ‒really learning by doing.
The industrial design mindset ‒ efficiency, repeatability, scalability ‒is important, and to be able to carry it out in practice you really need to understand the whole process. It's easy to make a chair, but how do you make 20,000 chairs? It's not how a particular chair is built, but taking a more general viewpoint; what is a chair, the history of chairs, chairs featured in Hollywood movies, etc. I had this kind of attitude to go deeper when I was learning something new, curiosity, and that's how I accumulated wider knowledge from different areas.
There are tangible things I bring to the table at DF because I'm the only one with the specific know-how, and it’s easy for me to get those responsibilities done. The other aspect I’m able to provide is a kind of safety. If I'm involved in a project, I know we can carry it through and people can lean on me. With our design or production sprints, and especially with our younger employees, it’s important to reduce the sense of being rushed or scared. It's not only technical knowledge, but it's emotional knowledge about things as well.
There’s a beauty in collaboration, in these small fleeting moments of human connection that I really like. Romantically speaking, you would think it should happen by itself but it needs to be facilitated. As a team leader or a senior staff member there's a certain amount of interaction you can control, and then at some point you just have to take your hands off and let it manifest. You can't build trust in seconds, it needs time to evolve.
It's very difficult to measure emotional productivity. Even though spending 30 minutes chatting with someone over coffee might actually look nonproductive, it can actually be productive from an emotional perspective. There's not a singular way to encourage people; some people are encouraged by shouting at them, some by giving them a slap and saying ‘try harder’. But I think you encourage some people by just being present for them, spending time together, and I think that's the most important thing.
Key takeaways from George:
▪ Satisfy your curiosity; dive deep into topics that catch your interest.
▪ Learn by doing; embrace hands-on experiences without being afraid to build things from scratch.
▪ Be a rock… not a star. Offer your technical know-how and emotional support to your team, creating a safe and trusting environment.
▪ Build bridges; foster strong human connections and understand that trust and collaboration need both time and sometimes a little nudge.
▪ Embrace emotional productivity; appreciate the value of casual, supportive interactions.
1.2 - 1.12
Moustache Madness, 2016 4-week Movember campaing featuring DF staff members to support awareness for men's health issues.
1.13 - 1.15
Moustache Madness, 2016
1.16
Moustache Madness, 2016
1.17 - 1.21
Safety First, 2018
Photographic illustration for DF's safety ptotocoll.
1.22 - 1.23
Chapter illustration for publication
'All you need is love, design, business, engineering, and... PASSION-BASED CO-CREATION', 2017
Chapter illustration
1.25 - 1.33
DF staff photos, 2020
Creative concept for DF personnel photographs.
1.34
PdP campaign 2016
1.35
PdP campaign 2017
PdP campaign 2023
PdP campaign 2022
“
Valtteri Bade
ADF Communication & Graphic Designer
Visual Designer
I was a hang around member for DF on and off for years before officially joining the staff, too. Here I work with internal and external communications, also helping students and the wider community with their graphical needs. I’ve never been a part of such an open and welcoming community - it’s a supportive environment where you can do a lot without the fear of judgment. There’s horizontal hierarchy; I 2.0
Making sense of the obscure
Just hanging around can lead you to unexpected places, or at least a bit different ones from what’s expected.
I ended up being a graphic designer by accident, when originally I studied to become a spatial and product designer. One time I happened to be involved in a museum exhibition project which got prolonged, so the original graphic designer couldn’t carry it out to the end. I had to jump in to create all the signage without having any prior education of that part. Also, I used to hang around in the graphic design department's computer class, because at that point of time, students didn’t have their own computers. So I got to know all those people there and somehow they dragged me in that rabbit hole.
can do whatever I feel is the best for the community without having the village council gathering every time to argue about it.
