Towards a Dynamic Discipline of Design is an educational, exploratory, and diagrammatic journey into design’s epistemological, ontological, and cultural positions and potentials. The film will premiere at the 2025 MODE Summit in Prague. This film asserts that “static” notions of design—and thus static representations of design should be reassessed. In support of this view, viewers traverse through “diagrammatic discourses” of design over the past century—which eventually lead to a set of kinetic representations that attempt to more accurately and engagingly visualize design practice and design culture. Building upon the work of figures such as Bruce Archer, the film secondarily advocates for design as a third epistemological culture. As an information-based design film, Towards a Dynamic Discipline of Design could be seen in the lineage of films such as Powers of 10 (1977), written and directed by Charles and Ray Eames.

Media

• Promo Trailer 1 (~1m)
• Sample Clip from Scene 1 (~1m)
• Sample Clip from Scenes 32–32 (~1m)
• Annotated Storyboard/Script (coming soon)
• Voiceover Audio (coming soon)
• Design Diagramming Toolkit (coming soon)
• 24 x 36 in. Promo Poster 1 “Classic”
• 24 x 26 in. Promo Poster 2 “Dark Mode”
• 24 x 36 in. Promo Poster 3 “Cyan Wave”

Note: Limited-edition printed poster sets are now available upon request.

Credits

• Written, Narrated, and Directed by Dan Vlahos
• Motion Graphics Led by Steven Cotroneo

Featuring Diagrams By

• Al Gowan
• Bruce Archer
• Terry Irwin
• Julio Mario Ottino + Bruce Mau

Additional Notes, Credits + Resources

• Total runtime: 30m
• Touchtype (Developed by Schultzschultz Studio) [Used in Introduction + Prototyping]
  • Browser-based, for use on touchscreen devices.
  • Led by Marc Schütz (AGI) and Ole Schulte
• Falling Blocks App Code [Used in Scene 17] by Alex Carr
  • An interactive visualization using the Matter.js physics engine.
• “DESIGN” [Used in Scene 36-Closing] by Zach Liljeholm
  • Created using TouchDesigner

Soundtrack + Audio

• Introduction, The Nile, Kevin Harris Project, Museum, Vol. 1, 2013.
• Multiple Scenes, Dreaming Of All The Places I Have Visited, Aric Attas, 2025.
• Multiple Scenes, mobygratis, Moby, 2025.
• Closing Sequence, Dorian, Black Plastic, 2016.
• Sound Effects, Panayiotis Panayiotopoulos, 2021.

Sceenings, Workshops + Talks

• International Premiere, 2025 MODE Summit, Hosted by the Anglo American University, 19-21 June 2025

FILED IN: Design Research