Graduate Studio: Technology A

Week 1-5: From Fixed Design to Variable Code

Sol LeWitt, installation view at Dia:Beacon.

Since the invention of the first tools, designers and technology have evolved together in a dynamic, reciprocal relationship. From movable type and mechanical presses to desktop publishing, and now computational tools and digital fabrication, designers have continually adapted to new languages and tools while simultaneously shaping and redefining those technologies to expand what’s possible in communication.

However, code is not a uniquely Western, nor a uniquely digital, concept. From ancient weaving patterns and early musical notation to the ciphers that have protected secrets throughout history, humanity has always used systems of logic to encode and communicate meaning.

As we move from historical manual systems to computational ones, the need for rigid, fixed-plate production has diminished. We now work directly with digital values and variables, enabling designs that are as adaptable as the systems that generate them. This shift allows us to move beyond one-size-fits-all solutions and build flexible, responsive systems that mirror the complexity of the information we translate.

In this unit, you will explore foundational computational concepts such as variables, randomness, loops, and functions that empower and challenge you as a designer. Moving beyond fixed, perfect proportions, you will learn to design “programs” that create, break, and modularize rules to generate flexible, dynamic systems. Throughout the making process, we will reflect on the evolving role of the designer in an increasingly digital and automated world.

Project 1: Creative Cryptography

As designers, we constantly participate in cycles of encoding, decoding, and translating messages through the tools at our disposal. Begin with something personally, poetically, or culturally meaningful to you: a piece of text, an image, sound, a natural or physical object or system, an experience, or another source. You will not present this source directly. Instead, you will transform it by designing a visual coding language that encodes its content into form.

You are not creating a single composition, but a system of translation. Define a set of rules that maps elements of your source into visual, spatial, or material components. The source becomes something that generates form rather than something simply displayed. Your system should be consistent and repeatable, yet flexible enough to apply to other sources and produce new variations while maintaining its underlying logic.

By transforming language into code, you make decisions about what is revealed, what is hidden, and how meaning travels across different media. Your system might obscure legibility, delay comprehension, or create new forms of reading. It may function as a private language, hidden writing, a shared code, or something in between.

Using your system, produce at least 10 distinct physical outputs, each varying in scale, proportion, material, or fabrication method. Explore how processes such as inkjet printing, UV printing, risograph printing, digital cutting, or laser cutting affect how your encoded language is perceived, revealed, or transformed.

Martin Lorenz, Flexible Visual Systems.

Recommended Readings

• Gerstner, Karl. 1964. Designing Programmes.
• Reinfurt, David. 2021. A New Program for Graphic Design.
• Blauvelt, Andrew, and Ellen Lupton, editors. “Tool (Or, Postproduction for Graphic Designer)” 2011. Graphic Design: Now in Production.
• Pater, Ruben. 2019. “One Size Fits All.” Modes of Criticism 5: Design Systems.
• Madsen, Rune. 2015. On Meta-design and Algorithmic Design Systems.

Workshop 1

• What is laser cutting?
• What can it do?
• What can it not do?
• What bad things come out?
• What good things come out?

Week 6-10: Data As Contested Material

W. E. B. Du Bois, Visualizing Black America.

Building on our understanding of variables, this unit introduces data as a powerful, complex, and ancient material. Throughout history, humans have used data to understand our place in the world, from recording astronomical cycles and census tallies to keeping genealogical records. Data is never neutral; it reflects the social, cultural, and political conditions that shaped its collection and must be contested, reflected upon, and interrogated.

Historically, people have used visualization as an act of discovery, moving beyond simple display to reveal new meanings and expose systemic structures. From W.E.B. Du Bois’s visualizations of Black life and Florence Nightingale’s medical charts to the experimental computational work of Muriel Cooper, designers have long used data to drive change and uncover hidden truths.

In this module, you will combine what you learned in Module 1 with the basics of data processing, cleaning, and translation to create dynamic, tangible objects. You will work with concepts including 3D, arrays, objects, JSON, and mapping while critically examining what it means to introduce data into the design process. You will also harness code’s ability to perform complex calculations and iterative loops to generate forms that would be difficult or impossible to construct manually.

Project 2: Data Sculpture

Choose a dataset connected to a social, cultural, or environmental topic that holds significance for you. You may work with an existing, publicly available dataset; however, you are strongly encouraged to design and collect your own data related to a specific site of inquiry.

Move beyond flat, two-dimensional representation and transform your dataset into a physical, sculptural form. Using tools such as 3D printing, laser cutting, or manual fabrication, consider how color, shape, size, texture, and structure communicate your data’s story.

