Lya Vengerik
2023
Graphic design is considered a visual form of communication, mainly focused on image and text.1 This conventional definition has the potential for expansion. This thesis explores the ways in which graphic design possesses a transformative capacity, and how this capacity can extend our collective considerations around the role of graphic design from one of a conventional nature to one of multisensory and participatory dialogue. Expanding the definition of graphic design to encompass the other senses redefines the discipline as not only a facilitator of communication but as an art form capable of initiating multisensory and transformative encounters.
By exploring the principles by which graphic designers can create works embedded with meaning and intention, this research aims to re-position graphic design as a medium that extends beyond the efficient communication of information. The significance lies in introducing a methodology or a system that empowers graphic designers to create works that challenge perspectives, provoke emotional responses, foster interaction, and facilitate embodied experiences. This approach aims to remind graphic designers that they are equipped with the tools to weave narratives that transcend the superficial and create a layered and nuanced understanding of the design’s underlying narrative. The proposed additional tools that will enable designers to foster these kinds of encounters are multi-sensory design and world-building techniques.
In essence, this thesis proposes that graphic design, as a multisensory and transformative dialogue, can challenge its conventional definition by integrating insights from phenomenology, as well as from Rollo May, David Abram, and Tiger Dingsun. By extending beyond the visual and embracing a broader sensory spectrum, graphic design becomes an art form that prompts dynamic exchanges, enriching the human experience through encounters that transcend traditional boundaries.
1 Merriam-Webster, "Graphic Design," in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, accessed November 11, 2023, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/graphic%20design.
Graphic Design as an Encounter
Three essential authors and their main ideas will be introduced and discussed throughout this thesis. Each delves into themes that are foundational concepts to this paper. Rollo May, an existential psychologist and psychotherapist, discusses the encounter between the artist and the world, which he defines as the “two poles”. May posits that creativity is born as a result of this encounter. Tiger Dingsun asserts that graphic design is a form of authorship and introduces the concepts of worlds and worldbuilding from the realm of poetics to strengthen his point of view. Philosopher Edmund Husserl, the progenitor of phenomenology, discusses the phenomenology of embodiment, a concept that serves as a crucial lens when analyzing the experience of the encounter, and how the encounter is connected to the senses.
In The Courage to Create, May posits that the creative act is born of an encounter. The artist encounters a scene or situation with which they wish to engage, and immerse themselves within it in order to better understand and convey its essence.2 This immersion then simmers beneath the artist’s consciousness and develops, either immediately or with time, into a purposeful work of art. The process of forming and making continues to develop beyond our active engagement and eventually emerges in the conscious mind, giving the artist the tools to bring something into being. This act of encounter leads to a creative phenomenon by which insights can spring upon us independently of our intervention; we cannot will them to arise. We can, however, will ourselves to be wholly immersed in the act of the encounter.3
May suggests that this encounter is formed between two poles – subjective and objective. The subjective is the person involved in the creative act, and the objective is the outside world.4 May describes a world as “the pattern of meaningful relations in which a person exists and in the design of which he or she participates.”5 Another definition of a world can be found with Dingsun. In his article Chimeric Worlding, he quotes Ian Cheng’s descriptions of worlds, in which the “world” is a complex entity that resembles a place with boundaries, laws, values, a unique language, the capacity to grow and collapse, and the presence of mythic figures, visitors, and inhabitants. It appears arbitrary to those outside of it, but caters to both individual and collective interests.6
2 Rollo May, “Creativity and Encounter,” chapter, in The Courage to Create (Toronto, 1985), 65.
3 Ibid., 36-40.
4 Ibid., 44.
5 Ibid., 41.
6 “CHIMERIC WORLDING: What Can Graphic Design Learn from Poetics and World-Building?,” Chimeric worlding, accessed October 27, 2023, https://tdingsun.github.io/worlding/.
