Art and Design Commons^™

Digital Brand Identity Design From A User Experience Perspective, Isaiah Harwood

Undergraduate Honors Theses

As a graphic designer and as a creative in general, my interest has always been in the conceptualization and execution of brand identities. I am most comfortable as a designer when I am working in the realm of art direction, and most of my design heroes and inspirations are legendary art directors and designers like Paula Scher, Paul Rand, and Michael Bierut. Logo and wordmark design in particular are among my favorite aspects of design, and finding ways to creatively apply these foundational aspects of a brand to each stage of the user experience is exciting to me. The stages …

Unmasking The Mouse: Cultural Appropriation In Disney Films, Rebecca Domas

Honors Student Research

The artworld has largely revolved around traditional institutions like museums for centuries, however with the age of technology quickly evolving new artforms have risen to challenge these traditional spaces. Large corporations like The Walt Disney Company, have revolutionized the world of art and have become a prominent voice in representing cultures to a large population of the public. The two forces may be comparably different on the surface; however both are going through a progressive change as they enter the discussion of inclusive representation and accusations of cultural appropriation. The act of cultural appropriation concerns the negatively generated adaptations of …

Cultural Connection: The Value Of Art History In Early Childhood Development And Education, Sara Ashley Turner

Theses

This thesis focuses on the utilization of art historical inquiry to improve the relationship and narrative of culture within appropriate settings. Although this thesis will prove the beneficial and important role that the subject matter of art history can have in early education, the subject matter will also show the specific possibilities of using such inquiries in art therapy, museum education, and in general education classrooms. The aim of the thesis is to present these practical and useful employments of art historical inquiry, within subject matter for young children, to be a tool for finding cultural identity and inclusivity in …

Portraits: A Study In Objects, Family Relations, And Race, Julie Quintero

Theses

My final project is a body of mixed-media portraits which were exhibited at SculptureWorks Ferguson in December, 2021. Each of the twenty works are visual representations of events, identities, or relationships, experienced in both the past and the present. The materials used to help push each narrative include fabric, yarn, coffee filters, embroidery, wood, stain, plaster, metal, concrete, inks, conte, paints, and/or found objects. Each piece demonstrates a unique combination of image, media, and technique in the field of contemporary art. Some of the works include objects made by the people being portrayed. Others include materials that were acquired via …

Art Education As Mutual Aid: Community And Social Justice Based Initiatives, Janelle O'Malley

Student Projects

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, education has drastically changed. The months of pandemic coupled with rising political upheaval left issues with schooling at the bottom of the list. Yet, the repercussions of the pandemic have forever changed the face of our educational system. Especially hard hit during this time was subjects deemed unimportant such as music and art. These classes, which already have faced their fair amount of cutbacks, were once again left on the chopping block. Even though the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015 ensured that art would be treated as a core subject, it …

An Exploration Of Home Office Design And Its Effect On Stress Reduction, Happiness, And Productivity For Working Mothers’ Well-Being During Covid-19, Janay Brown

Honors College Theses

This study explores how the home working environment can help reduce stress, increase productivity, and support happiness for remote working mothers within a home office environment aiding in their overall well-being. In response to COVID-19, many workers have transitioned to working from home to maintain safety. This study aims to help examine the impacts of home office design on working mothers with respect to stress reduction, happiness, and productivity. The researcher conducted face-to-face virtual interviews and the results were analyzed by creating categories and themes out of the rich descriptions to understand working mothers’ experiences in their home office environment …

Neoliberalism, Institutionalism, And Art, Declan Hoy

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

As contemporary art has expanded to encompass further disparate activities under its umbrella, the various institutions of art can be looked to as the only constant and defining characteristic of art. These institutions are often seen in sharp contrast to spontaneous collectivism, the real, and radical creativity—attributes deeply valued within contemporary art. This creates a troubling situation in which institutions are seen as limiting the possibility of what art could be, and artworks are perceived as needing to escape the very institutions which define them in order to be deemed worthy. In this structure, contemporary art follows and validates the …

