Clarification through Clay: Visualising Meaning-Making


In 2021, I was commissioned by PhD/Doctoral candidate, Dena Bagi, to produce a series of clay marks to be used for coded relational diagrams in her research. The project case study, Cognition to Design, attempted to combine a social research methodology with that of data design.

The project’s aim was to produce a visual outcome that superseded that, in terms of meaning-making, rather than powered by a sociological research framework alone. The marks focused on the transformative and ‘shape shifting’ nature of clay, as well as its earthy origins - in light of the data at play (i.e. its ability to engage us on a visceral level with the notion of being a human and living on the earth). The materials used to make the marks include line blends of clay, soil, seaweed, turmeric and charcoal.


The project was a collaboration between pedagogical designer and researcher, Dena Bagi, design agency, Minute Works, and myself.


Organisation: Dena Bagi (PhD/Doctoral candidate, Sunderland University) and Minute Works
Type: Commission
Date: 2021





Image by Minute Works


Image by Minute Works




Image by Minute Works