PARTICIPATORY DESIGN WORKSHOP

Creating a logo for the “Amigos de la Montaña” community

Participants: members of the community “Amigos de la Montaña” and designers of participatory design and

project management specialization at Universidad del Bosque Bogotá, Colombia

Coacher: Jorge Montaña - Industrial Designera participatory design expert

First Day

Andres Plazas of “Amigos de la Montaña” ( “Friends of the Mountain”) make a presentation which is the result of 30 answers from an year earlier cuestion asked to the 124 members of “Amigos de la Montaña” . This cuestion was:

¿Why do you climb the mountain?

Why do you climb the mountain?

“amigos de la montaña” A shared feeling

“I climb the mountain because it is a way to meditate, to feel alive and healthy, and because it is an oasis of peace, quietness and harmony in the midst of the city.

The days that I upload are more productive and happy. "

Marta

“The mountain is a holy time a week to get in touch with nature, with the Mother Earth. It is the grounding ...

We must inform people who are new and coming, this is a sacred place that we cherish. In that aspect it is like respecting Mom. This is our mother too, then you have to take care of, you have to consent to it, you must evaluate it .... "

Andrés

“I find that it heals my soul to start the day the color of vegetation, the mountain´s air, the sound of the creek, the attitude of other walkers, the silent and anonymously-created friendships by only a greeting and a looking at me .”

Gustavo

“I climb the mountain because it allows me to be in contact with the unity, and remember (step by step) that I am one more.

And if being a community we can still realize that we are "one more", that is far better.!!”

Fernando

"Why do I get on the Mountain:

Because it is the nutrition of my soulBecause it is the joy of my beingBecause it is the peace of my mindBecause it is the food of my bodyBecause sentiment is sharedBecause it's LOVE for solidarity and community.In a word that means LIFE, my LIFE.

Gloria

“…I realized that there where human concerns do not afflict the soul and tree huggings protect me and cooling water exists I could build my being since my habits. Letting myself climb the mountain means a little more each day. I am sure to find more truth in these fragrant leaves and fresh bogotan air than elsewhere …”

Zunil

After the presentation of the “Amigos de la Montaña” (Friends of the Mountain), each workshop´s participant in five piece of papers, wrote five words that expressed what for them this presentation had inspired ….....

Community + friendshipfeelingsprotectionsacred

Community + friendship:emotion

green tissueconnectionrecognitionrenaturesymbiosistransformationpeace

By doing an exercice of association and concepts we concluded this :

Second Daywalk in “Quebrada La Vieja”

EXPERIENCE

JOY

CONNECTIONUNDERSTANDING

APPROPRIATION

Participatory designers put in their place, must live the experience described. EMPATHY

COMMUNITY

FRIENDSHIP

FEELING

PROTECTION

HOLYNESS

WE GRAPHED

The instruction was to draw with a few strokeswhat kind of meaning the mountain gives to them.

Third Day

After an exercise of association and grouping the work that was done in the mountains, we returned to graphically represent the most frequent concepts.

With colored paper and magazine clippings it was made multiple graphic representations of the most common concepts that appeared in the previous step:

The change of the representation technique, now cut paper, implies another mental process that generates new connections

After a process of elimination, association and grouping the total of representations, with thick marker and very few strokes, it was done another multiple graphical representations, now taking in mind the idea of creating a logo for the “Amigos de la Montaña”

And again, through a process of association, clustering and elimination this result came :

A mountain giving a warm hug to the city.A smile to the mountain.A happy city wich happiness comes from the smiling mountain and the cheerful colors given by their buildings and houses.A path that leads from the city to the mountain.

The designer Luis Gabriel Forero, based on the drawing, developed proposals ...

Participatory Design never ignores the professional designer that now and then facilitates the process and interprets the result by essentially applying his skills.

And these are some testimonies of the community Amigos de la Montaña :

"Although I was not at the first meeting I did not want to stay without participating in the development of the graphical representation of what it means to me the mountain, as its regular walker .

So I decided to join them on Saturday in this exercise that took place precisely in the mountain. Without being an accomplished artist and occasionally doing a sketch this time in the great green room and the presence of Jorge and his students , we took the task of expressing graphically what we felt in the mountains. At the beginning I could not think much, I continued with my blank pages, but something that helped me a lot was that Jorge said: "Not to draw things but feelings" .

Then I asked for myself: what makes me climb the mountain ? and that's when it occurred to me that the joy I feel with the contact of the mountains, could represent a big smile , in the deep green of the mountain. I agree that I might miss something blue to make a tribute to the old “Quebrada La Vieja”(ravine), but I hope you were able to contribute something in this process of collective creation. "

Ricardo Diaz - member of the community

"........ the process to define the logo of Friends of the Mountain was excellent and fast ;, with a single visit to the mountain it was possible that the logo translated very closely the feelings we mountain hikers have towards her, to all walkers , to nature and to the city itself .

Watching the process I, saw many figures from every stage and at this time that I was looking at them I was not touched or knocked; then from one moment to another when the final result emerged I was really astonished. I realized that the feelings that I have towards the mountain where all in there so I felt myself really identified with it, which I think is the essence of a logo . Congratulations again and thank you very much ! "

Fanny Santamaría - member of the community

".... On Tuesday when we saw the result of the pre-final logo it gave me happiness to see that also the person who took the final design - a designer - was walking down the same path.

I would emphasize that I see a parallel between the group of design students and the community : in both cases these are people who deeply enjoy what they are doing. I think these new friends of the mountain captured many of the feelings , experiences, joys and sorrows that we all share in this sense. I think the logo of this community could not have been done in a better way than with this rich dialogue with another community .

This logo also left us a great lesson : we always function better in a group than as individuals ..... "

Clara María Cortés - member of the community

" In a comunnity as large and diverse as the “Amigos de la Montaña” it is possible that each mountain hiker will mean different things such as music, or landscape, or exercise, or fresh air, or friendship, etc. . The participatory way the process was conducted meant that the achieved final result really interpreted what is common to all of us: the warm and affectionate embrace the mountain gives us every morning ; the joy that comes from the relationship of the mountain with the walkers and hikers and the joy that we bring from it to the city.

Buildings painted with colors symbolizing Bogotá are decidedly cheerful buildings that link the Friends of the Mountain to the City .

It is also a logo that does not require further explanation , remain attractive for children and an easy image of understanding and remembrance .

As a dreamer I suddenly think that in the future this smiling mountain could be brought to life as a character that by different ways of media do environmental education. "

Andrés Plazas

more examples of participatory design cases in: www.disenoparticipativo.com

www.disenoparticipativo.com

blog: www.disenoparticipativo.tumblr.com

More about Jorge Montana in

www.jorgemontana.com