Andrew Blauvelt’s Unfolding Identities, printed in The Education of an E-Designer (edited by Steven Heller in 2001, published by Allworth Press), explored the emerging schism between graphic design and the (at the time) burgeoning practice of information design. Within the essay, Blauvelt questioned the distancing of the two practices into separated and distinct camps. Blauvelt argued that the interrelated practices each produced their forms of seduction, manifested through different strategies, processes, and media. The supposedly objective and pure practice of information design, he argued, induced and seduced as compellingly as its adjacent and somewhat more spirited practice of graphic design; both camps were manufacturers of persuasion, articulated through visual communication. The crux of the argument: yesterday’s design and advertising implemented to sell beer and pickup trucks have been augmented by the visualization of information — beautifully crafted data engineered to stimulate demand and sell products.

Blauvelt’s Unfolding Identities was the third of three essays to be read for an M.Des design research course. The purpose of three introductory essays served as prompts for the generation of design responses as a kind of warm-up and introduction to the course.

My response to Andrew Blauvelt’s Unfolding Identities was delivered in a staple-bound book format. Two pages of written text were printed on the first and second pages. These pages comprised a summary, a few paragraphs itemizing the key points of the argument of focus, and a full-page text in which personal reflections were made on the article’s strengths. The book design closed with a short half-page text in the form of an ongoing question, reflecting upon how the issues articulated by Blauvelt might be incorporated within my design practice.

The bulk of the book included visual material acquired from rights-free publications. Illustrations and diagrams were scanned and placed on each page, visually attempting to communicate tension between information and image. I was interested in exploring the relationship between forms of information design treated more artfully.

The final article can be read on Medium.