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A Case for Humour-Centred Design: Malentanglement, and (Mis)Understanding Humour and Laughter as Responses to Design and Design Innovation.

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posted on 2025-01-30, 09:55 authored by Theo Humphries

 

This thesis contributes to an under-explored contemporary discourse of humorous design and an emerging field of humour-centred design. Of particular concern are occasions when design outcomes (and by extension designers) are laughed at, because such laughter has been perceived to challenge the authority of design: its creations, processes, ideologies, and professionalism. Proceeding from the position that design has sought to take itself seriously as a profession, and critiquing problem-solving models that underpin design’s attempts to control humour, some instances of humour and laughter are presented as perturbations: moments of professional anxiety when design’s control over humour has been lost. The research identifies a cause of this discomposure to be a shortcoming in designerly understandings of humour — humour being conventionally placed outside of design analysis. This theoretical study, grounded in case analysis, draws from discourses of design theory, humour theory, and entanglement theory, and is replete with examples of gelastic design (funny design). A concept of malentanglement is

formulated to describe design audience’s interpretation of the entanglement/fittingness of design as somehow incongruous, explaining that this is particularly the case with design innovation. Thereby, the thesis provides new designerly understandings of humour and laughter by reconceiving the problem as the solution: humour and laughter, herein

understood from a more entangled perspective, become welcome indicators of genuine design innovation, rather than expressions of derision. By opening up the scope for finding

new methodological approaches to design, design strategies can be developed that are sufficiently subtle and coherent in their terms to engage with humour and laughter as both welcome indicators of design innovation, and as tools of design in themselves.

History

School

  • School of Art and Design

Qualification level

  • Doctoral

Qualification name

  • PhD

Publication year

2025

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