All human communication is narrative in nature (Fisher, 1987) and should adhere to narrative rationality and value-laden idealistic-moralistic or materialistic Master Analogues to be accepted by audiences (Fisher, 1985). This study examined the persuasive nature of the visual narratives presented by the 2020 presidential candidate’s official Facebook posts as well as examine how the candidates’ rhetorical visions create referential points in constructing the viewers’ own identities as supporters (Messaris, 1997). As Foss, Foss, & Trapp (2002) contend, “a basic function of the media is the creation of representations or simulations – reproduced versions of reality” (p. 313). The version of reality being presented on each candidate’s official Facebook page creates narratives as means of influence and cultivating group identity.

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​​I collect things, I chew them up. I put them in a pile, and they merge. Snippets of texts, a note in the margin, screenshots and ornaments rub against each other until they become something else. A fertiliser for new ideas to grow from.  The seed of this project was a climate crisis-related numbness: I felt stuck between individual responsibility and powerlessness. Between wanting immediate restorative action and realising the need for a deeper systematic change. I began digging into the history of the Western view on nature, tracing its dark roots. Now, two years later, I re-emerge, and I want to share my findings. Using collage as a visual translation of the compost pile, the project is an expression of multiple voices, exemplifying the need for collective thinking and action in these matters.  With the Compost Compendium I offer a collection of entry points into a reimagining of the relationship we have with the ecologies in and around us. I have filled it with things that have inspired me, angered me, puzzled me, made me smarter, made me laugh, made me want to get my hands dirty. I invite my reader to go foraging and collect their own pile. Dive into it and share it with a friend.

This dissertation focuses on text-image conceptual models for literary interpretation and composition in the digital age. The models investigate an interactive blend of textually-based linear-sequential approaches and visually-based spatial-simultaneous approaches. The models employ Gestalt-inspired figure-ground segregation models, along with other theoretical models, that demonstrate the dynamic capabilities of images as conceptual tools as well as alternate forms of text. The models encourage an interpretative style with active participants in openended, multi-sensory meaning-making processes. The models use the flexible tools of modern technology as approaches to meaning-making with art strategies used for research strategies as well as a means to appreciate reading and writing in the context of an increasingly visual environment.

Representing marginalized identities in visual communication is animportant effort to making them part of the majority’s perceived reality,therefore normalizing and destigmatizing their existence. By exploringthe concepts of discourse, re-presentation and reception,based on the works of Michel Foucault and Stuart Hall, and examining whereidentity and labels originated, I came to the conclusion that the current(common) practice of representation in design is rather paradoxical. Thoughrepresentation intends to push back on hegemonic oppressive structures,designers rely on the visible recognizability of marginalized identities, reinforcingthe structures that singled out and condemned traits outside of thenorm to begin with. This foundational research is compiled as the Grundstein(engl. cornerstone), essentially a foundational handbook, to encouragedesigners to rethink representation as a practice and think of other ways visualcommunication can aid not only the inclusion of marginalized people,but the deconstruction of oppressive structures. Throughout, the thesis focusesspecifically on the mis- and underrepresentation of [aromantic asexuals]and lays out how considerations of those identities could also impactdesign practice.Delabeling is my implementation of the Grundstein into design, proposingthe immaterialization of identity by omitting the depiction of bodies,and instead focusing on the representation of shared experience betweenminority and majority groups. The aim is to introduce [aromantic asexuality],a rather unknown sexual identity, by not focusing on what makes them‘different’ from the majority, but by inviting the observer to ‘recognize’ themselvesin the [aro-ace] experience. Neither Delabeling or the Grundstein are intended as ‘alternatives’ tocurrent practice, but I hope they invite designers to reconsider industry‘rules’ and standards and motivate them to develop own ideas for more radicalforms of representation in visual communication.

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