The second phase of the program grounded everything that was learnt during the first phase in the participants personal practice as designers. They "relearned" to think about materials by going through the design process with a new vision and new tools. By the end, they defined their personal design projects coupled with an additional entrepreneurial outlook.
Re:learn is divided into four sections:
5: Project Discovery
6: Design Research
7: Ideation
8: Market Analysis
5. PROJECT DISCOVERY
The first week created space and provided tools for the designers to reflect and present how the learnt fits into their own practice. Particular focus was given to a system approach of understanding current problems in order to define a slected few potential design challanges for each participant.
Experience talks:
Amir Afshar from Shellworks
Shellworks is a biotech startup based in London. Founded in 2019 by ex Apple engineer Insiya Jafferjee and Amir Afshar, they are focused on developing truly compostable alternatives to plastic grown by microbes. With a multidisciplinary team, Shellworks leverages the intersection of science, design and engineering as a method to deliver sustainable solutions. Their current focus is on the cosmetics and personal care space, where Shellworks creates sustainable packaging alternatives that don’t compromise on performance or aesthetic. Amir Afshar is Co Founder and Chief Product Officer at Shellworks. Formally trained as an architect before training as an engineer, he holds masters degrees from the Royal College of Art as well as Imperial College London. Amir has been working at the intersection of design, engineering and science with a specific focus on natural materials developed over the last 7 years. He has previously worked at Studio Banana in Madrid as well as being an Independent Designer at Atelier Luma in France. He was the first ever recipient of the prestigious Pokemon Scholarship in 2018 and his work has previously been awarded the Helen Hamlyn Award for Creativity.
Kevin and Paco from Studio ThusThat
ThusThat explores the hidden backstories of everyday materials. Led by Kevin Rouff and Paco Boeckelmann, we bridge collectible design with innovations in material science, to create pieces that are strong, simple, and direct in form, keeping the complexity packed within the materiality itself. Our work primarily focuses on the use of uncommon materials such as industrial wastes, to suggest alternative futures. Our projects with wastes of the mining and metallurgy industries have received international acclaim and has been exhibited, with pieces in the permanent collection of the London Design Museum and Desig Museum Gent.
Workshop:
Challenge discovery with Aya Shaaban
This workshop took the participants on a discovery tour for challenges. It taught system design techniques for the participants to analyse the problems at hand and ventured into other discovery techniques such as desk research and mind mapping.
Aya is a food designer, wild forager, and architect. She uses her fluency across diverse creative industries to introduce innovative food products and multi-sensory learning tools to help reshape the food culture of tomorrow. In 2012, she co-founded Namliyeh, the pioneering food and design brand based in Amman, which offers immersive culinary experiences and interactive workshops that focus on traditional farming and wild ingredients, inspiring an alternative path back to the land.
6. DESIGN RESEARCH
The second week took the participants deeper into design research for their different project directions and defining their purpose. Presentations covered different human centred design approaches to material innovation which became guiding examples.
Experience talks:
Saltyco
Saltyco makes planet-positive textiles from plants that heal damaged land. Our first product, BioPuff®️, is a plant-based alternative to goose-down and synthetic fillers. The secret lies in peatlands: rich wetlands that are the most effective carbon sinks on the planet. Historically they have been drained and turned into farmland, causing massive releases of CO2. Using innovative agricultural practices, Saltyco is able to re-wet and re-grow native plants that heal the land and lock carbon dioxide back into the ground. This creates a way to replace damaging textiles with Saltyco’s planet-positive alternatives. By connecting planet-healing practices to material science Saltyco is rethinking our relationship with textile supply chains, resulting in healthier garments and restored environments.
Workshop:
Design Research with Goretti Arnaste
This workshop explored different research tools available to the participants in order to support them in finding a worthwile challenge to solve. Among these were qualitative research and challenge statements.
Goretti Arnaste is a Creative and Social Innovation consultant from Barcelona, and a lecturer in Human Centered Design at HTU, Jordan. Holding a Masters's Degree in Applied Imagination from Central Saint Martins, her main areas of work are Design Thinking, Social Innovation, and Entrepreneurship. Goretti utilizes a creative and human-centric approach to helping organizations build new innovation strategies, products, experiences and ultimately, have a greater impact on society by understanding needs and involving users (HUMANS).
