Category: Communication Design

For this Impulse blog entry, I wanted to share my insights from my lectures at Kingston University. After my first lecture, I felt so inspired that I went straight to the library and started doing research that would eventually lead me toward my master’s thesis topic.

On our first day, we got to hear about the career path of our lecturer, Cathy. She talked about moving through different creative and political spaces, from being part of a rebel music group to convincing students to create an alternative art school as a form of protest against London’s high tuition fees. The way she told these stories was incredibly engaging. With her comedic timing and honesty, it felt much more like sitting in the audience of a stand-up show than attending a university lecture. Of course, because it was my very first lecture in London and I was already buzzing with excitement about learning new things, I was probably way more impressed than everyone else. For the other students, it was likely just another rainy Thursday morning.

What I appreciated most about this lecture and the course in general is how seriously the university prepares students for their dissertation. This entire semester is dedicated to finding and shaping a topic, and they really take the time to guide us through that process. All the research we do is meant to lead toward a final project, supported by workshops that help us along the way. We work in groups, talk openly about our ideas, and constantly reflect on where we are and where we want to go.

One piece of advice Cathy keeps repeating really stuck with me: “Start with something small, you can always go bigger.” It’s exactly what I’ve been struggling with. I have a tendency to aim straight for big, complex problems that realistically require way more power, time, or resources than I currently have. Cathy explained that it’s often much more effective to start with something small and specific, and then slowly build on it. Over time, that small idea can grow, expand, and take on more layers. That’s what I’m trying to focus on now: collecting smaller ideas, letting them develop naturally, and then gradually adding more literature, references, and sources.

To help us through this process, Cathy divided us into three groups: Making Public, Making Situated Knowledge, and Making Meaning. Within these groups, we wrote down all of our interests and started mapping them together with the others. This simple exercise turned out to be surprisingly powerful. Seeing my thoughts laid out visually and alongside the ideas of others helped bring some structure to the chaos that had been floating around in my head. It made everything feel a little more tangible and manageable.

Links:
DE7608 intro Graphic Design – Future Practices Slides
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1SvQrDOy-4GwHipNV4sZ7klFm0ZUWH4DDy84T-SGMcjQ/edit?slide=id.p#slide=id.
Our Mindmaps:
https://padlet.com/qr-code/lhh5tuq2qwomtmav?source=image

For my first Impulse blog entry, I wanted to start with something that has always been a big part of how I see and understand the world: film. Even though I study design, I’ve always felt drawn to cinema. Not just as entertainment, but as a way of thinking. Film is a combination of so many different disciplines: image, sound, timing, emotion, storytelling, and decision-making. Watching films, and especially listening to directors talk about their process, reminds me that creative direction exists everywhere, not just in design. It makes me realise how important it is to learn from other fields, because the questions are often the same. How do you create meaning? How do you guide attention? How do you stay true to an idea while navigating uncertainty?

I recently watched a Directors Roundtable with Todd Phillips, Martin Scorsese, Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, Lulu Wang, Fernando Meirelles and it gave me a lot to think about. Not only about filmmaking, but about creative work in general.

One moment that stayed with me was when Martin Scorsese talked about The King of Comedy, which was called “flop of the year” when it was released. Today Scorsese is seen as one of the most important filmmakers of all time. It made me realise how success reshapes the way we look at people’s work. When someone becomes successful, we often forget the the failures and the moments where their work wasn’t understood. We see their career as something linear, even though it never was.

A story shared by the Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles stuck with me the most. When he was asked if he would consider moving to the US, he said: “I like to direct in Portuguese. I understand English, but I don’t feel English. If you say ‘mango tree’ in English, it’s just a tree. If you say ‘mangueira,’ it’s my mother, its scent, it’s so much.” This made me think about how language, context, and personal experience shape meaning. The same object can carry completely different emotional weight depending on how and where you encounter it. As someone interested in creative direction, this makes me reflect on how meaning is never fixed, it is always somehow shaped by cultural context.

Another idea that resonated with me was when they described production as an act of faith. Every day on set, you show up without knowing exactly what will happen. It might rain. Something might not work. The circumstances are rarely what you expected. You have to adapt constantly and make the best out of what is there. This feels very familiar to the creative process in general. You can prepare, research, and plan, but there will always be uncertainty. Instead of trying to control everything, you learn to respond, adjust, and trust the process.

Watching this conversation reminded me that creative direction is not about having complete control or certainty. It’s about observing closely and trusting that meaning will develop over time. It also reminded me that research is not always linear. Sometimes it starts with curiosity, with watching, listening, and collecting fragments. And only later do those fragments begin to connect.

