Speculative design

Importance of Speculative Design
Speculative design uses artefacts that personifies a critique on a culture or commentary. The process of designing the artefact reflects the critical lens and the values that it has been built around. It also picturizes age old beliefs mores and practices of culture.
Speculative design challenges the assumption and preconceptions of people that plays an important role in everyday life. It reflects the attitude or approach rather than a method. People have their own ways of critiquing rather this subject of Speculative design is used mostly to facilitate people to put their points across as an open discussion on which further people could debate and come down to plausible solutions. It becomes an open critique that can instigate questions in people's mind to think over again with a different perspective rather being bias towards the specs.
The artefact is used to examine and encourage a dialogue on the impact of technology in our everyday lives. It is also an approach which young designer follow these days rather than jumping directly into solutions thinking how life would be, predicting and forecasting imagination’s “what if” which directly opens a debate for the people.
Dunne and Raby cite some examples that draw from futurology, political theory and literary fiction. Some of their famous works are Solar Kitchen Restaurant, Menstruation Machine, and Phantom Limb. The idea of achieving a desirable future.
Speculative design is not an art but it borrows from the similar methodology which has to be closer to the everyday life. Although it derives inspiration from art but it still remains the design which is a bit disturbing as it comments on how things could be changed. The piece of art has dark complex emotions which are currently ignored in the design. Speculative design critical role is to raise a thought of questions in peoples fixed mind-set ranging from emotional to physiological experiences.
Design is always thought of making things nice and aesthetically beautiful solving some problem, giving a better luxurious life to the user but this process of speculative design is have an unspoken Hippocratic Oath. It reveals the darker side of the design and reveals the scary possibility of a cautionary story.
Humour plays an important role in speculative design where it brings the user in the dilemma weather it is serious or not. Preaching is an easy job but critique in speculative design is a skilful job. It engages the audience and boosts their imagination in a constructive manner so that user could answer those questions and initiate the dialogue. Black humour works the nest in many cases.
Speculative design is an attitude that artist carries and values to take it forward in visualizing the new possibilities. It may have 90%of humour and 10% of critique. It sets new definition without going deep into the complexities of design and trying engaging user with challenging issues. The design is usually represented through media or fiction films in art galleries. This practice is pretty subjective which explores situation through emergent landscapes of knowledge and culture.
Design is a medium that can communicate with everyone easily therefore speculative design uses regional clothing, cinema, cuisine and popular music which are full of character that thrills the people to participate and be the audience of such a creative piece. It uses these design skills to throw a light upon the technosocial situations that do not exist. People enjoy this form on YouTube or tumblr when it becomes viral. But the picture is still unclear what this speculative design is actually about as it is not yet a specific field with set of criteria. However people have not yet figured out is it a web streaming or collectible of artefacts. Nobody has a perfect answer to it as people hardly earn out of this but still modern people participate in bring out the message.
This practice of critical design is unique and is far-fetched which is right here right now.
 
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