Design
2014
Anna Keeler
Master of
Master of Design 2014
Design
Music in Translation
School of
Michaile Brooks
University of Illinois at Chicago
Graduate faculty in design do not necessarily expect our students to see the underlying intents of program curriculum during their time of study. In our collective experience, such discoveries are more likely to occur long after graduation when a circumstance of professional practice or teaching provides a moment of retrospective clarity. Not so this year. Perhaps it is the new status of the Master of Design degree, perhaps it is this particular mix of four amazing designers, or perhaps Michaile Brooks, Kahon Hong, Anna Keeler, and Muhammad Nafisur Rahman are clairvoyant. Through their questions, observations, and assertions they have individually and collectively raised the bar of concurrent understanding: I learned that if I define myself as just a designer, that is all I will be. UIC taught me to define myself as a maker, thinker, doer, creator, writer, leader, collaborator, listener, speaker, presenter, and teacher — so that is what I can become. AK Through this project, I want to claim the philosophy behind my design, and announce my visual language, to clarify that this is what I do, and that this is how my design is different from that of others … [to] give me more confidence and act as a momentum in my future work. MNR Does intercultural collaboration make a difference in preventing design that is rootless, generic, or stereotypical? And what could this mean for those of us who want to move out of our comfort zone and design “beyond borders”? MB UIC helped me learn to see and pushed me to further investigate the foundations of graphic design: typography and composition ... [to] value process, and … to develop my own thoughts and opinions about design. KH Marcia Lausen Director, UIC School of Design April 2014
UIC Design Graduate Faculty
In 2014, design makes history at the University of Illinois at Chicago. A reorganization of the UIC College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts has resulted in an independent School of Design, enabling our graduate programs to deliver the Master of Design (MDes) degree in Graphic Design and Industrial Design. This shift from the MFA of past years aligns with the ambitions of our school to both reflect and advance rapid developments in the field of design. The UIC Master of Design in Graphic Design is a globally oriented program delivered in Chicago and Basel, Switzerland, at the famed Basel School of Design. In both locations, the two-year program is focused on an independent master’s research project, which offers students the opportunity to identify and explore a topic of inquiry with the potential to contribute to broader disciplinary knowledge. This publication marks the occasion of the 2014 Master of Design exhibition showcasing final projects of the first four students to receive the MDes in Graphic Design from the UIC School of Design.
Jörg Becker Amir Berbic Linda Bracamontes Philip Burton Ted Davis Meghan Ferrill Felicia Ferrone Jack Henrie Fisher Matthew Gaynor Sung Jang Marcia Lausen Mischa Leiner Jonathan Mekinda, PhD Stephen Melamed Stephanie Munson Sharon Oiga TJ O’Keefe Peter Pfanner Michael Renner Zoë Ryan Bruce Tharp, PhD Cheryl Towler Weese Daria Tsoupikova-Preuss Kimberlee Wilkens Matthew Wizinsky
Anna Keeler
UIC: Anna, what is your master’s topic? Keeler: The designer’s methodology and personal voice. Why did you decide to focus on this particular topic? My design background is deeply rooted in the ideology and aesthetics of Swiss design, which — to my understanding — asks the designer to remain in the background, to be anonymous. These values, introduced in my undergrad program, were emphasized further when I became a corporate identity designer, where I worked to keep my design work neutral, timeless, and universal.
LOGY
Why was this topic’s exploration important to you? I began to question the role of neutrality in my work. I am someone who has a lot to say. I found that when my work included more personality and life, it received more attention; so I wanted to see where that could take me. I still don’t know if including one’s personal voice in design is helpful, necessary, or even a good idea, but for me the exploration was extremely important.
NAL VOICE
Over the course of graduate school I’ve realized that humor and beauty are vehicles of expression for me. In addition to writing and analysis, design theory and methodology, these understandings will help shape the designer that I’ll become. It feels good to have discovered those things about myself.
