Icons: Normativity and Gender Inequalities

This contribution is aimed at offering a disciplinary viewpoint on the “rules without words” for the purpose of investigating “non-linguistic” normativity from the Communication Design perspective. The intention is therefore to examine how Communication Design shapes social reality through the creation or strengthening of social, normative and tacit rules. The focus of the observation are the non-linguistic expressions, rules, that contribute to the development or maintenance of gender-based social inequalities. Specifically, the observation concerns the forms of schematic representation which permeate everyday life and have an informative and prescriptive function, characterized by a high degree of objectivity and addressed to the whole community - both men and women. The contribution inserts itself within an international framework in which the importance of gender equality is central and reaffirmed by the ONU Agenda 2030 and the Resolution of the European Parliament 2018 (2017/2210(INI))

A didactic tool for gender-sensitive practices in design education

"This article presents the results of experimental research conducted as part of a project concerning a didactical tool named 'Design/Gender/Design' which is to be used to introduce gender issues into the training of young designers. The article describes the experimental set-up and students’ results. The intention is to stimulate a discussion about how design should integrate a gender perspective in theory and practice. By observing design as a process of exchange of values and meanings, we aim to understand its responsibility in the diffusion of gender stereotypes, how these gender stereotypes are incorporated into design projects and how they act within and through them, as well as through the sensitivities of designers. Students were asked to respond to design questions concerning gender in order to compile categories of signs targeted at her, him and everybody and covering different aspects (e.g. shapes and sizes, colours, patterns and textures, and typographic elements). Being typical of action research, the experiment allowed students to reflect on the use of gender codes in design and it provided data for researchers to verify assumptions regarding those associations which are implicit when gender is a variable in the design process." (author's abstract)"Der Artikel präsentiert die Ergebnisse experimenteller Forschung, die durchgeführt wurde, um ein didaktisches Werkzeug zu gestalten, das wir 'Design/Gender/Design' genannt haben und mit dem die Kategorie Gender in die Designausbildung eingeführt werden soll. Design und Designausbildung müssen sich für die Auflösung von Genderstereotypen einsetzen. Wir fragen deshalb, wie solche Genderklischees im Design implementiert sind und wie sie durch die Sensibilität von Designer_innen in einem Designprojekt beeinflusst und beseitigt werden können. Studierende wurden gebeten, Designfragen mit Bezug zu Gender zu beantworten. Daraus ist ein Katalog von Zeichen entstanden, die auf sie, ihn oder auf jede_n Einzelne_n abzielen (Formen und Größen, Farben, Muster und Texturen, typographische Elemente etc.). Diese Art der Aktionsforschung erlaubt es den Studierenden, den Gebrauch von Gendercodes im Design zu reflektieren, und stellt so die notwendigen Daten zur Verfügung, um herauszufinden, welche impliziten Assoziationen sich einstellen, wenn Gender zu einer relevanten Variable im Designprozess wird." (Autorenreferat

Packaging come dispositivo per l’accesso

The field of communication design is one which involves language, the evolutionary communicative artefact, the capacity to provide new meanings, etc., but also the ability to read the technologies used to produce communication and the eff ects that they have within the ‘action plan’ of an object. In this context, we have chosen to develop ideas on packaging within a broader study of the environment focusing on ‘design for access’ and to read packaging artefacts according to this perspective. Speaking about access design therefore means reversing the point of view and design priorities.Considerations about the roles and functions of packaging imply, as a consequence, a revision of the artefact which does not have to be limited by the performance and operative dimension of the object. The first line of work is linked to ‘implicit ethics’ and strongly connected to the communicative and informative accessibility of packaging. The second line of research is engaged in developing new forms of appreciation of the term ‘access’. The present research investigates the potentiality of the artefact as an instrument to develop new levels of access to the content itself and to the informative content.Il campo del design della comunicazione è quello che coinvolge il linguaggio, l'artefatto comunicativo evolutivo, la capacità di fornire nuovi significati, ecc., ma anche la capacità di leggere le tecnologie utilizzate per produrre comunicazione e gli effetti che esse hanno all'interno del "piano d'azione" di un oggetto. piano d'azione" di un oggetto. In questo contesto, abbiamo scelto di sviluppare le idee sul packaging all'interno di uno studio più ampio dell'ambiente incentrato sul "design for access" e di leggere gli artefatti da imballaggio secondo questa prospettiva. Parlare di design per l'accesso significa quindi invertire il punto di vista e le priorità del design. Il packaging implica, di conseguenza, una revisione dell'artefatto che non deve essere limitato dalla dimensione prestazionale e operativa dell'oggetto. dell'oggetto. La prima linea di lavoro è legata all'"etica implicita" e fortemente connessa all'accessibilità comunicativa e informativa del packaging. La seconda linea di ricerca è impegnata a sviluppare nuove forme di apprezzamento del termine "accesso". La presente ricerca indaga le potenzialità dell'artefatto come strumento per sviluppare nuovi livelli di accesso al contenuto stesso e al contenuto informativo

