I have found that Challegne Detroit is all about trying new things. This final challegne project I had the pleasure of working with MInt Artist Guild. Mint Artist is a small non profit that teaches busniess, career and life skills to teen visual artist. They are so awesome because they prioritize creativity, inclusivity, youth development and economic activity.
Lets start with the process. For each challegne we usee design thinking, if you have never heard of design thinking it refers to the cognitive, strategic and practical processes by which design concepts are developed by designers and/or design teams. I am going to take you through the first two phases/steps of design thinking. That were most critical to me, if you want to know more about all the steps to design thinkiing check out the link below.
The first and most inportant phase to me is “empathy,” this step allowed me to interview Mint alumni, board memebers and supporters. During this step I explain what the project is and based on there background I would have specfic questions geared towards there background and pieces I thought they might be helpful answering for the project.
The second phase “define,” during this phase you typically go through your interviews and synthasize them in a way that contributes to your deliverables. Since my deliverables where already set to go, my interviews really helped me decided what would be important pieces for an internship and the overall structure.
The interview phase provided me with good example projects, skill development, and funding strategies that could be used to make the internship sustainable. Overall design thinking is awesome and if you ever find yourself working on a project test it out and see how you like it.