Depiction as theory and writing by practice: the design process of a written thesis

Most design academics I have met, over my 20-year career in academia, could readily provide anecdotal accounts of the frustration they and their students feel in trying to reconcile their experience of their design practice and the academic requirements to write. I share those frustrations. During the past 15 to 20 years of my research I have frequently looked for concrete visual examples of techniques that would help reconcile the inclination to work visually with the process of writing, only to be disappointed that little existed. The majority of the growing body of published material, on the disjuncture between creative visual practices and writing, are predominantly text-based explications of the ‘problem’, its history and causes, strategies for resistance, or responses to harness and/or overcome it – sometimes with a few images thrown in for good measure. This literature is emblematic of the crucial yet nascent maturation of the design discipline within the academy and there is much that is good, rebellious, re-assuring or instructive contained within it. Although there is still resistance at the fringes there is a consensus emerging that writing is good for creative practitioners. In this chapter I will first cover some of the existing literature concerning this topic then cover some of the techniques I have developed through my own research and practice to help me develop my writing. I should point out that I am not claiming my approach is the only way of tackling this issue. Rather I am offering it as an exemplar that might help others find their own way by adapting what resonates and ignoring what doesn’t. It is also my intention, in providing these exemplars, to articulate the epistemological and ontological consequences of the kind of hybrid approach that emerged through my practice and is indicative of a broader trend in design research. The initial impetus for the work, that I will present, developed through my teaching but gathered momentum upon the commencement of my doctoral studies in 2004. What I discovered through the process is that by being methodical in developing my writing practice – in much the same way as I was already methodical in my design practice – producing my thesis (Roxburgh 2013a) became more like an embodied exercise in design than an alien and abstract exercise in writing