The thesis is focused on proposal of communication mix for the motion design company. This contains the most important concepts and principles related to the current issues of marketing in the advertising segment. Furthermore, a detailed analysis of the current state of the company and created a specific proposal of new communication mix, which should lead the fulfillment of the objectives set.

This research investigates the communication of design teams using Research through Design. Specifically, it investigates the communication between the game designers and programmers in a game development environment. It designed a corporate training game based on the cultural approach to organization theory by Geertz and Pacanowsky (Griffin, 2009). The research revealed that designing a game based for corporations, needs to be simplified and can never truly model the real circumstances. Players can relate the game to their previous experiences but might not learn about or improve their communication. The game was designed, playtested and iterated upon to improve the accuracy of representing a relatable experience to the players.

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This thesis explores the relationship between designer intent and consumer response. A novel approach to evaluate the degree of correspondence between designer intent and consumer perceptions has been proposed. The empirical results have shown the influence of consumers’ cultural backgrounds on the way they perceive semantic and symbolic product personalities (characteristics of a product and its owner, respectively), comparing British and Japanese consumer groups. Semantic product personalities are more likely to be universally perceived and more easily intentionally elicited from consumers than symbolic product personalities. The research project consists of a pilot study (Phases I) and an experiment (Phase II) in which mixed methods of interview and survey are employed. Phase I seeks to explore the in-depth understanding of a designer’s thoughts by interviews, and to develop and test newly elaborated consumer surveys termed Designer-driven semantic differentials and Consumer-driven adjective selection. The findings have been considered to construct an analytical framework, characterised by Agreement among consumer perceptions and Correspondence between designer intent and the consumer perceptions, for evaluation of designers’ elicitation of intended product personalities from consumers. Phase II conducts a statistical examination of the impact of cultural difference on consumer perceptions under experimental conditions. The perception of target and non-target consumer groups as categorised by nationality were gauged by Designer-driven semantic differentials and Personality selection, specifically perception of USB sticks designed by three different designers. The survey results are analysed by using descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA and Chi-squared test within the analytical framework. Subsequently, the results from Phase I and II are extensively discussed based on a framework based on brand personality and Affect Control Theory, both of which may involve potential impact on the development of design research into product development with emotional attachment. The scene is set for future research opportunities based on the approach and findings of this study.

This study introduces rapid design ethnography as a research strategy that may be used in design as an alternative to conventional ethnography. It interrogates this strategy by means of a study of the Ghanaian Adinkra symbols. Adinkra is an indigenous graphic language that carries specific cultural narratives that embody proverbs and or poetic messages. In view of this, this study discusses how a collaboration between ethnography (and rapid ethnography) and design can be merged to create appropriate visual communication with specific reference to this indigenous visual vernacular. The study also highlights the evolution of rapid ethnographic techniques in comparison to conventional ethnography, as well as the way that these techniques may be of assistance to both designer and ethnographer. / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Visual Arts / MA / Unrestricted

Designprozesse in Unternehmen sind durch immer enger vernetzte Arbeitsweisen und steigende Wissensintensität geprägt. Die Bedeutung der Kommunikation in diesen interdisziplinären Kontexten wächst. Für das Design stellt diese Entwicklung eine besondere Herausforderung dar: sowohl bezüglich der Inhalte die es kommuniziert, der Methoden und Werkzeuge, die dafür eingesetzt werden, wie auch der Entwicklung einer kommunikativen Grundkompetenz als Teil einer umfassenden Designkompetenz. [... aus dem Text]

Visualization is an important part of the design process. The sketches that are created during the design process are the visible evidence of the visualization that occurs in the brain. The process of designing involves a conversation that occurs between the student and the sketches created during problem finding and problem solving in the design process. This conversation allows the student to progress through the design process manipulating both the drawn image on paper and the visualization that occurs in their mind until a fitting solution to the problem is found. This study sought a better understanding of this communication style and it's effect on designed final products. Two methods of analysis were utilized in this research. Quantitative analysis was used to measure the correlation between quality of sketching process and the quality of the final designed product. Then multiple case studies were examined to describe in detail the design process styles of three students. First the sketches that were created during the designing of a student project were counted and then evaluated for sketch creativity and sketch efficacy. The final design products were evaluated for project creativeness and project function. Significant positive statistical correlations between the variables were observed. In summary, the quality of sketches and visual thinking during the design process had a measurable positive effect on the final designed solution. / Master of Science

This research investigates the key characteristics of design leaders in the context of New Product Development (NPD) at the Fuzzy Front End (FFE) or early stage of this process. It particularly focuses on how design leaders communicate design to non-designers. It is often observed that designers struggle to communicate design to non-designers. Previous research has identified design leaders as competent design communicators. However, the definition and key characteristics of design leaders remain unclear. By reviewing the literature on leadership studies, design leadership and project leadership, it is evident that no single universal definition of leadership exists. The most common definition is that leaders apply their knowledge and skills to conduct activities and use their traits to influence other people’s actions. Leadership requires different characteristics for different tasks. To understand the characteristics of design leaders, triangulated research was employed at a real-life NPD project involving young designers and non-designers at early stages of NPD as part of the first study. All participants (N=32) were directly observed, interviewed in semi-structured interviews and administered with assistive questionnaires to compare design and non-design participants’ leadership and communication styles. The second study was in-depth, focusing on UK design leaders (N=11) through semi-structured interviews and based on deficiencies in leadership and communicating design, identified from the first study and the literature review. Comparative studies indicate that designers and design leaders vary their attitudes towards non-designers, motivation and communication style. This study highlights the key characteristics of design leaders: an epiphany by experiencing the entire NPD process, interest in the benefits of NPD stakeholders, a good understanding of design competency, reflectively flexible working attitude and strong, active listening. Thus, a conceptual model was formulated and evaluated, able to guide designers who wish to become design leaders and help to enhance design communication and relationships with non-designers.