Three students of the 4th year of industrial design of FME were heading for an international design workshop in Turkey in May. Their task was to come up with a tourist-attractive meeting point and, at the same time, to propose a new activity that would be worth visiting or experiencing. What is actually the main task of a designer? And how to nourish own creativity?

The historical territory called Cappadocia is located in today's Turkey. The organizers of the international design workshop "Cappadocia Workshop 2023" selected this area as the main working task for the participants from Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Turkey. "We were supposed to deal with the design of services, specifically the service for tourists visiting the Cappadocia region. In addition to the service, the design was to include a significant landmark, i.e. let's say a new distinctive building that would also serve as a meeting point," explains industrial design student Viktor Novotný.

The participants spent the first days in Istanbul, and at the end they could fine-tune their ideas directly in Cappadocia. They worked in mixed teams with students from abroad. Thanks to this, each of the three Czech participants gained hands-on experience working on a completely different design that they and their colleagues created during the week-long workshop. "We decided to take a break from the problems that Cappadocia is facing. Specifically, they suffer from unruly quad drivers, who often leave the designated routes and destroy nature. We found out that you can rent just ordinary bikes in the region, but riding them can be challenging in this terrain, so we proposed to build an electric bike rental," says student Kateřina Gálová.

Petr Šnajdr and his team moved away from the unique landscape formed by volcanic deposits. "We combined volcanic rocks and the local tradition of wine growing. We designed a contrasting, but at the same time partially flowing modern building inspired by local rocks. Wine tastings from local producers could also take place in the building," confirms Šnajdr. The last of the trio, Viktor Novotný, worked in the team on the design of an exterior game that would take tourists through the countryside and help them improve their visitor’s experience during their trip to Cappadocia.

Some designs are better than others

For students of industrial design, the workshop was not their first foreign experience as they had travelled to Salzburg during the last semester. "For me, the workshop is beneficial mainly because it brings together students of different universities and different orientations: from industrial designers through architects to interior designers. Everyone then contributes with a different view of the assigned task," Šnajdr praises. All three students add that they are grateful for the international experience both to the Institute of Machine and Industrial Design, which supported their journey, and to doctoral students Darina Zelenitca and Pavol Lupták, who arranged the event.

A large part of the tasks that students perform at school and at similar events is far from being "just about drawing", as it might seem to a layman. Part of the designer's work is also to bring a new perspective, innovation or to tackle a given problem in a creative way. "When I joined the department, I didn't expect it. It wasn't until my studies that I actually understood what a designer's job involves. But precisely because we are trying to bring other innovations than just a new look, I enjoy it much more," adds Šnajdr, who would like to devote himself to technical development using industrial design approaches in the future.

Kateřina Gálová has been working as a designer since her studies, albeit as a temporary designer. "Thanks to school collaboration, I got to a company that processes fungal mycelium. At one moment, their designer left the company and they wrote to me asking if I wanted to work with them occasionally. I went to school wanting to focus on sustainable design, so this job is exactly what I want to do," says Gálová. "I am currently working more on graphic design," adds Viktor Novotný, adding that there is a whole range of possibilities how to devote to design.

And how do young designers nurture their most valuable resource: creativity? "I try to change the environment often, I am not happy when I'm stuck in a single place. When I really need to think, I go for a walk and I usually get ideas during a walk," says Gálová. "I, on the other hand, try not to look at my phone too much outside, but rather around me, at people and surroundings. I draw inspiration from observing the world in which I live," adds Šnajdr.