FEAR AND KNOWING:
DESIGN DISASTERS

"Knowledge is the antidote to fear" said Ralph Waldo Emerson. This paper asks the question; "what is it we fear?" "We" referring to the contemporary Communication Designer, "fear" being the anxiety that we might design failures. So; "what is it we fear?" and further to this; "In finding an antidote to fear, what may we lose?"

In other words, this paper puts forward the proposition that, on certain occasions, and through certain means, Emerson's original statement might be turned around to become "fear is the antidote to knowledge"

The paper argues that in designing from a position of knowing that we already know, we obviate the opportunity to learn. If we know what we know, then we become encouraged to act on that knowledge, that knowledge defines a pathway for action, sets up our expectations, makes responses to the work predictable and, in doing so, removes the burden of responsibility from our shoulders. For, once we know, we can forget about questioning our assumptions and proceed forward into the future guilelessly, guiltlessly and confidently from our well-founded position. Conversely, if we are to find new knowledge, knowledge we don't already know, we have to be open to our lack of knowledge in the first instance.

The visual language of Communication Designers generally aims to speak with the rhetoric of knowing. It is often this convincing rhetoric of knowing which gives a designed communication strength and clarity. The visual narrative seems clear and speaks with authority, coming from a position of knowing. That this authoritative narrative is generally a fiction is obvious upon analysis, but easily forgotten. The paper argues that this designerly position of knowing disallows the connection with both the audience and the complexity of the world, both areas which the contemporary Communication Designer often purports to engage with.

This paper uses the case-study of a disastrous project to lead the analysis of the ideas. The project was a disaster in terms of the designers' intentions. It led from disaster and disorder to discourse. It was through this discourse that the disorder and disaster were revealed as creative forces producing new knowledge and leading to new lines of inquiry.