Perception Entails an Active Interaction
Husserl’s phenomenology of embodiment posits that the lived body serves as the center of lived experience, and its unique array of sensations is central to the understanding of how we interact with other embodied individuals within the world. Husserl implies that consciousness and perception are not a component of the external world but rather a prerequisite for experiencing any world at all. He does not assume a split between subject and object, rather, he emphasizes a subject-object correlation.7 Not only does this idea relate to the concept of the two poles by suggesting a merging of the two, it also introduces the idea of world-building. The very act of perceiving inherently presupposes the creation of something. Perception is participation. This assertion implies that perception entails an encounter or active interaction and connection between the perceiving body and the object that it perceives. This sentiment is echoed in May’s writing. He argues that while the world possesses an objective reality, it is in constant interrelation with the individual, forming an almost symbiotic dialogue. He goes on to suggest that this is the reason that creativity cannot be confined to a purely subjective phenomenon and that the pole of the world is an integral component of an individual’s creativity. Every such encounter between the creative and the world is a dynamic process, a continuous dialogue between the person and their world.8
Dingsun offers that within contemporary translation theory, perfection in translation is unattainable and there is no exact copy of an original text between languages. Translation is seen as an act of authorship because translators must make decisions when creating a translation. One of the purposes of translation evolves into one whose aim is not to achieve perfect imitation, but to breathe new life and meaning into the original text. Given that graphic design is inherently based on the process of intersemiotic translation, it can be argued that graphic design is authorship.9
Emphasizing and building upon the two-pole theory of creativity further reveals interesting truths. A work of art, specifically a work of graphic design, can be considered the objective pole (though the extent to which it is objective is arguable), and the viewer of the work can be considered the subjective pole. The encounter between these two suggested poles can be a catalyst for change, creation, and embodied experience, in the same manner as the original encounter described by May becomes the definition of creativity. Empowering this encounter within graphic design requires expanding the designer’s traditional toolkit: multi-sensory design and world-building techniques built into the creative process would allow for expanded creative experiences.
7 Elizabeth A. Behnke, “Edmund Husserl: Phenomenology of Embodiment,” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, accessed October 27, 2023, https://iep.utm.edu/husspemb/.
8 Rollo May, “The Nature of Creativity,” chapter, in The Courage to Create (Toronto, 1985), 41.
9 “CHIMERIC WORLDING: What Can Graphic Design Learn from Poetics and World-Building?,” Chimeric worlding, accessed October 27, 2023, https://tdingsun.github.io/worlding/.
Sensory Design and Embodied Experience
In his book The Spell of the Sensuous, David Abram approaches the idea of the two-pole theory by expanding upon theories of phenomenology developed by Husserl and later continued by his follower Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Abram defines phenomenology as the study of the interconnectedness between human perception and the natural world, emphasizing the embodied nature of experience and the importance of direct, sensory engagement with the earth. He suggests that there is an inseparable relationship between what is perceived (the sensible) and the perceiver (the sentient). In other words, we cannot acknowledge the existence of one (the perceivable world or the perceiving self) without implying the existence of the other. Any act of perception or imagination necessarily occurs from a specific standpoint, one shaped by our senses and consciousness.10 Merleau-Ponty’s approach introduces a philosophy that seeks to articulate the world from within our experience. This approach aims to reconnect us with the present moment.11 Merleau-Ponty proposes that human creativity and freedom are deeply rooted in sensory perception. He emphasizes that the perceiving body is not a rigid, pre-programmed machine but a dynamic, open entity that constantly improvises interactions with the surrounding world.12
Abram also highlights the reciprocity of sensory experiences, where our interactions with the external world are also internal experiences of ourselves.13 Our sensory perceptions are not isolated but are part of a vast, interconnected network of perceptions and sensations shared by all living entities. Understanding phenomenological approaches is crucial to recognizing the importance of incorporating the senses within graphic design. By acknowledging the links between our inner experiences and the world, we can expand our perspective.
Perception is not solely visual. It includes and extends to touching, hearing, smelling, and tasting. The term “perception” refers to the synchronized activity of all of the senses as they operate in unison.14 Though contemporary neuroscientists view synaesthesia – the overlapping of sensory modalities – as a phenomenon occurring only in specific individuals, Merleau-Ponty contends that “our primordial, preconceptual experiences [...] are inherently synaesthetic.”15 We regularly describe colors as “warm”, and “loud”, the cold as “bitter”, the heart as “heavy”. Our experience of the world is not fragmented into separate sensory modalities but rather overlapping and intertwined.16
Hence, it may be unnatural to contain one’s perception of a creative work only to one sensory channel. By incorporating sensory elements that extend beyond the visual, graphic design offers its audience a richer repository of perceptual information. This fosters an immersive embodied experience and expands their engagement.
10 David Abram, “Philosophy on the Way to Ecology,” chapter, in The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-than-Human World (New York, NY: Vintage Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, 2017), 66.
11 Ibid., 47.
12 Ibid., 49.
13 Ibid., 68.
14 Ibid., 59.
15 Ibid., 60.
16 Ibid., 125.
Otherness
One way to enhance graphic design with richer sensory feedback while remaining within the visual realm can be by tapping into primordial knowledge ingrained within natural objects. As described by Abram, the patterns of the earth have developed slowly over time, along with humans, and their forms carry an ancient resonance. These patterns, in their interaction with our senses, speak to something more ancient in our bodily configuration.17 The human act of sensing nature weaves threads of connection through time and space.