Itafdaloo, Janan Abdelmuti

CGU MFA Theses

My works are autobiographical. In them I explore the unconscious and conscious aspects of my life as a heterosexual cis female. My works function as a form of journaling. The repetition of lines, stitches, and patterns stand in for the repetition of different tasks. I try to submerge the onlooker into my emotional experiences through the use of pop culture references and familiar materials and objects. The inadequacy of life and lack of fulfillment has led to the creation of chromatic spaces. Pieces are void and then filled with silent moments. The quiet restlessness of inner turmoils combined with the …

Addressing The Lack Of Availability In Diverse Skin Tone Options For Performance Fabric, Jessica Batey

Honors College Theses

The following research addresses the lack of availability in diverse skin tone options for performance fabric. The project will discuss the struggles people of color face when finding fabrics that accurately match their skin tone and the difficulties in sourcing the materials needed to successfully design a garment. The research gathered will be used to produce a collection of 4 looks using nude mesh fabrics that are readily available to the average consumer. The garments within the collection will be designed to match the skin color of 4 models. The collection’s theme will be based around the 4 cardinal witches …

Drink Up: A Study Of The Food-Safe Quality Of Ceramics Glazes With The Addition Of Rutile, Morgan A. Baldinelli

Honors College Theses

Food-safe ceramic glazes can be altered with additives and become harmful to the user of the ceramic ware. Rutile is a frequently used material added to glazes to create variegation in glazes, but it is commonly known to cause defects in the glaze that can be unsafe for food. This experiment is conducted to determine if rutile can be added to food-safe glazes and still retain their food-safe status. A food-safe glaze is a shiny, thin coating that does not leach chemicals or has an excess of colorants; common food-safe glazes are white liners and clear glazes as they have …

The Loss Of Profit: The Use Of Maasai Culture For The Gain Of Louis Vuitton & Valentino, Caitlin Jeffrey

Theses

This thesis focuses on how western fashion designers, Louis Vuitton and Valentino took elements from the Maasai tribe to develop profitable collections. This thesis looks at historical instances of appropriation by western designers as a catalyst for modern designers to appropriate marginalized and indigenous cultures in the 21st century. The aim of this thesis was to look at the issue of cultural appropriation inside the fashion industry with a lens from postcolonial indigenous methods and give examples of how western designers can avoid appropriation by utilizing specific guidelines based on appreciation and inspiration.

Bonded By Nature: The Prevalence Of Landscape Subjects Within Abstract Expressionism And Their Sources In American Art, Aileen F. Marcantonio

Theses and Dissertations

Landscape subjects reappear throughout Abstract Expressionism. Although it is often overlooked, landscapes were perhaps a natural subject for a group of artists that were known to work from their environment. When we focus on the landscape subjects, we gain a better understanding of Abstract Expressionism and its place within the canon of American art.

Young Adult Book Cover Design And Its Impact On Reader Interest, Megan A. Mccullough

Selected Honors Theses

A book cover is one of the first steps in selling a book and is vital in catching a reader’s attention. Still, many book covers in the young adult fiction market are ineffective at reaching their target audience. Since the birth of young adult books, cover design styles have changed drastically, yet little research has been done. Because of this lack of research, two new surveys were built to investigate what specific elements and styles of current young adult book covers appeal to readers. One survey was for readers, and one survey was for professionals working in the publishing industry. …

The Role Of Infrastructure Capital And Financial Efficiency On Economic Growth And Development In Sub-Saharan Africa, Mercy Ogutu Otieno

Dissertations (1934 -)

Sub-Saharan Africa has historically experienced low economic growth and development. Countries in this region either have no financial markets and intermediaries, or they are underdeveloped and inefficient. Furthermore, the region has poor infrastructure that is unreliable and unmaintained, thus continuing to hinder countries in this region from achieving their full economic potential. While a sizable empirical literature dealing with the economic performance of Sub-Saharan countries exists, it suffers from several shortcomings. Most of the literature treats growth as development, thus not providing a clear distinction between the two. On the other hand, those that do, fail to consider the interplay …

