Research Recommendations (848)

Develop further strategies to engage, commit, and empower participants so that ecological-imagination exercises move beyond awareness and ideation into planning, action, implementation, review, and celebration.

Audience:

Researchers, educators, facilitators, community participants

Domain:

Participation and Empowerment / Implementation Cycles

Scope:

Macro

Feasibility:

Medium

Develop the practical skills, materials, and means required to implement participants’ ecological ideas, such as gardens, local food systems, and other place-based interventions.

Audience:

Researchers, educators, municipalities, community actors

Domain:

Implementation Skills / Local Ecological Interventions

Scope:

Macro

Feasibility:

Medium

Undertake a quantitative and broader mapping of the use of kawaii visual language in everyday and 'minor' communication artefacts, rather than limiting analysis to illustrative case examples.

Audience:

Researchers, communication designers, visual-culture scholar...

Domain:

Kawaii Visual Language / Everyday Communication

Scope:

Macro

Feasibility:

Medium

Investigate whether the Japanese preference for flatness in graphic communication relates to broader sociocultural tendencies toward uniformization and group spirit.

Audience:

Researchers, design theorists, sociocultural scholars, commu...

Domain:

Flatness and Sociocultural Uniformization

Scope:

Macro

Feasibility:

Medium

Conduct additional validation studies through reading-speed tests before drawing stronger conclusions about the efficiency of the typographic model proposed for Portuguese.

Audience:

Researchers, typographers, reading scientists

Domain:

Typographic Legibility Validation / Reading Speed

Scope:

Macro

Feasibility:

High

Test the model further using the moving-window method in order to obtain more robust evidence about the efficiency of the proposed typographic solutions during reading.

Audience:

Researchers, psycholinguists, typography scholars

Domain:

Moving-Window Validation / Typographic Legibility

Scope:

Macro

Feasibility:

Medium

Extend the investigation to a larger sample of Portuguese letter sequences and incorporate new factors that may confirm, refine, or refute the current findings.

Audience:

Researchers, type designers, linguists

Domain:

Portuguese Sequences / Legibility Research

Scope:

Macro

Feasibility:

Medium

Investigate and test the hypotheses advanced in Chapter 11 concerning clusters of letters and possible ligatures that may function as perceptual units in Portuguese reading.

Audience:

Researchers, type designers, psycholinguists

Domain:

Clusters and Ligatures / Portuguese Reading

Scope:

Macro

Feasibility:

Medium

Explore the implementation of a fifth 'Language' axis in variable or parametric font technology, allowing ascenders and descenders to be adjusted according to the graphic patterns of different languages such as Portuguese.

Audience:

Researchers, type technologists, font developers

Domain:

Variable Fonts / Language Axis

Scope:

Macro

Feasibility:

Medium

Amplify and disseminate the model in academic and professional settings, and develop a dedicated user manual/toolkit to support consistent adoption as both a work process and a learning tool.

Audience:

Researchers, Educators, Design Teams

Domain:

Design Methods / Brand Systems

Scope:

Meso → Macro

Feasibility:

High

Test the model as a teaching support for Visual/Graphic Design, especially for transmitting objective knowledge about visual systems, increasing control over variables, and improving design decision-making.

Audience:

Educators, Students, Program Leads

Domain:

Design Pedagogy

Scope:

Meso

Feasibility:

High

Investigate whether using the model improves project-time efficiency when diagnosing and developing complex contemporary visual identity systems.

Audience:

Researchers, Design Managers, Brand Teams

Domain:

Design Process Efficiency

Scope:

Meso

Feasibility:

Medium

Examine the relationship between the model and creative-thinking techniques to see whether the process can improve competitive differentiation while still preserving structured control over visual variables.

Audience:

Researchers, Design Strategists, Educators

Domain:

Creativity / Brand Strategy

Scope:

Micro → Meso

Feasibility:

Medium

Adapt the model for use with visual systems beyond brand identity, using the same logic of explicit elements and system-level representation as a transferable basis for other visual-system analyses.

Audience:

Researchers, Designers, Educators

Domain:

Visual Systems / Information Design

Scope:

Meso → Macro

Feasibility:

Medium-High

Develop animated and interactive digital versions of the model so that different levels of information can be revealed on demand and the method can adapt to future platforms, users, and generations.

Audience:

Designers, Digital Interaction Teams, Educators

Domain:

Digital Interaction / Design Tools

Scope:

Meso → Macro

Feasibility:

Medium

Continue applying the proposed model for the graphic representation of places to additional sites and evaluate its viability through final outputs and social impact.

Audience:

Researchers, Designers, Municipal/Freguesia Teams

Domain:

Place Branding / Visual Identity

Scope:

Meso → Macro

Feasibility:

Medium

Use applications of the model to identify additional variables that matter in the construction of a place sign, especially variables that improve symbol selection and site identification.

Audience:

Researchers, Designers

Domain:

Model Refinement

Scope:

Meso → Macro

Feasibility:

Medium

Conceive and test awareness campaigns aimed at administrative entities on the importance of place graphic representation, its correct construction, and its proper communication, highlighting the benefits of adopting the thesis recommendations.

Audience:

Policymakers, Org Leaders, Municipal Administrators

Domain:

Public Communication / Institutional Adoption

Scope:

Macro

Feasibility:

High

Develop continuity-based redesign guidelines for place identities: simplify existing heraldic/historical references rather than replacing them through abrupt rupture.

Audience:

Designers, Municipal Teams, Heritage Bodies

Domain:

Heritage / Identity Guidelines

Scope:

Macro

Feasibility:

Medium

Test adaptable place-sign systems—combining symbol, color, typography, and “referência linguística”—across different audiences, contents, and administrative uses, instead of relying on one fixed mark.

Audience:

Designers, Municipal Communication Teams

Domain:

Identity Systems / Adaptability

Scope:

Meso → Macro

Feasibility:

Medium

Produce integrated graphic-standards manuals and governance tools for administrative place identities so that local signs remain coherent, historically grounded, and aligned with broader territorial communication (including Portugal as the “marca-mãe”).

Audience:

Org Leaders, Policymakers, Designers

Domain:

Governance / Brand Management

Scope:

Macro

Feasibility:

High

Conduct in-depth individual studies of specific aspects of Sebastião Rodrigues' work, especially his use of color, typography, and ethnographic references.

Audience:

Researchers, design historians, typography scholars

Domain:

Graphic Design History / Formal Analysis

Scope:

Macro

Feasibility:

High

Investigate the relationship between Sebastião Rodrigues' graphic work and fine arts—especially drawing and painting—in order to identify artistic movements and creators that influenced him or shared a similar visual language.

Audience:

Researchers, art historians, design historians

Domain:

Graphic Design and Fine Arts Relations

Scope:

Macro

Feasibility:

Medium

Develop more exhaustive international comparative studies between Sebastião Rodrigues and major modernist designers, including Paul Rand, Alvin Lustig, Saul Bass, Tom Eckersley, Franco Grignani, Raymond Savignac, and Celestino Piatti.

Audience:

Researchers, design historians, curators

Domain:

International Modernist Comparison

Scope:

Macro

Feasibility:

Medium

Investigate the alignment between Rodrigues' 'clean' aesthetic and design movements such as the International Typographic Style, the classic phase of Jan Tschichold, and Nordic design, especially from Finland.

Audience:

Researchers, typography historians, design theorists

Domain:

Design Movements / Stylistic Alignment

Scope:

Macro

Feasibility:

Medium