Usually, introducing yourself and saying hello for the first time is a simple enough concept; you greet the person you are meeting, extend a hand, ask politely about what they do, and, at uni, what course they are on. You ask how they are enjoying themselves and then where they are from. Simple. But the answer to that last question may not always be so straightforward. I’ll use myself as an example.

          Hello, I’m Karoline!

          I am a first year Graphic and Media Design student at London College of Communication.

          I love the course so far and am very excited to start doing workshops and activities.

        So…complicated question. I was born in Vienna, Austria, and moved to the United States when I was young. I go back to Austria almost every year and have worked there for the past three years during the summer months. I have an American accent from a mile away, but I still speak German at home. So, long story short, I’m both.

          This is the theory of hello.

          At its core, it should be a simple task, but in practice, even saying hello for the first time can be a complicated exchange. If you look at it, it’s just like any other subject. We very rarely recognize the level of complexity in our daily lives, personal and cultural histories, and in the different perspectives, perceptions, and interpretations of those around us. All of these shape how we see our world, and, oftentimes, how we clash with others who do not see it like we do—or how we bond with those who do.

          While most of the time, these nuances are hidden, they come out strongly when considering questions of perception and identity, like meeting someone who is not 100% sure about how to answer a simple question like “Where are you from?” or not being able to yourself, and being confronted with a view which is dramatically different from your own.

          When this happens, an entirely new mode of thought is opened to things you have not even considered, and new pathways of interpretation begin to spring up. And, when applied to subjects like design and the world around you, new methods of problem solving and thinking become apparent – all just through talking, listening, and being willing to chase those thoughts further.

          In class we can apply this to the object we brought in on the second session of term, where we all chose something of value to us which had a further cultural meaning. Everyone in the room brought in an object, some different, some very similar, and some which made little sense to the rest of us at all. But when we talked in groups, we found that they were objects with widely different stories—and that they held a lot of common ground.

          We all had different identities, perceptions, ideas, and interpretations, but in talking about our objects and everyone else’s unique perspectives of their world, we built a greater understanding of our cumulative community, what archetypal experiences we shared, and the niches and pockets of meaning that lie there for each one of us. For example, four members of my six-member group had objects which were different in material, location, culture, and history, but which all had a common theme of being a symbol of being protected and blessed.

          This is, I think, the end goal for talking about perception and history. By sifting through the past and present from every facet of human existence and using it to build a cohesive picture of everyone, we can also create a new and critical picture of the world we live in and use that not only to better understand each other through common themes (or differing ones), but to solve problems in new ways and work for better change.

          While it all sounds very monumental, this goes down to a very personal level for all of us: a level of awareness, social intelligence, open-mindedness, and thought. It is often even subconscious; sometimes, we do not notice it happening but that we suddenly see logos in a new way after hearing a designer speak about their experiences, or begin to buy from certain brands which do not exploit workers because someone has raised that issue and made you aware of it. But the end point is, it happened, and that new pathway of thought has changed the way you see the world.

          As part of this course, I believe this mode of thought and those issues will become incredibly important, and I will be posting reflections, summaries, photographs, and designs about readings in class dealing with this and other topics. Through this, I hope to explore the ideas of perception, representation, culture, and history, in connection with design, and how this has innately shaped the way we see today’s globalized society – and what we can do to better it.

          I believe that our personal and global past, culture, language, and our personal views are inextricably linked and connected, and through writing, thought, and design, we can open a conversation to a new kind of critical thought.

          So when we start that conversation, that theory of hello, that question of identity, perception, and interpretation, let’s start from the ground up and ask not just, “Where are you from?” but also, “What is your story?”.

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The world can be seen from so many different angles. Each of us is born seeing the world in a different way, and each moment we live shapes our eyes and hearts differently.

— Greg Keyes