Graphics has been quite a big part of my professional domain. My personal fields of interest are in procedural graphics, information architecture, and programming visuals. Storytelling has also always been important when I’ve worked in publications and information visualization design. As a designer, the main thing is to create clarity of communication in whatever medium I use, whether it’s in text, speech, pictograms, sign posts, publications, or whatever. I think one of the main differences between artists and designers is that designers think of doing the work for other people, making it approachable and easy to understand. In contrast, artists can have the freedom of self-expression and aim for obscurity. For me, being a graphic designer has been about acting as a bridge between different types of people who don't speak the same language.
My inspiration comes from the project content and structure of things. I also enjoy contradictions; for our latest Product Development Project Gala production I looked through the campaign posters from previous years, many of them which I liked a lot. However, they all have this quite masculine, dark technological approach which I wanted to contradict to get the course’s spokespeople to act a bit differently this time. I suggested ‘Barbie’ as the theme, and in about five minutes, somehow everyone in the team was onboard with the idea. We were all happy with this pink, quite a feminine world. Even though I made the eventual graphics, the whole process was totally collaborative. I admire people when they are able to find the loopholes in the existing norms and break the rules.
Key takeaways from Valtteri:
▪ Think about the deeper level in the content and your design concept.
▪ Don't be afraid to experiment and take risks.
2.2
PdP course poster artwork, 2024
Numbered series of Riso prints.
The production technique reflects the exploratory process of prototyping and product development; the result of the print is uncontrolled, and as the course content, leaves room for randomness.
2.3 - 2.4 Fold, 2022-2024
Adventures in the world of limitless procedural psychedelia. VR project.
2.5 Fold, 2022-2024
Shreyasi Kar ADF Head of Operations New Media Artist
“ It’s important to just do and start trying out, not only keep on thinking about what you might do.
I'm kind of like a mixed bag over here with my background. I studied digital filmmaking in India as my undergrad in communication design and from there I moved on to working with electronics in an artistic context, and ended up at Aalto for my master's in New Media Design and Production. I was just doing my own project work at the DF premises, trying to stay under the radar, but got ‘caught’ and wound up being recruited as an assistant to ElectroShop. From then on my role evolved towards a leadership position. Currently as the Head of Operations, my job is making sure that all the different parts of DF are working well together especially on the labs side including the everyday logistics of the organization, and managing certain EU projects. 3.0
Enabling potential for innovation
It doesn't matter if you're a writer, a painter, a sculptor, or a student who needs to start studying for the exam - just start somewhere and then go from there!
My personal practice has always been very tactile and experimentalit's very much about discovering what's out there and finding a bit of humor in it as well. Many of the art-science projects that I do are about making things visible and finding new ways in which we can interact with what's around us. The medium that I work with has always been very critical to the outcome; the tool and the medium are never separate from what they are creating.
My own practice has always been so experimental and not necessarily belonging to the domain of work that I've been trained to do. This makes me (optimistically) think that you can try to do anything in the world! From executing DF projects to students coming to me to share their 'impossible' ideas, I really do believe we can make anything happen through the knowledge of our staff and all the resources out there. Sometimes the biggest challenge is that you tend to overlook what's right in front of you. Even though there's so much help available at DF, all the tools, the resources, you don't end up making good use of it. We, the staff members, are there and willing to help, and yet, sometimes, the students come to me at the end of the year with a very sheepish ‘Can I ask you a question?’ Well you should have asked me this months ago, but I will help you right now!
One thing which really motivates and simultaneously challenges me is the constant changing of students; for example, the PDP students go through the same cycle of the course, the same project phases, but then again it's really fascinating because no two projects are alike. In order to support those projects, I have to constantly keep updating my knowledge, and that forces me to keep in touch with what's out there. People are often very critical, assuming you're completely out of touch with the industry because you work in academia. However, I feel working with students who are getting their briefs from the industry and pioneering scientists actually helps me stay on the edge of innovations in the industry. You have to be on top of the game in order to enable the students to create. I need to think of several possible solutions in my head, and then make sure that we are all stocked up to support the students with their needs. And then when the students come up with their own wonderful solution which is nothing like what I imagined, we are able to adapt to support them in the best possible way.
