This thesis work responds to emerging issues in media and civic awareness in Canada, exploring how design can be used to highlight, examine and expose characteristics of the digital space in order to enhance young citizens’ media literacy. As the opening chapters will establish, younger Canadians are experiencing a unique combination of factors that render them insufficiently prepared to participate as digital citizens. These issues are compounded by digital threats to democratic values such as the rise in manipulative or propagandistic content, as well as intellectual silos created by algorithmic filtering. My creative work aims to illuminate the invisible power dynamics perpetuated by digital tools through the presentation of a sculptural installation and a series of illustrated notebooks. The design projects’ outcomes are aimed at teens and young adults, but provide information that is pertinent to citizens of all ages. The projects rely on critical discourse analysis, semiotics and practice-led approaches to research.

The theoretical framing of the projects apply Marshall McLuhan’s media theories to explore how we as citizens may begin to reframe our contemporary political experience in order to better understand the lasting impacts on citizenship and liberal democracy.

Keywords: Civic Literacy, Media Literacy, Information Design, Data Visualization, Illustration, Graphic Design, Infographic, Installation, Sculpture, Civic Education, Media, Technology

Website: www.alexperlin.com

Instagram: @alexperlin

Link to notebooks: https://issuu.com/apperlin0