This project is an exploration of the role design has in the social debate of liberty. Whereas graphic design has typically been branding positions or aggressive attacks on oppositions in freedom issues, the contention of this project is to actively engage users in the debate on liberty. Borrowing the Hegelian notion of freedom, arguments for liberty are ultimately centered on an ideal that manifests itself into a nexus of executable actions. Liberty, thus, is the horizon that circumscribes one’s construct of the good life.
The basis of this project became to translate the dialogical aspect of liberty into a design artifact. This was accomplished by creating an interactive info-graphic, where a series of interlocking gears rotate to reveal the different logical arguments of each position. Although the positions featured in this project are not exhaustive (there are only four), they were the main prominent positions discovered in earlier research and hence could be best explained. The vellum covering of the gears presents the tunnel vision of freedom fights; although other people’s opinions and understandings exist, it can become easily out of focus and practically invisible to the salient position chosen.
Two social issues were chosen to dissect and illustrate some of the arguments: gay marriage and euthanasia. The two boxes map the complexity of the argument’s frame on a social issue. By visualizing the contrasting positions and illustrating the magnitude of disparity, the presentation of social issues aspires the civil conversation of liberty, rooted in respect and understanding of oppositional positions.
