It's the message

on online communities and

social media for designers

mad-Faculty - Belgium

• Academic Media, Arts & Design Department• Belgium > University College > Faculty of University of Leuven• Educational programs:

– Photography – Television/Film – Animation - Graphic Design – Product Design – Jewelry Design – Interactive media Design

Social Spaces Research Group

• Cross-disciplinary research group (25 researchers – graphic designers, social scientists, “code doctors”, video artists,...)

• Projects in art – media & design – cross-disciplinary• Domains: textile, health care, social design,

methodologies• www.socialspaces.be

Social Spaces Research Group

• Each medium goes through three stages:TOY – MIRROR – ART (Levinson)

• George Melies - Place de l'Opera in Paris• from reality transcription to popular art – Le voyage

dans la lune

The stages of media

Tools & Technology

Online Community & Social Media

• Online communities: places online, where you go for friendship, support, sense of belonging, information > Third Place

• “The feeling of logging into the WELL for just a minute or two, dozens of times a day, is very similar to the feeling of peeking into the cafe, the pub, the common room, to see who's there, and whether you want to stay around for a chat.” - Howard Rheingold (2000)

Online Community & Social Media

• Social Media linked to ao Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, StudiVZ, Flickr, Orkut,...

• But, which media are a-social• Sociable Media – media which enables to be social

(Donath)• Anne of Cleves – Hans Holbeyn – Henry VIII

Online communities & Social media

• The coming of online communities and social media have been perceived as disruptive for some professional worlds

• Napster > music > popularization of peer2peer principle

• The coming of online communities and social media have been perceived as disruptive for some professional worlds

• Howard Dean – politics - 2004 Democratic presidential nomination – Grassroots fundraising

Online communities & Social media

• The coming of online communities and social media have been perceived as disruptive for some professional worlds

• Where is Raed – journalism – embedded journalism - blogs as alternative sources for news

Online communities & Social media

• There are some opportunities...• But, there are some issues we should take into account

as well...

How will the coming of OC & Social Media affect you, a

designer?

• Online media are perfect portfolio places• Show & gain respect

Opportunities

• Social media like social networks help you to connect to other designers in your domain

• Mostly portfolio-based and not “person”-based (like Facebook)

• To get inspired, find new opportunities for collaboration, comment on each other's work, find a new job,...

Opportunities

Opportunities

Opportunities

Opportunities

Opportunities

• Get rid of the people/companies-in-between• B2designer > direct from commissioner to designer• Crowdsourcing: asking the “crowd” of designers to help

out

Opportunities

Opportunities

• Get rid of the people/companies-in-between• From designer to consumer > sell your work directly

Opportunities

Opportunities

Opportunities

• Get rid of the people/companies-in-between• From designer to consumer > direct contact with your

consumer

Opportunities

• Get rid of the people/companies-in-between• Stepping outside traditional business model• Open sourced financing of your projects

Opportunities

• Get rid of the people/companies-in-between• Direct link to production line• Eg. shapeways > 3D printing of objects

Opportunities

Opportunities

• Online communities and social media as places for collective intelligence

• Helping each other out

Opportunities

Opportunities

• Sharing online gives the possibility for a copy-paste!

– Still, open source projects (like in computer software)

– Creative Commons licences– No share, no spread, no inspiration

Issues

• Getting rid of the people in between• Direct contact commissioner & designer• Is it a good idea? No pay for all your work?

Issues

• It is not easier!• Costs time and (some) money > build it and they will

come won't work• A mixed media approach is the best strategy• There still is a huge competition (larger maybe > global

scale)

Conclusion

• You still have to be good to be a winner...• It's not the medium, it's the message: you still need

passion, quality, professionalism,...

Conclusion

• Open Garments – FP7 – funded by EC• an online system and a new business model that will

enable the consumer to act more directly in the garment supply chain

An example

• Thank you

– niels.hendriks @ khlim.be

– twitter.com/nielshendriks