My research project Weighing Lightness, investigates and reinterprets the influential parameters of two opposing concepts—lightness and heaviness. I mainly utilized Coding process in Grounded Theory, a qualitative method commonly used in social science, has been utilized to identity qualities that will influence the perception of lightness from literature and art and design projects. By presenting an analytical lens as a tool to inspect design and other aesthetic phenomena, it offers an explanation of the rather elusive concept of lightness. Design projects are embedded through out the process at where they serve as exploratory tools.

Abstract

The conceptual and philosophical implications of lightness go beyond the general definition of the physical absence of weight. As the dichotomy of lightness and heaviness has been discussed in various disciplines such as philosophy, literature, visual art, architecture, and product design, this research aims to explore the meaning of lightness in communication design. By applying methods of literature review, ethnography research, cultural probes, and grounded theory, this thesis investigates and reinterprets the influential parameters of the opposing concepts of lightness an heaviness from a perspective of communication design. The result presents an analytic system as a tool to analyze design and other aesthetic phenomena in an attempt to explain this rather elusive concept and reveal the underlying rationale of lightness.