Thesis ideas...

Thesis Idea #1.

Create a series of information design pieces or a book detailing the relations between past and current research in the field of visual perception and art, and how that research can be applied towards creating more effective graphic design. Areas of interest to include may consist of improving composition, visual organization, color theory, typographic readability, etc. Also include research into visual information processing with an emphasis on how a better understanding of it may improve areas such as information design, wayfinding, and environmental graphics. In addition to using purely psychological theories to support these suggestions, include clinical trial results, and neurological findings, all presented visually as well as verbally. Also introduce ideas of complexity, entropy, and physics of information and how they may be applied in creating the most effective balance of aesthetics and communication in graphic design of any form.

Primary concentration will be on applying many of Rudolf Arnheim’s theories of art and visual perception to graphic design instead of the areas he primarily concentrated on: fine art, sculpture, and film. Then, expanding on his theories by incorporating research from other prominent experts in the fields of psychology, physics, neurology, neuroesthetics, design, and art theory. To fill in gaps where clinical evidence of different concepts actually benefiting design is scarce, independent visual experiments may be set up to test the accuracy of the different proposals presented.

While verbal explanations of most of the information presented will be necessary to fully provide the preferred depth of information, the primary mode of communicating these concepts will be visual. Most past and current information regarding visual perception is consistently presented verbally, and as a result alienates itself from the very phenomena being discussed. I aim to integrate the use of visuals with verbal explanations in a much more cohesive manner that has been directly informed by the very information it is presenting.

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Thesis Idea #2.

Exhibition design on the topic of visual perception and art. This hypothetical exhibit would be designed for display at either a science, natural history, or modern art museum. The purpose of the exhibit would be to educate people of the general public, as well as individuals with a deeper interest into the links between psychology and the arts. Information will concentrate mainly on theories explored by the top three most influential experts in the field: Rudolf Arnheim, V.S. Ramachandran, and Semir Zeki. Their approaches and contributions have had profound effects on the field of art and visual perception, and the understanding of the fundamental ways in which we perceive the world around us. Contents within the exhibition may include historical timelines, interactive elements, master artworks, other physical specimens, etc. Topics in consideration to be covered include the following (areas overlap and not in specific order):

    1. visual perception & cognition
    2. information processing
    3. visual thinking
    4. creativity and cognitive processing
    5. altered or enhanced visual perception
    6. creative personality
    7. the creative impulse
    8. entropy and physics of information
    9. order and disorder, complexity
    10. art history and visual organization
    11. organizational theory and composition
    12. aesthetic perception and philosophy
    13. neuroesthetics
    14. other misc.

Visitors of the exhibition should leave with an enlightened view of the way they and others perceive the world visually, and how that influences visual communication through art from both the side of the creator and observer.

I will write all of the contents of the exhibit, as well as design information, environmental, and exhibition graphics to enhance the experience and absorption of the material presented. The layout of the exhibit as well as the physical and interactive elements of it will be created in the form of a small-scale model, and necessary parts may be presented and built to scale.
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