Jonathan Ventura
Biographic Data
| ID | 3640894 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jonathan Ventura |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jonathan |
| FAMILY NAME | Ventura |
| SIGNATURE | VENTURA J |
| AFFILIATIONS | California Polytechnic State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1661-8529 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 5 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 12 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Somaesthetic Socio-Cultural Design for Disability
Although design anthropology, disability studies, and somaesthetics share overlapping concerns, they have rarely been explicitly linked. Each brings distinct strengths—practicality, inclusivity, and theoretical depth—that merit integration. This paper explores how design historically caters to a standardised body, side-lining marginalised bodies as 'unfit'. By juxtaposing these three frameworks, we argue for a reimagined design ethos that advance…
Adaptation of the Remote Food Photography Method to Assess Infant Intake During Bottle‐Feeding of Ready‐to‐Feed Formula
Bottle-fed infants are at a higher risk for obesity, yet interventions to modify bottle-feeding patterns have shown limited success. Accurate assessment of bottle-feeding patterns is an important basis for targeted interventions. Caregiver reports are susceptible to bias, highlighting the need for more robust methods. One promising approach is the Remote Food Photography Method (RFPM), which involves analysis of digital photographs to objectively…
Decoding visual culture
Introduction to Design Theory
Introduction to Design Theory introduces a comprehensive, systematic, and didactic outline of the discourse of design. Designed both as a course book and a source for research, this textbook methodically covers the central concepts of design theory, definitions of design, its historical milestones, and its relations to culture, industry, body, ecology, language, society, gender and ideology. Demonstrated by a shift towards the importance of the s…
DamageMap
The increasing frequency and severity of wildfire events in the last few decades has created an urgent need for new technologies that allow rapid surveying and assessment of post-wildfire building damage. However, existing technologies lack in accuracy and ability to scale to effectively aid disaster relief and recovery. Even today, most wildfire event inspectors need to physically visit the areas impacted by wildfires and manually classify build…
From material to abstract
Design anthropology has developed to become an influential sub-discipline occupied with both theoretical and applied knowledge targeted at designers’ real-life challenges. Bearing this in mind, in the last decade we have developed this attitude into a methodology centered around the identification and development of ‘cultural objects’ that can be implemented with insight and understanding within a conventional design process. This methodology iso…
I just cut my finger in a Ninja fight
Jonathan Ventura and Galit Shvo Punctum, 4(1): 179-201, 2018 DOI: 10.18680/hss.2018.0011 Abstract In the last decades, semiotic theories have become an important instrument in the designers’ toolkit. Influencing theory and practice of an array of design disciplines, ranging from urban design to visual communications and service design, semiotics influenced theory and practice alike. Yet, after [...]
Now You See Me, Now You Don't
The body as an anthropological nexus of sociocultural norms and conventions has been discussed at length in the humanities and social sciences. However, within the worlds of industrial design, an important player influencing an understanding of the body within a design process has been neglected and that is the industrial designer. Our main thesis considers designing as an anthropological, sociocultural and physical praxis, in the midst of which …
From white stone to blue bead
The Bedouin of southern Israel have long used healing beads of stone or coral to treat various physical ailments (such as wounds and infections). These beads, which constitute a sociocultural linchpin in Bedouin society, are now being replaced by a more modern variety: glass or plastic beads, mostly blue in color and used primarily to counter the evil eye. This article deals with the recent change in the function and appearance of Bedouin healing…
Industrial Design, Ethnography and Anthropological Thought
The definition of 'applied anthropology' varies from period to period and from culture to culture. However, anthropology's centrality is, in my eyes, unquestionable. With that in mind, a significant part of the discipline's basic principles remained unchanged, despite recent socio-cultural, economic and technological changes sweeping the world in recent years. In this article I wish to present two case studies in which the inherent connection bet…
Conflict and strife on the way to Gethsemane
Marian rituals have been the apex of Christian believers' journey for centuries. Although its research importance in many disciplines, Marian devotion and rituals in Israel have been largely neglected. This article outlines several social and religious aspects of ‘the public dimension of the ritual’. These aspects include several lines of conflict and strife taking place between a myriad array of socio-ethnic groups: between the Greek Orthodox an…
Claiming power through hardship
Claiming power through hardship
Decoding visual culture
Now You See Me, Now You Don't
