Jason Edwards

I previously studied a bachelor in Photography at Emily Carr University in Vancouver (Canada), which lead me to work in the professional photography industry for some years. Though using photography continues to be part of my practice, I thought it would be good to take my interest in graphic and industrial design more seriously. I briefly studied interdisciplinary design at NSCAD University in Halifax (Canada), and after a few more years of working with photography and some minor freelance design projects, I decided to take my design fascinations further and enrol in the Master of Graphic Design at AKV St. Joost. 

www.jasonedwards.ca

As a designer, how can I communicate the idea of authenticity and value? How can I represent value in a design object that typically doesn’t have that value itself? Perhaps by defining a set of criteria, finding the ‘signifiers of value’ that can be used, I can develop a helpful guideline for my design process. I believe the functions of signifiers of value can be divided into two parts: utility and meaning, or logic and emotion. Utility includes concrete things like the tactile material form, function of credibility, and communication of information. Meaning includes abstract ideas like nostalgia and escapism, historical narrative, craftsmanship and cultural identity. Many of these characteristics are also inter-related, and influence each other.