MFA THESIS BOOK: WORK IN PROCESS
cultivating empathy and pause in the field of graphic design
Research Focus:
Graphic design has always been in the business of prompting behavior, however as the desire for efficiency has trumped all else, the cost of consumerism as currently practiced has not only been a loss of aesthetic beauty, but the loss of both the ability to listen deeply and to find intentional spaces for caring connection with others.
This thesis examines the roots of current understandings of efficiency and modernization and calls for designers to reestablish the value of both the creativity and the responsibility present in the design process due to its role in human communication. In analyzing the design process, this thesis focuses on the need for empathy and pause in current practices, then discusses potential methods and strategies of moving forward into more intentional and empathetic design processes.
Abstract:
Graphic design has always been in the business of prompting behavior. However, as the desire for efficiency has trumped all else, the cost of consumerism as currently practiced has not only been a loss of craftsmanship, but the loss of both the ability to listen deeply and to connect with others despite personal differences.
A survey of the Industrial Revolution and the motivations behind many innovations since reveals a distinct attitude in the Western world that conflates progress with efficiency. The graphic design industry, as a creative field uniquely involved in the internal workings of capitalism, has been directly impacted by these wider cultural and economic shifts. As current corporate design practice places less emphasis on the iterative process than ever before, a recultivation of the value of slowness is crucial for design to continue being seen as a valued skill. The importance of iteration is its role in facilitating creative freedom through a multi-step explorative process. It calls for more than a “good enough” mentality and instead creates the space needed to produce excellence in work.
This thesis examines the roots of current understandings of efficiency and modernization and calls for designers to reestablish the values of creativity and responsibility in the design process due to its role in human communication. In analyzing the design process, this thesis focuses on the need for empathy and pause in current practices, then discusses potential methods and strategies of moving forward into more iterative and empathetic design processes.
CONCLUSION:
A poster or brochure is a relatively simple project, but small differences in color, typography, and layout can change the way the information is perceived. Quality design is a result of empathy for the audience, taking time to pause, and iteration after iteration. Much like any design project, being a designer is itself a process that requires time, trial and error, and determination. Though the cultural landscape, tools of the trade, and even aspects of the design process may have changed drastically in the last century, what it means to be a designer has not: “the hand can never execute anything higher than the character can inspire" (Ralph Waldo Emerson).
