Professor Octavio Mercado's research work is oriented toward two major topics: the relationship between new technologies and design, particularly in terms of design and information visualization, and the relationship between art, politics, and design in Mexico.

The confluence of both topics allows him to work on political readings of the implications of the use of new technologies in design, as well as on the process of shaping the field of graphic design in Mexico and the close relationship it has with the tradition of political graphics in our country.