When an object or image is placed where its function doesn’t co-relate or the intension is hard to infer, I feel an
odd sensation caused by their incompatibility. It initiates a personal speculation, which often leads to an emotional
connection in regards to the audience’s past knowledge or experience. This irrelevant relationship between an
element and its subject matter are referred as ‘random’. Randomness leads to curiosity; why is it there? why is it
a certain color? what is it trying to say? It creates a symphony of creative guesses and interpretations, where the
original intension will never be uncovered, or simply be ‘random’.
Randomness in design is perceived as a weak excuse for arbitrary. But what if the intension of the design was to
create questions?
Randomness deviates from the current modes of communication where corporates and organizations bombard us
with blunt objectives and related images. Such bluntness doesn’t communicate with us but it leaves us as passive
recipients. A random design work won’t explain the forefront message on our face, but it will make us to think about
what we see.
In my exploration, I’d like to examine the impact of randomness as a tool in design, in emphasis to the text and
image irrelevancy. Through the process, I’d like to highlight the ability of randomness as a way to create a personal
and unique experience.