Possible worlds : the yield of visual communication design in trans-disciplinary research

Contemporary design’s value no longer lies solely in the manufacture of want, but in an allegiance to a broader society. These shifting dimensions lead us to imagine design’s value afresh, asking how it’s role in negotiating an increasingly complex and multi-dimensional society can be underpinned and sharpened through research to both anticipate and plan change. We explore these potential roles for visual communication design through a transdisciplinary research project which is used to outline several emerging ways of thinking about design in research, principally through such lenses as critical practice, reflexive enquiry and speculative prototyping.