(3 credits)
Information design pervades and shapes our world. In this course, students will learn to observe, analyze, and critique how design shapes our relationships, dictates our actions, inscribes values, and sediments privilege. The course will combine cultural analysis and critical theory with information design practice. Students will work in small groups to identify a local issue, and then propose, defend, and implement a project that is meant to act as an intervention to the issue. Students will work in dialogue with those concerned with the focal issue, and learn to adapt their design practices through participation and critical reflection. Each week the course will mix lectures, studio practice, and significant out-of-class project work.
Here is an example of a course project from INFO 4650:
Tackling Body Positivity
“The urge to design—to consider a situation, imagine a better situation, and act to create that improved situation—goes back to our prehuman ancestors. Making tools helped us to become what we are, and design helped to make us human.” Carl DiSalvo, Adversarial Design. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2012. Print. In September 2016, ID launched the […]