A Pedagogy of Creative Thinking based on Sonification of Visual Structures and Visualization of Aural Structures

This paper describes two related pedagogies for design education – one for teaching visual design and the other for teaching sound composition – in which the symbols and organizational principles of aural experience are transformed to the visual domain and vice versa. The purpose of the pedagogies is to develop in the student the ability to visualize and auralize from direct observation as an alternative to copying and modifying existing designs. The paper begins with a discussion of visual and aural perception and their relationship to thinking and imagination. The author then describes the use of semiotic transformation in teaching courses in sound composition and visual design.