Parallel Design Approaches: Olivia Gilbey

OLIVIA GILBEY

Olivia Gilbey is a graphic designer that went on to study interactive and experiential design. 

In the interactive and new media field, there is always a push to adopt anything that is new. It has gone to such an extreme at times that the actual experience is no longer examined. The projects become showcases of new technology and techniques rather than well-thought-out experiences. These flashy installations become untouchable to the average user.

Unable to fully grasp the distance new technology creates, it is hard for the mind to enter into the frame or space that the design is attempting to create. When you’re able to hide the tech, making it so that the naked eye cannot pinpoint every gadget or equipment used, it then allows the participant who is interacting with the piece to feel as if they are entering an experience that they are not only a part of but can have influence over.

Whether it be architecture or interactive design, its main purpose should always be for the participants (instead of audience). When otherwise, you are no longer designing for people and are now creating a piece of self-expression–a personal exploration, one that people may acknowledge from afar but never touch.

Hopefully, we can all pull away from this direction and move towards creating personal experiences that can actually impact the users instead of simply blinding them.