Critical and Artistic Dimensions of Graphic Design - A Case Study of Sulki and Min’s Practice as Graphic Design Research

Aug 23, 2026

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Graphic design research is often defined through dominant professional notions of producing visual solutions for communication problems, typically driven by commissioned, mass-produced, or market demands and validated via quantifiable outcomes. Against this instrumental past, design research increasingly seeks epistemological foundations grounded in design activity, enabling alternative graphic design practices rarely studied due to their difficult classification. This dissertation examines critical and artistic forms as graphic design research, defining them as research and critique directed toward disciplinary conventions or broader cultural and societal issues. Through a review of related scholarship and a focused case study of Sulki and Min, it articulates how such practices function as research and expand the discourse.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages155

Reading Time6 h 31 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Design research, graphic design, and graphic design research

Design Research

Design research and graphic design

Towards an alternative graphic design research

Summary

Critical and Artistic Practices in Graphic Design

Contexts

Nature

Limitations and possibilities

Summary

Case Study: Method

Research design of case st

CRITICAL AND ARTISTIC DIMENSIONS OF GRAPHIC DESIGN A Case Study of Sulki and Min’s Practice as Graphic Design Research Gideon Kong MA (research) Nanyang Technological University, School of Art, Design and Media Completed May 2021 (last updated July 2021) I am grateful to Dr Lim Jin Li, Darryl Lim Wei Jin, and Dr Jesse O’Neill for scattered conversations throughout this period of writing that was filled with unexpected challenges, the insights of which largely benefitted my understanding of academia. I thank Sulki Choi and Min Choi for their generosity in so many ways, whose practice I have long admired and finally had the opportunity to better understand and appreciate through writing. It is a privilege to have met them through the course of this research and every exchange was pleasantly inspiring and extremely rewarding. I thank Jamie Yeo for her reliable support and unfailing encouragement and I thank God for His mysterious and wonderful workings in this brief but meaningful phase of learning. Research supervisor: A/P Danne Ojeda ABSTRACT The subject and purpose of research in graphic design, or “graphic design research”, is often framed under dominant definitions of “graphic design” within the profession. This is generally defined as “the production of visual solutions to communication problems”(Bennett and Vulpinari 2011) and is closely tied to commissioned-based, mass-produced, or market-based requirements or demands (see Walker 1989, 29), measured and validated through quantifiable outcomes (Bennett 2006, Noble and Bestley 2005, Skaggs 2017, etc.) . However, the larger field of “design research”(Simon 1969, Schön 1983, Cross 2007a, etc.)—where graphic design research could be considered a part of—is moving away from its pragmatic and instrumentalist past towards diversified approaches. This is to search for an epistemological foundation for research rooted in design activity (Glanville 2015, Jonas 2016, Rodgers and Yee 2015, etc.) . With this move, the field presents an opportunity to consider alternative forms of graphic design practices that do not reflect the dominant characteristics specified above and are seldom studied in academic literature due to their difficult classification. Specifically, this research posits and examines critical and artistic forms of graphic design practices as“graphic design research”. Provisionally, such practices can be defined as alternative forms of design practice that involves research and critique either towards conventions ofthe discipline and profession or towards broader cultural or societal issues (Dunne 2008, Laranjo 2017a, Malpass 2017, etc.) . In arguing for critical and artistic graphic design practice’s position and contribution as graphic design research, this dissertation first reviews scholarly literature in “design research” and “graphic design research”to find points of convergences between the two fields. It then surveys a range of academic and para-academic materials (Laranjo 2017a, Bailey 2014, Malpass 2017, etc.) surrounding critical and artistic graphic design practice to theoretically arrive at key characteristics of such practices. Finally, this research identifies the practice of Sulki and Min as one that is critical and artistic and examines it in relation to the findings from the earlier two sections. This is presented as an in-depth case study of their ideas, works, and broader engagements. Overall, this research arrives at insights on how critical and artistic graphic design practices can be considered forms of research and how they contribute to the growing graphic design research discourse, hence arguing for its broader relevance in the graphic design discipline. These insights present useful points of departure for developing other specific understandings (i.e., methodological, pedagogical, etc.) of critical and artistic graphic design practices in future research. CONTENTS Abstract .....................................

FAQs

How does the dissertation define “graphic design research” beyond dominant professional definitions?

It frames critical and artistic graphic design practices as “graphic design research,” defining them as alternative design practices that involve research and critique toward disciplinary conventions or broader cultural and societal issues.

What approach does the dissertation use to develop the key characteristics of critical and artistic graphic design practices?

It reviews scholarly literature in design research and graphic design research to identify points of convergence, then surveys academic and para-academic materials on critical and artistic graphic design practice to derive theoretical characteristics.

Why is Sulki and Min chosen for the case study?

The dissertation identifies their practice as a form that is both critical and artistic, then examines it in relation to earlier findings through an in-depth case study of their ideas, works, and broader engagements.

Aug 23, 2026

Upload by Fahsai