The repetitive, yet never precisely repeating patterns that are found in nature, such as ripples on water or the formations on tree bark are always familiar. However, the ever-changing and evolving metamorphosis of these forms continuously stimulates our senses – recognizable but never quite the same. In contrast, the senses of contemporary humans are reduced to stimulation by mass-produced objects common in today’s world such as milk cartons, washing machines, and computers. These man-made designs, intended for efficiency, repeat with little variation. Their forms are dictated by standardized methods of production, distribution, and consumption. Consumer expectations are reinforced by graphics, fonts, and color palettes seen on countless other objects. The animateness of these objects, as opposed to natural objects, is confined to the function they are designed to serve or the commercial market they are meant to attract. As our senses adjust and adapt to these functions, we inevitably feel a sense of sensory fatigue.18
Abram emphasizes that “human-made artifacts inevitably retain an element of more-than-human otherness. This unknowability, this otherness, resides most often in the materials from which the object is made.”19 By tapping into Abram’s understanding of nature, graphic designers could integrate this distinct sense of “otherness” into their work. By incorporating familiar but non-repeating, organic, natural forms into their design, they can engage the senses on a deeper, more embodied level.
17 David Abram, “Philosophy on the Way to Ecology,” chapter, in The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-than-Human World (New York, NY: Vintage Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, 2017), 64.
18 Ibid., 64.
19 Ibid., 64.
Imagination is Inherently Sensory
In some instances, storytelling is another tool that could be used to enliven the senses. It transcends the physical elements present in a work of graphic design, prompting us to involve our imagination. We typically refer to imagination as a distinct mental function. A phenomenologist perspective sees imagination as an inherent quality of our senses. It is how our senses naturally extend themselves beyond what is immediately present to us. Imagination is a tool for exploring hidden or invisible dimensions of the sensible (read: sensory) world that go beyond direct perceived experience.20
As Abram describes: “a story must be judged according to whether it makes sense. And ‘making sense’ must here be understood in its most direct meaning: to make sense is to enliven the senses.” A meaningful story is one that stirs our senses, making us more aware of our actual surroundings. It encourages us to see, hear, taste, and feel the world around us.21
20 David Abram, “Philosophy on the Way to Ecology,” chapter, in The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-than-Human World (New York, NY: Vintage Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, 2017), 50.
21 Ibid., 265.
Linguistic Shifts
Expanding on the ideas established in the previous sections, our capacity to perceive the world through our senses is a consequence of our intrinsic connection to the world itself. As physical beings, we are an integral part of the sensory landscape, possessing our unique textures, sounds, and tastes. Our sentient bodies are an extension of the sentient landscape.22
According to Abram, the severed connection to the animate earth which includes our sensory relationship with the world can be traced, in part, to the shift from pictographic to phonetic alphabets. This transition, beginning around 1500 BCE with the introduction of the Semitic aleph-beth, created a distance between human culture and the natural world. While ancient pictographic scripts maintained a sensory connection to the earth, the phonetic alphabet, focusing solely on human-made sounds, severed this connection. Abram argues that this linguistic shift diminished the voice of the animate world, turning language into a purely human construct and resulting in a decline in our sensory orientation within the world.23
What implications does this have when viewed through the lens of graphic design? Our abilities as animate-earth-sensing entities are still within our bodily configuration. We still read the world around us and constantly interpret a variety of feedback, consciously and unconsciously. As we actively read our surrounding landscape (or cityscape or officescape), our senses remain in a state of heightened awareness, continuously receiving and absorbing stimuli. In the Coda of The Spell of the Sensuous, Abram writes that his book explores how the human mind has detached itself from its sensory connection with the natural world and other animals. By doing so, he aims to rekindle and reestablish this connection.24 Our routes of disconnection might also serve as an efficient path in the opposite direction. By acknowledging the links between our inner world and the environment, we reconnect with the Earth’s intelligence and the unique languages of different ecosystems.25 If we consider that the loss of our connection to the animate earth is a result of the proliferation of the phonetic alphabet, a return to a pictographic system could induce a renewed connection.
Reading letters in the phonetic writing systems still results in a synaesthetic response. Proficient readers cease to see letters as forms, they immediately dissolve into sounds and visual meanings. This synaesthetic response serves as a reminder that we have multiple ways of engaging and encountering the world through our various senses.