Game-Based Learning: Building Competence In Visual Literacy Through Simulation, Carol Record

Theses

Game-based learning is an ideal experiential learning framework for introducing the critique process to reduce student anxiety and create competence in visual literacy and self-assessment. Critique, the assessment, and analysis of one’s work is an essential step in any creative process. It is an integral part of art school. However, it can also be a source of high anxiety for new students. This paper discusses the importance of critique, the challenges associated with teaching critique, and the benefits of utilizing game-based learning. Examples of game-based learning solutions are explored, including the development of, and response to, Lumen, a card game …

Where Are The Women? A Feminist Field Guide To The Museum, Taylor Weaver

Theses

Linda Nochlin’s seminal 1971 essay, “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” was at the fore of the great battle cries of many feminist scholars that drew attention to the limitation’s that female artist’s face in the art world. Women have systematically been left out of the art historical narrative while their male counterparts remain at the forefront.

There are many women that are very prominently represented in museums. They are largely nude and have been represented by male artists. While I do not argue that nudity in paintings should not exist, I do insist that museum goers become …

Offerings, Diana C. Patin

LSU Master's Theses

These photographs and writing are a set of offerings, collected as part of an intensive examination of myself and my contentious relationship with self-image. I first established which traits in my personality represent me best. I landed on my fatness, my queerness, my southernness, and my penchant for caring. Then I took a deep dive into each of those four themes with the objective of uncovering both the areas of exaltation and spaces of hurt within them. The images that result are both confrontational and gentle. It is my hope that the uncompromising honesty within these offerings communicates that while …

The Embroidered Tablecloth: How Locale Influences Eastern European Jewish Textile Production, Elena Solomon

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Recent scholarship frames craft as distinct from art and as an encapsulation of cultural expression at a given moment. Building on that framework, this thesis analyzes the shifting attitudes towards the production of handmade textiles among Eastern European Jews in the US in the twentieth century, as influenced by their migration. To demonstrate the textile environment at that time, this thesis examines pre- and post-migration primary sources and autobiographical writing, including Mary Antin’s The Promised Land, supplemented with interviews of first- and second-generation immigrants to Chicago. In contrast with stereotypes about craft as historically stable, defining craft as regional …

Towards A Decolonial Feminist Aesthetics: Gender, Race, And Empire In Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’S Dictee, Juwon Jun

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Defining revolutionary struggle as a struggle between fictions, Trinh T. Minh-ha asserts that art in revolution is a spiritual presence which widens the conception of freedom. Political struggle is constituted by clashes in differently written and conceived realities—hinged on the creation and realization of multiple liberatory fictions. Liberation then requires us to attend to creating new myths and conceptions of freedom which can free us from the current structures of domination that produce current subjects and realities. If culture is indeed an “essential element in the history of a people,” mapping decoloniality in cultural and aesthetic fields may be essential …

The Clothing Left Behind: A Collection Of Stories, Grace Coleman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Beyond its material use, clothing can have powerful emotional effects such as easing grief from personal loss or serving as a memory recall aid for individuals with dementia. It was during my graduate program that I became interested in exploring the idea that clothing can be powerful beyond its aesthetic. Peter Stallybrass’s essay Worn Worlds: Clothes, Mourning and the Life of Things highlighting clothing’s ability to evoke memories and emotions was influential in setting me on my path to research clothing’s connection to memories. Whether it was embodied identity, grief, dementia, mourning rituals, or collective mourning, I was looking at …

Bio Design For Clothing: Creating A Biodegradable Biomaterial With A Direct Application To Clothing, Faezeh Tabatabaeimanesh

Theses - ALL

Throughout the world, both the textile and fashion industries play a major role in environmental pollution. On a daily basis, the processes employed cause serious damage to the environment, both through raw material use and as a result of the various ways textiles are processed. Many environmental issues can be addressed through the proper selection of raw materials and by transforming production processes into sustainable closed loop systems. This project aims to address these important issues by developing an eco-friendly biodegradable material with applications to the fashion and textile industries. This project employs a bio design approach to develop a …

In-Between The Wind, Victoria L. Vontz

LSU Master's Theses

In-between the Wind is a compilation of poems, short stories, theories, photographs, and drawings that reveal my relationship and connection with nature. Through prose, I expose and question my place in the world, how I see it and how I am connected to it, while photographic images and drawings leave space for thoughtful and reflective meditation. The work draws upon memories, discusses theories of connection, and aims to record ephemeral moments that often seem to be too easily forgotten.

