Known Unknowns: design thinking in the entrepreneurial wilderness

Abstract

This paper will look at how motion graphics are made, by exploring design methodologies. It will look initially at a research practice from the related field of illustration, with two interviews with motion graphics practitioners employed subsequently to suggest that the methodology identified therein is transferable to professional practice more broadly. I will outline an inductive approach to research and design practice, which involves not knowing what the final outcome might be but having a sound grasp of methods to explore the problem. The discourse surrounding design thinking and critical thinking will be drawn upon to propose that the approach described here can reinvigorate the forms and language used as practical vehicles for outcomes, and enables visual communication designers to be entrepreneurial and flexible in the face of changes to the nature of work.