In that sense, watching films and listening to the people who make them has become part of my research process. Not because it gives me clear answers, but because it helps me understand what it means to create something with intention.

Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iLtjMwkOlg&t=2471s
https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/biography/fernando-meirelles
https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/martin-scorsese-audiences-hated-king-of-comedy-1234913652/

For the next part of my research, I chose to watch the Google talk ‘Storytelling with Data’ by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic. I picked this specifically because, while David McCandless focuses on the beauty and ‘eye candy’ of data, Cole focuses on the clutter and the psychology of how we see. Since my project is all about ‘visual overload’ and how to use it strategically, I wanted to learn from someone who is an expert in the exact opposite: cleaning up the mess to make a clear point. I wanted to understand the rules of ‘perfection’ in data storytelling so that I can know exactly how and when to break them in my own maximalist designs.

In her talk, Cole explains that we aren’t naturally good at storytelling with data because we usually just ‘show’ the data instead of ‘explaining’ it. She talks a lot about Gestalt Principles of Visual Perception—how our brains look for order and try to group things together. One of her main points is about clutter. She says that every single element you add to a design takes up ‘cognitive load’ (which connects back to what I read in Steve Krug’s book). If you add too much, the user’s brain just shuts down because it’s too much work to process. Her goal is to strip everything away until only the most important ‘aha!’ moment is left.

What I found really useful was her advice on preattentive attributes. These are things like color, size, and position that our eyes notice before we even realize we are looking at them. Cole shows how you can use a single pop of color to lead the audience’s eye exactly where you want it. This made me think about my own posters for the ‘Growth of Consumerism’ project. While I want my posters to feel crowded and ‘loud’ to represent the mess of consumerism, I still need to use Cole’s logic to make sure the key message doesn’t get lost in the noise.

My conclusion after watching this is that storytelling is just as important as the data itself. If I just throw facts at people about how much waste the fashion industry creates, they might ignore it. But if I use Cole’s ‘storytelling’ structure—starting with a problem, building tension, and ending with a call to action—I can make a much stronger impression. Her approach is very ‘clean’ and corporate, which is a great contrast to the Maximalism I am exploring.

This talk is incredibly relevant to my master’s thesis because it taught me about the ethics of visual communication. Cole warns that we can easily mislead people with how we scale our graphs or use colors. In my work, I want to use ‘Strategic Friction’ to slow people down, but I have to be careful not to use ‘Dark Patterns’ or deceptive tactics that Cole and Harry Brignull warn about. My plan is to take her rules for clarity and focus and apply them to my maximalist layouts. I want to create a design that looks like a ‘conspiracy’ or a mess at first glance, but once the user starts ‘deciphering’ it, they find a very clear, data-driven story hidden inside. It’s about finding the balance between her ‘less is more’ and my ‘more is more’ to see which one actually changes consumer behavior in Croatia.

Disclaimer: AI was used in making this blog.

In the end of last month, I attended the FAT Ice Race in Zell am See. The event combines motorsports, lifestyle, fashion, music, and brand on a snowy airfield. My focus was not only on the racing, but on the overall creative experience of the event. In addition, I produced content for my portfolio on site to document visual narratives in the event context.

For my research, I chose to read ‘Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited’ by Steve Krug because it is the most famous ‘manual’ for how modern websites and apps are designed today. I wanted to understand the core rules that big companies use to make our digital experiences so easy and fast. Krug’s main point is his ‘First Law of Usability’: a web page should be self-explanatory so that the user doesn’t have to spend any effort wondering how to use it. He explains that people don’t actually read pages; they scan them for the first thing that looks useful—a behavior he calls ‘muddling through.’ To make this work, he suggests using clear visual hierarchies, obvious buttons, and getting rid of any unnecessary instructions.

In the book, I read about the concept of ‘cognitive load’ and the ‘reservoir of goodwill.’ Krug explains that every time a user has to think—like wondering ‘Is this a link?’ or ‘Where did the menu go?’—a little bit of their patience and energy leaks away. To prevent this, he promotes a seamless and frictionless design. The goal is to make the user’s journey so invisible and effortless that they reach their goal (like buying something) without ever having to stop and process what is happening.

My main conclusion after reading this is that while Krug’s methods are great for making things ‘usable,’ they are also the reason why impulsive shopping is so successful. If everything is designed to be frictionless, we lose the moment of reflection. This is why the book is so relevant to my thesis; it represents the ‘fast’ world I am trying to critique. While Krug says ‘don’t make them think,’ I believe that in the context of over-consumption, we actually need to make people think.

