The design process in the creation of playful and communicative artifacts for a solidarity economy: two case studies

Abstract

Higher education institutions favor the creation of crucial environments for the development of local ecosystems, reinvigorating the interconnection between the agents of different environments (academic, business, governmental and social) and their abilities to foster creativity and creative knowledge environments. The Inclusive School of the Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo emerged in this context. It aims to collaborate in the training of students, combining technical-scientific knowledge, of an academic nature, with the appreciation of human skills, increasingly necessary in the formation of individuals capable of responding to the challenges of a more demanding society. This article discusses the process of creation and development of the Xmas Paper Toys and Graphic Poetry projects, within the scope of the Inclusive School of the Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo mission, for the Patronato Nossa Senhora da Bonança, a private institution of social solidarity located in north of Portugal. The adopted methodology crosses the design process with the operative principles of social design and a service-learning approach, simultaneously responding to the learning needs of the subject in which the projects were inserted, as well as to the "client" expectations. The Patronato Nossa Senhora da Bonança intended to market the products to raise funds that would contribute to the subsistence and continuity of its formation and solidarity activities, within the community in which it is inserted. Considering that, the final result of both projects is easy and economically reproducible, making the most of the resources used.