CityTech COMD·Design Incubation·AIGA DEC / DRS workshop corpus

A Reference System for
Communication Design

Seven interlinked documents — a faceted glossary, a domain intersection map, a field atlas, a crossover map, a combined theory reference, a research-process atlas, and a pedagogy atlas — built from workshop transcriptions, coursework vocabularies, and published scholarship. Every entry carries its source line; editorially supplied content is flagged, never silently attributed.

930glossary terms · 6 facets
8discipline domains
31theory frameworks
24adjacent fields mapped
5research traditions
5provenance tiers
How it fits together

The system, mapped

Sources flow into a shared data layer, and the data layer feeds the documents — shown here in the site's reading order. Dashed boxes are external source material; the gold box is the shared dataset backbone; solid boxes are the documents of this site. Click any document node to open it.

SOURCE CORPUS DATA LAYER DOCUMENTS · IN READING ORDER Workshop corpus AIGA DEC mapping exercise (PDF) DRS FoE mapping exercise (PDF) CityTech COMD coursework Brodeur ADV 1160/1200 · Trager ADV 1161 Spevack ADV 1100 (Spring 2013) Published scholarship Foundational texts · design research literature Live-verified subset (SRC tier, 9 Jul 2026) Reference glossaries Glossary for Designers · earlier CD Glossary UX Design Institute (live-verified) Consolidated glossary dataset 771 entries · 6 sources + DI tag supplement (101) + Spevack (58) Eight-domain taxonomy Established in the earlier domain mapping phase data.json Pedagogy atlas backbone · v1.1 · Python / Node.js rebuilds 1 · Glossary3rd ed. · 930 terms · 6 facets 2 · Intersectionsnetwork + 596-term taxonomy 3 · Field AtlasAIGA DEC + DRS, combined 4 · Crossovers8 domains × 24 fields 5 · Theories31 frameworks · combined ed. 6 · Research Processes5 traditions + crossings 7 · Pedagogy5 chapters · 53 terms

Diagram is an editorial synthesis of the build lineage documented in each page's own methodology note. Node numbers mark reading order, not chapter numbers — the atlases keep their own internal chapter schemes.

The documents

In reading order

From the term layer outward: vocabulary first, then how the domains relate internally, what the field contains, how it connects to its neighbors, the theory beneath it, how it researches, and how it teaches. Documents are unnumbered at the site level — the Field Atlas and Pedagogy Atlas keep their own internal chapter structures, and the site imposes no second scheme on top of them.

FirstVocabulary

Unified Faceted Glossary

3rd edition · interactive

Around 930 terms, browsable by concept or alphabetically and filtered across six facets: Domain, Kind, Medium, Provenance, Collection, and Scope. The 3rd edition merges the Consolidated Glossary (771 entries, six sources) with the Design Incubation tag supplement (101 supplement-only entries; 29 duplicates merged, consolidated definition winning with supplement provenance appended) and 58 newly added Spevack ADV 1100 terms — 16 Spevack terms already covered retain their existing sourcing.

  • 930 terms
  • 6 facets
  • 2 views
  • strip-down guarantee
SourcesConsolidated Glossary (6 sources) · Design Incubation tag supplement (~1,500+ post tags) · CityTech COMD coursework: Brodeur ADV 1160/1200, Trager ADV 1161, Spevack ADV 1100 (Spring 2013). Item-level source lines unchanged; course-level traceability preserved under a single provenance value.
Open the glossary →Removing DI-supplement, Spevack & general-knowledge items leaves only consolidated-source terms
SecondInternal structure

Domain Intersection Map

Interactive network + faceted taxonomy

The eight domains of communication design charted as a network rather than a list — click a domain to trace its connections, or a line to see what specifically links two domains (a shared method, medium, or theoretical root). Beneath it, the consolidated glossary as a faceted hierarchical taxonomy: 596 terms in 18 categories, domain → category → term, with kind labels and source chips per term.

  • 8 domains
  • 596 terms
  • 18 categories
  • kind + source facets
SourcesVocabulary terms and citations from five documents: the two workshop rooms via the Combined Field Atlas (tiers preserved), Brodeur ADV 1160/1200 and Trager ADV 1161 course lists, the Glossary for Designers reference, and the earlier Communication Design Glossary. The intersection descriptions themselves are a stated synthesis — a working analysis to test and revise, not a cited fact set.
Open the intersection map →Dashed-chip entries = requested editorial expansions
ThirdThe field itself

Combined Field Atlas

Mapping design research & scholarship

The same crowdsourced sticky-note exercise, run independently at AIGA's Design Educators Community and a Design Research Society conference, merged into one reference document — with a unified field atlas, a full index of every named source across both rooms, and a clearly marked added layer filling gaps the two rooms left open. Retains its own internal chapter structure.

