Accessibility
able to be reached or entered

Blueprint
a design plan or other technical drawing

Curriculum
a set of courses constituting an area of specialization

Communication
a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system
of symbols, signs, speech, or behavior

Community
a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common

Condition
something essential to the appearance or occurrence of something else

Conditional Design
a design ethos formulated by graphic designers Luna Maurer, Jonathan Puckey, Roel Wouters, and artist Edo Paulus. It refers to an approach rather than a chosen medium. This approach focuses on processes rather than products: things that adapt to their environment, emphasize change and show difference

Constructionist
a practitioner of a type of fabrication style in which physical objects are built with ready made objects and commonly found materials

Convivial Tools
characteristics of convivial tools are those which enhance the user’s capability to work with independent efficiency. A fairly comprehensive list might include the following characteristics: Usability, Intuitive Use, Reliability, Reparability, Durability, Ergonomics, Simplicity, Robustness, Open access, Modularity, Recyclability, Environmental friendliness, Social friendliness, Promotion of autonomy, Full service, and Eutrapelia

Collaboration
to work jointly  with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor

Economy
a large set of inter-related production and consumption activities that aid in determining
how specific resources are allocated

Education
knowledge and development resulting from an direct or indirect teaching process

Ethos
describes the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology

Empower
to make someone stronger and more confident, especially in controlling their life and claiming their rights

Environment
the surroundings or conditions in which a person lives or operates

Environmental Graphic Design
(or EGD) embraces many design disciplines including graphic, architectural, interior, landscape, and industrial design, all pertaining to the visual aspects of wayfinding, communicating identity and information, and shaping the idea of creating experiences that connect people to place

Experimentation
the process of testing; an operation or procedure carried out under controlled conditions in order to discover an unknown reaction

Facilitate
to make (an action or process) easy or easier by bring people  and tools together

Formulate
to express an idea in a concise or systematic way

Fluxus  Movement
an international, interdisciplinary group of artists, composers, designers and poets that took
shape in the 1960s and 1970s. Described as “the most radical and experimental art movement of the sixties.” Fluxus is known for experimental contributions to different artistic media and disciplines

Generative Collaboration
involves people working together to create something new, surprising and beyond the capabilities of any of the group members individually

Gradients of Proximity
levels of community based on a pre-set symbolic, figurative, or physical range

Graphic Design
noted by John Caserta as the primary process to make sense of and communicate experience

Interdisciplinary
involving two or more academic, scientificor artistic disciplines of an individual or within a collective team

Intervention
the act of interfering with the outcome or course of a routine condition or process

Input
1. a component of production
2. information fed into a data processing system
3. the act or process of putting in

Iteration
a procedure in which repetition of a sequence of operations yields results successively closer to a desired result

Ivan Illich
a Croatian-Austrian philosopher, Roman Catholic priest, and critic of the institutions of Western culture, his work addressed education, energy use and economic development through two primary texts: De-schooling Society written in 1971 and Tools for Conviviality in 1973

Language
a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meanings

Legible
easy to understand; understandable, comprehensible, decipherable

Joseph Beuys
was a leading German conceptual and performance artist. Known for his highly original and controversial themes, his practice of “social sculpture” attempted to make art more democratic by collapsing the space between life and art.

Manual
a printed form of instructions for learning a subject

Method
a way, technique, or process of or for doing something; a systematic procedure particular to a discipline or art

Materiality
the visual and tactile characteristics of materials

Modular
having a characteristic of standardized units or dimensions for flexibility and variety in use;
recombinable or interchangeable

Multi-Materiality
the mixed-use of multiple materials to create something

Neighborhood
a district, especially one forming a community within a town or city

Open Access
the ability, right, or permission for all people to approach, enter, speak with, or use

Open Source
when the original source information of something is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified

Open System
a system that has external interactions. Such interactions can take the form of information, energy, or material transfers into or out of the system boundary, depending on the discipline which defines the concept

Output
1. the act, process, or an instance of producing
2. mental or artistic production

Pedagogy
the method and practice of teaching, especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept

Perform
to present to a public audience

Prototype
similar to testing or experimenting. It’s a preliminary model of something, especially a machine,
from which other forms are developed or copied

Speculative
engaged in, expressing, or based on conjecture rather than knowledge

Open Platform
a physical or metaphorical space open and accessible to all peoples, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level that allows for a heightened level of free speech or expression

Practice
1. to do or perform often, customarily, or habitually
2. to be professionally engaged in
3. systematic exercise for proficiency

Process
a series of actions or operations conducted for a final result

Processing
to carry out operations on or within

Postmortem
an examination of an object or structure’s life cycle. This reflection determines key observations of the projects usefulness

Public Space
refers to a physical location that is open and accessible to all peoples, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level. These can be but aren’t limited to gathering spaces; i.e. plazas, squares and parks or connecting spaces i.e. sidewalks and streets

Scientific Method
an iterative, cyclical process:
1) make observation / formulate an idea
2) pose a question
3) form a test by setting conditions
4) predict the results of the test
5) experiment within the conditions of the test
6) iterate / alter the conditions of the test
7) re-perform


Social Illichian
a made up term. Comparable to Social Marxism, but it pertains to the lesser known theories of Ivan Illich. I resonate with Illich’s ideas of about tacit knowledge, standardization of education and the need for convivial tools. I’m an Social Illichian.

Social Sculpture
a theory developed in the 1970’s by the conceptual artist Joseph Beuys that attempted to make art more democratic by collapsing the space between life and art

Spatiality
an object or structure that occupies physical space; having physical dimensions

System
having an order; an organized set of ideas or principles intended to explain the arrangement or working of a systematic whole

Symbiotic
denoting a mutually beneficial relationship between different people or nature or both

Tacit
a kind of implied knowledge; one that can’t be transfered to another person by means of writing
or speaking

Tactile
perceptible by touch; containing materialistic characteristics

Technology
defined by Emmanuel G. Mesthene in his book Technological Change: Its Impact on Man and Society as the organization of knowledge for the achievement of practical purposes

Testing
a series of experiments performed in a closed environment with intent to observe and iterate

Thesis
(In the context of RISD Graphic Design Program) is a statement of theory and methodology that creates a practice

Torus
is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space about an axis coplanar with the circle

Typography
the procedure of arranging type or processing data and printing from it