Is there a memorable UIC experience that you’d like to share with others? The love and bonds between myself and my classmates. I have met the most amazing people in my life — they come from all over the world — and I will never forget them. They have shaped me more than they know and I am not the same person after knowing them. They are what made it all worth while.
METHODOLOG AND PERSONAL VOIC
Anna Keeler Methodology and Personal Voice UIC Master of Design 2014
What was the easiest and most difficult parts of your master’s exploration? I think the easiest and most difficult parts of exploring my thesis were one and the same: letting go. Part of me ran full force in the direction of change: radical thinking, expression, complexity, and ambiguity, and the other part of me clung for dear life onto what I knew: control, simplicity, neutrality, and clarity. It’s a hard place to inhabit because you don’t know what is right and what is wrong, but walking that line was the only thing that would bring me to a new place as a designer, which is where I desperately wanted to be.
What do you see yourself doing after graduation? I want to teach design.
What advice would you give incoming students of the program? Don’t get caught up in the politics of graduate school. Love every minute of what you are doing and let everything else float away.
What did you learn at UIC that you didn’t in college? I learned that if I define myself as just a designer, that is all I will be. UIC taught me to define myself as a maker, thinker, doer, creator, writer, leader, collaborator, listener, speaker, presenter, and teacher — so that is what I can become.
Is there an unusual fact about yourself that you’re willing to share? I talk a big game, and have opinions about everything; but I’m Did you learn any really just trying to find important lessons myself like everyone over the course of the else. project? Embrace who you are. What do you like most about the MDes What did you expect program? from UIC’s program? Its sister program in I expected it to help Basel. It was a dream me find my voice as a to go to Switzerland designer. for a month and build upon the skills I had When you pursued learned in my first year your master’s project, of graduate school. what did you expect? What did you not expect? I wasn’t exactly sure what a master’s project was, to be honest. I think I have a better understanding now of what was expected of me, but I’m still not sure what I expected from myself. I do know that I have moved forward as a designer, and I guess that’s all we can hope for sometimes.
METHODOLOGY AND PERSONAL VOICE
Name Anna Jane Keeler Hometown Fairport, New York College State University of New York at Fredonia Major BFA in Graphic Design, Minor in Art History Hobbies The outdoors, hiking, camping, being outside; walking on the beach and swimming. I’m sure that everyone says this, but I love hanging out with friends and family, and trying new things.
M
GY
CE
The Designer’s Voice Whether or not to include aspects of the designer’s personal voice and opinions in design work has been an ongoing professional debate and is currently influencing academic programs throughout the United States. In the book Graphic Design in Production, Rob Giampietro’s essay, “School Days,” discusses how a designer’s desire for self-reflection is becoming more and more prevalent within graphic design education and practice.
While McGurl applies these concepts to writing, Giampietro suggests applying them to graphic design by suggesting a new way of thinking about the concept by “describing authorship not as an input or mode of creation, but as an output or model of practice: the designer as cultural influencer, identifiable persona, and creator of a distinctly voiced body of work.”4
METHODOLOGY AND PERSONAL VOICE
Giampietro begins with a discussion among design faculty who ask the questions, “Why do students talk about their personal lives so much when explaining their work? What do their biographies have to do with it?”1 Giampietro asserts that this interest comes from several sources, including the fact that there is no one else to write about our history and discoveries but graphic designers. He writes, “Whether overtly biographical or simply self-referential, design remains even today as having its history and criticism written largely by and for its own practitioners.”2
In contrast to learning in terms of selfreflection, graphic designer and writer Lorraine Wild describes her experiences as a student in Yale’s MFA program in 1982, saying that it functioned like a kind of boot camp where “‘correct typography consisted of using only one font with one weight change.’ In this With no one else to write about us, and context, Wild wonders: ‘Could you be forgiven, being a profession perhaps, for beginthat encourages the ning to suspect that sharing of ideas and collaboration, we may what you were being have no choice but to taught was not actually be self-reflective. This Modernism at all, but habit? Or bizarre kind of self-anaylsis fraternity rituals? may be the only way to create writing that The similarities to frat documents our history hazing were alarming; if you did what you as formmakers and were told you would graphic designers. be let ‘in’…. If you asked To elevate the idea questions, there were that graphic designno sensible answers and ers have become you definitely risked more and more selfrejection.”5 reflective through the years, Giampietro references a term coined by UCLA English professor Mark McGurl called “reflexive modernity.”“The reflexive modern society, unlike conventionally modern society, looks forward to the new and backward to the modern past…. The reflexive modern society seeks to examine and correct itself in order to keep placing itself continually back on track. The result is a heightened sense of self-awareness and self-preservation leading all the way back to the individual.”3 McGurl insists that this is not narcissism, but an instinctual self-preservation.
