Thesis — Siwon Lee

Siwon Lee

Broadcasting Class:
Perceptions of Media Representation

This thesis investigates how social/broadcast media reinforce class stereotypes and shape public perception. Through critical design methods, I explored how communication designers can expose and challenge these visual narratives, encouraging audiences to reflect on issues of inequality.

How do social/broadcast media reproduce stereotypes of social class?
How can designers use critical approaches to reveal and critique these representations?

Pratt Institute
MFA Communications Design
2020–2021

Link

Design ApproachCritical Design: Using satire, parody, and speculative design to highlight hidden biases .
Visual & Audio Experimentation: Glitch aesthetics, vivid colors, and split sound channels created immersive, contrasting experiences.
Research-Driven: Combined cultural theory with qualitative user studies to ground the design in both theory and lived perception

Key Outcomes

Capstone Project
A multi-channel projection contrasting upper and lower-class archetypes, visualizing the endless cycle of media representation.

Critical Interactive Object
Arrogant Tombstone, an installation where entering one’s salary determines “qualification,” satirizing how society judges people by wealth.

Participatory Card Game
The Middle Class Game, a research-driven design tool where players trade “class signifiers” to balance their score, revealing the constructed nature of class identity.

Participatory Research
Cultural probes through interviews and surveys to examine how participants perceive class and media consumption.

Impact & ReflectionThis thesis reveals how media reinforces class stereotypes by glamorizing the upper class and trivializing the lower class. Through critical design, it frames communication designers as cultural critics with responsibility beyond aesthetics, while suggesting future applications in transformation design and interactive media to challenge bias.