Inquiry by Design
Workshop Inquiry by Design at the Institute Digital Communication Environments (IDCE)
Key data
- ECTS points
- 2 ECTS
- Next start
- 23 June 2026
- Duration
- 1 week
- Final application date
- 26 May 2026
- School days
- 5
- Teaching language
- English
- Place
- Basel
- Fee
- CHF 900.–
- Studying type
- Fulltime
Visual communication plays a central role in shaping the images we encounter in daily life. Since the design of images is always an interpretation of the world by the designer, visual messages inevitably influence the perception of the beholder. In today’s world of digital communication channels, understanding how images are perceived, both in their visual appearance and the media through which they are disseminated, is essential for creating and sharing them consciously and responsibly.
Typically, design processes are used to craft visual messages for a specific purpose. In contrast, the Inquiry by Design workshop explores how design processes can be employed to enhance our understanding of how images create meaning in specific contexts. This approach, which we call Practice-led Image Research*, focuses on acquiring knowledge about the vast field of image phenomena. Various academic disciplines, including Art History, Linguistics, Psychology, and Anthropology, have emphasized the need for a scientific approach to studying images. While most academic fields address research questions through theoretical methodologies, the Inquiry by Design workshop introduces participants to practice-based methodologies in the field of Visual Communication.
At the start of the workshop, participants will formulate an image research question and develop a practical methodology for exploration and inquiry through design. Throughout the week, they will create a portfolio of images that investigate a design strategy and serve as visual arguments in response to their research question.
This workshop is designed for students, designers, and educators engaged in communication design and the critical reflection on visual communication in today’s world. This year’s theme for Inquiry by Design is Images of the Beautiful and the Ugly; Aesthetic Experience Revisited.
*Renner M., et al. : Practice-led Iconic Research, Visible Language, the journal of visual communication research, 51.3/52.1. Dezember 2017/April 2018, Cincinnati.
Prof. Michael Renner, 1961, experienced the digital revolution first-hand when he went to work for Apple Computer Inc. and The Understanding Business in California in 1986, just after completing his diploma as Graphic Designer at the Basel School of Design. Research and reflection upon the meaning of images in the context of digital tools became the central theme of Renner’s practical and theoretical design activities. Since 1990, he has had his own design studio in Basel with both corporate and cultural clients. He started teaching in 1990, at the Institute Digital Communication Environments of the Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW with an emphasis on Information Design, Interaction Design, and Design Research. In 1999, he was named Chairman of the Institute. From 2005 until 2013, he was a member of “eikones”, the Swiss National Center of Competence in Iconic Research and the European research network “What Images Do”. His approach to develop research activities in the field of design is based on the aim to further develop existing competencies of image creation. With this approach of gaining knowledge through the creation of images, the design process becomes the central research theme and a methodology at the same time. He has lectured and held workshops in Europe and abroad. Renner is Visiting Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and at the Politecnico di Milano. He is a member of the Advisory Board of Visible Language and Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI).
The Institute Digital Communication Environments (IDCE) offers workshops for students, educators and graphic designers.
The workshops afford insights into topical themes of visual communication for analogue and digital communication channels in a study programme reflecting the rich tradition of the Basel School of Design. Practical exercises with a high level of professionalism form the core of the workshops focus. Reflection as well as contextual knowledge will be conveyed by way of input sessions, allowing participants’ work to be judged within a contemporary, future-oriented context relevant to professional practice. The trinational Rhine River Valley is a unique cultural environment with easy access to France and Germany and to sites such as the Vitra Design Museum (G), the Isenheimer Alter (F), or Ronchamps (F). In Basel, the Fondation Beyeler, Tinguely Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Schaulager, and Museum of Contemporary Art are world-renowned. Besides its museums, Basel offers a rich mixture of cultural events.
Multiple Bookings:
2 ECTS CHF 900.-
4 ECTS CHF 1700.-
6 ECTS CHF 2400.-
8 ECTS CHF 3000.-
10 ECTS CHF 3500.-
20% discount with a valid student ID. This must be sent in with the registration (pdf)
Institute Digital Communication Environments (IDCE)
Through digital media and the democratisation of communication channels that goes hand in hand with it, the critical handling of their visual and interaction-based design has become decisively more important, because the social relevance of information and communication has thus fundamentally changed.
FHNW Academy of Art and Design
Institute Digital Communication Environments (IDCE)
Freilager-Platz 1
Postfach
CH-4002 Basel
FHNW Academy of Art and Design
Institute Digital Communication Environments (IDCE)
Freilager-Platz 1, Hochhaus: D 5.03
4142 Münchenstein b. Basel
T +41 61 228 41 11
M info.idce.hgk@fhnw.ch
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