XVIII ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 13-19, 2014)

July 13 - 19, 2014

920

Workshop: In-Visible Design – the Surface and Everything Beneath. Researching Design As a Challenge for Visual Sociology

WG03 Visual Sociology (host committee)

Language: English

“When you see an object, you make so many assumptions on it” – says the narrator of ‘Objectified’ (the documentary film about industrial design). Indeed there is a story embedded in every object. It is true that the first contact is usually the visual one. As sociologists we see and read from object: how was it made, what was it made from, who would buy it, for how much and why? But, what’s more important is that the object speaks to us using other, than visual, language. It’s not only about its color or shape. There are other senses involved but often omitted in our research, like taste, smell or temperature. We not only see an object, we feel it and interact with it. Design has long ceased to be a realm of still objects. Nowadays design is interactive, multisensory and based on process. Therefore we call it invisible design highlighting other than just visual aspects. The invisibility of design has also deeper meaning. It aims to grasp everything beneath the visual surface: technology, process of thinking, prototyping and interaction with users and to expand the meaning of design so it includes also services and models of thinking, not only material products. The invisibility of design has also deeper meaning. It aims to grasp everything beneath the visual surface: technology, process of thinking, prototyping and interaction with users and to expand the meaning of design so it includes also services and models of thinking, not only material products. These are important issues that must be considered if researching design. And as such it is the huge challenge for visual sociology and a good starting point for the discussion about its limitations or possible ways of expanding its field. During the workshop, build on empirically based visual experiments in the form of design interventions and co-design processes, we will try to expand the field of visual sociology.