7. Ideation
The third week focussed all on Thinking Through Making and led the participants through various prototyping stages to test their three project ideas while highlighting different material innovation business models with experts from the field.
Experience talks:
Ryan Mario Yasin from PetitPli
Ryan Mario Yasin, Founder & CEO of Petit Pli (ICL & RCA Ma, Msc, MEng) Forbes 30 under 30 lister and experienced design engineer, published in American Institute of Aerospace and Aeronautics. To realise Petit Pli, Ryan set out to understand the needs of users, retailers and manufacturers to engineer novel designs using his understanding of deployable satellites and origami structures to create Clothes That Grow with children.
Petit Pli's team consists of an agile force of interdisciplinary design engineers, fashion designers, neuroscientists and sociologists, all obsessed with innovation, responsible consumption and inspiring the next generation to value their garments and use less. It all started with Ryan’s nephew. Shortly after Viggo was born Ryan gifted him clothes, but by the time they arrived they were already too small. This served as a signal: childrenswear today fails to recognise the dynamic and rapidly changing bodies of Earth’s LittleHumans. Inspired by his background in deployable satellite technology, Ryan created a garment that would grow with his nephew, reducing water and carbon footprints, and the need to keep buying new clothes. Soon after, Petit Pli was born and Clothes That Grow went on to win multiple awards, starting a sustainable childrenswear revolution.
Farah Hourani from FabricAid
I’m Farah Hourani, and I’m a creative brand designer, manager, and consultant based between Jordan and Lebanon.I started out my career as a fashion designer, and since then, I’ve been an educator with Edraak an online educational platform; I was the creative director at JOHUD one of the largest local NGOs in Jordan; and now I’m the country manager for FabricAID – one of the biggest social enterprises in the region – while running a contemporary up-cycling fashion brand named SALAD from the heart of Beirut.
I’ve always been drawn to the unordinary and unexplored opportunities to challenge my creative self and tap into beauty in the most unexpected places. It allowed me to wear many hats, on projects in entirely different fields, while still allowing me to excel and develop a signature that people associated with the work I do.
Guillaume Credoz from Bits to Atoms
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Workshop:
Prototyping with Claudia Simonelli
This workshop looked into aspects of prototyping, guiding the participants through the first steps of thinking about ther projects through making.
Claudia is an italian Industrial Designer currently based in Amman, Jordan. Since 2013 she has been developing her passion crafting projects between photography, digital art and design, including interactive design products, personal photo exhibitions and installations. Her experience at Fab Lab Toscana in 2016 allowed her to get digital fabrication skills and co-found Fabctory - recipes for innovation; a lab spin-off, focused on training, setting labs, co-design and prototyping for companies. During the last few years, she has co-organized workshops and crafted training programs for students, professionals and makers all over the world, being a speaker at international events. Since 2017 she is part of the core team of the Fabricademy and the local instructor of the Program at the Fab Lab Techworks in Amman.
8. Market Analysis
The fourth week looked into market analysis and provided participants with a deep dive into understanding their customers and their needs, the state of the market and competition. Techniques covered were market sizing as well as competitor and user persona analysis. At the end of the week, a final presentation by each participant laid out the project that they would be focussing on for the next phase.
Dima Hijazin
Dima Hijazin is currently a design educator received her BSc in Architecture from Jordan University, experienced in teaching design thinking and problem solving. Dima is now a certified trainer of trainees in Entrepreneurship Education, recognized by the Ministry of Education-Jordan, trained by Goethe Institute under the program “Entrepreneurship Education in Jordan schools”. She holds a position of IBMYP Personal Project coordinator at her school and works as a supervisor for more than 10 teachers and 40 students working on individual projects. She occupies a position of a certified workshop leader for the International Baccalaureate (IB), and the role of design curriculum developer/reviewer with the IB as well. Her Master degree in International Relations, with experience in developing policies and strategies of development with the United Nations- Iraq mission, gave her the opportunity to engage with less fortunate communities, and led her to believe in changing communities through education is the key of any development process.