METHODOLOGY AND PERSONAL VOICE
The discussion of “designer as author” and the inclusion of personal voice involves opinions from many different points of view on authorship in graphic design. For example, Lorraine Wild believes authorship in graphic design is about focussing on craft, making things by hand, and allowing the visual repetition created by the craft process to be the “mark” that makes a work distinctly hers. Michael Rock thinks authorship is the development of an underlying concept within a body of work. Ellen Lupton believes authorship means taking ownership of the role that one plays in the production of a piece: even though we are collaborative workers, our contributions are just as important as those of writers or artists who routinely claim authorship. Though these voices differ, I believe they all have one point in common: discourse as a call to arms. “Wake up! We are relevant!” We are not puppets but intelligent problem solvers, thinkers, and makers who oftentimes are overlooked and uncredited for some of the thoughtful work being done. We may not be artists or the authors of books, but we have something to say and it is important to me to look more closely at this.
MET
P 1. Rob Giampietro, “School Days,” in Graphic Design: Now in Production, eds. Andrew Blauvelt and Ellen Lupton (Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 2011), 213. 2. Ibid. 3. Ibid. 4. Ibid, 214 5. Ibid.
Anna Keeler Methodology and Personal Voice UIC Master of Design 2014 For her master’s project, Anna was interested in manifesting “evidence of the hand.” Emotionally affected by design that contains an element of human presence, Anna connects personally with the designer through such works, and thus connects to the piece itself.
By selecting three documentary films on three different crafts (building grand pianos, making sushi, and being a tailor), Anna experimented with creating representations of these disciplines with folded paper. Her professors encouraged results that she couldn’t have previously imagined — to fold, cut, crumple, or rip without pre-planning — to see what kind of imagery these hand processes might produce.
Anna began by making word lists for each subject to open her mind to many possible interpretations. For example, the word sushi also makes her think of fish, rice, or seaweed; and from those she could derive smell, scales, fins, many pieces, white, steamed, flaky, sheets, etc.
Seeking to depict these descriptive words within the constraint of a single square piece of paper proved difficult, but the process allowed Anna to incorporate new ideas and abstract these concepts in an original way. Her goal is to develop a set of final posters which make the viewer aware of the human presence behind the making of a hand-crafted product.
Individual
voice
emerges through making
and
dissecting structure and
space.
Name Muhammad Nafisur Rahman Hometown Dhaka, Bangladesh College BRAC University at Dhaka, Bangladesh Major BArch in Architecture
RAHMAN
Honor thy errors! There is no such thing as a mistake, nothing named failure. You have to honor your first work, then consider changing it. Respect the original; nothing is bad or conventional.
Don’t search, rather find! Don’t think of what you’re looking for when you seek; don’t preoccupy your thoughts. Finding is more or less about the process of continuing to do what you are already doing. The process of finding is like moving through a tunnel; you, at the very
beginning of a tunnel, can only imagine that there must be something at the end and thus all you can do is continue to proceed towards it. But if you already know what is there, you’re searching; you already have the answer before the action. Finding is as if you don’t know whether there are other
Hobbies Poetry — I write and live on poems. Listening to every genre of music (except pop music). Playing percussion instruments and the tabla. Travel: I’ve been to Portugal, Spain, India, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Nepal, and Bhutan. Recently, I traveled to Switzerland for the summer workshop and went to Turkey, Germany, and France after the program.
tunnels or no tunnels or what the thing at the end of the tunnel is. You see a light and go! No matter what the results may be, there are definitely things for you to learn.
is th n i ok tos ho om is bo p r s e th re f the All ad a ad’s e.” re ac sp amm g Sp h n i Mu upy c c ”O
This is because we are basically surrounded by two vital things: space and matter.
