Abstract
Art is critical in its ability to propose an alternative to an accepted reality, and produces a counter-consciousness; a “negation of the realistic-conformist mind” [Marcuse, 1979, p 9] Communication design, is a formalized practice embedded in and serving conventional cultural production and capital. An alternative counterdesign “…chooses instead to emphasize the need for a renewal of philosophical discourse and for social and political involvement as a way of bringing about structural changes in our society.” [Lang, 2005, p. 46.] For communication design to dismiss its conventional service to capital is in itself a critical negation. Additionally, communication design’s prescribed functions allow it to act as a Trojan Horse, imitating commercial work while surreptitiously engaging in critical practice. Its ubiquity and systematic conformity makes its counter a natural for challenging conventional consciousness. Can Counter-Design offer a model of design research as an agent for critical thinking and cultural agency? Can it engage design students in a critical process of investigation and analysis? Is this valuable for today’s design student? I will show by way of theoretical models and some case studies how this methodology questions predominant roles of design and design pedagogy.
Keywords
Design, Research, Experimental, Counter-Design
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/learnxdesign.2013.137
Citation
Singer, J.(2013) Counter-Design: Alternative Design and Research Methods, in Reitan, J.B., Lloyd, P., Bohemia, E., Nielsen, L.M., Digranes, I., & Lutnæs, E. (eds.), DRS // Cumulus: Design Learning for Tomorrow, 14-17 May, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/learnxdesign.2013.137
Creative Commons License
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Included in
Counter-Design: Alternative Design and Research Methods
Art is critical in its ability to propose an alternative to an accepted reality, and produces a counter-consciousness; a “negation of the realistic-conformist mind” [Marcuse, 1979, p 9] Communication design, is a formalized practice embedded in and serving conventional cultural production and capital. An alternative counterdesign “…chooses instead to emphasize the need for a renewal of philosophical discourse and for social and political involvement as a way of bringing about structural changes in our society.” [Lang, 2005, p. 46.] For communication design to dismiss its conventional service to capital is in itself a critical negation. Additionally, communication design’s prescribed functions allow it to act as a Trojan Horse, imitating commercial work while surreptitiously engaging in critical practice. Its ubiquity and systematic conformity makes its counter a natural for challenging conventional consciousness. Can Counter-Design offer a model of design research as an agent for critical thinking and cultural agency? Can it engage design students in a critical process of investigation and analysis? Is this valuable for today’s design student? I will show by way of theoretical models and some case studies how this methodology questions predominant roles of design and design pedagogy.