doctoral research
Visual Communication and Object Exhibition. Α research on the role of interpretative material design for public spaces.
Ph.D. Candidate: Elisavet Kelidou
The theory and practical application of visual communication leave room for concluding the communicative potential of specific content adapted to areas of educational, informational, and emotional experience. Spaces that potentially cover all the above characteristics are also the exhibition ones. In general, and in the particular case of exhibitions, graphic design is crucial for understanding and communicating their content and forming an engaging visual narrative framework, inextricably linked to the exhibition script and the projected content. Its importance also lies in the possibilities provided by visual communication for "personal" interpretation and consolidation of visual stimuli guided by the correct and targeted use of image semiology and knowledge of the function of visual perception. The communication that each exhibition seeks has in common with mass communication where the public's knowledge and research are necessary for their effectiveness. Graphic design and the 3D elements should also ensure the unity between the exhibits-objects, the space, and the other means of communication, such as the digital ones. The main questions that the research seeks to answer are:
• When the interpretive material works to support the content of the report, digital and analog.
• When from a supporting element with relative autonomy, it is organically combined with the rest (e.g., objects of a collection) to form a single exhibit entity.
• When an interpretive and supporting element is transformed into an autonomous exhibit, carrying the risk of overshadowing the exhibit itself.
• Which visual trick can convert the interpretive material an element that stands out in an "open" space. A notable aspect of the research concerns the investigation of all the above in the frame of the explosive development of digital technology and the possibilities or limitations that entails. Specifically, the way technical possibilities (drastic image processing, printing, etc.) can be transformed into decisive interpretive interventions, the moderation or even elimination of the differentiation among the "conventional" and digital media of the exhibition, in the perspective of a diffuse utilization of the latter (e.g., any surface can potentially be an interface surface) as well as the exhibition design in the public space whether it is the urban or the internet environment.
• When the interpretive material works to support the content of the report, digital and analog.
• When from a supporting element with relative autonomy, it is organically combined with the rest (e.g., objects of a collection) to form a single exhibit entity.
• When an interpretive and supporting element is transformed into an autonomous exhibit, carrying the risk of overshadowing the exhibit itself.
• Which visual trick can convert the interpretive material an element that stands out in an "open" space. A notable aspect of the research concerns the investigation of all the above in the frame of the explosive development of digital technology and the possibilities or limitations that entails. Specifically, the way technical possibilities (drastic image processing, printing, etc.) can be transformed into decisive interpretive interventions, the moderation or even elimination of the differentiation among the "conventional" and digital media of the exhibition, in the perspective of a diffuse utilization of the latter (e.g., any surface can potentially be an interface surface) as well as the exhibition design in the public space whether it is the urban or the internet environment.