Eduardo's blog

The six texts below are references gathered during the Positions Through Contextualising brief.

The extended critical analyses of two of these references are on pages 7 and 8 of the annotated bibliography PDF at the end of this post.

Maps are projections. They project the surface of the Earth and displaying useful information like geographic locations and borders.

But these projections are not neutral. From the choice of projection method to translate spherical information into a plane and its resulting distortions, to the choice of information to be included, maps are tools of power that have helped shape nations, naturalise borders and territory. Therefore, instead of a representation of reality, maps project the intention of those who create them.

They are typically seen as a definitive piece of information, but we often forget that countries are fictions, and every border was once a disputed one.

How can mapping, or counter-mapping, interfere in this power dynamics? Can it show the nuances and reveal new knowledge behind apparently objective data?

In the first half of our exploration, we focused on CSM’s wayfinding system’s access barriers for everyone on campus. By focusing on the system instead of a specific group, we tried to be as inclusive as possible and make the best possible version. We created colour palettes that would work for colour-blind people and looked for access barriers for people with low mobility.

The resulting analysis revealed several fundamental issues that could represent access barriers. While tackling them is valuable and needed, we overlooked many other obstacles that only people who have experienced them could point out. 

In the final part of our work, we chose dyslexic people as our audience, which allowed for more focused research. We also reached out to dyslexic people, created a survey aimed at our audience, and interviewed one of the respondents. It was the first brief I engaged with my target audience. The fact that I am not dyslexic made it even more relevant.

Our problem-solving approach early on steered us into looking for one definitive solution. After the tutorial feedback, I realised that acknowledging my position and biases gives context to my work and situates it in a larger body of knowledge around design and disability justice.

HTML, CSS, JavaScript and other coding languages tell browsers how to display web content and have decisively influenced how we use digital products. Following the Internet revolution, the purpose and use of print publications also shifted as they are increasingly becoming niched, valuable, collectable items. 

One crucial aspect of HTML and CSS is that they are intermediate carriers since the actual consumption of visual web content happens on screens. So, changes in the code or software will impact only a part of the user experience, depending on the device used, its size, resolution, computation and connectivity capabilities. One of the best examples is the ubiquity of smartphones and their influence on how we connect, consume, and communicate.

On the other hand, a print artefact is both hardware and software combined. According to Ludovico (2012, p. 153), “the printed page is more than just a carrier for things to be shown on some display; it is also the display itself. Changing it consequently changes people’s experience, with all the (physical) habits, rituals and cultural conventions involved”.

A manifesto for designers

There’s been a movement for graphic designers to create more content instead of manipulating existing ones. The importance of content has grown even in academic settings as if what we design is more important than how we design.

Design must be used in a linguistic way, as a vibrant language that represents the world. The designer’s role is to reshape content, not write it. We must acknowledge that shaping is a form of writing in itself.