In my opinion, Krug’s laws have been used by corporations to create a culture of passive consumption. My design direction is the opposite: I want to use Strategic Friction and Maximalism to bring back that cognitive load. I want to use complex layouts and ‘slow design’ to intentionally interrupt the mindless flow that Krug’s principles have perfected. My goal is to see how I can use the opposite of his rules to create a design that isn’t just easy to use, but one that makes the user more conscious and responsible. By studying the ‘bible’ of fast UX, I’ve found a clear starting point for my own ‘slow’ and educational approach.

Disclaimer: AI used

https://dn790002.ca.archive.org/0/items/SteveKrugDontMakeMeThink/Steve_Krug_Don%E2%80%99t_Make_Me_Think%2C.pdf

The Netflix documentary ‘Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy’ is a perfect addition to my research because it directly shows how big corporations trick us into buying things we don’t actually need. The film doesn’t just talk about corporate greed; it explains the entire system designed to keep us trapped in a cycle of spending. What I found most interesting were the interviews with former marketing insiders; they openly admit to the psychological tricks they used to manipulate the public.

A major theme in the film is ‘planned obsolescence.’ This is something we all experience—like when a smartphone suddenly slows down after an update or a t-shirt falls apart after three washes. The documentary shows that this isn’t an accident. It started decades ago with the ‘Phoebus Cartel,’ where lightbulb manufacturers agreed to shorten the lifespan of bulbs so people would have to buy them more often. Today, this has become an industry standard. As a designer, this is a huge realization for me because I can see how design is often used to mask the poor quality of a product.

The film also does a great job of breaking down the psychology behind branding. Marketing isn’t just selling a product; it’s selling an emotion. They use brain research to figure out which colors, fonts, or messages—like ‘limited time offer’ or ‘huge sale’—trigger a sense of urgency in us. This creates a literal addiction to shopping. I realized that ads are basically selling a perfect version of ourselves that we will supposedly ‘become’ if we buy that item. It’s pure emotional manipulation, making us feel incomplete without the latest stuff.

I was especially hit by the part about the environmental disaster. The documentary visually shows massive landfills in poorer countries where all the clothes and electronics we throw away end up. It reminded me of what I saw in the ‘Terrapija 3.0’ project and the ‘Dobra ekonomija’ series. The film also warns about ‘greenwashing’—where companies use ‘natural’ and minimalist design aesthetics to look eco-friendly while they are actually still polluting the planet.

In my opinion, this movie is a ‘must-watch’ for any designer. It helps us realize how much responsibility we have when we create visual messages. The film inspired me to explore more in my own project how design can be more honest and help people see through these marketing tricks. Instead of design just being a tool to help someone sell more products, it should be used for education and making people think. For me, this documentary was a visual alarm that confirms my thesis: we need to stop playing by the rules of this ‘shopping conspiracy’ and start designing for real needs instead of manufactured desires.

Disclaimer: AI used

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34350086

https://www.netflix.com/title/81554996

“Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy” – Reflections on the Netflix Documentary

A vital component of my regional research was exploring Terrapija 3.0, the third iteration of a collaborative project involving my former faculty, University North (Sveučilište Sjever). Organized in partnership with the Terra Hub association and the renowned design studio 404, this project showcases student-designed posters selected by a professional jury. The exhibition addresses the ‘fast-paced’ nature of modern life, consumerism, and the urgent need for sustainability in the 21st century. The specific task assigned to the Media Design students, titled ‘Anti-Ad for a Fast World,’ challenged us to select a pressing global issue and design a visual critique that encourages the public to reconsider the environmental impact of their lifestyle choices.

The project highlights the ‘hidden price’ of our accelerated daily routines—ranging from fast travel and fast food to fast fashion, and even the rapid acquisition of knowledge through Artificial Intelligence. Behind these conveniences lie devastating consequences: skyrocketing energy consumption, mounting waste, and massive carbon emissions that exacerbate the global climate crisis. Terrapija 3.0 serves as a collective call for the world to slow down. The project was prominently exhibited at this year’s Zagreb Design Week, with selected posters also displayed within the university’s premises. Out of many submissions, the ten most impactful posters were chosen, each addressing a specific systemic problem.

The winning poster was created by student Lucija Oreški. Her work visually dissects the harmful consequences of industrial meat production that precede the consumption of fast food. The design illustrates the entire supply chain—from the deforestation required for grazing lands and the confinement of livestock to factory-induced air pollution and the excessive depletion of natural resources. The visual narrative concludes with mass processing and transport, dominated by a palette of deep reds and dark tones that symbolize danger, blood, and environmental degradation. The journey of meat to the consumer’s plate is depicted as a winding path of destruction, serving as a powerful visual indictment of the ecological cost of our dietary habits.

