Together Disconnected | Critical Design: Questioning Through Design
Brief
The criticality brief, completed as part of my degree, encouraged me to explore metaphorical territories that exist beyond the boundaries constructed by affirmative and market-led graphic design ideologies. The purpose was to employ critical and speculative design methods to identify a problem and challenge something. Graphic communication skills then needed to be utilised in order to create a critical response.
Identified Problem
Social distancing rules have caused us to use video- conferencing as a means to communicate throughout the pandemic. However, this form of communication is far from natural.
Together Disconnected questions whether we, as a society, are losing the ability to emotionally connect with individuals and whether physical social distancing is causing us become psychologically distant from one another.
Solution
I chose to adopt the familiar visual language of Microsoft Teams to connect to the context of the issue. Inspired by my own personal experience of using video-conferencing, I chose to utilise the profile icons that identifies speakers through their initials. When users don’t use their cameras it can feel like we are talking to a computer rather than human and they are barrier to communication.
The images I have chosen to edit have been picked to represent traditional environments where communication would take place but have been disrupted and changed due to Covid.
Worship
The Boardroom
At the Bar
Referencing
Mock Up Image| Available at mockupworld.com
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Stock Imagery| Available at unsplash.com
Figure 1. Anderson, M. (2020) ‘Classroom’, National Cancer Institute.
Figure 2. Applegate, J. (2019) Worship
Figure 3. Christina @ wocintechchat.com. (2019) Boardroom.
Figure 4. Popov, A. (2019) Bar
