Abstract
We exist in a world where multi-media platforms are becoming more predominant than text, and individual research and critical thinking skills are stifled by algorithms. These conditions, with their focus on expediency, are bypassing the importance of the quotidian experience. It is this awareness of everyday experiences, however, that can open students’ eyes to diverse perceptions, leading to improved research skills, and empathetic design. I was able to resolve some of the challenges to everyday experience presented by our evolving world of technology following my six-month AIGA Design Education fellowship on the visual essay, a design format where the visual elements of design are the research catalyst, by introducing it as an interdisciplinary research and assessment tool for students and colleagues. This paper addresses how using a visual essay as a design thinking tool allows students to blend history, research, and experiential design in a way that relates to their “everydayness,” reaching them through their individual experiences, applying history and research expanding the possibilities of design. I review its interdisciplinary potential through my experience leading a workshop with non-design scholars and their application of visual essay tools to broaden their understanding of their research and design thinking. Whether through students creating a history-influenced map of their everyday experiences, or colleagues inverting their research methodologies, the value of the visual essay as an experiential and pedagogical research tool is a fundamental way to address the current state of change we live in, and the value of our everyday experiences.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Design History, Quotidian, Experiential Design, Research, Pedagogy, Interdisciplinary
