BU2020_Catalogue_ForEvan_April28_Pages

Juxtaposition, 2020. Poster. 4 × 4 in.
Humor—a comic, absurd, or incongruous quality causing amusement.
How can an incongruous quality create delight? Using graphic design as a lens to understand the
mechanics of humor, I demonstrate this phenomenon of universal amusement. My method involves
creating unexpected mixes and matches and visual puns as a vehicle for play.
Design is not only functional but also fun. Synthesizing unexpected elements in surprising ways adds
one more layer of legibility and suspends us cognitively. On one hand, you hear the word humor a lot,
yet philosophers have little to say, and what they have said is largely critical.
Humor challenges the audience to look beyond the juxtapositions to decode a second meaning. When a
visual pun works—specifically, when two distinct entities merge to form one idea—the effect stimulates
thought and sensation. Humor is something that helps us to reflect.