New technologies in Design - Television short life design

Uniquely, television broadcast technology shapes our lives and defines the mass culture. New and emerging technology has created an ever-increasing growth in 'short life design' (SLD), broadcast to a population and then discarded. It is a rich area for reflection because it defines the nature of news programmes. As we move through a new century, SLD is set to play an increasing role in the way we receive and send information. It also presents a dichotomy; on the one hand it is ephemeral, on the other, it often communicates profound material with urgency and critical importance. The instant nature of this output relies on the designer/journalist having control over moving image, sound, text, graphics and virtual environments; as a consequence, the boundaries of design and journalism have become blurred.

A research paper will used to establish a starting point; it will commence with the scoping of SLD applications within the production of broadcast news based upon a series of interviews with practitioners and voices of authority. The emerging discourse will be supported by a website and symposia, commencing with the exploration of information presented by speakers who are able to articulate an authoritative perspective about the roots of SLD in the 1980s, a period when cardboard technology was concluding, giving way to the revolutionary Quantel Paintbox technology which redefined the industry, paving the way to a new technological future. Present day comparisons will be overlaid through a sustained observation of the creative departments within Central TV, acknowledging the developments of the last 20 years. This intelligence gathering will be supported through co-operation with Central TV and access to their substantial archive. The driving theme will focus on a comparative analysis that embraces the technological and cultural significance of broadcast SLD, how it has shaped and continues to define our interaction with television broadcast information. The discourse will explore the function of design within this new technology, how it has changed the nature of the designers' role, presenting greater control over aspects such as creativity and communication.

Plan of enquiry
The scoping discourse will address the visual language of SLD, how it has created a new order for broadcast television, presenting a 'fourth dimension' characterised by information that embraces moving image, typography, sound, graphics and virtual environments. Increasingly, the designer is liberated to create on-screen, information rich environments that engage SLD to relay high technology, super-information. In response, the viewer/consumer has developed greater levels of visual literacy to decode this information, fuelling an appetite for advances in technology and higher performance. The enquiry seeks to recognise this phenomenon through case study examples of SLD as it may present a focus for further research.

The intention of the research is to:
bring together practitioners and researchers who engage with SLD;
confront the research topic, establishing or otherwise, SLD as a legitimate research construct;
place SLD in context as a relatively new sub-topic of design/journalism;
locate the role of SLD within historical, technological, intellectual and sociological frameworks;
project potential scenarios for the future development of SLD;
engage and stimulate national level debate on SLD;
share the emerging discourse/research to a wide academy.

The direction of discourse will be guided by an Advisory Panel through a website, two symposiums and published outputs in journals and conference papers paving the way to further discourse. The Advisory Panel chaired by the PI will manage the emerging discourse identifying the principal areas for further investigation, evaluate progress and steer the research direction.