Strategy/Research/Planningin Experiential Graphic Design,particularly evidenced-based research, is becoming increasingly important in both the profession and in academia. Although there are some firms and graduate programs invested in high-level Strategy/Research/Planning in the field, it has historically been underserved.
As a design discipline that connects human beings with physical spaces, Experiential Graphic Design should be founded on Research/Strategy/Planning specific to communication and human behavior in the built environment, including user needs and human interaction with graphic, symbol-based, and wayfinding cues in physical spaces. In particular, areas such as legibility, navigation, universal accessibility, and understanding of place can be studied and measured to the ultimate benefit of users.
Strategy/Research/Planning in the Experiential Graphic Design realm expands the dialogue, debate and kinds of problems that designers address in key practice areas including wayfindingand navigational systems, placemaking and identity, exhibition designand interpretive storytelling, and the impact of culture, media and digital technologyon users. This integration of culture and entrepreneurial spirit, or creative thinking and the environment is sometimes referred to as the creation of Smart Cities. Design Researchand Design Thinkingwill be key skills required to make these concepts a workable reality for users. These design research endeavors are often cross-disciplinary, involving the fields of visual communication design, architecture and urban design, interior design, industrial design, landscape architecture, art, engineering, fabrication, technology, electronic media, history, anthropology, sustainability, and law.
In addition, the development of Experiential Graphic Design programs for both private-enterprise and non-profit clients is often strategically founded, based on organizational goals, values, and business objectives. Rigorous documentation of EGD systems and processes benefits the larger design and user communities by mapping research, challenges, solutions, and strategies.
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