Entering the third semester things are getting real. I am scared of the fact that I have to start writing the thesis soon. This will be a big project that will accompany me for several months. But the biggest question I asked myself was if my topic can actually fulfil all the requirements to be passed as a master thesis of communication design. Of course the thesis should be a topic that one is very passionate about (this is the case for me yay). But is it too artsy?
I had several talks with people across different disciplines, different age groups and different experiences about this question and came to the following conclusion:
YES, IT IS COMMUNICATION DESIGN.
Heres why:
The more I think about it, the more obvious it becomes. My topic is not “just art”. It’s about how people read objects, about attention and their interpretation. And also about the thin line between something being seen as random trash or as something meaningful.
Not just posters
I know I know it’s a shocker but communication design is not just posters. (Gasp :O)
Its also logos and packaging 😛
No just kidding, communication design is about how meaning is created and understood in the world around us. How we c o m m u n i c a t e through d e s i g n.
Reading the object
Everyday installations are basically unplanned visual messages. They appear in public spaces without someonces permission, without an explanation tag next to it and (very important) without an author. And still, people react to them. Or they don’t. Both is very interesting (to me).
Photography
A big part of my research is also photography. I do not only want to capture the moment, I also have to put thoughts into it and use it as my design tool. What do I want the viewer to see, what do I want them to see first? The moment I take a photo of an everyday installation, I am already framing it. I decide what is visible, what is cropped out, what is centered and what becomes the focus. It’s a form of communication. I am translating something temporary into an image that can be shared, archived and interpreted by other people.
Framing it
Another reason why this topic belongs in communication design is the way context works. In my experiments last semester, the same object was treated completely differently depending on where it was placed. In some spaces it was removed immediately, in others it stayed untouched. Sometimes it was invisible. Sometimes it looked suspicious. That means the object itself is not the main factor. The rules of the space are. And those rules are also a form of communication. Public space constantly tells us what belongs and what doesn’t.
So when I research everyday installations, I’m not researching “art”. I’m researching visual culture. I’m researching how people make decisions based on what they see. How they categorize things. How they judge meaning. How they react to something that breaks the normal order of a place.
In the end, my thesis connects to graphic design through:
- visual communication (in public space & between photos and everyday objects)
- Concept Development (Exhibition, Werkstück, Flyer for exhibition)
- photography (& framing)
- exhibition design (as a designed communication format)
- attention, perception and interpretation (Perception Psychology, Gestalt Psychology)
- experimental communication / experimental marketing / experimental design
So yes, I am still scared. But I am also sure that my topic fits. The challenge now is not proving that it belongs. The challenge is turning it into a structured project that I can actually write down and defend.
