Thinh Truong revealed the secrets behind ‘Unwoven memories’, an unconventional interactive design work, at the FinalOk_V24.adg Conference
News
Embracing the unknown in Experimental Design
Date
27 December 2024
In June 2023, Thinh Truong graduated in Motion Graphics and Video from IED Barcelona with 'Unwoven memories', an impressive final degree project that explored and translated the memories of the inhabitants of Colonia Güell into a new form of textile language. After completing an exhaustive and demanding four-year training programme in the field of Visual Arts at the IED school in the Gracia district, his overflowing creativity materialised into an unconventional proposal. In addition to earning him one of the IED Barcelona Best Thesis Awards of his graduating class for Visual Arts, participating in the Blanc Festival and being exhibited at Sónar+D 2024, last summer the project also managed to surprise the expert eye of the jury of the prestigious ADG Laus Awards. And so, with its indisputable quality, innovation and excellence, ‘Unwoven memories’ won one of the Gold Laus Awards in the Digital category.
But how did Thinh Truong manage to go all that way to get to that moment? What secrets does his work process hide? Where does this proposal that he himself defines as “experimental and interactive” come from, and how has it developed to reach the — desired? — final result?
The answers to these and other questions were revealed on 4 December at the FinalOk_V24.adg Conference, held in the Disseny Hub Barcelona Auditorium, in which Thinh participated, revealing some of the key aspects of his design process. The highlights are recounted below.
Embracing the unknown in Experimental Design
"One of the biggest challenges with ‘Unwoven Memories’ was dealing with the unknown. Since it was such an experimental project, I had no idea what the final result would look like. And honestly, that’s something we’re not used to in design: we’re so results-driven that we forget how much creativity can come out of making mistakes and figuring things out along the way. That’s where the magic happens. If we keep obsessing over perfect results, we’re just going to lose out to AI, because AI is great at delivering results. But it’s the messy, unpredictable process of discovery that makes human creativity so special, and we need to honour that."
Interaction Design going beyond the conventional
"Another thing I loved about this project was how it interacted with the community. The way that the interaction worked wasn’t about traditional UX/UI design or some fancy sensor-based installation. It was more organic — it adapted to the community itself, shaped by their memories and contributions. That made it so much more meaningful because it wasn’t just about designing for them, but designing with them. Each community brought something unique to the project, and that approach felt fresh compared to the usual Interaction Design methods. It’s not about imposing a framework, but about letting the interaction evolve naturally."
Photo: Xavi Padrós.
Photo: Xavi Padrós.
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