Crescere con gli stereotipi. Identità dei giocattoli e modelli di genere

Stereotipi di genere determina una questione cruciale, delicata e urgente, che trova nella sintesi espressiva dell’immagine il proprio fulcro. In questa prospettiva il tema della rappresentazione della donna, così come i media la impongono, con le implicazioni che questo modello rappresentato porta con sé. Il Design della comunicazione non può dunque sottrarsi alle proprie responsabilità di mediatore in grado di agire sulla realtà sociale

Pubblica utilità: nuovi e vecchi compiti del Design della comunicazione

The WeMi. La città per il welfare project is at the heart of this contribution as it offers a paradigmatic case for carrying out, ex post, some reflections on the disciplinary field of communication design and, more specifically, the design of communication for welfare. It is an opportunity to reflect on the new and old tasks of Communication Design, on the responsibilities and functions of the Communication Design for Welfare, considering the design challenges and the pitfalls that transformation, guided by the role assumed by the Net and digital media, requires of this field. But also to dwell on the model of society that we intend to promote, questioning ourselves on the most appropriate ways to favor meetings, between communication designers and public institutions, on the level of common cultural responsibilities

Molecular characterization of officially registered Sangiovese clones and of other Sangiovese-like biotypes in Tuscany, Corsica and Emilia-Romagna

The present study was designed (1) to identify and determine the origin of the genetic variability via SSR and AFLP within a group of 39 Sangiovese clones officially listed in the National Grapevine Registry, (2) to pinpoint varietal differences and potential family relations among 34 Sangiovese-like biotypes, via the SSR markers. Most biotypes are regarded as Sangiovese but sometimes are known under different names. In both studies the reference standard was the registered Sangiovese clone SG 12T.No polymorphism was found among the officially listed 39 clones analysed at 6 microsatellite loci. This enabled us to confirm their origin from a single mother plant, thereby supporting the view that any morphological or qualitative differences may be the result of propagation-related mutagenic events. A subsequent AFLP analysis of 26 of the 39 clones showed polymorphic bands in three of them (two identical) that may correspond to a mutagenic event. Assays with SSR markers on 34 Sangiovese-like biotypes collected in Tuscany, Corsica and Emilia-Romagna showed that 28 are identical with the reference Sangiovese clone SG 12T, while the remaining 6 (Sangiovese 1, Sangiovese 6, Morellino, Poverina, Sangiovese forte and Brunellone) are genetically different from SG 12T and among one another so that no direct family relations could be established

From grape berries to wines: Drought impacts on key secondary metabolites

Aim: We aimed to study the impact of water deficit on the concentration of key flavour and phenolic secondary metabolites of wines. Methods and results: A drought-stress field trial was conducted on Vitis vinifera cv. Merlot and Tocai Friulano for two seasons. Fully irrigated (C) and deficit irrigated (D) grapes were microvinified and the resulting wines were analysed to determine the concentrations of anthocyanins, tannins, and free and glycosidically-bound Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). A descriptive sensory test was undertaken on the same wines. Water stressed grapes produced wines with higher concentrations of anthocyanins in Merlot and of free and glycosidically-bound monoterpenes in Tocai Friulano. Both cultivars displayed higher amounts of glycosidically-bound C13-norisoprenoids. Conclusions: Previously observed drought-induced compositional changes to the grapes were transfered to the wines, with an increase in polyphenols and VOCs. However, the timing and the duration of the water stress in the field only heavily impacted the final wine composition with major metabolic modification when the severe water deficit started early (at approximately 40 days after anthesis) and lasted over the entire season until harvest. Significance and impact of the study: This study highlights the positive role of a controlled water deficit on the composition of the wines in terms of secondary metabolites

Transcriptome and metabolite profiling reveals that prolonged drought modulates the phenylpropanoid and terpenoid pathway in white grapes (Vitis vinifera L.)