The Artistic Mother Tongue, Hannah Perkins

Honors Theses

Art is the mother tongue of culture. William Cameron Townsend, pioneer missionary and founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators, said “The greatest missionary is the Bible in the mother tongue.” But the mother tongue of any people of any culture is more than just the spoken and written word. It is found in every artistic and visual expression of that people. How is the Bible, the everlasting truth of God, to be expressed through artistic expression in the ‘mother tongue’ of a people?

Often, Christianity is painted as the Westerner’s religion. Christianity is very ingrained into specifically America’s cultural identity. In …

Waiting To Be Seen, Sarah L. Napp

Student Projects

Personal knowledge through constant introspection is the cornerstone of "Waiting To Be Seen". Through this series of paintings, I became aware of the depth of the shape of my thinking as a result of accepting my vulnerabilities.

Interview, Elizabeth Naiden

Theses and Dissertations

An exploration of work by Liz Naiden in the form of a conversation discussing light and dark, attention and proprioception, and design and architectural theories of space in installation works. Addresses the role of voice, speech, and reading and speaking aloud, performing for oneself, and performing for others.

The Aberration Of The Species, Kristin Ayla Murray

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The Aberration of the Species in an exhibition meant to encourage viewers to consider in impacts technology has had and continues to have on the relationships and interactions we experience in daily life.

Common Objective, Josh Scott

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Pots are like people. Gestural qualities can make pots appear to move like people. They form groups in ways that people might. Repeated forms on a pedestal can appear to be in formation like a military unit. More importantly, pots perform specific jobs or tasks in ways similar to people.

Inherently, the job someone holds or the function of a pot will have an effect on perceived importance. A funerary urn may seem to be a more important form than a coffee mug, yet both are committed to specific tasks. This can be likened to a lineman and a doctor. …

Arid Visions, Casey Miller

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

“The vibration of this light, the spaciousness of these skies enthralled me. I knew there was a spirit in nature as in everything else, but here in the desert it was an especially bright light.”

-Agnes Lawrence Pelton

Arid Visions is inspired by my experiences exploring the deserts of southern Utah. The desert landscape is a bounty of diverse flora that appear alien-like. My work celebrates these plants, honoring them for more than what they are sometimes perceived to be. The desert can be an unforgiving place… where an agave’s mesmerizing layered leaves lure you in, but get too close …

Mélange De Motifs: Custom Pattern Designs Inspired By The Interiors, Architecture, And Gardens Of Vaux-Le-Vicomte, Jill Christine Harmon

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

How can a historic precedent be successfully employed to inform modern design? History will always provide a degree of influence in contemporary design. In design, a historic precedent can be the backbone of a creative concept and stands as a relevant and informative aspect throughout the project. The precedent acts as a basis in developing designs with substance and meaning and is a fundamental practice in architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design. Delving into the history of Vaux-le-Vicomte, often referred to as Vaux, provided three relevant aspects which compose the historic precedent for this MFA project. First, the creative initiative …

Reliquary, Matthew Sloan

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

I am interested in ritual – the rituals we inherit, and those we choose for ourselves.

By situating the everyday mugs, cups, plates, and bowls next to objects more closely associated with ritual and ceremony, I am suggesting that all of these are significant objects. On one hand, the tableware essential to the rituals of daily living we share at home, on the other, communion vessels and reliquaries are used to deepen a spiritual ritual shared by a community. Both rituals are important experiences worthy of introspection, and consideration.

This is why I make pottery. I believe that handmade objects …