Furthering engagement through linguistics based concepts, Abrams refers to the Hebrew language as an excellent example. Written Hebrew is constructed solely with consonants and without vowels. It requires active participation to “activate” the audible language. The inherent need for participation implies that the missing pieces can invite engagement.26 Languages are porous, and access to the senses can be found within those pores.27 Returning to graphic design, the concept of porosity in language can be translated into visual and sensory experiences. To engage the audience’s senses and invite their participation, graphic designers might employ techniques that leave elements open-ended and containing deliberate, multiple interpretations. We need to use our senses and our imagination (previously described to be an extension of our senses) to fill in these gaps. Graphic design that requires the audience to actively engage with the content prompts viewers to use their senses to complete the narrative.
22 David Abram, “Philosophy on the Way to Ecology,” chapter, in The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-than-Human World (New York, NY: Vintage Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, 2017), 68-69.
23 Ibid., 94-101.
24 David Abram, “Coda,” chapter, in The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-than-Human World (New York, NY: Vintage Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, 2017), 261.
25 Ibid., 262.
26 Ibid., 244.
27 Ibid., 256.
World-Building: Graphic Design as World Creation
Graphic design is often considered a field that lies between an art form and a service industry. While the goal of graphic design is often to communicate a client’s message in the most effective way possible, Dingsun contends that graphic design could be seen as a form of authorship, and therefore, graphic designers can take agency in their creative decisions. He suggests the application of poetics as a way to transcend the purely functionalist objectives of graphic design. In particular — the utilization of world-building techniques within graphic design, that embrace hybridity and contradiction.28
According to Dingsun, poetry is based on a reconfiguration of elements from an established system. This is similar to his definition of graphic design. While poetry deals with words in language systems, graphic design extends beyond the use of language or words to include images, meaning, and visual culture at large. Both are concerned with the denotative as well as the aesthetic quality of words, graphic design through typography, and poetry through phonaesthetics, meter, and rhyme. However, in contrast to graphic design, poetry often entails the creation of a world to provide context for the work. Utilizing world-building could be useful for graphic designers, as it would allow for the creation of narratives that sprawl non-linearly. It encourages an interpretation that is free from a predefined goal and offers resistance against graphic design’s percieved role as a facilitator of the seamless flow of capital. When this perceived role is graphic design’s primary role, singular, all-encompassing interpretations of the world become a foundational tool.29
Dingsun contends that the combination of personal narratives, symbols, and images with cultural signifiers the audience is likely familiar with can be a useful avenue into the creation of a complex world that is still understandable. Poets use constraining structures and selectively break out of them by using shared references and infusing their own unique language and personal perspectives. This amalgamation gives rise to new worlds within poetry, which readers can explore over time. The balance between constraints and personal expression leads to the creation of evolving poetic realms for audiences to inhabit. Graphic designers can adopt lessons from this methodology. Dingsun argues that the key to transcending these structures is the combination of “internal” and “external” systems of logic. The way these systems fit together is the way in which graphic designers can develop their unique sense of poetics. Graphic designers are already educated and proficient in the efficient communication of messages based on conventional and all-encompassing systems of meaning. Dingsun explains that the introduction of these internal systems of logic only fortifies the effect of the messages.30
Dingsun calls this methodology, the mixing of the internal and external systems of logic, chimeric worlding. The term “chimeric” not only refers to its commonly known biological meaning, denoting a composite of material from multiple sources but also to more metaphorical connotations as defined in Merriam-Webster – “existing as the product of unchecked imagination, fantastically visionary, or improbable,” and “given to fantastic schemes”. This concept highlights the idea that the amalgamation of different systems of knowledge creates a product that is richer thanks to its multiplicity.31
Chimeric worlding also relates to concepts such as sacred geometry, numerology, mandalas, and cosmologies – ancient frameworks of organizing the world.32 The presence of mythology across human history represents a consistent collective impulse for order. An order that simplifies and structures existence, “so that it may represent and re-present as is required for myth proliferation.”33 Dingsun suggests drawing compositional and visual inspiration from mysticism – such as the five Chinese elements, and the four Medieval humors – as one possible form of chimeric worlding. He draws our attention to worlds created within sci-fi and fantasy, which are often related to ours yet new. The magical structures within these worlds usually draw from various cultural and historical frameworks with which we are familiar, invoking a certain realism within their systems. We have an understanding of the myths they are based, on which in turn helps us understand the new frameworks for these myths. These worlds are expanded through their lore, and the existence of lore suggests a possibility of even more lore, fueling audience participation, interaction, and imagination. Dingsun argues that when we engage audiences beyond the commonly established goal of clear communication, graphic design has the opportunity to garner the same kind of audience interaction.34
