Theory + Practice = Research / Polina Zioga

Today it was explained to me that second year theory as practice is completely dependant on you and what you want to research. This includes things of interest and relevance to your progress. The research can relate to your projects and interests in design, or anything related to design.

After second year theory as practice was explained, I was shown how to research more professionally compared to last year. There are three key stages to hit, what, why and how. What is the theme and research subject at question and what do you want to create. Why, investigates the context, background and literature review. Why do you want to investigate this subject, how does it relate to you and to look at what other creatives and researchers have done in this field. Finally, there is how. How to approach research with methodology. Questions to ask and answer include, how will you proceed with your critical investigation and what kind of tools, media and methods will you use.

Next, we put our research skills to practice by researching and breaking down an article handed out to us. I had to answer the questions, what is the theme, how it relates to clients needs, how designers approached this and what was the result. The theme of the topic was a campaign to put humanity back into TV and it related to clients by sharing incredible human stories that matter in third world countries, showing the viewers unity amongst people and how to appreciate the little things in life. Not focusing on world problems illustrated on the news. Designers approached this documentary with deliberately set up events to create cinematic scenes and capturing the moments of wonder people express enjoying the little things. For example, the third world children floating across the water with hand crafted glowing lanterns to light up their path in the midnight sky. This little but unordinary experience for them allows viewers to see the elation and expression on their faces, bringing about a warm feeling inside and makes them remember the good in the world. The result of this injected humanity back into the news and gave a voice to those who are often forgotten.

http://red-dot-21.com/design/hear-the-human-story/

Concluding this seminar, it has been very insightful to learn how to research in depth in terms of breaking down the design practice in a campaign. For example, how designers approach these campaigns to advertise it, what they do to relate this to clients and more. I feel more prepared to approach my own research than I did before the seminar today.