The quest for aligning my cultural backdrop with the haphazard complexities of a 400 year old mega-city — juxtaposed with its opposite, the broad expanse of nature in my countryside – surely provoked this exploration, too.
From what I can decipher, I gradually developed interest in space-making, and this notion manifested itself in my formal vocabulary and visual perception. Initially, these infatuations pulled me to study architecture. I am interested in human behavior, culture, and context — which helped me find a way to merge my passion for practice with design. Form has definitely been a primary point of departure in exploring space, and I’ve tried to connect the real world with abstraction through three-dimensional architectural experiments, teaching, and photography. My academic background in architecture and my interest in art, poetry and music led me to explore dimensional depth in spaces everywhere.
I found that the exotic nature of my tropical homeland — in opposition to the systematic and predictable urban fabric of Chicago, where nature, people, and lifestyles are discrete and not interdependent — provides more opportunity for poetic ambiguity.
UIC Master of Design 2014
The question of how best to define space is perhaps one of the most frequently asked questions by those who are concerned with physicality, i.e. theories in physics, engineering, and architecture.
“ … only in the vacuum lay the truly essential. In our conception of these, space is more elasThe reality of a room, tically ambiguous. I can comprehend the value for instance, was to be of space, but I am not able to define it. My fafound in the vacant scination with this flexible medium allows me space enclosed by the to see the emptiness of uninterrupted space roof and the walls, not between lines, masses of letterforms that conin the roof and walls form to shapes and surfaces, complex rela[themselves].” tionships between dimensional voids. Lao-tse, The Book of Tea, (604–531 BC) My exploration of the visual language of space creates an amalgam between architecture and graphic design. It also triggers another field of investigation — how to occupy space, and how to define the possible cross-disciplinary dialogues between architecture and spacemaking in the context of the graphic design.
Type/Space
Perhaps I find it in the expanses and vistas of crisscrossing rivers in my country, and their intermingling with landmass. Or perhaps it’s in the magnitude of the inspirational parliament building designed by the enigmatic architect Louis Kahn. Or maybe it’s in the passionate pause in those patient photographic compositions, or the whirlwind of architectural perspective drawings. I keep discovering the different qualities of spaces — between narrow and elongated, tiny and grandiose, sensuous and ambiguous, complex and minimal, and so on. I want to extend this endeavor in my visual narratives and poetic manifestations.
Muhammad Nafisur Rahman
Occupying Space
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Why did you decide to focus on this particular topic? Muhammad: My undergraduate degree in architecture, my background and experiences learning from Bangladeshi culture, and my photographic explorations contributed to my interest in this topic. I focussed my master’s project on environmental design and the formal qualities of letterforms by blending architecture’s visual language with graphic abstractions of space. I’m very interested in environmental design, because it combines architecture and graphic design. In my undergraduate studies, I focussed on architecture. Now, I’d like to expand that knowledge to include graphic design and enhance my ability to explore spatial design and typography: this is the main reason I am here.
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Occupying Space, my master’s book, celebrates my keen interest in exploring graphic design, architecture, and objects that exist in space and the quality of their display. “Revisiting space,” my master’s project, documents the way I create work by investigating the spatial arrangements of my earlier photographs. The master’s book describes my personal journey; how I think about space. I tried to compose my book accordingly, relating my understanding of depth and form. I tried to find a claim in my compositions.