  • 2 workshops
  • 21+ atlas categories
  • sources index
  • 4-tier marking
SourcesDEC-Mapping of Design Research and Scholarship (AIGA DEC edition) and DRS_FoE_Mapping_of_Research_and_Scholarship.pdf — photographed corkboards of anonymous sticky notes, both apparently produced by Design Incubation. Named persons, institutions, publications, and URLs kept exactly as participants wrote them, compiled into a single index.
Open the field atlas →Participant · inferred · added layers marked throughout
FourthOutward connections

Interdisciplinary Crossover Map

Domain cards · field map · radial chart

Twenty-four external disciplines across eight domains, in four views: domain cards, a clustered field map, a radial chart, and a sources index. Each external field is listed once with colored dots marking which domains it intersects; every crossover claim opens to a detail panel with its supporting sources.

  • 8 domains
  • 24 fields
  • 4 views
  • per-claim citations
SourcesAn original synthesis, not a reproduction of a single published framework — the cited works are the canonical texts and bodies of scholarship each crossover claim rests on. Claims reflecting widely held professional practice rather than a specific text are noted as such.
Open the crossover map →Synthesis disclosed; citations per crossover
FifthTheory

Theories

Cross-disciplinary map · combined edition

Six clusters, thirty-one frameworks — communication & information theories, design theories & philosophies, the visual communication discipline, contributions from established disciplines, the fine arts, and design history & historiography. Each theory carries a definition, its key texts, and connection boxes tracing influence, opposition, and shared foundations.

This edition merges what were previously two documents: the citation-forward reference map and the provenance layer of its atlas-tiered twin (formerly Chapter VI of the Combined Field Atlas). Thirteen entries badged Verified carry publication facts confirmed against live sources on 9 July 2026, each with its verification note inline; unmarked references remain flagged for catalog verification. Relative to the workshop corpus the whole canon is added domain knowledge, and connection boxes are marked as editorial synthesis.

  • 6 clusters
  • 31 frameworks
  • 13 verified entries
  • verification notes inline
SourcesPrimary/foundational texts per theory, consolidated in the document's source list. Thirteen entries cross-checked against live sources (9 July 2026) with per-entry verification notes; remaining references are standard foundational editions, flagged for verification against a library catalog before formal publication.
Open Theories →Connection boxes = editorial synthesis, marked as such
SixthHow it researches

Research Processes Across Disciplines

Reference atlas

A comparative outline of how five research traditions structure inquiry — design research, social science, humanities, empirical/experimental science — and the interdisciplinary processes that emerge where they meet in communication design. Each tradition is charted as a process arc with its methods and key sources.

  • 5 traditions
  • process arcs
  • methods + key sources
SourcesVerified and canonical scholarship, keyed per claim in the document's numbered source list (e.g., Frayling's tripartite scheme of research into/through/for design; Cross's "designerly ways of knowing").
Open research processes →Sourcing keyed inline, verified & canonical distinguished
SeventhHow it teaches

Design Pedagogy, Process & Practice Atlas

v1.1 · 2026-07-11

Five internal chapters — foundations of design pedagogy, learning theory, design process models, practice, and assessment & critique — plus a 53-term glossary. Documents the Bauhaus/Ulm lineage, studio culture and the crit, the design methods movement, the IDEO/Stanford design-thinking lineage with verified process-model distinctions, and their critiques.

  • 5 chapters
  • 15 sections
  • 53-term glossary
  • 5-tier provenance
SourcesPublished pedagogy and design-methods scholarship, tiered: SRC (live-verified citations with venue/volume/pages), CAN (canonical attributions from standing literature), GEN (flagged editorial supply). ATLP/ATLI participant tiers are structurally present but empty — Design Incubation transcriptions were not available at build time, and nothing is attributed to a participant.
Open the pedagogy atlas →Rebuilds from data.json (included in /data)
Methodology

Provenance, everywhere

The documents share one editorial constitution: every entry carries its source line, editorial supply is flagged rather than silently attributed, and factual conflicts are preserved, not quietly resolved. The Pedagogy Atlas states the fullest form of the tier system; the other documents use compatible three- and four-tier variants.