Background: Secondary metabolism contributes to the adaptation of a plant to its environment. In wine grapes, fruit secondary metabolism largely determines wine quality. Climate change is predicted to exacerbate drought events in several viticultural areas, potentially affecting the wine quality. In red grapes, water deficit modulates flavonoid accumulation, leading to major quantitative and compositional changes in the profile of the anthocyanin pigments; in white grapes, the effect of water deficit on secondary metabolism is still largely unknown Results: In this study we investigated the impact of water deficit on the secondary metabolism of white grapes using a large scale metabolite and transcript profiling approach in a season characterized by prolonged drought. Irrigated grapevines were compared to non-irrigated grapevines that suffered from water deficit from early stages of berry development to harvest. A large effect of water deficit on fruit secondary metabolism was observed. Increased concentrations of phenylpropanoids, monoterpenes, and tocopherols were detected, while carotenoid and flavonoid accumulations were differentially modulated by water deficit according to the berry developmental stage. The RNA- sequencing analysis carried out on berries collected at three developmental stages—before, at the onset, and at late ripening—indicated that water deficit affected the expression of 4,889 genes. The Gene Ontology category secondary metabolic process was overrepresented within up-regulated genes at all the stages of fruit development considered, and within down-regulated genes before ripening. Eighteen phenylpropanoid, 16 flavonoid, 9 carotenoid, and 16 terpenoid structural genes were modulated by water deficit, indicating the transcriptional regulation of these metabolic pathways in fruit exposed to water deficit. An integrated network and promoter analyses identified a transcriptional regulatory module that encompasses terpenoid genes, transcription factors, and enriched drought- responsive elements in the promoter regions of those genes as part of the grapes response to drought Conclusion: Our study reveals that grapevine berries respond to drought by modulating several secondary metabolic pathways, and particularly, by stimulating the production of phenylpropanoids, the carotenoid zeaxanthin, and of volatile organic compounds such as monoterpenes, with potential effects on grape and wine antioxidant potential, composition, and sensory feature

Multi-Omics and Integrated Network Analyses Reveal New Insights into the Systems Relationships between Metabolites, Structural Genes, and Transcriptional Regulators in Developing Grape Berries (Vitis vinifera L.) Exposed to Water Deficit

Grapes are one of the major fruit crops and they are cultivated in many dry environments. This study comprehensively characterizes the metabolic response of grape berries exposed to water deficit at different developmental stages. Increases of proline, branched-chain amino acids, phenylpropanoids, anthocyanins, and free volatile organic compounds have been previously observed in grape berries exposed to water deficit. Integrating RNA-sequencing analysis of the transcriptome with large-scale analysis of central and specialized metabolites, we reveal that these increases occur via a coordinated regulation of key structural pathway genes. Water deficit-induced up-regulation of flavonoid genes is also coordinated with the down-regulation of many stilbene synthases and a consistent decrease in stilbenoid concentration. Water deficit activated both ABA-dependent and ABA-independent signal transduction pathways by modulating the expression of several transcription factors. Gene-gene and gene-metabolite network analyses showed that water deficit-responsive transcription factors such as bZIPs, AP2/ERFs, MYBs, and NACs are implicated in the regulation of stress-responsive metabolites. Enrichment of known and novel cis-regulatory elements in the promoters of several ripening-specific/water deficit-induced modules further affirms the involvement of a transcription factor cross-talk in the berry response to water deficit. Together, our integrated approaches show that water deficit-regulated gene modules are strongly linked to key fruit-quality metabolites and multiple signal transduction pathways may be critical to achieve a balance between the regulation of the stress-response and the berry ripening program. This study constitutes an invaluable resource for future discoveries and comparative studies, in grapes and other fruits, centered on reproductive tissue metabolism under abiotic stress.This study was funded by the European Territorial Cooperation program (Sustainable viticulture and improvement of the territorial resources of the grape and wine industry), the Fondazione Edmund Mach (GMPF Program), the COST Action FA1106 Quality Fruit, Genome British Columbia (10R21188), and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (10R23082)