Another work that deeply informed my research was by Nika Šmic. Her poster utilizes the retail receipt—a ubiquitous and recognizable symbol of transaction—to expose the ‘true price’ of fast fashion; a price paid not by the consumer, but by the planet. Instead of a monetary value for a garment, the receipt lists ethical and environmental ‘costs’ such as exploited labor hours, sub-standard wages, chemical usage, water depletion, and textile waste. The final ‘total’ on the receipt leads to a single, haunting outcome: ecological collapse. By transforming a mundane object of consumption into a tool for transparency, the work forces the audience to stop and ask: What are we truly paying for when we buy cheap clothing?

Attending this exhibition was a crucial milestone in my creative process. The themes explored in Terrapija 3.0 are intrinsically linked to my master’s thesis on consumerism, irresponsible spending, and consumer accountability in Croatia. Seeing how my peers successfully utilized graphic design to create ‘anti-advertising’ provided me with fresh strategies for my own work. It reinforced my belief that design in Croatia must move beyond mere aesthetics and act as a provocative force that challenges the status quo of our local and global consumerist culture.

Disclaimer: AI used

https://terrapija.terrahub.eu/3.0/galerija

https://www.unin.hr/2025/09/otvorena-izlozba-terrapija-3-0-%E2%8F%A4-uspori-na-zagreb-design-weeku

Zagreb Design Week 2025

During my research trip to Vienna, I visited Softcover, a specialty bookshop renowned for its curated selection of photo books, art books, indie magazines, and zines. My primary objective was to immerse myself in high-quality print media to find inspiration for my master’s thesis, specifically focusing on the aesthetics of maximalism, collage, and analog techniques. While browsing their extensive collection, I purchased the ‘Dictionary of Color Combinations—Volume 2’. Although this acquisition serves as a general resource for my various design projects, its deep dive into tonal relationships and unconventional palettes will be invaluable for establishing the visual mood of my thesis.

I was particularly interested in exploring publications that utilize archives and experimental layouts. I spent considerable time examining issues of Mold and Grafikmagazine, as their design philosophies align closely with my interest in dense, information-rich aesthetics. These magazines demonstrate how complex narratives can be structured through bold typography and layered imagery, providing a ‘feel’ that is both contemporary and analytically rigorous. Furthermore, I dedicated a significant portion of my visit to their Zine collection. Since a zine is one of the potential formats I am considering for my final project, this was a crucial opportunity to analyze different dimensions, paper stocks, and binding methods. Evaluating these niche products, including postcards and calendars, helped me visualize how my research could be translated into a tangible, collectible object rather than just a digital file.

To further broaden my perspective, I also visited Brot Books Deli, another exceptional venue offering a unique intersection of literature and design. Here, I focused my search on specialized typography books and examples of infographics and information visualization. I was specifically looking for how complex data is handled within the banking, technology, and pharmaceutical sectors. These industries often deal with dense, abstract information, and observing how they simplify—or strategically complicate—visual data provided me with new insights into how to present the economic aspects of consumerism.

Seeing these professional examples of information architecture reinforced my desire to use a maximalist approach that remains legible and educational. The visit to these specialty shops was not merely a shopping trip but a vital part of my ethnographic research into the current state of independent publishing. It allowed me to identify which physical formats resonate most with the themes of financial literacy and consumer behavior. By combining the raw, expressive energy of indie zines with the structured clarity of corporate infographics, I aim to create a final publication that is both visually arresting and intellectually stimulating. This experience has significantly helped me narrow down the media I wish to use, moving me closer to a final decision on whether to produce a high-end magazine or a more raw, experimental publication.

Disclaimer: AI was used

https://softcover.at/shop/?_sft_product_cat=book&sf_paged=6

https://brot.sk

In 2025, I visited Vienna Design Week with the primary objective of gathering inspiration and researching contemporary projects that could help refine the scope of my master’s thesis. My goal was to explore niche topics within the broader field of visual communication, seeking validation for my current creative direction while potentially identifying new, unexplored avenues for development.

Among the numerous exhibitions, the project that resonated most with me was the innovative use of modeling clay to document urban textures by Studio Pari-Pari. As part of their research, the studio captured physical structures within Vienna’s urban environment by pressing modeling clay directly onto surfaces and subsequently using these molds to create high-contrast prints with black ink. This analog methodology is a remarkably creative and engaging way to preserve ephemeral, easily overlooked architectural details. By transforming these textures into graphic elements, they can be ‘savored’ as standalone art or integrated into broader design materials. The resulting prints were displayed across the floor of the MUSA Startgalerie, creating an immersive visual landscape.

