1. Presentation Script
Slide 3
What does practice over theory really look like? Well, one example would be
the kind of design work that comes out of crowdsourcing sites, where the
functionality of something like a web page design is more important than any
conceptual or meaningful associations.
For instance, this web template comes from a crowdsourcing site that actually
states, “Fancy a cookie? Obviously, you can just replace the cookies, easily
change colors and use it for a motor oil company” reinforcing that the content of
the page is meaningless, and the practical execution is the important part of the
design.
Slide 5
Design frequently serves the needs of business, which is focused on buying
and selling commodities. Hence the resulting design and intended message
become part of the product: commodified.
As in this example of a popular toothpaste package. The design works in that it
sells the product, so in that sense it is effective. But is it innovative or interesting?
Not necessarily.
and the reason for this is …
Slide 6
Commodification relies on quantifiable approaches –basing conclusions on
proven, measurable results. The logic is: what has worked in the past will
continue to be effective.
Slide 7
But the strength of designers is that they rely on "abductive reasoning– the logic
of what might be. This is the art of creating something that's never been before.
The vocabulary isn't important, but the underlying concept is:Designers don't
copy, they create.
In an atmosphere where known results are favored, creativity is stifled.
Additionally, in atmospheres where extrinsic rewards are emphasized, creativity

2. is once again stifled.
Slide 8
This is because true creativity and innovation also rely on Intrinsic Motivation: A
term coined by Daniel H. Pink in his book, Drive. Pink describes this
phenomenon as
"When people are driven by the joy of discovery and the challenge of creation as
their sole reward."
Creativity thrives when people, and even monkeys have intrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation was discovered as a motivational theory when a group of
monkeys were placed in a setting each with their own puzzle to solve. Much to
the scientists surprise, they monkeys immediately began playing with the
contraptions with an intensity of drive and focus which led them to solve the
puzzles quickly without any external reward. This led scientists to believe that the
monkeys were "intrinsically motivated" to solve the puzzles.
In searching for a research approach that can encourage this type of creative
environment, we can look to other disciplines
Slide 10
In many disciplines, the prevailing method of exploring and furthering the aims of
practice is approached through Pure Research. This type of research is often
employed in the natural and social sciences, and serves to provide a groundwork
of knowledge from which to move forward with practice.
Slide 11
Pasteur discovered that dead or attenuated organisms can produce antibodies
within blood serum. He discovered this accidentally while experimenting with
pathogens and chickens. He injected the chickens with a virus, expecting to
infect them, but found that they developed an immunity. They only became sick
briefly and quickly thereafter recovered completely.
The discovery of this principle greatly advanced science and led Jonas Salk to be
able to create a vaccine for polio years later.

3. Slide 12
Another example of pure research can be found in sociology, where this
approach to research represents the primary way that the field is advanced.
In the late 1800's Emile Durkheim studied suicide rates among different
populations of people, postulating that suicide is as much a result of one's social
environment as it is of mental illness. He came up with the term "anomie" and
"anomie suicide" to describe a person who becomes suicidal as a result of not
fitting into society. As you can see, this idea continues to be utilized widely today,
such as in the instance of the Columbine killings.
(Durkheim formed a hypothesis that stated that when social conditions fail
to provide people with the necessary social goals and/or rules their socio-
psychological health is impaired, and this increases instances of suicide.
He coined the term Anomie to refer to sudden changes in economic status
of an individual that might set off suicidal impulses and further hypothesized
about the effects of religion on mitigating these factors.)
(Segueway to fine art….)
The tradition of fine art is a studio tradition.Fine artists often seek grants, attend
residencies, or build time for exploration into their regular studio practice.
A body of work is often started with no pre-determined goal or outcome. The
focus is on the process rather than the product.
Process art is a great example of this kind of work, and is comprised of works by
artists like Jackson Pollock and John Cage. It was practiced primarily in the 60's
and 70's but continues to be an influential methodology today. In this type of work
the process becomes more important than the outcome and involves a great deal
of open exploration.
Slide 13
John Cage invented the prepared piano, the mesostic poem and was a pioneer
of performance art. He developed methodologies for producing work which
consisted of games of chance such as the I Ching and drew on his study of
Buddhist and Indian philosophies for a great deal of his work. He is also
attributed with defining avante-garde music.

4. Slide 14
Jackson Pollock invented "action painting" which is a method of painting that
reveals the artists process in its active strokes that document or mimic the
movement of the artist.
The discovery of many different communicative modes and also of materials has
arisen from pure research in process art.
Pure research has also been employed design, and one of the best examples of
that can be found in the experiments conducted at the Bauhaus.
Slide 15
Pure Research in Design. Annie Albers was an educator and textiles designer at
the Bauhaus who advocated for experimentation in her work and the work of her
students. She stated:
“Unburdened by any considerations of practical application, [...} uninhibited
play with materials resulted in amazing objects, striking in their newness of
conception in regard to use of color and compositional elements––objects of
often quite barbaric beauty.”
The principles of composition and formal approaches discovered in this type of
play led her to come to important conclusions about methodologies that were
later used in her and her students' work.
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So what does this mean for communications design today? As I'm sure you have
all experienced, the practice of communications design is often pursued within
the constraints of tight deadlines and budgets, which rarely allows for the pursuit
of exploratory projects.
My proposal is that communications design should be continuously explored
outside of professional practice using pure research.
To demonstrate the possibilities inherent in this type of research, I will propose a
series of exploratory projects both independent and collaborative and will publish
the findings in order to share the knowledge gained with other practitioners.
Possible Projects:

5. Syntactigrams - exploring the structural creation of meaning through play with
language and visual signifiers.
Can colors and images replace words, and if so what is the result of their
meaning both contextually and historically?