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Why was this topic’s exploration important to you? I wanted to claim my own understanding of space in design. I am inclined to abstraction and architectural photography; visual depth and meaning. I am passionate about composition. With this project I want to proclaim the philosophy behind my design, articulate my visual language, and demonstrate that what I do and how I do it distinguishes me as designer. It will definitely help me gain confidence in and build momentum for my future work. That’s why I use the word “claim.” Claim inspires me to improve my work. It’s related to form, function, and personal experience. Intuition is a vital aspect of my design; like handwriting, it’s something you have and is hard to change, because it is an intuitive and spontaneous style of your own. It reflects many other layers of myself.
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TYPE / SPACE
What did you learn at UIC that you didn’t in college? Since I didn’t study graphic design as an undergraduate, UIC taught me a kind of typographic grammar that elevates design and gives it importance. Before, I never thought of typography as serious or important. Now that I understand typography’s predetermined rules and how to apply them (or disregard them), typography takes on more meaning.
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P” r“ e t et ce el th spa ef re t o he ar ws t h th p g s o ou . is i sh Th re it s thr me lu e n wh ntai al vo n o it c ensio dim
UIC Master of Design 2014
The words I chose to define myself in Meghan’s class are intent, the poetic (personality), and wisdom (as opposed to knowledge, which is something you’ve read and learned, wisdom is something that you feel and spontaneously use). Whenever I design, these are the words that drive my design work; that help me claim what and how I design.
What do you like most about the MDes program? The diverse ways one can learn, experience, and apply design knowledge. I also appreciate the chance to be exposed to different students’ and projects’ design, the freedom to explore, and the ability to build a sense of my own design authorship.
Type/Space
My intention was to blend the legibility and the essence of Miesian spaces by investigating Mies’ ideas of proportion, minimalism, and volume. As in the oftquoted axiom “Less is more,” I tried to explore typographic legibility with minimal elements while at the same time, referencing the essence of Mies.
t f jec e o s pro l m a ’ tco ter ion ou mas ens l na ad’s -dim pies u e e fi Th amm thre occ ur l it h h o a Mu irtu whic ions ty as v t i , l s is a face que gibi e le d typ e an s of n c o a sp epti c r pe es. v mo
Muhammad Nafisur Rahman
Typefaces and letterforms are essentially flat and two-dimensional. I was eager to abstract form, creating a typeface with a spatial context and physicality. Through abstraction, I tried to reference the essence of architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s spaces.
Muhammad Rahman
Michaile Brooks
BROOKS Michaile Brooks is a 2014 master’s candidate in graphic design who has specialized in visual communication in the Chicago area. Her experience includes design for communications, retail, and government agencies.
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois College: Illinois Institute of Art Major: BFA in Visual Communications Hobbies: Old kung-fu movies, anything mid-century Modern, design from a global perspective (especially Russian, African, Asian, and South American), foreign languages, and stepping outside of my comfort zone. People inspire me. Previous work includes: Projects for US Cellular and the National Merchant Marines Association.
HYBRIDITY IN DESIGN: TRANS Michaile, what is your master’s topic? Hybridity in design: transculturalism.
Can you explain this topic further? What does it mean to you? Transculturalism is the breakdown of boundaries. It’s rooted in the pursuit of defined shared interests and common values across cultural and national borders.
What is your current master’s project focus? The visualization of music. As I researched my master’s book, I began to wonder whether transculturalism could affect other mediums that translate into graphic design. I decided to research jazz as a musical genre because of its global influence. Jazz is very transcultural in nature, so I feel this is an appropriate topic to tie into my thesis topic.
Why is jazz an interesting genre? In the Jazz Age, European designers sought to capture the spirit of the music by referencing Cubism, African art, and modernism in their work. The expression of the “jazz style” in the design of popular magazines, ads, and record album covers represented the first appearance of Black-inspired graphic design.
What advice would you give to incoming students of the program? Rather than shy away from opportunities for collaboration, these opportunities should be embraced — they allow us to add to our visual language and learn more about ourselves as designers. What do you hope people will take away from your master’s project? We each are different. And we should enjoy those differences and learn from each other instead of trying to blend the differences away.