The body as an anthropological nexus of sociocultural norms and conventions has been discussed at length in the humanities and social sciences. However, within the worlds of industrial design, an important player influencing an understanding of the body within a design process has been neglected and that is the industrial designer. Our main thesis considers designing as an anthropological, sociocultural and physical praxis, in the midst of which …
Claiming power through hardship
Conflict and strife on the way to Gethsemane
Marian rituals have been the apex of Christian believers' journey for centuries. Although its research importance in many disciplines, Marian devotion and rituals in Israel have been largely neglected. This article outlines several social and religious aspects of ‘the public dimension of the ritual’. These aspects include several lines of conflict and strife taking place between a myriad array of socio-ethnic groups: between the Greek Orthodox an…
Industrial Design, Ethnography and Anthropological Thought
The definition of 'applied anthropology' varies from period to period and from culture to culture. However, anthropology's centrality is, in my eyes, unquestionable. With that in mind, a significant part of the discipline's basic principles remained unchanged, despite recent socio-cultural, economic and technological changes sweeping the world in recent years. In this article I wish to present two case studies in which the inherent connection bet…
From white stone to blue bead
The Bedouin of southern Israel have long used healing beads of stone or coral to treat various physical ailments (such as wounds and infections). These beads, which constitute a sociocultural linchpin in Bedouin society, are now being replaced by a more modern variety: glass or plastic beads, mostly blue in color and used primarily to counter the evil eye. This article deals with the recent change in the function and appearance of Bedouin healing…
Now You See Me, Now You Don't
The body as an anthropological nexus of sociocultural norms and conventions has been discussed at length in the humanities and social sciences. However, within the worlds of industrial design, an important player influencing an understanding of the body within a design process has been neglected and that is the industrial designer. Our main thesis considers designing as an anthropological, sociocultural and physical praxis, in the midst of which …
I just cut my finger in a Ninja fight
Jonathan Ventura and Galit Shvo Punctum, 4(1): 179-201, 2018 DOI: 10.18680/hss.2018.0011 Abstract In the last decades, semiotic theories have become an important instrument in the designers’ toolkit. Influencing theory and practice of an array of design disciplines, ranging from urban design to visual communications and service design, semiotics influenced theory and practice alike. Yet, after [...]
From material to abstract
Design anthropology has developed to become an influential sub-discipline occupied with both theoretical and applied knowledge targeted at designers’ real-life challenges. Bearing this in mind, in the last decade we have developed this attitude into a methodology centered around the identification and development of ‘cultural objects’ that can be implemented with insight and understanding within a conventional design process. This methodology iso…
DamageMap
The increasing frequency and severity of wildfire events in the last few decades has created an urgent need for new technologies that allow rapid surveying and assessment of post-wildfire building damage. However, existing technologies lack in accuracy and ability to scale to effectively aid disaster relief and recovery. Even today, most wildfire event inspectors need to physically visit the areas impacted by wildfires and manually classify build…
Introduction to Design Theory
Introduction to Design Theory introduces a comprehensive, systematic, and didactic outline of the discourse of design. Designed both as a course book and a source for research, this textbook methodically covers the central concepts of design theory, definitions of design, its historical milestones, and its relations to culture, industry, body, ecology, language, society, gender and ideology. Demonstrated by a shift towards the importance of the s…
Decoding visual culture
Somaesthetic Socio-Cultural Design for Disability
Although design anthropology, disability studies, and somaesthetics share overlapping concerns, they have rarely been explicitly linked. Each brings distinct strengths—practicality, inclusivity, and theoretical depth—that merit integration. This paper explores how design historically caters to a standardised body, side-lining marginalised bodies as 'unfit'. By juxtaposing these three frameworks, we argue for a reimagined design ethos that advance…
Adaptation of the Remote Food Photography Method to Assess Infant Intake During Bottle‐Feeding of Ready‐to‐Feed Formula
Bottle-fed infants are at a higher risk for obesity, yet interventions to modify bottle-feeding patterns have shown limited success. Accurate assessment of bottle-feeding patterns is an important basis for targeted interventions. Caregiver reports are susceptible to bias, highlighting the need for more robust methods. One promising approach is the Remote Food Photography Method (RFPM), which involves analysis of digital photographs to objectively…
Sociology (7 works) · Art (6 works) · Aesthetics (5 works) · Anthropology (4 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Crafts, Textile, and Design (4 works) · Epistemology (4 works) · History (4 works) · History (4 works) · Philosophy (4 works)