what is design1o1?
design 1o1 is an experiment within the world of online / offline education, design and new (and social) media.
the community is the message
we believe traditional deductive-based educational models to be outdated. in our world composed of an infinity of non-organized fragments and in which youtube, facebook and twitter monopolize most of our time, we can observe a very strong cognitive shift in students. from deductive-based minds, we now face inductive-based minds.
as designers, our main problem lies in finding new ways (and tools) to transfer knowledge.
what happens when new “social” tools and media are used within a classroom? we believe it requires the classroom to be transformed into a community.
how to transform a class into a community, using traditional and innovative media?
combining, blending, adding, testing all media? altogether, it is quite a fascinating challenge and it is our main goal.
if you would like to read more on the subject, you can do so here.
the first design 1o1 course
the first design 1o1 course is, in fact, called design 1o1. it took place online from october 28, 2013 to february 5, 2014. through 101 videos / letters / assignments, students get introduced to the basics of design.
here, the course trailer, presenting some goals and dynamics:
the main objective with design 1o1 was to build a community. it was not to educate thousands of people, nor to become rich. it was simply to create a design community.
as a result, more than 40 000 students enrolled to the course, 10 025 started it, 629 completed it, 350 asked for the final certificate, 300 submitted works for the final show, 100 came to berlin to the final show, 7 came to our summer camp / workshop, 3 came to our office for an internship and 1 remained with us to work.
a modular machine
let’s use the first “design 1o1” course as a starting point: 101 days long, 101 video-postcards / 101 pdf-letters / 101 exercises. a modular machine, reiterating itself every day, for 101 days.
then, in our next “1o1 courses”, we spread the 101 videos / pdfs over the period of 6 months and divide them into 3 parts (or “courses”) online and one final workshop “offline”.
online & offline
we strongly believe it is essential to have times for students and teachers to meet in person. this is why we always end our online journeys with a final “exhibition / graduation party” and a physical workshop (or: “camp”).
learning by doing
how did we manage to set up a community?
first of all, we always keep in mind that we are absolute beginners. thus, we go step by step, learn from our mistakes and iterate / improve upon time.
furthermore, we have a special mindset: to have fun and share our process. we spend lots of time/love/energy communicating all kinds of design 101-related things. we believe this is a good way to encourage conversation, and thus, generate a community.
the community
the main “design 1o1” community is based in the design 1o1 arena.
some thousands of people (from the close to the loose ones) who like each other very much and share many nice things between one another.
the design 1o1 crew
at some point during the first course of design 1o1, the students asked their instructors if they could become the teachers for a day. in fact, some students within the design 1o1 arena got together “online” and prepared the lesson for day 98.
it was a special day that changed a lot of things, because from then on, we understood that if the students teamed up, they could develop super powers.
a few months later, we launched architecture 1o1, a journey in which a big part was run by the former design 1o1 students. things worked out fine. some times were tough and other ones were easy… overall, the experience was very nice and special.
for this reason, little by little, “the design 1o1 crew” takes more and more responsibilities. some crew members come and go, but many of them remain very involved in this experiment.
this is mainly why we keep going!
:- )
idlab is a milan-based design company specialized in the themes of education and the great changes made possible by new media.
the company is composed of interesting people from italy and abroad, and counts among its clients: accademia di design e arti visive abadir, abitare, akademie schloss solitude, alta scuola politecnica, banco popolare, condor group, confindustria ceramica, eth zurich, expo milano 2015, fiera milano, fondazione di venezia, palma services, università commerciale luigi bocconi, università degli studi di milano bicocca.
idlab is presently in charge of producing the design 1o1 didactical materials (lessons / videos / pdfs), and making sure the various activities “run” properly. as mentioned below, it is the entity now financing the necessary costs related to the design 1o1 activities.
the financial side...
in design 1o1, we choose to go for the complete challenge, including the financial side!
throughout the first course of design 1o1, abadir and idlab shared some of the costs related to the course production. then, since the start of architecture 1o1, idlab is the entity financing all costs related to the production of the course materials. then, the rest of the work (a very big piece) is done by the design 1o1 crew.
here, some rough data related to the “financial” side of our activities:
the first course of design 1o1 cost idlab and abadir around 60 000 euro to produce. then, after fixing some details within our process and thanks to the design 1o1 crew, the architecture 1o1 journey cost idlab half of our first one: 30 000 euro. finally, idlab’s “projected” budget for design 1o1 redux is estimated to half of the architecture 1o1 one, hence: 15 000 euro.
ideally, we will keep on moving in this same direction, and lower our production costs with every new course we produce.
an incredible history
since the birth of design1o1, we collaborated with various of groups of people, some of them companies and schools. it is because of their love and support that design1o1 has become what it is today.
once again, thank you thank you! <3 <3
abadir is a very special design school / academy located in catania (sicily), on the slopes of the etna volcano.
it is the school that approves and certifies that our courses are “academically” recognized and accredited within the ects credit system.
thank you abadir!
:- )
to dive a little bit more into details, abadir is a private academy recognized by the italian ministry of education and a dynamic laboratory dealing with the changing world. it focuses its programs and activities on design education, mixing both traditional disciplines with new approaches and the local with the international.
idlab and abadir, at the time busy with whoami the design game, heard about the competition and teamed up to make a proposal (the video-trailer we show you above). design 1o1 became one of the winning entries and this is how the whole journey started.
:- )