N SCULTURA Many of the terms you use — hybridity, transculturalism, marginalization, binaries — are familiar to me; they speak to post-colonial practices. What contribution has transculturalism made that graphic design benefits from, or vice versa? There is a way to design cross-culturally without losing the local references and visuals that make a culture unique. At the same time, it’s important to avoid resorting to stereotypical tropes or making generic design. It’s my belief that the philosophy of transculturalism could be utilized as a tool to expand our visual language and promote diversity in graphic design.
LISM
What do you plan to do with your MDes degree? I’d like to become a graphic designer at a museum because I value cultural diversity. I would like to use this perspective to participate in developing exhibition graphics, signage, printed materials, and multimedia. It’s been a goal of mine for a long time. I hope that obtaining a master’s degree will qualify me for such a position — and I’d get the chance to work with curators!
Anthropologist Malinowski with members of a Trobriand tribe, Trobriand Islands. Photographer unknown, 1918
Hybridity in Design: Transculturalism Connecting to the concerns of people beyond one’s immediate environment is an essential part of what distinguishes worldly design. Every culture brings a new set of expectations to the table; a diverse range of collective memories. As globalization opens up to new markets, designers are increasingly being asked to adapt their work to new demographics that have to be reached. There are many designers today that prefer a “borderless” office; who work with clients in Prague while sitting in front of a computer monitor in Kansas; who work tirelessly across time zones and attend office meetings via Skype from halfway across the globe. On the other hand, the criticism of “global design” brings up the danger of such practices — that if design becomes too adaptable and accessible it will lose the particulars and local references that let you know it’s actually from “someplace” in particular rather than “no place” in particular. I became interested in transculturalism after reading Claude Grunitzky’s book on the subject, and after noticing how most of the people interviewed were creative professionals of some sort, I became intrigued enough to want to explore further. Grunitzky’s interviewees are seekers that want to examine and transcend cultural assumptions in order to better under-
During the course of researching this topic,I discovered that applying a transculturalist philosophy to design requires an approach that’s different from what is normally required. Instead of the “design first, find out later” approach so prevalent in design (especially during deadlines), there first needs to be an understanding of the needs of the people the designer is trying to reach if their work is to go beyond the superficial. Transculturalism works best when combined with these elements: research, hybridity, and intercultural collaboration. Through work that I wasn’t exposed to previously, I’ve seen some of the amazing results that can happen when designers from different worlds collaborate. It’s a philosophy that has always been with us in some form, but until recently travel to far away places was something reserved for the well off, and opportunities to truly collaborate were limited. Now, thanks to cheaper air fare and the internet, it is easier to collaborate with like-minded people, and create things that appeal to a broader spectrum. There is more of an interest now in how other people live, and more importantly, how to connect to them in a way that is different, yet familiar. The world we live in is socially constructed. Today, what we call “society”
MUSIC IN
LATION create something new, and I wanted to find out about their process. Are there other designers out there applying these principles to their work, and if so, whom? Does intercultural collaboration make a difference in preventing design that is rootless, generic, or stereotypical? And what could this mean for those of us who want to move out of our comfort zone and design “beyond borders”?
Interpeting music using only light.
UIC Master of Design 2014
VISUAL TRANS
In my opinion, our job as visual communicators is to address problems and communicate the solutions we find in an effective manner. In an increasingly accessible world, it’s becoming more and more important to be able to do so in the context of existing cultures. There is hope that one day, the field of graphic design will evolve into a more global form of visual communication. Transculturalism is a step in that direction.
Music in Translation
I’ve always had an interest in international design from “non-traditional”countries, and over the course of my career I’ve been lucky enough to have worked for a few companies who market to a multicultural audience. In the past twenty years there has been an explosion of designers becoming more visible in countries that previously were unheard of in the world of design and who have their own design language or blend it with more “traditional” graphic design to
increasingly consists of people who live in different diasporas: physical, cultural, and digital. Our “social constructs” are less homogenous than ever before, thanks to the fact that our worlds are increasingly more diverse, in part through globalization.
