Design Thinking and the Natural World,
Workshop + Zine
Scope Workshop facilitation, print design
As part of DC Design Week 2022, Threespot pitched, planned, and executed a workshop for DMV creatives to use the natural world as a guide for creative practice. Nora and I guided participants through the biomimicry and permaculture design principles, then facilitated activities that focused on observing those concepts at work in the natural environment.
Team
Nora Chovanec, Creative Director
Megan Lewin-Smith, Design Lead
Annette Allen, AIGA DC Program Coordinator
Planning
We outlined the structure of the workshop to first give participants some context for nature-based creative thinking. Nora focused on the biomimicry content and I on the permaculture content. Observation of naturally existing systems is integral to both biomimicry and permaculture in practice, so both activities center on recording/observing/interacting with systems found in our workshop location (Rock Creek Park). We decided a zine would be the best format to give participants additional context while they filled out the activities in a lightweight and interactive way.
Zine
For the zine itself I paired pressed flora I had collected with photography of leaves, to highlight the diversity of patterns and form that the natural world has to offer. Throughout the zine I paired Degular, a very contemporary, clean sans serif with IvyJournal, a serif with rounded, soft, and curved elements to emphasize the balance between structure and aesthetic commonly found in nature.
Workshop
The workshop took place on October 21, 2022. Participants engaged in 2 activities and a series of discussions/reflections about what they observed in the park, and how systems function to meet the needs of their environment.