Key takeaways from Shreyasi:
▪ Trying out anything is better than doing nothing!
▪ Reach out to people and ask them to share their expertise.
3.2 - 3.4
Interspecies Communication, 2023
Design+Sustainability & Future Artifacts exhibition at Gallery AHJO, Espoo Culture center 5.-29.1.2023
A communication system for fungi and humas using generative projections and biosignals from both mycellinium of the sheathed woodtuft and the viewer to create unique digital human-mycelial cultures.
3.5
Interspecies Communication, 2023
3.6 - 3.8
Artistic research & experimentation, 2022 Mirco Residency, SOLU/Bioart Society, Helsinki
A microscope pen sends information through a synthesizer and sequencer, allowing users to explore the microscopic world through sound.
3.9 - 3.10
Sonic Microscope, 2019
3.11 Sonic Microscope, 2019
3.12 - 3.13
Collaborative project with Dr. Špela Petrič employing techniques of photobiochemical printing of different images of banknotes onto plant leaves.
Sun, The Ultimate Capital, 2016 Vžigalica gallery
Lightning Guerrilla, Svetlobna Gverila
Collecting samples during 'World as a classroom' bioart workshops, 2017
3.14
Maafushi, Maldives
Anna Kuukka ADF Design Coordinator Designer & Artist
“ Manifestations of narrative & understanding
For me, being a designer is very much a service profession.
I want to help people by enabling others to do their work, improving their daily lives ‒ that is my main motivation as a designer, and that’s the core of my work at ADF. As a design generalist with a commercial background, the majority of what I do ‒ both at DF and as a freelancer ‒ is client work with little room for self-expression. Of course, you still need to stick with your own insights and vision, but my focus as a designer is closer to a facilitator’s perspective; what are you trying to communicate and how? A recurring question for me is how to navigate between the needs of the people who make the commissions on one hand, and the potentially different audience who’ll use the end-products on the other?
The artist side of me is tickled by the simple idea of creating things with a sense of ‘wow’, just for the visual inspiration and delight it might bring to the end-users. With artistically oriented design projects I have more leeway to explore, which I absolutely love. So these two different designer identities ‒ a facilitating enabler and an artist ‒ and are my main drivers, and the two target outputs of my work. 4.0
Roughly put, the DF design solutions can be positioned on an imaginary line. At the one end, there are the functional, solid things that have to make sense instantly so that people can intuitively use them on their own. These can be e.g. guideposts on how to orientate oneself in the spaces, open-source tools for independent learning, or displays showcasing activities or in-house know-how. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are the artifacts that might be more ambiguous, even artistic, provoking thoughts and emotions. Together, all of these diverse touchpoints create the visual narrative of ADF’s persona and culture. But the design work is also about prioritizing because some of the touchpoints are more important than others. What do the users first encounter? What do they need to see? Whether we’re talking about the stepping stones of an event, a space, an online platform, or a singular workshop template, what to do should be very clear for the user to understand.
Personally, I love tangible things with a visual and haptic experience, the physical realm. I'm really inspired by building on traditional craft techniques and ideas in art, upcycling; sort of like adding my own little contribution to a line of generations before me. It would be fantastic to create something that will still be here in 50-100 years or more, but if I’m being honest, the majority of my work is temporary with a limited timespan. Therefore, what I produce on a daily basis will not be my so-called epitaph, but I believe everyday solutions with momentary quality can be valuable for their users, and therefore deserve to be well-designed.
