☻ Ideologien visualisieren by Aaron Siermann (Hochschule Anhalt)
Based on political macro-ideologies and thousands of symbolic images, this project creates an immersive visual space to experience ideological complexity. Design documents, analyses and mediates – becoming a tool of education.
Part of this year’s GDG exhibition “Dare to Design – Spaces of Care” at @makkoeln
↗ On view 04 September – 12 October 2025
☻ Spotlight – Ideologien visualisieren
by Aaron Siermann | Hochschule Anhalt Mentor*in: Ingolf Heinsch
What do ideologies look like? This project turns political worldviews into a sea of 3.000 images. Irritating. Overwhelming. Impossible to ignore.
It challenges how we read symbols – and how visual codes shape what we believe.
Ingolf Heinsch: “This work forced me to rethink fundamental questions about design: May it be free? Uncomfortable? Should it ask questions instead of giving answers?”
↗ Do you think design should provoke? Tell us in the comments.
Dakar, Senegal
February 2025
This series of photographs came about following a chance encounter on the street. An employee of the National Centre for Orthopaedics approached me, asked if I was a photographer, and by then I had reached the point where I could say I was. He spontaneously invited me to visit the centre. A brief conversation turned into an afternoon spent together in workshops, treatment rooms and offices. Whilst I was taking photographs, I got to know the people there, spoke with staff and observed their daily work. The photographs show the processes involved in the manufacture and fitting of prostheses and orthoses, but also the encounters, conversations and the warmth with which I was received.
Every time I travel alone, I find moments to write down my impressions, thoughts, and experiences. This is the first time I’ve decided to shape those diary entries into a book. It’s been almost a year now, yet I still love revisiting the texts and looking through the photos—they transport me back, offering an almost immersive reflection of that journey.
I experimented with custom InDesign scripts, applying mathematical design principles to my grid and image placement. Some layouts turned out exactly as the script generated them, while others I couldn’t resist refining and adjusting further.
#indesign #adobeindesign #scripting #script
