Visualizing Non-Visual Phenomena: Making Experiences of Tinnitus Affect Legible

I have been suffering from chronic tinnitus for ten years. While the experiences of people living with disabilities have gained social and critical attention over this time, tinnitus remains invisible in both material and discursive senses, and little understood by the public. My thesis research asks, can graphic design be deployed to represent non-visual phenomenon? My inquiry focuses on making visible the ways auditory disruptions of tinnitus affect my everyday experiences, with the goal of accomplishing the following three things: 1) creating relational experiences for fellow tinnitus sufferers, 2) making the experience of tinnitus visible for the non-sufferer, and 3) participating in the broader discourse of exploring how to bring a visual legibility to non-visual disabilities. My research draws on disability studies, feminist and sensory visualization theories, and employs autoethnography and an exploratory research-through-design process to inform my research creation.