Incongruous Design
Qingzhu Zhang
Our lives are full of visible and invisible systems and rules that maintain order and predictability. Yet, amid these systems, there are oddities where disparate elements come together. These phenomena are unusual and inharmonious. The word “incongruous” accurately captures this phenomenon. The Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary defines incongruous as something that seems out of place or inappropriate in a given context. This thesis explored multiple strategies of Incongruous Design through case studies and experiments and proposed a practical framework including Unexpected Placement, Fusion Pairing, and Characteristic Transformation.
Incongruous Newspaper
Incongruous is a newspaper that provides a collection of the phenomenon of incongruity. The layout is carried out innovatively through the strategy of Fusion Pairing. When the newspaper is opened from anywhere, there are ten different stories. These stories continue in the same place on the next page. The presence of different stories concurrently becomes incongruent but consistent placement provides continuity and causes no overwhelming confusion.
Going Outside
Going Outside explores the balance between people’s lives and work by creating fun picnic mats with humor and creativity. Furthermore, it uses a combination of Incongruous Design strategies.
Laptop Picnic Mat
This picnic mat series shows three perspectives on what often prevents me from going out: eating, working, and socializing. These actions were represented by these corresponding items: an air fryer, Photoshop, and a laptop.
Photoshop Interface Picnic Mat
Air Fryer Picnic Mat
