Towards Interdisciplinary: Juggling Similarities and Differences

Towards Interdisciplinary: Juggling Similarities and Differences

Mary C. Dyson

Department of Typography and Graphic Communication, University of Reading, Reading, UK (mary.dyson[at]reading.ac.uk)

Abstract: This (ashamedly) autobiographical account of my research career describes my journey from psychology to what might be described as psychotypography. A key aspect of the narrative is the means by which I sought to integrate into a design environment. I explore the notion of interdisciplinary research, an important feature of this journal, reflecting much of the current landscape of design education, research, and practice. The juggling of similarities and differences occurs at the level of disciplines and as part of my research methods. A common thread through most of the research is evaluating how people respond to visual material, to create findings that can be used in design practice and education. Broader implications are that many factors, within and outside our control, determine the course of research.

Keywords: design discipline; design research; interdisciplinary research; psychology; psychotypography; typographic design

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Author

Mary Dyson started by studying experimental psychology with a PhD in perception. She then moved into the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, University of Reading, UK, teaching and researching theoretical and empirical approaches to typography and graphic communication. After retiring from her full-time position in Typography & Graphic Communication, she has written a textbook on legibility and has found time to reflect on her academic career and question some of her own assumptions. She is also enjoying developing scholarly collaborations with former students, colleagues and friends, and is currently Senior Visiting Research Fellow in the School of Arts and Communication Design, University of Reading.

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Cite this article:
Dyson, M. C. (2025). Towards interdisciplinary: Juggling similarities and differences. Visible Language, 59(1), 5–22. https://www.visible-language.org/59-1/towards-interdisciplinary-juggling-similarities-and-differences

First published online April 27, 2025. © 2025 Visible Language — this article is open access, published under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.

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