IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 51

For the design industry, the
popularity of image-sharing sites
is resulting in a broader framework
for design conversations. Clients,
co-workers and students can now
all easily reference the same pictorial
language. In many ways this is
making communication more
fluent-a lot of designers find this
kind of "visual conversation"
liberating. But the wealth of images
now available in just a few clicks
has prompted a new set of concerns.
How can we make sure we're using
these tools to our advantage?

As part of their Innovation Incubator
program, Perkins & Will's Branded
Environments team set out to solve
this very problem. They're working
on repurposing the visual platform
by layering metadata onto all of their
images, making a very rich, shareable
visual encyclopedia.

"It's about knowledge sharing,
not just image sharing," says Katie
Jansen, a Senior Project Designer
at PW.

The PW tool's working name for the
platform is "Middleware Pinboard,"
and it allows them to connect
directly with their server in a visual
platform. Jansen says it is a visual
bookmarking system, but it's not just
about sharing images.

"It's about collating collective insights,
making them easily searchable,
and enabling designers to quickly
and efficiently make informed
design approaches to each project.
It's not about cherry-picking the
latest and greatest executions on
the market."

The focus on information and
education is first and foremost
in P&W's application of the project.
Primarily, it's a tool that will allow
them to work faster and expedite
their research process, eliminating
the familiar research redundancies
so common at larger firms. The
metadata attached to each image
will speak to market innovations,
trends, materials, vendors and
industry demand-sort of a souped
up, visual proprietary Wiki.

Right now there aren't plans for
the tool to be deployed externally,
but the implications of doing so
would certainly be interesting.
How would a tool work that allowed
clients insight into all the "insider
data" designers use to make design
decisions? Would it empower the
design process, allowing clients
and designers to speak more freely,
or would designers be innovating
themselves out of work? As we move
toward a more visual, design
educated culture, it's a question we
may have to answer sooner rather
than later.

perspective

51



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013

Contents
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - Cover1
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - Cover2
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 1
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 2
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - Contents
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 4
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 5
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 6
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 7
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 8
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 9
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 10
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 11
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 12
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 13
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 14
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 15
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 16
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 17
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 18
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 19
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 20
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 21
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 22
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 23
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 24
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 25
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 26
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 27
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 28
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 29
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 30
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 31
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 32
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 33
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 34
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 35
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 36
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 37
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 38
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 39
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 40
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 41
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 42
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 43
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 44
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 45
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 46
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 47
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 48
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 49
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 50
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 51
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 52
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 53
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 54
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 55
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - 56
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - Cover3
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2013 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2019fallwinter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2019summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2019spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2018fallwinter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2018summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2018spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2017fallwinter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2017springsummer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2016fallwinter
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2015fallwinter
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2014fallwinter
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2013fallwinter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2013springsummer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2012fallwinter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2012springsummer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2011fallwinter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2011springsummer
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