The lecture on design philosophy regarding the working means with prototyping as a way of transforming your idea into a physical object was the first of the third lectures to follow. We discussed in depth of what it actually means to build, use materials and get valuable insights from each test. As one of the fundamental activities of a designer, it is highly needed to understand the principles behind what does a prototype implies. 

Discussing with my classmate over Valentine’s definition of a prototype, we did agree that it behaves as a teacher or a guide in your design process, it is the most valuable tool in order to concretise ideas and test them in real time. It is indeed a iterative process where failing and succeeding hold valuable lessons in order to achieve your final goal. Last, but not least we did agree that certainty is the aspect that will always miss. It is impossible to be fully confident of the first version of your prototype as this process requires that the “individual’s imaginations is tenaciously explored, tested, broken and rebuilt”. It is the moment where your confidence will be challenged and your wisdom will be your most valuable tool. 

The main knowledge behind this lessons is that we as designers must understand the situation we are designing for, the concept and the materials. As such we will be able to face the issues with lesser difficulty. 

I value book knowledge highly and I give its spot in my design practice, but throughout the talk I kept thinking that this is such a complex situation where issues that we can not yet imagine will come across and in those moments we need real life wisdom and actual prototyping practice in order to be successful. I told myself that I should not underestimate the insights from people that have worked with these methods before, but I should nevertheless exercise this as much as possible in order to create my own working method and to develop the thinking that will adjust my mind patterns in the best of ways.