Sometimes I can get a bit nitpicky, wanting all the details to be polished and presented in a certain way. But at DF, you definitely have to balance between holding the reins of the design and allowing others the chance to create, explore, and make their own imprint. I’m not building a seamless brand continuum as I would in e.g. a private sector organization, because that’s not what DF is about. So I have to be able to give others the freedom to use the tools or solutions that I have created the way they see it best. In terms of working culture, people want to have their needs heard in order to do a good job by themselves, but simultaneously, everybody also wants to contribute and usually help out, too. In many ways, I do lean on others in my work. At DF we have an amazing pool of know-how, so approaching people for their expertise with a very low-key ‘hey, please give me your thoughts on this’, is the easiest way to get into the collaborative mindset.
Key takeaways from Anna:
▪ Engage your stakeholders by creating a clear narrative for your premises. Your venue should work as a stand-alone solution in terms of user experience.
▪ Establish priorities; decide the must-haves and the lesser nice-to-have manifestations for your brand, and allocate resources according to the order of importance.
Unique ceiling-mounted installation utilizing aluminium, metal chain, spray paint, and recycled window blinds from closed down Otakaari 8 premises.
4.6 - 4.7
Aurora Ingeniosus, 2023
4.9 - 4.12
Tell Me Everything, I-IV, 2023 2nd floor office space, Viima building
4-piece artwork using surplus interior paints and 120x120cm wood panels.
4.13- 4.14
Interwoven, 2023
3rd floor meeting room, Viima building.
Wall-mounted diptych utilizing aluminium, metal chain, spray paint, and recycled window blinds from closed down Otakaari 8 premises.
4.15
Design + Sustainability, 2021-2022 Research report and accompanying exhibition road show taking stock of what harnessing design to tackle sustainability looks like in practice in 100+ Finnish organizations.
designfactory.aalto.fi/designsustainability/
4.16 - 4.18
Launch of the report exhibition at Glasshouse Helsinki as a part of Helsinki Design Week 2021
4.19 - 4.22
Glasshouse Helsinki
4.23
Espoo Culture Center, Galleria AHJO
4.24
Aalto University, Väre
4.25 Miltton Agency
4.26
Grasping Creativity, 2023
joint exhibition at Viima building & Väre
As a part of Designs for a Cooler Planet 2023, showcase presented the invisible dynamics of creative collaboration in an interactive exhibition, inspiring visitors to explore new perspectives to innovation.
4.27 - 4.29
Grasping Creativity, 2023
“ Art as speculative design
Erwin Laiho ADF Printshop Master & Model Maker Sculptor
I love real slices of life, and that’s one of the reasons why I became a sculptor.
Craft has always been a guiding principle in my own work. In the art world there’s a commitment to both intellectual production and the physical form. High production value and handicraft meeting the world of ideas, concepts, and forward-looking perspectives. They don't always go hand in hand, and it was hard to find a place where you could cater to both of those sides of what I want to do ‒ before landing at ADF.
At DF, I'm a model maker with a focus in digital manufacturing. I run our Printshop and am in charge of digital fabrication, 3D printing, laser cutting, and other projects as needed, but initially my path to DF started from art school. As an artist, my specialty is different from my specialty as a staff member here, but there’s overlap that deals with exploring different kinds of processes. Wearing simultaneously the hats of a sculptor, a designer and a print shop master is challenging ‒the roles bleed and lean into one another. But if I need to wear just one of the hats for a long time I don’t feel quite right. So as a professional, I like to play all the parts.
I pretty much only use mineral matter - stones and rocks and all the stuff made of them: metals, glass and ceramics in my artworks. They have the longest and most stable lifespan, and I'm quite conscious of the fact that they will outlive me by hundreds of years. Those things are what's going to be left of me, so I try to make them as good as possible. I’ve been practicing art and design for half of my life, and at this point in my career I have quite a few resources and possibilities for projects, but now what? At this stage, it’s more of an intellectual challenge; what’s really worth doing?
When I’m creating art it’s quite a selfish process because I’m trying to listen to my own voice and intuition, not to think about what the audience might think of my work. But simultaneously, art is a dialogue where my voice is an amalgamation of all the ones that I've listened to in diverse media. So, in that sense, by participating in the discussion, the audience is also staring back at itself through what I'm making.
