Explore design influences, one from te ao Māori and another relevant to you as a designer, to identify characteristics you can include in your own design ideas for a product or spatial design. The second design influence may also be from te ao Māori.

The design influence from te ao Māori could be a:

• regional design style and the meanings and stories behind it
• specific type or form of object, space, or building.

The product or spatial design idea does not have to be set at the start of your exploration and may develop as you gather inspiration from your source materials.

Step 1. Collect source materials

Collect images, photographs, drawings, details of your design influences.

Design influence 1

Research a design influence from te ao Māori and gather source materials. Gather images and information to support your understanding of the design influences you have chosen.

Make sure that you have referenced the source(s) of the images you have gathered and who the original creators were. What are the cultural safety aspects to consider in using designs from te ao Māori?

Gather images of ‘traditional’ and ‘contemporary’ examples of your design influence. Where possible, find:

• a variety of examples or experiences of that design influence, eg pōwhiri
• details of construction
• design features, eg relationship or whakapapa to mana whenua, local, or regional styles.

With the guidance of your teacher, and where possible with guidance of local kaumātua or kuia, share your examples and seek their knowledge around the importance of your chosen design in relation to its origin, iwi, or hapū. Using the information conduct further research on traditional design styles associated with the area or origin.

Answer these questions to help focus your initial research:

• What are the origins of your source materials?
• What are the functions of your source materials?
• How do people interact with them?
• What is the significance of your chosen source materials in relation to what you are designing?

Design influence 2

The second design influence can be another designer or other influence.

Potential designers to select as your second design influence are listed below or choose another in consultation with your teacher.

Suggested Traditional Practice: Wikukī Kā, Rangi Kipa, Pine Taiapa and The NZ Māori Arts and Crafts Institute, Te Puia, Rotorua.

Suggested Contemporary Practice: Selwyn Muru, Ian Scott, John Scott, William Royal, Rewi Thompson, Tere Insley, Perry Royal, Rau Hoskins, Elisapeta Heta, Raukura Tureic, and Rebecca Green.

For each selected designer, give a brief explanation about:

• their design biography
• why you chose them
• what is it you find interesting about their work
• a selection of images of their work.

For the chosen design influence from te ao Māori and your other chosen design influence, you must explain your rationale for choosing them and how you have considered them in your design ideas. You must explain visually, with annotations or brief written statements, why you have chosen them and what aspects of them you are drawing on in your designs.

Step 2. Identify characteristics

Identify characteristics of the design influences that you would like to use to help you generate ideas that you find interesting and inspiring.

When looking for characteristics of your design influences you may identify the uses, styles, motifs, symbolisms, and meanings of the source materials.

Think about if these characteristics are aesthetic, functional, spiritual, or metaphorical.

Step 3. Generate ideas

Generate a range of starting ideas inspired by your source material.

• If you are designing a product, think about who is it for and how it will be used?
• If you are creating a spatial design, think about where will it be and what will it be used for?

Step 4. Explore design ideas

Use visual communication techniques to explore these ideas and help shape your thoughts around a spatial or product design.

Experiment with your initial ideas to develop them further by making models and drawings that show alternative design options. Show your experimentation with the ideas inspired by the characteristics the design influences and extending them by experimenting with aspects of form and function.

When experimenting with your design, consider:

• how people will interact with the space or the product
• alternative materials it could be made from
• how it might go together (construction)
• alternatives to form, shape, pattern, texture, colour, and positioning (could it go somewhere else?)
• for site specific design contexts, the use of maps and site plans
• using visual communication techniques to explore a range of different ideas
• trying to combine your ideas in different waysextending your ideas to practise divergent thinking by looking again at the characteristics of your design influences.