Representing marginalized identities in visual communication is animportant effort to making them part of the majority’s perceived reality,therefore normalizing and destigmatizing their existence. By exploringthe concepts of discourse, re-presentation and reception,based on the works of Michel Foucault and Stuart Hall, and examining whereidentity and labels originated, I came to the conclusion that the current(common) practice of representation in design is rather paradoxical. Thoughrepresentation intends to push back on hegemonic oppressive structures,designers rely on the visible recognizability of marginalized identities, reinforcingthe structures that singled out and condemned traits outside of thenorm to begin with. This foundational research is compiled as the Grundstein(engl. cornerstone), essentially a foundational handbook, to encouragedesigners to rethink representation as a practice and think of other ways visualcommunication can aid not only the inclusion of marginalized people,but the deconstruction of oppressive structures. Throughout, the thesis focusesspecifically on the mis- and underrepresentation of [aromantic asexuals]and lays out how considerations of those identities could also impactdesign practice.Delabeling is my implementation of the Grundstein into design, proposingthe immaterialization of identity by omitting the depiction of bodies,and instead focusing on the representation of shared experience betweenminority and majority groups. The aim is to introduce [aromantic asexuality],a rather unknown sexual identity, by not focusing on what makes them‘different’ from the majority, but by inviting the observer to ‘recognize’ themselvesin the [aro-ace] experience.

Neither Delabeling or the Grundstein are intended as ‘alternatives’ tocurrent practice, but I hope they invite designers to reconsider industry‘rules’ and standards and motivate them to develop own ideas for more radicalforms of representation in visual communication.