Abstract

BERTOLOTTI, Elisa  and  SERBANESCU, Anca. ‘1 Question 10 Answers’. An exercise to examine methods of non-fiction story-making and processes of interpretation. Revista Convergências [online]. 2022, vol.15, n.29, pp.21-40.  Epub May 31, 2022. ISSN 2184-0180.  https://doi.org/10.53681/c1514225187514391s.29.84.

'1 Question 10 answers' is a didactic exercise, designed to investigate the notion of interpretation in communication design, and to reflect upon issues that arise in the creation of non-fiction narratives. In particular, this research analyses the relationship between the interviewer and the interviewee, as well as the poetic devices of collection, tabulation and repetition in storytelling.

The exercises discussed in this project were applied in various educational contexts: initially from 2017-2019 on the Typography module of the BA in Design at the Universidade da Madeira (Madeira, Portugal), and subsequently in February 2021 during an intensive workshop with MA Communication students in the School of Design at the Politecnico di Milano (Milan, Italy).

The exercise consisted of posing a question to ten people and collecting their narrative responses, before exploring how these might be interpreted as texts and translated into artefacts. The results produced by the students at the Universidade da Madeira were small books, while the students at Politecnico di Milano invented communication systems within several different types of media.

This article discusses ‘the rules of the game’ applied during the exercises, describes the learning process, and analyses various works made by the students reflecting on delicate balance that exists between a work of interpretation and the processes of dialogue and active listening.

Keywords : Typography; Communication Design; Design education; Non-fiction; Listening; Interpretation.

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