Chimeric worlding can help graphic designers maintain comprehensive consistency within their work. Graphic designers can develop an internally lush, diversified, personal ecosystem through which they communicate their inner world with their audience. A graphic designer whose practice naturally and collectively communicates itself is one who has developed a vast personal ecosystem within which lies their logic. The creation of a diversified inner logic system will lead to a consistent undertone for all work produced going forward, thus wholly communicating without direct symbols. The porous nature of these worlds (echoing the idea of the porous nature of phonetic language) creates entry points for the audience to reflect, infer, participate, engage, and expand the world with their own internal systems of logic. The illustration below from Dingsun’s article is a good illustration of how graphic design as poetic world-building is created from a merging of conventional and personal mythos. This creates a design that is easily understood by others and conveys a clear message, while also generating a more ambiguous and open-to-interpretation emotional resonance that implies deeper, unknown meaning.35
Diagram by Tiger Dingsun, from his article CHIMERIC WORLDING: What Can Graphic Design Learn from Poetics and World-building? https://tdingsun.github.io/worlding/
This methodology additionally suggests that graphic designers view their design education as one tool out of many possible tools rather than as an absolute framework for creation. It promotes multivarious, hybrid, overlaying, and sometimes contradicting structures rather than implying a riddance of structures altogether. Dingsun implores graphic designers to create grids and supporting architecture of their own and to embrace the ambiguity that exists within the creation of new structures.36
28 “CHIMERIC WORLDING: What Can Graphic Design Learn from Poetics and World-Building?,” Chimeric worlding, accessed October 27, 2023, https://tdingsun.github.io/worlding/.
29 Ibid.
30 Ibid.
31 Ibid.
32 Ibid.
33 Adriana Gallo, “Mythmaking and Magic in Votive Foods - Mold :: Designing the Future of Food,” MOLD, July 13, 2022, accessed November 8, 2023 https://thisismold.com/convivial-cosmogonies/mythmaking-and-magic-in-votive-foods.
34 “CHIMERIC WORLDING: What Can Graphic Design Learn from Poetics and World-Building?,” Chimeric worlding, accessed October 27, 2023, https://tdingsun.github.io/worlding/
35 Ibid.
36 Ibid.
Ambiguity and Mystery in Design
As described in prior sections, creativity cannot be willed, but dedication to the encounter can. How can graphic designers invite their audience to encounter projects with increased participation and true engagement?
May draws upon Archibald MacLeish’s insights to explore the concept of the encounter between the subjective and objective. Here, MacLeish uses the more universal terms “being” and “non-being”. He quotes the poet Lu Chi: “We poets struggle with Non-being to force it to yield Being. We knock upon silence for an answering music.”37 MacLeish emphasizes that the Being in the poem emerges from Non-being – the ‘music’ arises from the silence, not the poet. The poet’s task involves wrestling with the apparent meaninglessness and silence of the world, striving to imbue it with significance and elicit a response from the silence. MacLeish highlights the eloquence of the words ‘struggle,’ ‘force,’ and ‘knock,’ which underscore the laborious process of procuring an answer from the silence and transforming Non-being into Being. This labor, as described, is a direct engagement with the world, aiming to ‘know’ it not through logical proofs but intimately and sensorially.38
As an extension to the ideas stated by MacLeish, the component of ambiguity is what prompts an audience to engage with a work. Engagement often necessitates a touch of mystery. We are compelled to investigate what is unknown to us. When we are presented with all-encompassing and easily digestible information we become complacent, we passively absorb without feeling the impetus to activate our senses or intellect, neglecting the potential for dialogue, whether with the work itself or otherwise. It is within these pores of the inexplicable that mythologies and stories take form, science thrives, and human connection flourishes. This is not to say that the design should be illegible, but rather to suggest that our collective assumption of what is legible should be questioned. Balance is crucial when selectively withholding information, as well as providing viewers with the necessary tools to navigate design, ultimately sparking curiosity. The information presented in the paragraphs above, derived from the insights presented in Abram and Dingsun’s work, offers several potential avenues for integrating these access points of participation into works of graphic design in order to amplify the potency of the audience’s encounter with it.
One approach involves the integration of a sense of otherness into the work. As described, the inherent mystery that resides within natural objects prompts us to engage our senses in order to gain better understanding. By introducing handcrafted or nature-inspired textures, sounds, patterns, and symbols, and diverging from mass-produced machine-made elements, we provide entry points for sensory interaction. Oral language, visual language and other linguistic tools can be combined with actual (or references to) nature-inspired elements as designers seek to embrace otherness and open solutions to greater sensory inclusion. While this may seem a radical interpretation of the role of authorship in graphic design, it is in fact already present in existing projects.
37 "Ars Poetica." eNotes, accessed November 11, 2023, https://www.enotes.com/topics/ars-poetica.