Investigating the Experiential Impact of Sensory Affect in Contemporary Communication Design Studio Education

Abstract

The studio is the primary site for learning in specialist Communication Design education worldwide. Differing higher education institutions, including art schools and university campuses, have developed a varied range of studio environments. These diverse learning spaces inherently create a complex fabric of affects. In addition, Communication Design studio education produces learning processes and methods of practice which provide affective sensory experiences for the students. Students may be sensitive to these sensory affects, yet the impact of these experiences may go unnoticed or unequivocally tolerated in the studio environment. This article examines the experiential impact of sensory affect occurring in contemporary Communication Design studio education: investigating the learning processes, within a specialist practice-led discipline in the context of a studio environment. A preliminary study generated the question: ‘How might Communication Design learning address and exploit the sensory experiences occurring in studio education?’. Therefore this article contextualises how students might benefit from being aware of the affective experiences occurring inside studio education in future research studies. This research is grounded in collaborative practice with students in the field of Communication Design.