Conceptual design

Conceptual design is a type of art which gives precedence to hypothetical function, it is the creation and exploration of new ideas. It is distinguished from conceptual art by closely relating to function; it is distinguished from design in general by not necessarily being actually functional but as illustrating a design that may show an idea that may potentially be functional. Conceptual design is a subset of concept art, wherein a novel idea or product is created instead of a visual representation—which would directly be used in a final product, e.g. a film, animation or video game. It can be defined in several ways, "A movement in which concept—the idea expressed—[is] more important than straightforward function,"^[1] and Rebeca Mendez describes it, "rather than products, [conceptual artists/designers] are designing situations, intervening in existing arrangements, framing everyday activities in ways that make us think of them, unexpectedly, as 'design'."^[2]

Examples

Animal Superpowers: Ant and Giraffe (2008)

Animal Superpowers: Ant and Giraffe is a concept design, shown at the Talk to Me exhibit at the MoMA in 2011, created by Chris Woebken and Kenichi Okada. It uses virtual reality technology to create sensory enhancement which mimics the reality of either a giraffe's or an ant's visual perspective.^[3]

Bat Billboard (2008)

Is a concept design created by Chris Woebken and Natalie Jeremijenko is an idea for a billboard which would house urban bats in a disease-free environment, in an effort to reclaim urban infrastructure for wildlife. The billboard would also act as the public face of the bat population, "translating" their call patters into text that would be displayed on the billboard. This project would work to resolve the misunderstanding humans have for bats.^[3]

Exhibits

• 2011 Talk to Me, MoMA

References