Dayna Patel

Lounging Around is a mix of spatial design, communication design, experience theory and short story fiction as it looks into the fictional profiles and relationship between physical workplace and creativity. I wanted this project to encompass aspects of design that I enjoyed–illustration, narrative, branding, as well as spatial design. The publication is underpinned by how physical environments make people feel and the impact into a creative's choices between experiences and creativity. The contemporary theory of experience design helped me articulate and further develop the reasoning behind the relationship between environment, habits, and thinking. Starting with the idea to create a publication of furniture arrangement illustrations and short narratives, the ‘design for experiences’ concept evolved to add another layer of psychological portrayals. The creative characters were written with different personalities in mind, showing their strengths and work practices.

The publication is comprised of 36 illustrations with accompanying descriptions in three separate sections. Lounging Around is also divided into thematically-organised sections, each reflecting a different stage in the creative process– planning, creating and publishing– and the associated mindset. The stories delve into the complexities of thinking processes adopted by various characters with unique creative personalities. The physical settings depicted alongside, reflect each character’s creative intellect. The setting enables each character to tune into their highest creative state as they attempt to navigate their individualised processes of planning, creating or publishing.

Lounging Around is an approach to creativity and relies on my own understanding on different ways to work. In combination with my own ideas, I wanted the project to tie in theory and insights into how creative professional approach work.  In my research about creative professionals and their practices, there was a gap in holistic profiles as they were about specific people and their particular creative practice. Because of this market gap, I aimed to create a publication for everyone, even people who do not typically see themselves as creative, to understand different ways of working.