02  Methods

Experiments

Experiments can be done in various ways. A common practice is the group sorting were visuals have to be arranged. That can be done by the designer himself, as well as in a test situation with another person or group of people. To prepare material, that can be experimented with, requires an investigation beforehand to define parameters and criteria for the settings. The base should be a material collection that shows a variety where visuals can be chosen from. It might be helpful to documented experiments with a protocol, photographs or as video. Comments from participants can give additional insights on the subject and should be always welcomed.

In general, the term ‘experiment’ or ‘experimental’ is not clearly defined and offers a wide range of techniques in artistic practices. Inspiration for an experimental workflow could come from science or specific procedures like photography. In that sense, what would be experimental photography? Mostly an experimental approach leads to a method that goes beyond common practices.

Project: Researching Complexity
By: Stephanie Müller
Year: 2017

The focus was the term of ‘objectivity’ as I am interested in the scientific approach of research in art and design. Using scientific thermology for visual research leads to interesting questions. How can an image be objective? What do people define as more or less objective or subjective? Where is the border? As an example, the depiction of the landscape was chosen to clarify what an „objective“ or „subjective“ depiction of landscape could be if it is not a photo?

The starting point was the first collection of pictures from the internet, books and magazines of different types such as maps, fictional illustrations, visual analysis of environment or infographics.

The main experiment consisted of images showing a basic depiction of ‘landscape’ which contains trees (representing nature), a house (representing civilization), horizon and sun. The aim was to explore different types of vector illustrations by showing them to different people in the form of cards. The cards should be arranged from ‘objective“ to ‘subjective’.

The experiment was conducted with an amount of 8 people who have a design background. The card sets were arranged in an iterative process.