AsPr Geoff Hinchcliffe

Bachelor of Visual Arts, Doctor of Philosophy

My research focuses on enlivening data and digital collections through visualisation, interface and interaction design. My research results in both theoretical and creative outputs, from the highly practical, to the experimental, playful and occasionally provocative.

My innovative practice-based web design projects traverse multiple fields, research questions and practices, from custom web interfaces for translating climate science data for deep pubic engagement, to bespoke web platforms for audience enrichment of digital cultural collections, to innovative retail interfaces for customer engagement. My works privilege playful interactive engagement, functionality for exploration and serendipitous discovery, and novel creative representations that treat collections data as a generative cultural material. Collaboration is at the core of my works and has involved partnerships with leading cultural institutions and industry. 

Current research themes include:

Representing Cultural Collections

Mass digitisation of cultural artefacts promises unprecedented access to valuable resources but only where those collections can be represented in meaningful ways. The challenge here is both technical and cultural: How can we engineer systems that effectively aggregate and synthesise vast tracts of exponentially increasing data? But equally, how can we produce representations that are aesthetically engaging and capable of revealing the complexity and richness of a collection? Through my practice-based research I aim to contribute on both fronts: developing novel methods and computational systems for cultural datasets; and designing innovative interfaces attuned to their specific cultural settings. My research in this area has provided me with opportunity to collaborate with institutions including the State Library of NSW, State Library of Queensland, National Gallery of Australia, and renowned design retailer Make Designed Objects.

Dynamic Design

Design processes developed for the production of stable physical artefacts must be redefined for our contemporary computational context. Perhaps most significantly, the products and services we design for the computer medium must be dynamic systems capable of responding to input and changing context. My research explores the creative, cultural and technical implications of designing for today’s computational setting. Rather than a discreet new field, my work seeks to connect new forms and approaches with pre-computational practices and products; to situate the contemporary within a continuum of technical and creative design and production.

Poetics & Materiality

The presence of data and computing in our everyday lives demands more than efficient engineering - it asks us to produce systems and artefacts that are aesthetically and emotionally enriching. To this end, my research investigates the poetics of data representation, both on and off screen. It seeks to develop novel forms and fresh understanding of data as a cultural material.

Speculative & Undisciplined Design

20th century design disciplines are today giving way to fluid hybrid forms that are emerging in response to new technologies, commercial opportunities, and as a way to deal with increasingly complex, wicked problems. These emergent practices are not only characterised by their resistance to convenient disciplinary definitions but by their speculative, experimental and critical methodologies. My research aims to reveal new understanding of the changing practice of design, and its implications for education.