Five-tier provenance system from the Design Pedagogy Atlas
TierMeaningStatus in current build
SRCSource-verified — publication facts confirmed by live web search at build time; citations include venue, volume, and pages where available.Active
CANCanonical — widely attested scholarly attribution from the standing literature, not individually re-verified against the primary document in this build.Active
GENEditorial / general knowledge — supplied by the editor without a named source; removable without loss of sourced content.Active · always flagged
ATLPParticipant transcription — direct language from Design Incubation workshop transcriptions.Awaiting source material — no entries
ATLIParticipant inferred — relocated or paraphrased participant language from Design Incubation transcriptions.Awaiting source material — no entries

The strip-down guarantee

Remove all GEN, supplement, and general-knowledge content, and what remains is traceable to a named author, document, or publication. This holds in the glossary, the pedagogy atlas, and the taxonomy views.

Merges are explicit

Where duplicate entries appear across sources, the consolidated definition wins and supplement provenance is appended, never overwritten. Near-match merges and ambiguous assignments are flagged for review.

Conflicts are preserved

Factual disagreements in the literature — such as the multiple circulating dates for the Double Diamond — are documented as conflicts in the atlas rather than arbitrarily resolved.

Verified ≠ canonical

Live-confirmed references (SRC, checked 9 July 2026 for the theory document) are labeled separately from standard foundational texts, which remain flagged for independent catalog verification before direct quotation.

Empty layers stay visible

Where source material is not yet available — the Design Incubation transcription tiers — the structure is built and left explicitly empty rather than papered over, so the participant layer can be added without rebuilding the rest.

One data spine

Documents rebuild from shared datasets — the pedagogy atlas from data.json (v1.1, included at /data/data.json), the glossary views from the consolidated term dataset — via Python and Node.js scripts, so corrections propagate rather than fork.

Sources

The source corpus

Every named source feeding the system, grouped by kind, with the documents each one feeds. Per-entry and per-claim citations live inside the documents themselves — this index is the corpus-level view.

Workshop material

  • DEC-Mapping of Design Research and ScholarshipAIGA Design Educators Community workshop — photographed sticky-note corkboard (PDF)→ Field Atlas · Intersections taxonomy
  • DRS_FoE_Mapping_of_Research_and_Scholarship.pdfDesign Research Society conference workshop — photographed sticky-note corkboard→ Field Atlas · Intersections taxonomy
  • Design Incubation tag supplementDerived from ~1,500+ post tags; 101 supplement-only entries, 29 merged→ Glossary (3rd ed.)
  • Design Incubation workshop transcriptionsNot yet supplied — ATLP/ATLI tiers held open→ Pedagogy Atlas (pending)

CityTech COMD coursework

  • Vocabulary List A — Brodeur, ADV 1160/1200Course vocabulary list; anonymized at label level, per-entry traceability preserved→ Glossary · Intersections taxonomy
  • Vocabulary List B — Trager, ADV 1161Course vocabulary list→ Glossary · Intersections taxonomy
  • Spevack ADV 1100 vocabularyGraphic Design Principles I, Spring 2013 — 58 terms added, 16 already covered retain existing sourcing→ Glossary (3rd ed.)

Reference glossaries

  • Consolidated Glossary771 entries across six sources — the merge substrate of the 3rd edition→ Glossary · Intersections taxonomy
  • Glossary for DesignersReference document→ Intersections taxonomy
  • Earlier Communication Design GlossaryPrior-phase glossary→ Intersections taxonomy
  • UX Design Institute glossaryLive-verified reference→ Consolidated glossary lineage

Published scholarship

  • Theory canon (31 frameworks)Primary/foundational texts per theory — Shannon–Weaver, semiotics, Gestalt, Bauhaus/Swiss lineages, HCD & affordances, and more; consolidated source list in the Theories document→ Theories (combined edition)
  • Design research & methods literatureFrayling's tripartite scheme, Cross's designerly ways of knowing, the design methods movement, IDEO/Stanford lineage with verified process-model distinctions→ Research Processes · Pedagogy Atlas
  • Participant-cited worksWorks quoted inside the workshop corpus (e.g., an Audrey Bennett essay; Chris Jones's Design Methods diagram as redrawn in Meredith Davis's Graphic Design Theory; a Cheryl D. Miller line) — compiled in the Field Atlas sources index→ Field Atlas