Michaile Brooks
stand their own cultures, the cultures of others, and the world at large. They tend to be drawn to creative fields, and actively seek out opportunities to collaborate with other like-minded individuals from all walks of life and are able to utilize those experiences in their own work without resorting to appropriation.
Using photography, Michaile captured the rhythm of Take 5 and the number 5.
JAZZ SENSATION BRUBECK TAKE 5 Experiment using a combination of two previous compositions using the score of Take 5.
Michaile Brooks Hybridity In Transculturalism Master of Design 2014
Music visualization software captured the first 20 seconds of the song, interpreting it visually.
A combination of pattern and abstracted notes in a unified composition.
Arranging notes from the score in a grid by color.
Translation of music through soundwaves.
Michaile Brooks
Music in Translation
The score is created using only shapes.
UIC Master of Design 2014
IN PROCESS
An interpretation of the music using only light.
Breaking down boundaries between
cultures
and
senses
can enhance human experience.
Kahon Hong Absence and Presence of Sound UIC Master of Design 2014
HONG
ABSENCE AND PRESENCE OF SOUND
Name: Kahon Hong Hometown: Seoul, South Korea College: State University of New York at Buffalo Major: BA in Communication Design, BA in Art History Hobbies: I used to make clothes but recently haven’t had time to do so. I also enjoy playing the guitar.
Kay, what is your master’s topic? The absence and presence of sound. What made you decide to focus on this particular topic? When studying art history at SUNY Buffalo, I was very interested in the way female artists use their body as a canvas to claim authority and authorship, and I was interested in the ways that can be translated into graphic design. It’s a topic I was interested in as an undergraduate, but I wasn’t quite sure how to develop it into a master’s project, and I didn’t feel that the topic was mine. I also have a strong interest in type. While brainstorming, I wondered if there was anything from my Korean background that could help me, so I looked at the way the shapes of Korean alphabets are linked to the phonemes they represent. The shape of Korean characters reflect the way they are pronounced, how they sound. For me, sound is the overlapping area of my past interest in the body and my interest in type. Since the Korean alphabet is based on lips, mouth, and teeth, there’s a connection to the body. I’m interested in the ways our experience of sound can be translated visually. Why was this topic’s exploration important to you? As a topic, sound is important to me because it seems to be the common area between my past interest in type and the body. I also value design that looks carefully at human experience and that stimulates the viewer’s senses. I believe this makes graphic design powerful. It might seem unusual to incorporate sound or hearing in graphic design, since the field usually deals with visuals and seeing. Yet the more I researched, the more it seemed like the two senses had a very strong relationship: for instance, what we see is often what we hear, or what we hear is what we see.
What did you learn at UIC that you didn’t in college? I enjoyed my experience at Buffalo and learned a lot during my undergraduate studies. Perhaps because the major was called “Visual Communication” or perhaps because it was part of the Visual Studies department, we learned basics in a very short time and were then pushed to think in experimental ways, using different materials, to represent different ideas. UIC helped me learn to see and pushed me to further investigate the foundations of graphic design: typography and composition. UIC also helped me value process, and pushed me to develop my own thoughts and opinions about design.
What was the most difficult part of your master’s exploration? In one of our studio classes, we designed posters for the Ravinia Music Festival. I was also aware of a former graduate student whose thesis investigated the visualization of music. Knowing and seeing these other visualizations of music and sound, I wanted to go in a direction that was different. When writing my paper, I wanted to propose a path that looks carefully at the human experience of sound, and a path that moves away from designing based on oscillographs or sound waves. I was concerned, though, that it might make my explorations in the coming semesters too narrow, so I ended my research by investigating broader possibilities. While I was writing my paper I left the ending open; later when designing my book, I looked back at the idea of moving away from oscillographs and sound waves, and focussed on the absence and presence of sound. Translating this idea into visual form was difficult. I had to think of different types of silence: absolute silence, subtle silence, intense silence, and so on.
