Studio practices and experiments

Feedback

In the past week, I’ve reached out to three practitioners / researchers to discuss my current projects. They are Shannon Mattern, Matthew Chrislip and Rebecca. Here’s some of the key feedback.

Clarify and Deepen the Inquiry

Common thread: All three emphasised the need to clearly articulate the core inquiry and deepen it beyond personal gesture or material curiosity.

• Shannon:
  • The inquiry is well-framed and not too broad.
  • Postcards are promising — could improve system literacy.
• Matthew:
  • What’s the anchor? Cardboard alone is not enough.
  • The postcard form may lose what makes cardboard interesting — its boxiness.
  • You need to clarify what the project produces as research.
• Rebecca:
  • What can graphic designers uniquely contribute to the conversation around logistics?
  • Are you trying to expose systems, interpret surfaces, or intervene directly?
  • Postcards fragment context; boxes might carry that complexity better.
• Next steps:
  • Rearticulate your inquiry as a clear tension (e.g. visibility vs. invisibility, container vs. message).
  • Clarify what the project produces as knowledge, not just as artifact.
  • Consider how graphic design as a discipline engages systems (labels, layout, typographic codes).

Material Strategy & Form

Common thread: Move toward a form that retains cardboard’s spatial and functional properties, or makes better use of the visual surface.

• Shannon:
  • Consider stackability, dimensionality, and the color brown as entry points.
  • Don’t abandon the material intelligence of the box.
• Matthew:
  • Postcards flatten the object too much.
  • Amazon is a powerful node — what if you recreated Amazon mailers with subversive content?
  • Use labels and design language within the system, not just commenting on it.
• Rebecca:
  • Postcards use a different infrastructure than parcels — consider small boxes instead.
  • Track movement using GPS/AirTags to generate your own data.
  • Boxes allow you to make the logistics system visible from the inside out.
• Next steps:
  • Shift to box-making or reconfiguring existing boxes (standard sizes, Amazon-like).
  • Use real shipping infrastructure (e.g. tracked parcels) as a publishing platform.
  • Develop visual systems (labels, symbols, color codes) that both fit and critique logistics aesthetics.

Narrative, Context, and Collaboration

Common thread: Focus your storytelling on specificity — of routes, histories, infrastructures, and collaborators.

• Shannon:
  • Consider the geopolitics of packaging: where things are made and moved matters.
• Matthew:
  • Leverage Amazon as a central actor — its scale, contradictions, branding.
  • Let your critique be less polite and more pointed.
• Rebecca:
  • Consider pairing each box with its own “map” or story — create a corpus of journeys.
  • Collaborate with technicians to gather real data and make it visual.
• Next steps:
  • Build a visual/narrative system for tracking individual boxes and stories.
  • Consider what new knowledge emerges from collectively exchanging, mapping, and interpreting boxes.
  • Begin a critical visual archive: box stories, labels, metadata, mapping files, etc.

Possible Next Steps

• Print my own Amazon-inspired mailers or boxes with alternative messaging.
• Study Amazon’s box design, sticker placement, and packaging strategy—then replicate it with your own intervention.
• Explore how Amazon’s visual identity (colours, icons, names) intersects with environmental and labour realities.
• Research the history of Amazon’s logistics growth and how it shaped cardboard manufacturing.