Design of Operative Images

Interdisciplinary Conference

On the 15th May 2014, the Köln International School of Design of the Cologne University of Applied Sciences invited to the public conference “Design of operative images”. Scientists and designers took part on this day in an interdisciplinary discussion on images that are components of technical operations.

Millions of camera eyes and sensors capture the world today and gain information on landmasses, sea beds and sky objects. They touch surfaces of plants, human and animal bodies and determine the composition of the atmosphere. The measurement data will be analyzed and visualized in a complex research process. On the one side, the newly gained images make something visible which usually would not be accessible to the human eyes. On the other side, they serve as a decision making basis and an instruction in research, medicine, politics and economy.

Researchers from humanities, natural and technical science as well as design and architecture will discuss the functions and effects of such images used for guidance and operating procedures. And the conference will also discuss questions such as whether and how designers are attached to the production of operative images, what skills and competencies are needed for the science of image building and how can the competency of critical image in a design education be supported.

Concept and organization: Prof. Dr. Carolin Höfler and Prof. Birgit Mager in cooperation with Jan Buckenmayer