I have observed a similar trend on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, where artists and designers utilize portable scanners or manual clay molds to capture the reliefs of urban buildings, using the raw data as a foundation for digital design. This synthesis of digital and analog materials is currently a dominant trend in the industry, and I am particularly drawn to how it imbues design with a ‘human’ quality. I intend to incorporate these tactile aspects into my own project to make the abstract problem of consumerism feel more tangible and relatable. By adding physical symbols and ‘touchable’ textures, I aim to bridge the gap between the consumer and the systemic issues I am addressing. Furthermore, I do not discourage the use of Artificial Intelligence in this process; I view it not as a primary creator, but as a sophisticated support tool to be used in conjunction with traditional methods.

My research trip also included visits to the MAK – Museum of Applied Arts and the Wien Museum (wienmuseum.at), where I analyzed historical promotional posters to track the evolution of visual persuasion. These collections provided a fascinating look at how consumer values in Vienna have shifted over time and how citizens have historically reacted to changing shopping habits. Additionally, I attended an exhibition focused on meat consumption—a topic deeply intertwined with sustainability. This exhibition was particularly useful for observing how complex, data-heavy information can be presented systematically without losing visual appeal or emotional impact. The central question of the exhibit—how our eating habits must evolve for the future—mirrors the core inquiry of my project regarding over-consumption. These visits reinforced my belief that design must balance historical context with modern urgency to effectively influence public behavior.

https://www.wienmuseum.at/exhibition-archive

https://www.albertina.at/en/albertina-modern/about/albertina-modern

https://www.mak.at/en/exhibitions/permanent

https://www.viennadesignweek.at/en/archive/2025

During my research trip, I had the opportunity to visit Klanglicht, the renowned festival of light and sound in Graz, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. The festival featured an impressive lineup of international artists, including David Ram (Lotus Pods), Yasuhiro Chida (Aftereal and Fresnel), Olafur Eliasson (Eye See You), Onionlab (Echoes of Light), Alessandro Lupi (Liquid Lense), Julian Hölscher (Sphären), Liz West (Our Color Reflection), OchoReSotto (Arkestra of Light – Lifted), and the student project Vertigo from FH Joanneum IDK. While every exhibition was moving and left a lasting impression, a few specific installations were particularly instrumental in shaping my current design perspective.

One of the most impactful experiences was Echoes of Light by the Spanish collective Onionlab, created in collaboration with sound artist Shinji Wakasa. In this installation, individual reflections move through the space in a fragmented manner until, for a brief moment, they align, interact, and merge. Suddenly, the distorted images become clear and distinct. The project utilized inclined mirrors and interactive technologies, where sensors captured not only the movements of the audience but also their emotional responses, translating them in real-time into an immersive landscape of light and sound. I found this installation exhilarating; what initially appeared as a minimalist setup evolved into a complex, maximalist performance of moving light and loud, rhythmic sound.

This experience was crucial for my research into maximalist aesthetics. Seeing how complex systems, vibrant colors, and soundscapes interact in a physical space allowed me to visualize how visual overload can be harnessed strategically. As a Visual Communication major, I took this opportunity to view these installations through a lens I normally wouldn’t—exploring how environmental design can inform digital media. This visit helped me brainstorm new methods for presenting my ideas, considering both physical locations and digital environments where the combination of sound and color can create a more profound impact on the public.

I must also mention Our Color Reflection by Liz West, Vertigo by FH Joanneum, and Lotus Pods, all of which resonated with my interest in bright, maximalist vibes. The specific choices in color, movement, and dynamics provided a modern feel that stayed with me long after the festival ended. I realized that even in an era of digital visual overload, there is still a vital need for energetic and ‘happy’ design that evokes positive emotions and brings communities together.

Finally, Arkestra of Light – Lifted by OchoReSotto was a cornerstone for my research. By transforming the facade of the Trinity Church into a living, breathing entity, the collective merged light, sound, and emotion. Their use of both analog and digital animation techniques created dynamic patterns that balanced tranquility with raw energy. This hybrid approach—combining the analog with the digital—is particularly relevant to my work, as I have been exploring diverse media ranging from physical archives to AI-generated imagery. Seeing the successful ‘collaging’ of these different perspectives in a large-scale project helped me visualize the potential for my own master’s thesis, where maximalist aesthetics can be used to capture attention and educate in a world of constant visual competition.

Disclaimer: AI used

Archive

KLANGLICHT

10 ECHOES OF LIGHT

14 ARKESTRA OF LIGHT – LIFTED