‘Poetic Design’ is a course for undergraduate and postgraduate students focused on re-imagining everyday designed objects in ways that thoughtfully reconnect us with our everyday experiences. Students learn how to design objects that are not just ‘useful’ but that are also intrinsically meaningful both philosophically and emotionally.

Working in small, interdisciplinary groups, students research and re-design clocks, matches, dustpans, sponges, keys and other everyday objects. Through discussion, reading and practical design projects, students consider the role of what’s ‘normal’ in how objects and interactions are designed and how designers can play with or challenge these norms. Students examine both the aesthetic qualities of everyday objects and the contexts in which they are used. Students explore how designers can integrate methods and philosophies from art and poetry into their design practices. The outcomes of this process are speculative designs that question or broaden the form or purpose of different everyday objects and experiences.

Designed and taught in collaboration with Dr Thomas Lee
Undergraduate program coordinated by Dr Alexandra Crosby