As you prototype, look for patterns that emerge. What trends become visible through the act of sculpting? What new insights appear when you translate information into three-dimensional space? What do you notice that you could not see when the data was merely a list or chart?

Mix and match materials by combining digitally fabricated outputs with paper, found objects, or raw textures. As you refine the work, consider the audience’s perspective: Does the shift to 3D clarify the data, or complicate it in meaningful ways? What do others notice when they encounter your system, and how does that shared experience inform your understanding of the information?

Domestic Data Streamer, Design Museum of Barcelona.

Recommended Readings

• D’Ignazio, Catherine, and Lauren F. Klein. 2020. Data Feminism.
• Lupi, Giorgia, and Stefanie Posavec. 2016. Dear Data.
• Pater, Ruben. 2021. CAPS LOCK: How Capitalism Took Hold of Graphic Design, and How to Escape from It.
• Hall, Peter A., and Patricio Dávila. 2022. Critical Visualization: Rethinking the Representation of Data.
• The W.E.B. Du Bois Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. 2018. W. E. B. Du Bois's Data Portraits: Visualizing Black America.

Workshop 2

• TBD

Week 11-15: Cybernetics of Live Input

Daniel Rozin, Mechanical Mirrors.

Building on our work with data, this unit introduces the idea that data can become “live input,” where real-time streams gathered from sensors, environmental data, and digital interfaces create interactive, responsive systems.

Long before computers, humans built physical interfaces to capture live input. Sundials tracked the continuous movement of planetary bodies. Zhang Heng’s seismoscope captured the invisible data of distant earthquakes through a finely tuned mechanical system. Islamic engineers such as Al-Jazari designed programmable musical automata and water clocks that used fluid dynamics and weights to create self-operating, interactive displays. These examples remind us that interaction design marks a shift from static objects to dynamic, responsive environments. Today we use sensors, APIs, and code to build systems that react, adapt, and mediate our relationship with an unpredictable world.

In this unit, you will learn to think through interaction by building time-based designs that respond to live stimuli. You will investigate how embodied interaction introduces unpredictability, immediacy, and physical presence into digital and material forms. Using sensor-generated data, APIs, and live-coding environments such as p5.js and Strudel, you will combine generative visuals and algorithmic music to construct responsive systems that evolve over time and foster connection through design.

Project 3: Shared Signal Party

For this final project, work in groups of three to design a time-based, interactive system driven by real-time input and responsive outputs. We will present the work as a one-night performance in the LED room at the ARC building, with each performance lasting approximately eight minutes.

Your approach might involve live-generated visuals, data-driven API streams, live-coded music with Strudel, hand tracking, microphone-reactive environments, or other gestural inputs. Whatever you choose, your system must create a compelling live experience.

Consider how you will use the LED room’s light, scale, and immersive qualities to affect the audience’s sense of shared presence. How will your system respond intentionally and evocatively to movement, sound, or data?

Rather than producing a recorded sequence, design a rigorous framework that remains open to surprise and the spontaneity of live performance. If interactive work is fluid and live input makes music and visuals unpredictable, what is the role of the designer? How can you act as the architect of an evolving, generative experience, curate a sense of wonder, and foster connection while the work is always changing?

Mark Hansen and Ben Rubin, Listening Post.

Recommended Readings

• DiSalvo, Carl. 2012. Adversarial Design
• Benjamin, Ruha. 2020. Race After Technology.
• Haraway, Donna. 1991. “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century.” In Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature, 149–181. New York: Routledge, PDF.
• Galloway, Alexander R. 2004. Protocol: How Control Exists After Decentralization. Cambridge.
• Giampietro, Rob. 2021. I Am a Handle.

Workshop 3

Your performance will be evaluated on its own merits, not based on comparing your work with other students. We focus on your understanding of concepts and your ability to apply them in a meaningful way. We don’t prioritize technology efficiency or professionalism as the primary criteria. We value the learning process and recognize that everyone progresses at their own pace.

Should you have any inquiries regarding grading, please don't hesitate to reach out to the faculty directly.

Active participation is essential and comprises 25% of the final grade. This includes, but is not limited to: keeping up with readings, assignments, and projects, contributing meaningfully to class discussions, active participation in group work, and coming to class regularly on time.

While attendance is one aspect of active participation, absence from a significant portion of class can compromise successful attainment of the course objectives. We consider a significant portion to be three weeks or 20% of class time. Lateness or early departure from class may be recorded as one full absence. We encourage you to let us know as much in advance as possible if you need to miss a class, are running late, or need to leave class early. More than three uncommunicated absences, late arrivals, or early departures will result in a deduction from your final grade.