Research

Last week's exercise was, in a sense, an antecedent in approaching this week's task – a reaction and shift within the context of the MA to looking at ideas in a different space, a paradigm shift.

Listening to the practitioners this week, the takeaway from the future definition of graphic design is that the industry (Studios) embraces a practice rooted in a broader approach to how design and branding are defined. Simon Manchipp touched upon this when he says the definition of branding is not becoming narrower or niche but is encompassing a broader approach. Added to this, I found it interesting that Sarah Borris sees designers as more generalists than the older generation of designers. However, perhaps this is more rooted in the idea that designers nowadays have better training and a more comprehensive range of tools at their disposal, and through this lens, they could be viewed as more versatile, especially when it comes to more niche design studios. Looking at the broader lens of creatives and design professionals and the areas they increasingly find themselves working in, e.g., tech, an argument could be made that designers have a broader design education. However, that education is highly focused in areas of design (for example, Ui/ UX design) that require specific specialization honed throughout their careers.

The question I am left with is whether design practice and designers are linked or more likely that studios may be developing broader skills and approaches to design and branding, but the designers working in these studios have been forced to narrow their focus and become 'bot ' like. 

A further take away from listening to the practitioners is that the old rhetorics of 'Work hard and be nice to people' still sway. Nowhere did I see a questioning of current design practices and the overworking of the creatives. This is firmly tied to the idealism of the Indo-European patriarchal ideas established through protestant work ethic and maintained and promoted across industries today. 

When you have design patrons such as Adrian Shaughnessy reinforcing that hard work is a cultural phenomenon of design culture, you know that the issue is deeply embedded. As Shaughnessy quotes, 'If you were to try and take those long hours away from them, they would resist. It's part of the joy of doing something they love (sic)'.

So what does this all mean in the context of understanding and embracing change within the industry? Do we continue with design obsession with positivity and as designers accept that a job is better than no job. Do we embrace the new design studios' playful and engaging workplace model where 'toys' have become part of the environment? Do we become to portray happiness in ourselves while pushing 'Buy Now' buttons 1px t the left? Do we strive to show personal and professional growth, creating side hustles and defining our out-of-work hours as further working hours in the hope that we can make personal projects of value (both to ourselves and in the hipe that become the next 'Instagram designer)?

And then what does this all mean to the most critical part of our creative process, our mental health. This needs to be constantly on and self-improve (so that a studio. organisation of a businesses' economic model can reap the benefits of the capitalist demands). As the philosopher Mark Fisher observed, only the affluent are winners and that access to the top is open to anyone willing to work hard enough' and 'if you fail, there is only one person to blame.

Ultimately, what is the message we wish to convey so that the design world, both studios, and individuals, can become more alert to our well-being and discuss future holistic models and paradigm shifts away from unethical practices and toxic positivity inherent in the design industries today?  

Outcome

Design Developement/ Process/ Final Outcome

Initially, what was noted was the shift that translated to my graphic design approach whereby I looked to explore more playful and creative ways of expressing visual elements, playing with 3D and experimental types to allow a more unrestrained expression of my creative vision.

Moving beyond and starting to think about how I would approach the final project, I came to the realisation that a critical shift had already occurred within the context of how I would envision design shifting into a new paradigm and that this shift was facilitated by the last 12 weeks of work on GDE710. Fundamentally what had started as an introduction based on one idea of the design 'Self' had transformed and grown into another identity where 'The Self' had been explored and pulled apart to create a new way of viewing my own design processes.

Looking at the starting point, my design practice was sitting somewhere where I was forced to conform to expected design behaviours and create responses that served the market needs. This conforming to type was evident in the first few weeks of the module, whereby the ideas and solutions presented felt standardised. Around Week 4 or 5, this approach changed in my research and thinking. I started to explore identity and the "Self' in more detail and look to establish a way of thinking between the gut-brain and its application to design thinking, creative education, and new models of creativity.

While the academic side shifted, the design side remained steadfast as it executed component design solutions that lacked a more experimental design consideration. What transpired was that a lack of connection was still in place between the old identity ('The Self') and the MA's opportunity to reinvent me through more creative and succinct design solutions and thinking.

Instead of continuing on the same path, I broke out of the rules previously established through the course and for the last two components decided to foster a more critical way of thinking and designing and imbue a more meaningful creative, and philosophical thinking approach to tackling future modules throughout the rest fn the MA.

Observing through this lens, moved my thinking toward a more radical pedagogy which I had started to touch upon in earlier sections and which I was to explore in future modules.

The idea of 'deschooling' society as proposed by Ivan Ellich and working towards educational frameworks that create a practice of freedom around the educational model appeals to me, and by shifting my design thinking approach, it has further opened up my interest in developing models of education which questions how knowledge is commodified and how we can produce creative and critical thinkers that debate and transform visual design at the intersections of social, brand and cultural design 

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