This study focuses on the function and problem of the workshop that utilize regional resources to promote regional development in depopulational society. In this paper, workshop is based on 3 different meanings; a place to recognize regional resources, a chance to promote a participation to the regional development, and a foundation to communicate with people from other regions. As a result, it becomes clear that: (1) Recently, the effects of workshop show the trend of 'utilizing regional resources and communicating with other regions' or 'communicating with other generation and encouraging regional people.' (2) From the classification of these directions, we separate 4 types of depopulational societies, that are 'Life encouraging type', 'Successor cultivating type', 'Industry promoting type' and 'Communication with other regions type'. Further more 'Utilizing regional resources' is essential position in each type. (3) For advanced ages, the workshop is a place to succeed their nature of life and culture, and to communicate with other regions and generation. So the workshop is expected for them to encourage and support their lives.

View full abstract

In this study, to make clear the process of design thinking, a design experiment was done. In the experiment, during a given design task, experimentee's talkings and drawings were recorded to be analyzed. The analyzing methods are as follows. Firstly, according to the method of Yoshikawa's "Experimental Design Theory", the contents of experimentee's talking were sorted into 8 thinking units and then transition patterns between every thinking units were analyzed. From the result of this analysis, it can be said that the thinking process of industrial design is much more like Markovian model than the engineering design process. Secondly, from detailed trace of sequencial process of the drawings and experimentee's talkings, it can be said that there are some switch over stages at the end of every circular process of design thinking, and wording of conceptual form is seems to be a trigger of the switch over. As a result of this experiment, we can get a cue for making inductive model of design process.

View full abstract

The purpose of this study is to propose a design process model by which one can easily get the proper methods for idea generation support. In this paper, on the basis of previous studies of the design process model and the understanding of design behavior as a part of the general design behavior, a tentative model to be an aid of developing methods for idea generation support is proposed. In the design process, designer often needs a stage of "changing thought" at the turning point in spirally iterated processes of "problem grasp", "solution search" and "evaluation". If the designer needs "thought change" at the path to "problem grasp", a structurized expression of the problem should be made. If he needs it at the path to "solution search", the associations and / or the analogies should be promoted. If he needs it at the path to "evaluation", his criteria by which he decides his evaluations should be clarified.

View full abstract

Recently, public signs that support citizens' activities are introduced and improved in many cities. The urban spaces are, however, already full of variety of signs, creating confused and disorderly streetscapes. To clarify basic indices for structuring a public sign system that takes into account the existing signs, the present study (1) investigates the types and amounts of all the elements constituting the urban streetscapes including the public signs; (2) classifies public signs of all sorts by their use and type of information conveyed; and (3) attempts a statistical cross analysis of the investigation by nothing the distribution characteristics of the existing public signs. The public signs are found responsible for unbalance in information types and lack of types in information supply. The public signs also account for the disorderly urban streetscapes because of their proportion among other component elements constituting the urban streetscapes. This suggests need for an well-organized public sign system that can replace the conventional sign systems that were managed separately by different organizations.

View full abstract

As a case study of camera "CANON AUTO BOY 3", this study is to replace verbal signs, sentences of manual, with the signs of "Man machine interface of product", and to make clear the units and system of these signs. Minimum units of these signs are unions, consist of "parts of product", and "changes of parts, or states of parts". These units presented by verbal signs are analyzed the combination of three words, "object", "support" and "variant". But "object" and "support" are same sort of words, be able to change the place each other. And this case they are entirely equal. So to show the list of "supports" and "variants" namely "parts of product" and "changes of parts, or states of parts" is to show all components of minimum signs. At the list (2) and (3), all "supports" and all "variants" of "CANON AUTO BOY 3" are showed.

View full abstract

Previous reports was focused on the effects of three dimensional structure to the aesthetic evaluation using dialogs and pictures taken by students who strolled in Koishikawa Korakuen. It presented what types of space structure would be aesthetically evaluated, and what types of sequential experience would control the visual impressions. In this time, the discussion is focused on the effects of spatial experience and the influence of cultural background to the aesthetic evaluation. As the result, intellectual information is necessary for the collect evaluation. Spatial experience promotes the psychological effects of the scene and makes possible to grasp the site with its environmental condition. In another words, students with spatial experience evaluated the garden in broader context than students with only visual information. In addition, Japanese students tend to evaluate nature or natural phenomenon while American students tend to evaluate artifice or philosophy in the garden.

