Megan Jade Macaulay

I am Megan Jade Macaulay from South Africa. I studied my BA in Communication
Design at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, where I also completed my BA
HONS in Communication Design. I completed several internships at agencies and have
been working as an in-house graphic designer, as part of a marketing team for a South
African Medical Aesthetics company.
I have decided to further my studies in the Netherlands, both to learn within an
international setting as well as to further develop my skills as a designer and be
exposed to new/different design methods and approaches of design.

Although Graphic Design is primarily about visual communication, I also feel that it is
about strategic and practical problem-solving. During my Master's studies, I intend to
discover the potential of Graphic Design as a medium or approach to solving social
issues.
Research Question(s):
How can design create a social impact and solve issues of gender and womens health in
contemporary society? The aim of this research is to gain an understanding of how
design can solve issues around women's health and gender and how best to design
around these issues. What is my contribution to society as a Communication Designer?
How can I bring about positive change in the society in which I live?
The exploration into design thinking and/or human-centered design theories and
practices will be of particular use to my scope of research along side gender and
feminist theories.
Practice-Led Perspective:
We live in such a dynamic world with constant technological advances that change the
way in which we live our lives, change educational mediums and knowledge sharing and
change the way we communicate with one another. As a result, design approaches and
methodologies are ever-changing and evolving. I intend to focus my studies on how
design can be used to create sustainable, adaptable and interchangeable solutions with
specific focus on womens health issues.
I intend to explore different design mediums, approaches and methodologies not only
from a skills development point of view but also to discover new opportunities and ways
of approaching practical design solutions.