RD 2016

The book collates the projects developed for my Research & Design class at ECAL. Second year BA Graphic Design students were invited to reconsider design as a practice that generates knowledge. Throughout the semester, they explored their personal interests through the lenses of criticism, references, questioning and creation.

Very generally, design could be described as a form of creativity used for a specific purpose. Equally broadly, research could be defined by its objective: to produce or increase knowledge and/or know-how. Design/research could thus be fairly loosely defined as a form of creativity used for the purpose of producing or increasing knowledge and/or know-how. The various projects are a snapshot of the variety and breadth of issues that preoccupied the class during the semester. Encouraged to approach their topics using a range of methods (theoretical, practical or mixed) in as personal a tone as possible, students were given the opportunity to use this project to explore affinities or questions while acquiring skills that will be useful not only for further study, when writing their dissertation, but also in the longer term to define a personal practice of design.