Teaching geometrical principles to design students

• Main Authors: Christoph Bartneck, Loe Fejis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Digital Culture & Education (DCE) 2009-12-01
• Series: Digital Culture & Education
• Subjects: Design; math; tessellation; Escher; geometry
• Online Access: http://www.digitalcultureandeducation.com/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/dce1015_bartneck_2009.pdf

We propose a new method of teaching the principles of geometry to design students. The students focus on a field of design in which geometry is the design: tessellation. We review different approaches to geometry and the field of tessellation before we discuss the setup of the course. Instead of employing 2D drawing tools, such as Adobe Illustrator, the students define their tessellation in mathematical formulas, using the Mathematica software. This procedure enables them to understand the mathematical principles on which graphical tools, such as Illustrator are built upon. But we do not stop at a digital representation of their tessellation design we continue to cut their tessellations in Perspex. It moves the abstract concepts of math into the real world, so that the students can experience them directly, which provides a tremendous reward to the students.