Category Archives: Uncategorized

RELATED TERMS: Boever et al. (2012: x) suggest that intellectual currents in the humanities in recent decades have moved towards a context that is more receptive to the thought of Gilbert Simondon. This shift has been characterised by Brian Massumi as turning away from a prevailing acceptance of ‘constructivism’ towards what he calls ‘inventivism’. TheContinue reading “Inventivism and Constructivism”

RELATED TERMS: Anime and Manga: Barry Watt, a psychotherapist working mainly with young homeless people, situates the popularity of the South Korean drama series Squid Game within a larger movement of young people towards Japanese and Korean anime and manga. They are looking, he conjectures, for a response to their experience that is not beingContinue reading “Neurodiversity and Narrativity”

RELATED TERMS: Somatosensory System; In order to interact sensibly with the world and to manipulate objects skilfully, information needs to be shared between the somatosensory and the motor systems, forming a complex somato-sensori-motor system. The two systems communicate via a network of extensive connections between the sensory and motor cortices but also by motor cortexContinue reading “Sensorimotor System”

RELATED TERMS: Enaction Paradigm – Cognitive Science; Sensorimotor System Sensory Systems A design may explicitly and deliberately address one or all of the human body’s sensory systems. It may also be the case that a design addresses more that one of these senses implicitly or unintentionally; or unintentionally prioritises or hierarchises one of the senseContinue reading “Somatosensory System”

RELATED TERMS: “So Hiro’s not actually here at all. He’s in a computer-generated universe that his computer is drawing onto his goggles and pumping into his earphones. In the lingo, this imaginary place is known as the Metaverse. Hiro spends a lot of time in the Metaverse. It beats the shit out of the U-Stor-It.”Continue reading “Metaverse”

RELATED TERMS: Theoretical practice Open system theory was initially developed by Ludwig von Bertanlanffy in the 1950s. Although conceived in the context of biology, the theory is applicable in other disciplines. The theory defines systems as being “characterized by an assemblage or combination of parts whose relations make them interdependent” (Scott, 1992: 77). As oneContinue reading “Open Systems Theory”

RELATED TERMS: Heterarchy; Open Systems Theory The concepts of complexity, emergence and relationality were introduced in 20th century science and philosophy as means of counteracting the effects of positivism and reductionism. They are crucial for understanding the operation of designed outputs as material, semiotic phenomena and therefore important to consider in conceptualisation and design processes.Continue reading “Emergence”

RELATED TERMS: Actantial model – Greimas; Agon; Agonism and avant-gardism; Antagonist; Focalisation; Protagonist; Telos and Teleology; Theatre and Drama Theory The dramatic conflict is the persistent tension, the driving force, from which the content of the story is gestated and produced. According to Robert McKee (1999: 210): “Nothing moves forward in a story except throughContinue reading “Dramatic Conflict”

RELATED TERMS: Narratology; Philosophy “The study of design is linked, historically and conceptually, to teleology. Since Plato and Aristotle, the apparent orderliness of sensible objects has inspired reflection upon first principles. As William Paley suggested in his proof of God’s existence, whatever appears to have been designed – whether natural or artificial – provides anContinue reading “Telos and Teleology”

RELATED TERMS: Diegese; Use for Narrative levels. See also Frame narratives and Embedded narratives Diegetic levels are also referred to as narrative levels, for example, the English translation of Gerard Genette’s book Narrative Discourse talks of narrative levels. The notion is used to describe the relations between an act of narration and the diégèse, i.e. the story as a wholeContinue reading “Diegetic Levels”