VIRTUAL: Applying Education
Abstract
The Occasional Press is an agile publishing initiative showcasing new forms of creative research at Emily Carr University and beyond, building ties across the community and providing an accessible platform for dissemination of art, design and media research. This paper discusses the press as a resilient model for collaborative practice that is optimized to adapt to complex shifts in post-secondary education and the workplace. An autonomous entity sitting in between faculties and operational areas at Emily Carr, the Occasional Press acts alternately as a research unit, educational resource, and networking and outreach tool. Its initial mandate to disseminate art, design and media research through open-source digital and print publication has provided a continuous stream of work for its diverse team. Its inaugural publication, Occasional Papers, reflects the diversity of the community and the press’ mandate to adopt a pluriversal perspective. The Press capitalizes on the resources and know-how of The Stationery Project, a systems design initiative to collect and repurpose offprint and waste paper on campus, providing a sustainable resource for explorations in editorial design for bookbinding and publication. As an ongoing experiment, the Press will continue to engage new collaborators and audiences through a situated and ethical viewpoint. Escobar (2018) advocates for a critical autonomy in design, toward collaborative and sustainable practices. Sitting at an intersection of the complex ecosystem of the art and design school, the Press is well placed to respond to this challenge and re/present multiplicities of possible worlds through its activities and outputs.
Dr. Katherine Gillieson is the Associate Dean for the Master of Design and an Associate Professor in Communication Design at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Katherine’s work includes research and writing in information design, editorial design, and the theory and philosophy of design, with a focus on design and communication as empowering tools for socially-engaged projects. She is a founding member of the Occasional Press and her current writing explores interdisciplinarity and ‘ways of knowing’ in art and design research.