she/her
Amanda Mundy
OPEN
This thesis explores the concept of openness in design, investigating how predetermined systems, structures, and rules can foster flexibility and unexpected outcomes. While traditional design often relies on fixed solutions that limit engagement, this thesis challenges that approach by embracing openness as both a methodology and a dynamic tool for design. This research examines how the very concept of openness—through variability, adaptability, and context-driven responses—can guide design towards subversive and unanticipated directions. Motivated by the need for design to evolve with complex and shifting contexts, this research investigates how systems can maintain consistency while introducing room for variability. This tension between structure and freedom allows for a nuanced approach to design that highlights human creativity, decision-making, and interpretation.
Ultimately, this thesis explores the tension between openness and closedness and how this dynamic can inform and reshape design practices. By reframing design as an open, iterative process, it challenges static methodologies and embraces the potential for unforeseen and ambiguous outcomes. This approach not only encourages a deeper understanding of how systems can evolve, but also highlights how embracing uncertainty can expand creative boundaries and lead to new, unexplored avenues in design, particularly in the context of my own work as a designer.
AI__&&__ME, 2024.
Risograph, 11 × 8 ½ in.
Angular Antiqua (Specimen), 2024.
Black PLA filament and poster board, 20 × 16 in.
Research & Publish, 2024.
Book, 11 × 8 ½ in.
Typographic Constraints (Workshop), 2024.
Paper and tape, 17 × 11 in.