Nov Week 3 → Coaching
Feedback with Sander 18.11.2025
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Considering the distinction between applied and autonomous intentions may support a stronger foundation for the project.
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Investigating how these two modes of practice interact, rather than oppose each other, could reveal productive tensions within the work.
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If the project aims to address or critique the design industry, the communication may require more explicit articulation / urgency beyond aesthetic experimentation.
- The visual research appears to carry strong stylistic qualities, however, identifying what is being stated, not only how, is essential for conceptual clarity.
Visual Language & Ethos
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The difference between style and ethos. Visual languages associated with rebellion or counterculture can lose their critical force once detached from their original contexts.
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Aesthetic approaches inspired by figures such as Chris Ashworth raise questions about how formal strategies carry meaning, and how easily they can shift from critique to stylistic convention.
- The project may benefit from ongoing reflection on whether the adopted visual strategies communicate position, attitude, or cultural commentary, rather than remaining at the level of surface treatment.
Perfection, Ambiguity & Communication
- “Clean” and “messy” visuals do not directly / inherently correspond to “perfect” or “imperfect” outcomes; these categories could function independently.
- Clean visual systems can also express ambiguity or psychological complexity, while messy or distressed visuals can still deliver very straightforward, even commercial messages.
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This mismatch between medium and meaning presents a potential area of inquiry within the project.
Cultural Perspective
- Different cultural expectations surrounding design, such as the emphasis on precision and perfectionism in Taiwan versus the value placed on ambiguity, experimentation, and distortion within Belgian/European art education, could be interesting for the investigation.
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These contrasting frameworks may serve as a significant source of research material, especially when exploring the construction of perfection, design discipline, and authorship.
Completion & Process
- Is a design ever truly finished, or do I stop simply because a deadline, a rule, or someone else tells me to?
- The ongoing question of when a design is considered “finished” could be the research for now.
- The distinction between internal completion (self-determined) and external completion (deadlines, rules, institutional expectations) provides a further research.
Perception & Presentation
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The perception of “finishedness” appears to shift depending on the format of presentation: scanned images viewed on a screen tend to appear unresolved, while printed and physically handled works suggest a higher degree of completion.
- This observation indicates that the interface of viewing plays a significant role in how graphic work is interpreted.
And, also waiting for the insights I may gain from the upcoming Theory Intensive Week and Masterclass.