[co-teaching by Dorothee Richter]

Words like 'openness' and 'transparency' are frequently used by politicians, chiefs of industry, designers and many others. But what needs to be opened? What is to be made transparent? How do we learn anything more about the intentions of parliamentarians by them sitting in a glass house? Is an oil company any greener when using a flower as its logo? Does the transparent case of a computer make the inner workings of the machines really more visible? Or the conditions of its making? What is really being shown in that case?

Everything is supposed to go better when contact between humans is open and transparent. People listen to each other, generate more respect, there is a debate. When we are in contact there would be less cheating, less murder, less war.
In practice of course, there is a lot of disappointment and distrust and a tendency to hide thoughts and intentions, to mislead and to build walls, creating situations of conflict. People need to be pushed, guided, assisted or even persuaded in their process of getting nearer. What seems to help is to put something between, under or over (groups of) individuals: a 'connecting tool'. Here comes into view the open windows and the bridges, published on the seven euro banknotes, the 'transparent' roof over the Reichstag, the word 'glasnost', also numerous small signs like wedding rings and doves.

In this project we will put the designer in the role of mediator. Students will be asked to go out and look for conflicts: divorcing couples, fighting priests, violent neighbours, clashing generations, angry nations. What kind of project is needed, what could be done? Assuming power struggles are necessary, how can design support creative conflict, instead of diluting or eliminating differences by compromise and abstraction, as in the case of the euro banknotes? To avoid flatness and too much compromise, students are asked to take care and to define their active role as mediators: to take a position by making categories, choosing symbols and colours, visualizing patterns, editing and placing texts.

Beside the print and/or screen production each student will work on, there will be supporting exercises in working with contrast, composition, symbols and metaphors. Where most forms of publication still follow a hierarchical pattern (from sender to audience), in mediation design a more horizontal system of messaging, based on a common visual language, could be needed. This to facilitate debate, discussion and other forms of exchange, openness and transparency.

Conflicts

Students are asked to look for a conflict, and to research it. For instance, a conflict can be a fight between neighbours over the noise of a lawnmower, a war about a religious object, a debate about whether the world is flat or round.
Which conflicts would you like to get solved? Which conflicts bother you? Is there any struggle between human beings which corrupts your daily life, or keeps you from concentrating on more interesting matters?

Conflicts can also raise your interest, because of the environment in which they take place, the characters or the persons which are involved and the (historical) backgrounds behind the struggles. In this project we are not interested in conflicts which take place exclusively in your mind (or anyone else's mind), but only in those that are recognized by the two parties involved. Still, the theme you choose may reflect a personal doubt as well. We are looking for a disagreement between at least 2 persons or groups, who need some help in getting along, or with bridging a gap.
Students are invited to do fieldwork. Ask questions, take pictures, find material. Mysteriously, when asked, both parties may give different accounts, which could tell something about what is happening as well. For this project the surface of the conflict will play an important role. Look at the outer appearance of the struggle. What do the conflicting parties look like - and what does that tell you about the conflict itself? Are there any objects, landscapes, or (other) natural or manmade phenomena involved? What role does communication design play? What symbols are used? Which colours? What typefaces? Which other relevant visual elements (photography, graffiti, dress) are to be focused upon?

To keep in mind, most conflicts:
--> have a central subject
--> are about and between persons
--> are somewhere
--> have a history
--> cover more subtle sub-conflicts
--> are part of a larger conflict
--> demonstrate the dynamics of a social theory.

Despite of what you might think, you don't have to be absolutely neutral to be a mediator-designer. If it helps to clarify, you are allowed to ask critical questions and to come up with controversial (visual) statements.
In case of doubt, just repeat our mantra: What can designers add to the quality of their environment?

Result

Every student will conceptualize, edit and design an application for print or screen, based on the researched theme.
This should be a piece (or several pieces) of visual communication, targeted at the participants of the conflict (or their representatives) - and optionally at a wider audience. The different points of view should be outlined and made transparent for the opposite party.
Students should solve problems like:
how to compare facts and statements, how to visualize complex backgrounds/theories etc., how to interest people in the story of the opposition, how to involve the different parties (actively) into the project, how to create a platform for constructive argumentation and debate, how to develop a style suitable for different cultures, etc.
The final outcome can be a newspaper, magazine, series of posters, installation, website, dvd or any other medium in which text and image can be used.
Graphic design should be used as a (cultural) mediation tool.

Presenting

There will be 3 main presentations:

First:
Thursday April 15, 10.00 am:
Documentation-Dummy - a printed A5-booklet, containing a selection of at least 50 different entries of documentation like: pictures, quotes, facts, sketches, schemes, copied (ideas for) written texts. all entries should have a name (existing or invented) and be completed with exact sources and attached keywords

Second:
Thursday June 3, 10.00 am:
Project Dummy - the presentation of a drafted outline of your proposal: what you show should give a detailed impression of the end result

Third:
Thursday July 1, 10.00 am:
Final work - the completed result

Feel free to challenge everything
written above.