Sara Velez Estêvão

In the progression of the dematerialization of information technology, media on which rests in large extent our contemporary social structure, we can situate the design of communication, supported by such technologies as the last means of giving form and make apparent the information. This phenomenon, its ubiquity and its important intervention in the processes of communication, would, in principle, make clear the character of activity of public effect of Communication Design, and the resulting ethical dimension. In this context, I propose the study Communication Design and the way it in-forms our world experience, unfolding arguments to clarify and demonstrate the validity of this perspective. In particular, it will propose to discuss the possibility of understanding Communication Design as a mediator of action, our action in the world, in order to better assess and highlight the condition of his mediation.

Although not new, in recent years a reconfigured and reciprocal interest between design and science has been explored and celebrated, bringing new possibilities for human knowledge and development. A prolific form of this relationship is the use of design as creator of visualizations and mappings of technoscientific knowledge. In a society in which the dematerialized technoscientific information given form by communication design, transmitted through information technologies, plays a main role, is progressively harder to grasp its mediation.
This paper brings into question communication design objects that create the visualization of complex information, how these in-form the world and possible reconfigurations of the communication design discipline. If the abundance of these design objects causes a closer relationship of people with scientific knowledge, it is also argued that it causes an aestheticization of science, which may contribute to an uncritical relationship with it.  The discussion of this assumption will be based on an analysis of the conditions that define this mutual contamination between science and design. This seems to reconfigure the scientific processes for its foray into the world of design, or design processes for its foray into the scientific world. On the one hand design creates representations that are intended to be descriptive of scientific knowledge seeking a translation of its complexity that is understandable by others. On the other, makes use of scientific information, of its phenomena, to create designs and conceptual representations, such as the translation into algorithms of biological formulas, which in turn generate an image. In the relationship between science and design, the visualization of scientific phenomena is no longer just a question of scale by providing visions of the invisible, because too small, or elusive, because too big and too far, is also the possibility of the representation of extreme phenomena without physical existence. Also Science, by means of these representations, has taken aesthetic features, making itself beautiful, even in the eyes of those who only see in these images abstract representations without any index with reality. We are shown colourful, attractive and mysterious images. The characteristics of these phenomena point to the loss of any referent to the natural and material world, still being, however, quite convincing of its scientific truth, and making indispensable its discussion.

In this text, the starting point, towards an interrogation of the contemporary communication design’s mediating action, is Vilém Flusser’s work. In a society in which the dematerialized information, transmitted through information technologies, plays a main role and design becomes ubiquitous, is progressively harder to grasp its medi-ation. The issues raised by Flusser that associate design with technique and communication, as such, allow unfolding a set of reflections on the subject of this article.

Although recently, design has been increasingly present in the social and philosophical thinking about modern societies, particularly the study of its mediating condition between man and his world. Communication design, despite having no conceptual differences with design in general, has, nevertheless, been mostly regarded as a semantic vehicle of sense and style underestimating its mediating action. 
As such this paper is intended as a reflection on how communication design objects, specifically, co-shape the relations between people and our experience in the world. This question has been touched by some authors in the design field but has largely remained to be addressed. Vilém Flusser´s work appears as particularly suited to bring some light to the discussion of this issue. He turns explicit the connection between his thought on culture with design, communication, and technology. In his work, the approach to the cultural world problem - more specifically of the technical objects, human communication, technical images and the design associated to these – reveals their dialogical function in permanent confrontation with their condition as objects. Design, being a cultural form ubiquitous in contemporary communication, resides in technical objects, takes on characteristics of the technical images defined by Flusser and, as such, in our view, faces ontological questions identical to the ones raised by Flusser in his texts. With the above description, becomes apparent and transversal the mediating condition of communication design, allowing its analysis. 
During this paper, Flusser’s main concepts will be described and linked with the specific characteristics of communication design objects and process regarding a clarification of their mediating process. Also, we will bring to this discussion some contributions of other authors on the subject of design, who have approached this issue. The findings in this paper allow us to explore what communication design objects do in a society in witch a culture based on dematerialized information plays a main role. As technical objects loose their material thickness or even existence, communication design increasingly becomes a final form of information appearance.

The present dissertation has as main problem, design and the theoretical concepts of Vilém Flusser on this phenomenon. Flusser, a distinguished author, connected the thougt on culture with design and communication. In his work, the approach to the cultural world problem - more specifically of the technical objects, human communication, technical images and the design associated to these – reveals their dialogic function, in permanent confrontation with their condition as objects. Design, being a cultural form ubiquitous in contemporary communication, resides in technical objects, assumes characteristics of the technical images defined by Flusser and, as such, in our view, faces ontological questions identical to the ones raised by Flusser in his texts."


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"Esta tese tem como problemática o design e as considerações teóricas que este fenómeno mereceu em Vilém Flusser, um destacado autor que associou a reflexão sobre cultura com a tecnologia, o design e a comunicação. Nos textos de Flusser, a abordagem ao problema do mundo cultural, mais especificamente dos objectos técnicos, da comunicação humana, das imagens técnicas e, a estes associado, do design, revela a função dialógica destes em constante confronto com a sua condição de objecto. O design, enquanto forma cultural de presença ubíqua na comunicação contemporânea assenta em objectos técnicos, assume características das imagens técnicas definidas por Flusser e, como tal, considera-se, depara-se ontologicamente com questões idênticas às levantadas por Flusser nos seus textos.