ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the development of a visual research methodology based on a series of rhetorical pieces of design that explores how graphic design’s techniques of persuasion could be used to expose and critique the public relations (PR) industry. This methodology was adopted and used to undertake a critical investigation of BP’s crisis management of the Deepwater Horizon accident. The chapter gives attention to ‘Crisis Communication’ – a piece of visual research exploring BP’s response to the accident on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The popularity of research methods using visual materials has grown rapidly and can refer to the gathering, analysing, and presenting visual data. The use of graphic design as an instrument for investigating and articulating a particular subject area, which may lie outside of the field of design – as such, this model of design research would include mapping, information design, and editorial approaches to visualizing and categorizing data.