I'm really curious and in my artwork I'm trying to make sense of the digital world, e.g. a phone. Being a sculptor, I'm kind of always looking at my surroundings through the lens of ‘What is it made out of?’ ‘How was it made?’ 'What kind of tools did they use?’ So just trying to make sense of the phone by taking it apart. I'm putting together this archive of perspectives that will hopefully lead to someone else also to having a better understanding about what our digital companions are made out of.
I think the best thing that I've distributed at DF is that people aren't so scared to up the production value, to try out the more challenging materials like glass, stone, or metal, or just outsource whenever possible. I don't see the point in doing something halfway, so I always encourage others to acquire the right tools for the job. Sometimes you might even have to develop your own tools. Those are the legacy artifacts of what I've contributed.
You’re always a student, always trying to innovate and outdo yourself and those before you. It’s dangerous to get complacent; I think the best work comes from people who don't hold back because of what they did before. The key is that no matter where you end up or what your work looks like, it shouldn't become repetitive and toothless. Like some sticker that you just slap on every project as if your interests had stopped developing. It is the continuous investigation, exploration and following of your own curiosity which makes it special. That’s what I'm trying to somehow satisfy with all these experiments ‒ that’s the fuel!
Key takeaways from Erwin:
▪ Don’t be afraid to get tangible and prototype your ideas with physical materials. The earlier on, the better.
▪ Challenge yourself to go beyond your comfort zone; test out techniques you are not familiar with.
▪ Make it your own by following your own instincts and interests.
5.2 - 5.4
Making of:
Great & Exciting Things People Will Be Doing with PCs in 30 Years (2021-2023)
Sculpture series exploring the physical dimension of technology. The overarching vision is the creation of unique sculptures of furniture built exclusively from the aluminum exteriors of end-of-life Apple devices.
5.5
Shoe Shelf / Wine Rack part of the series Great & Exciting Things People Will Be Doing with PCs in 30 Years
Design+Sustainability & Future Artifacts exhibition at Gallery AHJO, Espoo Culture center 5.-29.1.2023
Great & Exciting Things People Will Be Doing with PCs in 30 Years
5.6
Dining Chair, Desk & Stool part of the series
Kuusakoski Oy
Space Key is a touch tool and a door opener made of naturally antibacterial copper. It comes with a case that ensures there is minimal chance of transmission before copper has killed all the microbes that you've touched with the Space Key.
5.7 - 5.10
Space Key, 2019
Touch tool
5.11
Not Enough Disk Space (Astro Laser), 2023
Diamond cutting wheel, desktop computer (24” iMac) with modified display unit & laser-engraving on the inside of the front glass, 85,5 x 45,5 x 7cm
Temporarely exhibited at Viima 2023-2024
5.12
Hello World (0.42KB), 2021
The artwork depicts the essence of digital art, existing on the ecologically sustainable Tezos-blockchain. The work is released as an edition of 42.
“ Cultivating collective inspiration
Sushant Passi
ADF Creative Digital Productions & Prototyping Specialist Designer & Artist
I actually love coming to work!
This facility is so amazing; it allows you to just be yourself, do things that are an interest to you and learn new things. DF is a good combination of being hands on creativity and trying all sorts of cool, fun things, but also working with the industry and exploring ways to come up with real world projects. And there’s also this certain quirkiness to DF that really makes me feel at home, and the really cool people that keep me here. It’s a natural curation of professionals who are really good and unique with what they do, so there's a huge amount of space for collaboration here.
I was professionally trained as an industrial designer including studies in brand design, business design, material design… I really liked doing things hands on, making and sculpting and stuff like that. That’s why my bachelor realm came from that kind of learning by doing approach and practice based studies. After working a couple of years in India I came to Finland to study contemporary design and material experimentation, following with DF’s Project Development Project and then working in a research project. From 2021 onwards I’ve been a part of DF’s prototyping and production staff.
