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I brainstormed potential topics for my dissertation, initially choosing to work with the topic of sociopolitical graphic design.

I chose to work with this topic at first because I was interested in learning more about design and visual media in general being used to spread social and political messages, as artists and graphic designers have been using their platform to respond to or protest against a range of political events, from war to terrorist attacks to human rights issues.

Especially now that politics has infiltrated every form of media, including graphic design with the rise of social media, and the ever-growing phenomenon of online activism and online discourse of human rights, with social movements like Black Lives Matter, Free Palestine, LGBTQ+ issues, and more.

Also as a designer, I was interested in how I as a creator can use my platform to speak about important topics, also how the viewer is influenced by sociopolitical graphic design and how it can change the way people think. I also had an interest in subvertising which came from a module my course did back in February of that year.

I wasn’t sure which sort of dissertation I wanted to do yet, just that I wanted to write an essay but also present visual examples in some sense.

I thought about making detailed visual analyses from a graphic design standpoint, of graphics made for political campaigns and social movements like Amnesty International, Extinction Rebellion, Black Lives Matter, online activist accounts such as Impact on Instagram, artwork by politically-minded artists like Shepard Fairey, and the graphics shared by politicians and political parties like US president Joe Biden and the UK’s Labour and Conservative parties.

From here on, I narrowed down a lead question: “Sociopolitical graphic design: using visual language to advocate social and political messages”

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I completed my dissertation prep assignment in which I wrote about my proposed topic and lead question, and how I planned to further research it.

For secondary research, I planned to look at articles from contemporary online design magazines such as AIGA Eye On Design, Creative Boom, 99designs, and It’s Nice That, in addition to Visual Impact, a book by lecturer Liz McQuiston.

I had conducted a survey as one of my primary sources, in which the participants were asked to describe the typical appearance of these graphics (colours, typefaces, and symbolism they typically incorporate) as well as patterns they tend to notice in political graphics, such as the sort of content they usually see in general and other trends they notice.

They were also asked to give their perspectives on how they believe these visual language styles tend to communicate with the public, and the responses they aim to generate, as well as personal examples of how certain politically-minded graphic pieces impacted them, providing them with knowledge that resonated with them or otherwise connected with them on any other personal level.

Other perspectives like what attracts them most to these graphics, i.e. bold colours, were also investigated.

I had also completed the Ethics Checklist, though I had no such research in mind that would be a compromise to the participants’ health and safety.

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We received feedback from the dissertation proposal, in which I was told to expand my research and further look into data which would support the points made in the text. Moreover, I was advised to look into behavioural psychology. This led to me thinking over my topic, and as I returned to uni, it led to me eventually broadening my scope of research - which brought me to the fields of consumer psychology, design psychology and visual language.

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I was working two part-time jobs at this point and working on an independent design project, so I put my dissertation research on hold for a while.

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I fully changed my dissertation topic from sociopolitical design to design psychology, which I chose to connect to branding design.

The reason for my change was based on the feedback I received in July, but also I changed my mind as I decided political design and art was too broad, and in my mind a bit “cliche” and “done to death”.

I chose to go with psychology as I deemed it more analytical and therefore better dissertation material, but also related to my personal interest in psychology in general. I chose to relate it to specifically brand design as at that point I established my goal to work on more branding designs and to orient my design career in the making towards branding design.

Following the change, I began collecting new sources and structuring a new chapter plan.

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I began shaping my research collection methods, starting at the university library.

I found several books that became crucial to my research process, including Catherine V. Jansson-Boyd’s Consumer Psychology and Alina Wheeler’s Designing brand identity: an essential guide for the entire branding team. From these, I began taking notes and forming the written content.

At this point, my focus was mainly on consumer psychology and the business/marketing side of graphic design, in which I was mostly looking into marketing tactics and how they influence specific target groups etc.

It looked more like the text was going to be about consumerism from a psychological but possibly also a critical standpoint - I was advised during one of my sessions with Liz to look into Naomi Klein’s No Logo.

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I continued the research-writing process on and off, due to a course deadline. Research focused mostly on consumer psychology, brand identity, colour and type psychology, and briefly went into design principles such as the Gestalt theory.

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On the 8th of December, I joined the online drop-in session, in which we got the chance to ask any questions or get some advice regarding our essay structure etc.

I was in the session with Alistair Steele, whose feedback I found super valuable to the improvement of my dissertation. The advice I received was mainly to narrow down my topic, which although it had a clear idea was still pretty broad, focusing perhaps less on colour psychology and more on one of the design principles, in particular the Gestalt theory.

I was advised to branch out my sources and look into studies for this topic, from which I found a multitude of academic sources explaining the Gestalt theory, which I cross-referenced with contemporary breakdowns of the topic including examples of how the Gestalt theory was used in a number of famous logo designs.

Focusing solely on Gestalt in brand identity made the research process so much easier and quicker but it also added a clearer direction to the essay which prior to that I wasn’t even sure in which way it was headed.

I was also given several suggestions for the practice-based element including the option to choose an existing product and change it according to Gestalt principles, or to make up a product based on a brand (an arbitrary object or person). From here I got my idea for a tea brand called "Magic Tea", for which I designed a logo based on Gestalt principles in addition to the package.

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I have been completing the essay and I made the practice-based element. The biggest challenges I have so far are aiming for the right word count and completing the designs.

With all the research I have done, a lot of which is relevant in some way to my topic, I am having a hard time keeping it under 4,000 words. So I am trying to keep only what best answers my research question.

As for the designs, they aren't particularly time consuming but as a designer it is important that they look their best. At the moment I have one package and one logo design which are both very good but I fear it isn't enough, and I may have to make another one in the series to make it truly count. And of course they will be accompanied by their detailed description in the text.

Aside from that, all that is left is to keep editing the text. It is important that the wording be the strongest possible, especially for the introduction and conclusion, which I usually find the most challenging to write.

I also would like to further push the appearance of the dissertation document -  for a study centered around a visual topic, a plain essay format just won't do it justice.