View full abstract

This paper intends to clarify the spatial principles related to the life style in the Chinese urban housing. The standpoint of view through this analysis is related to the spatial construction and the living patterns which are organized by public and private actions. The spatial construction of urban housing after the revolution tended to extend the public space closed to the entrance, which called as "Entrance hall" and "Ting". The spatial hierarchy which is social and family order seen in a traditional house is maintained at the plan of the modern houses. Especially, when the order of the social hierarchy is seen distinctly at the plan, as if the spatial axis from entrance to bedroom through living room is straight, the actions in the life from public to private behavior are organized distinctly along the spatial axis.

View full abstract

This study proposes a new type of newspaper layout, based on an opinion poll of newspapers of university students who were infrequent newspaper readers. An investigation was made among 103 university students ranging in age from 19 to 25. As a result, positive responses (above 50 %) indicating that the newspapers are (1) useful, (2) trustworthy, and (3) accurate, and negative responses (about 50%) indicating that they are (4) not reflective of reader's view, (5) unfair, and (6) not interesting are obtained. The results of a study of the visual impression of newspapers, based on the semantic differential method, identified three factors: (1) clearness, (2) haughtiness, and (3) trustworthiness. We found that the more time a student spends reading the newspaper, the more positive the correlation between that student and (1) clearness and (3) trustworthiness, but the more negative the correlation between that student and (2) haughtiness. Additionally, a need for an (1) increase in photography and illustration, and an (2) increase in the use of color was found.

View full abstract

Today color photography accounts for the majority of advertising photography in magazines, but monochrome photography is no uncommon. This paper investigates the visual impression created by monochrome magazine advertisements (to see how effectively monochrome photography works). An investigation to analyze the visual impression of advertisements in magazines was conducted among seventy university students in their early twenties. the results are as follows. (1) Three factors such as Unity, Clearness and Massiveness are identified. (2) The samples including monochrome photography are superior to those including color photography in the impression of Unity. (3) Adding color to type faces and to photographs of products increases the impression of Unity. It may be said that this heightened impression of Unity is a result of the contract between the monochrome photography and the colored areas.

View full abstract

Exhibitions are considered an important participatory medium in mass communication media. Due to the paucity of systematic analysis, however, exhibitions tend to be planned arbitrarily, not based on adequate planning methods. This report aims to define a basic system of exhibition for practical planning as follows: 1) Display and Exhibition are defined by clarifying their properties as mass media. 2) Exhibition medium is classified into display, and exhibitions with wider and narrower senses, all being live communication media. 3) Searches for exhibition studies showed the necessity of study of exhibition planning as participatory and interactive communication medium. 4) Guidelines for exhibition planning systems are prepared, by establishing "Basic Elements of exhibition."

View full abstract

This study to make clear the syntax, relation of signs, about "MAN-MACHINE INTERFACE OF PRODUCT". Centering the signs of manipulations, and thinking over the relation of signs before and behind, I build up a hypothesis. I get the syntax pattern of figure 2 by verification of the manual, "CANON AUTO BOY 3". "A" and "B" in figure 2 are the case in which signs appear independently. "A" show the details of manipulation. In case "C", signs of manipulation appear behind signs of manipulation, and "C" show the shift of manipulation. In case "D", signs before signs of it show the meaning of state, condition, case, and purpose, and "D" show manipulations in some conditions. "E" show actions of machines in some conditions. And "F" show manipulations and its results. Case "G", is one of the case, in which different signs indicate same object, and shows signs of result are signs of conditions.

View full abstract

Surveying the total community design in Taiwan, we find out its characteristics; (1) from old street preservation to total community design, (2) from minority race to Han race, (3) from country to city, (4) from central government to local government, (5) from handicraft industry to handicraft culture, (6) from production-oriented agricultural cooperative association to culture-oriented association. In all of the characteristics regional culture rehabilitation is a common denominator. For the activation of region, it is necessary to consider culture rehabilitation from basic concepts; (1) the careful examination about people's living will influence the regional culture rehabilitation, (2) only through the execution of people's effort can cultivate love of country, (3) regional culture rehabilitation means not only to recover traditional culture but also concern creation of culture based on regional nature, human being, technology and its history.

View full abstract