Communication Design & Strategy: Design Thinking Tools

At a very basic level, Design Thinking is the framework designers use to understand the problem, explore possibilities and land on a potential solution.

You can use library resources to help you with this process, including books that introduce different frameworks for thinking through problems, materials that help consider and prototype effective design solutions, and cards or workbooks that help you through processes like testing ideas, aligning teams and gathering perspectives.

Design Kit, powered by Ideo, is a website of methods and resources designed to support you with the design thinking process, from research and ideation through to prototyping and launch.

Permission to Muck About (2021-2024) is the culmination of hundreds of hours of workshops and interviews, conversations and explorations and all kinds of other digressions. The film’s aim echoes the mission of the Design Research Works project: To show the world what it can gain from Design Research.

The Library has a physical Materials Library, located on the ground floor (click here to find out more about the Materials Library), and online resources useful in the study of materials:

• EduSeries by The Sustainable Angle
  Tools and resources about the significant environmental impacts of materials, the commercially-available sustainable material alternatives and emerging innovations. Contact the Library for the password to this resource. 
• Material ConneXion
  Database of physical materials as well as processes. It includes more than 10,000 innovative materials in various categories for architecture, design, and textiles. Find out how to register for this database on the Materials Library page.