Design's Stone Soup

One sunny morning, a group of designers students came together, each one possessing an ingredient for the recipe of great artwork. Alone, each student looked at his or her ingredients in dismay. But together, the students began to have visions of great works like those of da Vinci, Seurat, and Picasso. As each person began to add ideas and ingredients to the "soup" of creation, their vision became a reality. While the piece may not have ultimately rivaled the works of the great masters in art, it was a symbol of their cooperation together as designers and as artists. A piece of foam packaging and yards of ribbon later, their "stone soup" of design was a success. Had it not been for their group effort, the design in their visions would never have come to fruition.

For those out there who don't know the story of stone soup, it is a children's tale about three soldiers returning home from war. They stop in at a village, hoping to find food and lodging for the night, but upon seeing the soldiers, the villagers have hidden all of their food. So the soldiers decide to make a stone soup, enticing each villager to add one ingredient. Because of the cooperation of the villagers, they end up cooking a marvelous soup that everyone shares. It was our job as design students to create a similar stone soup (though not edible) by combining art and craft supplies we brought from home. The project was an excellent example of how designers are never their own one-man show. Designers must work together with other designers to make their visions a reality.

++Photo by Kylee Ferguson

++Thanks to Kassie for taking the group photo