Marco Ugolini - Visual Communication and the Socio-Political Impact in Creative Work
Abstract
Beyond creating eye-catching logos or advertisements, graphic design functions as a powerful medium for shaping perceptions, disseminating information, and creating new meaning. In the intricate complexity of a modern society, graphic design, rather than being used at the service of capital, corporation and profit, could serve as a catalyst for social change, conveying and reflecting on cultural values, and a voice amplifying marginalised narratives. At its core, graphic design is inherently political. Every color choice, typeface selection, and layout decision carries implicit messages that can reinforce or challenge existing power structures. Rather than defining graphic design as a discipline that combines text and images, we should reflect on the broader definition of visual communication as the transmission of information, ideas, values and emotions through a variety of visual elements and using a wide range of mediums.
Bio
Marco Ugolini is a graphic designer and a visual artist based in the UK, working for both print and web in the editorial field for culture-related projects. Currently collaborating with Axel Feldmann at Objectif.co.uk. Co-creator of We Design for the Community Support Programme / Summer School. Member of the Royal Society of the Arts and the International Society of Typographic Designers and Senior Graphic Design Lecturer at UWE, Bristol Graphic Design BA. His international design education background involves experiences and degrees from ISIA in Florence (Italy), Bauhaus University, Weimar (Germany) and Sandberg institute of the Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam (the Netherlands). Between 2010 and 2013, he was granted three scholarships for residencies in Brazil, Germany and Ireland. In 2014 Ugolini co-directed the main feature documentary Luoghi Comuni, with a participation in the International Torino film Festival. In 2016, he was invited as resident artist for Residenza Museo at Musei Civici in Imola, Italy. In art exhibitions and residency programmes, his concept-driven work aims to find the synergies between contemporary art and graphic design. In his creative process he draws inspiration from Italian contemporary post-workerist thinkers