What do you like about the MDes program? I enjoy the process, the steps that go from writing, to designing a book, to designing a project. I also like the way some of the studio classes connected to my master’s project. Sharon’s class prepared me to discuss and visualize my thesis topic; Cheryl’s documentation class prepared me to design my master’s book. What do you see yourself doing after graduating from the program? I will return to South Korea, but I’m not quite sure what kind of work I will be doing. I enjoy teaching and that is something I would love to do in the future. Before teaching, I would like to have more work experience. Since I’ve really enjoyed publication design at UIC, I hope I’ll have the opportunity to work in that area after graduation. What advice would you give incoming students when they join the program? Be passionate. Try to enjoy every step. Have fun with your classmates. They are the ones who will be there for you, encourage you, and understand all the struggles you are going through in graduate school.
Was there an experience in the MDes program that you didn’t expect? I thought Chicago’s large size would give me the opportunity to meet designers, attend design conferences, visit design studios, go on field trips, and build relationships with faculty, which I was able to do at UIC. I guess that could mean it was “expected.” But I would have never imagined getting a sneak peek of an Art Institute exhibition prior to its opening during a class with professor Zoë Ryan, chair of the museum’s department of Architecture and Design. I really enjoyed that class, and it was a surprise to get a backstage tour. When you pursued your master’s project, what did you expect? What didn’t you expect? I’m not quite sure what I expected when pursuing my project. The program encouraged me to start like a blank piece of paper, without expectations — if I had a preconceived idea of what my writing or design would be in the end, it would be difficult for me to escape that and truly explore.
Is there a memorable UIC experience that you’d like to share with others? It was great visiting Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House, and the Art Institute multiple times. The summer Basel workshop was wonderful, too. Other than that, my most memorable experiences were having fun with my classmates and celebrating each other’s birthdays. I will also never forget the support and encouragement of my classmates and professors when I was going through hard times.
Did you learn any important lessons over the course of the project? Yes: I’ve learned how to develop a topic, how to dig in deep, and how to research visually. I’ve also learned to take a step back and consider the experience of the viewers/users and ask myself: How would a reader follow my book? What pace is easy/difficult/awkward? Is the transition noticeable for readers? Is this moving image easy for viewers to follow? What is the best format for making viewers more sensitive to the link between visual and auditory experience?
In the image above, Kahon paid attention to the speed and softness of a speech and tried to highlight those qualities typographically.
In initial studies for her final project, Kahon continued the cut paper explorations used in her publication. It was interesting to see how the combination of cuts, cut-outs, and shadows could suggest sound.
Cut paper overlay from Kahon’s master’s publication.
Kahon’s master’s publication includes two narratives: the first, her written text; the second, an abstraction of sound. After recording and writing down sounds over a given period at different sites, the sounds were cut out from the pages to capture the spirit, rhythm, and overlay of sound at each site.
Kahon Hong Absence and Presence of Sound UIC Master of Design 2014 John Cage’s 4’33’’ and Robert Rauschenberg’s White Paintings — and the hypersensitivity and distillation of these works — served as inspiration throughout the project. Kahon cut out the images in her publication to provide the reader with a hypersensitive or sensorial experience.
For the final master’s project, Kahon explored ways to visualize speech and language. Initially, she tried incorporating the dimension of time with moving images. After investigating many ways of representing speech over time, she developed a broad range of patterns reflecting the spoken word that were presented simultaneously on a series of video screens.
Kahon Hong
Special thanks and congratulations to graduating students Michaile Brooks, Kahon Hong, Anna Keeler, and Muhammad Nafisur Rahman. Thank you to Jรถrg Becker, Philip Burton, and Marcia Lausen for your guidance and direction; and to Sara Connell for your careful editorial review. Design, photography, and production under the direction of Cheryl Towler Weese: Kristin Best May-Zu Chien Y M Cho Alice J Lee Yue Qin Tyiesha Warren Typeface: Brown Pro Printing: Lowitz and Sons
Anna Keeler Methodology and Personal Voice UIC Master of Design 2014
College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts University of Illinois at Chicago design.uic.edu