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I think my specialty is that I dabble with a lot of things. I may not be a mega expert in any specific field, nor do I want to be because I actually get bored easily. Whether it's related to prototyping, 3D printing, an Excel lab or teaching, there's just so many different realms that are currently of interest to me. But I feel like I’ve gathered a decent amount of knowledge which allows me to act as a mentor or a coach, helping students with their problems when they're a bit lost or they need support. Sometimes I can even be like a wind sock in a good sense, able to point someone in the right direction towards furthering their projects. If I come across a situation where I don't know something it gives me the motivation to go back to the drawing board and to learn new skills.
Whether it's coming up with new ideas or creating an artifact, my motivation is centered around catalyzing thought, spreading awareness, and sparking debate. The same applies in my teaching and my personal practice outside of DF. In the technical sphere, I’m interested in merging the physical realm with the digital realm, and exploring different types of tools and ways in which that can be realized.
The inspiration for my work comes from profound conversations that I have either with my colleagues or with others around me. Working with people who are like-minded but have different skill sets and abilities allows you to build positive things together. Over time, this collaborative aspect has increased in my way of working. I have a good community of friends and my own art collective as well. We are unique individuals united by our shared goals and motivations, collaborating and exchanging ideas to create something profound. It’s very rewarding to see how we fit all together as a puzzle, and the same applies for the DF community, too!
Key takeaways from Sushant:
▪ Don’t overthink by aiming to create a perfect solution in one go ‒ instead, just do and learn from that as you go.
▪ There is plenty of inspiration to be found around us ‒go and talk to people, find ways to collaborate and explore new spaces.
6.2 - 6.3
DFGN-R Conference Awards, 2023
DIY award concept for the winners of the conference.
SLS Nylon 12, Aluminium, Wood.
6.5
XR Teaching session, 2023
Introducing the world of XR to the PDP Students
6.6 - 6.8 Objects for Impact, 2019 Producing discursive design artefacts for a collaborative social impact project with Scope Impact.
Glass, Ceramics, Mixed Metals.
6.9 - 6.10
Experimental Glass - Aalto x Iittala, 2019
Creating experimental artefacts through glass blowing and kiln casting with mixed materials.
Glass, Mixed Metals, Pine Tree Resin.
6.11 - 6.12
Experimental Glass - Aalto x Iittala, 2019
6.13
Radical Creativity, 2023
Photoshoot & 'Walk in My Shoes' interview for Aalto Radical Creativity
To create a beautifully finished product, you need to iterate the same thing over and over again, but I struggle a lot with that. Instead, with each project, I strive to learn new skills and techniques while building on existing skills ‒ I thrive on rapid-prototyping, rather than perfecting. As a result, I find DF’s culture of product development and creativity deeply appealing.
I initially chose to study New Media Design and Production at Aalto University because it had a hands-on approach to learning that I appreciated as a product-design-oriented person. DF had similar appeal; for me, I don’t feel mired in theory here. There is often theoretical backing behind what many people here do, but there is also a lot of making, especially in the prototyping Labs.
Prior to my introduction to DF, I didn’t expect to end up in an advisory role, working with students in an institution. I had presumed that, after graduating, I would become a freelance new media artist and work for myself as well as other artists as technical support. Instead, I found DF,
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where I can support a wide community of students and staff alike while also growing my own artistic practice. Here, I'm able to empower others to generate joy through making and share in my passion for creating.
At DF, I’m the Electroshop Specialist, offering technical expertise in areas such as programming, working with microcontrollers, and physical computing. Less tangibly, I strive to enthusiastically support students’ learning and arm them with practical problem-solving skills. That said, I am also a learner here ‒ a big part of my growth stems from interacting with everyone at DF. The multidisciplinary backgrounds and attitudes of people here means there is always something to learn, and there is a culture of friendliness and accessibility. It doesn’t feel like there is a strong hierarchy, so I feel comfortable asking for help. It’s also very inspirational to see the practices of other makers, and how different those processes might be from mine. I find myself reaching outside of my comfort zone more at DF, which can be quite painful, but the people make it less daunting.
