September 2024
For my senior thesis I want to look at the why behind design. As I have learned through my education here there are a lot of rules when it comes to designs, and systems that should be followed. As younger students we are told that we need to learn the rules before we are able to break them in a successful manner. I want to look deeper into why we have those rules and systems in the first place, if there is a psychological aspect to these systems that make one design more effective than another. I am curious to see if the typical systems in place within graphic design prove to be the most effective solution, or if iterations of the same design breaking those “rules” is better received. I plan on conducting research on different psychological theories, as well as visual research spanning from advertisements to letterpress printing and other modes of conveying design. I plan on creating essentially advertisements for various products, and maintaining a social media presence where I will post different designs and gauge interaction.
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The psychology of advertising and design
May 2024
During the course of Senior Design Seminar I would like to explore the psychology of advertising and design. There is a system to design and what makes good design and advertising. In advertising specifically, once someone finds a solution that is successful other advertisements will start to riff off of that original idea in hopes of having as successful of an ad campaign. This is because advertisements' main goal is to reach people and keep them engaged in the product. In trying to capture the attention of the masses one has to have some grasp on psychology and what draws people towards one design and away from another.
Some of the texts that I have been looking into regarding this topic have been-“Signs and Symbols in Graphic Communication” by Martin Krampen, “American Graphic Design Expression” by Katherin McCoy, “Change!: Combining Analytic Approaches with Street Wisdom” edited by Gabriele Bammer, “How To” by Micheal Bierut, and “Ways of Seeing” by John Berger. I have also been looking at old ad campaigns that were seen as “revolutionary” at the time of their release, and ad campaigns that followed to study correlations in designs and approaches. I’m pursuing this topic because I have been interested in advertising the past year or so, and have enjoyed exploring it thus far. I am also very interested in how the brain works, and how people perceive and understand design. Additionally, the dynamic that is created due to advertising being seen by such a large audience is intriguing to me, as design is altered to be more widely accepted.
Overall I am interested in questioning how design and advertising works and is perceived by the public, and if the systems in place to make “good” design and advertisements can be challenged and bent without impacting overall effectiveness. I will be exploring this concept, testing and challenging common psychological theories through design. I aim to challenge common assumptions that are frequently used in advertising, such as, color psychology and legibility, just to name a few. I plan on conducting surveys in order to gauge the public’s responses, as well as interviews with designers and non-designers to gauge whether or not the knowledge of these systems impacts the effectiveness of a design. Additionally I will conduct visual research, looking at old advertisements compared to new, looking for similarities and differences to challenge.
During the course of Senior Design Seminar I would like to explore the psychology of advertising and design. There is a system to design and what makes good design and advertising. In advertising specifically, once someone finds a solution that is successful other advertisements will start to riff off of that original idea in hopes of having as successful of an ad campaign. This is because advertisements' main goal is to reach people and keep them engaged in the product. In trying to capture the attention of the masses one has to have some grasp on psychology and what draws people towards one design and away from another.
Some of the texts that I have been looking into regarding this topic have been-“Signs and Symbols in Graphic Communication” by Martin Krampen, “American Graphic Design Expression” by Katherin McCoy, “Change!: Combining Analytic Approaches with Street Wisdom” edited by Gabriele Bammer, “How To” by Micheal Bierut, and “Ways of Seeing” by John Berger. I have also been looking at old ad campaigns that were seen as “revolutionary” at the time of their release, and ad campaigns that followed to study correlations in designs and approaches. I’m pursuing this topic because I have been interested in advertising the past year or so, and have enjoyed exploring it thus far. I am also very interested in how the brain works, and how people perceive and understand design. Additionally, the dynamic that is created due to advertising being seen by such a large audience is intriguing to me, as design is altered to be more widely accepted.
Overall I am interested in questioning how design and advertising works and is perceived by the public, and if the systems in place to make “good” design and advertisements can be challenged and bent without impacting overall effectiveness. I will be exploring this concept, testing and challenging common psychological theories through design. I aim to challenge common assumptions that are frequently used in advertising, such as, color psychology and legibility, just to name a few. I plan on conducting surveys in order to gauge the public’s responses, as well as interviews with designers and non-designers to gauge whether or not the knowledge of these systems impacts the effectiveness of a design. Additionally I will conduct visual research, looking at old advertisements compared to new, looking for similarities and differences to challenge.
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