Outside of DF, I enjoy making costumes and wearable tech as part of my personal practice, and especially enjoy cosplay (the art of dressing up as specific characters) as a design challenge. It’s fun to take the ‘impossible’ ‒ designs that aren’t bound by real-world physics and constraints ‒ and make them real. I’m terminally online, and a lot of my sense of aesthetics and inspiration comes from other makers on the internet, as well as my understanding of what high level design and production looks like. I’ve found that platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok are great resources to explore when running into challenges or even during the ideation phase of a project ‒ there are a lot of solved problems, and it’s important to remember that a lot of knowledge already exists, both in online and offline communities, and to have the agency to seek it out.
Key takeaways from Jasmine:
▪ Engage with the community related to your practice ‒people are often approachable and can be great resources.
▪ Develop a balance between ideating and doing ‒ it’s important to not trap yourself in the theoretical, but equally important to engage critically at times.
7.1
Widowmaker Pale Serpent Skin, 2022
7.2 - 7.3
Widowmaker Pale Serpent Skin, 2022 Cosplay design.
7.4
Neo-knots:
Illuminating the Future of Traditions, 2023
Interactive artwork combining traditional Chinese artistic practices with new media technology as an interpretation of the tension between tradition and modernity, cultural inheritance and third-culture identity.
Future Artifacts 2.0 exhibition 6.9.-6.10.2023
Aalto Design Factory / Viima
7.5 -7.7
Neo-knots: Illuminating the Future of Traditions, 2023
7.8 - 7.9
Transcension: portal, infinity mirror table, 2023
7.10 - 7.17
7.18
Hello? Long time no ocean, 2022
Aavistus Festival
Produced with Shreyasi Kar & Pain Fonda
Interactive installation inviting visitors to speak to the ocean by speaking into shells, flipping a classic childhood interaction where one listens to the ocean via shells. The jellyfish are representatives of the ocean, responding to visitors’ voices with engaging lights.
Commentary: Designing co-creation
Tua Björklund ADF Director Assistant Professor
“ We do to think and collaborate better at the Design Factory.
Rather than waiting for the perfect moment or that perfect insight, the reflections of our design professionals highlight the importance of getting visual and tangible to build understanding, relationships and impact from the start. Doing and making offer opportunities to clarify our own thoughts and create boundary objects for others to join in on the action and reflection. You cannot separate learning from doing in the hands-on learning culture we have – doing fuels the process of learning as well as creates an immediate impact in the outcomes. Our goal is to shape a more sustainable future now, not only to produce insights that may somewhere down the road create an impact.
The perspectives our design professionals offer here also illuminate the value that comes from the diverse Aalto ecosystem. Otaniemi is where science, technology, art, design and business truly meet, for the benefit of everyone. One might easily imagine that a university revolves around scientists and theories. Yet we can achieve so much more when
design and making are not an afterthought but an essential tool in the toolbox across the process. Having expert designers and makers work side by side with students, teachers, researchers and our various collaborators, we get better learning results and impact. We also get smoother collaboration across the diverse disciplinary, professional and cultural groups we have on campus.
Particularly with the uncertainty, fast-paced change and immediate needs for new solutions we face today as a society, I believe the ecosystem we have is a key part of the value universities can provide. It is not just the courses, research projects and infrastructure we have, but the people and desire to learn. When developing the capabilities and universities we need for the future, metrics are important to guide actions, but so are the intangible, difficult-to-put-in-words facets that create a vibrant community for learning and co-creating impact. When words fail, visuals and artifacts come in handy as an added language to our repertoire. A picture, prototype or artifact can be worth a thousand words.
