This research analyses the dissemination of political and ideological content through the music graphics of selected bands associated with punk and post-punk. It concentrates on the anarcho-punk movement and the neo-fascist scene in the United Kingdom between 1978 and 2008. The aim is to show how music graphics were integral to the philosophy of politically engaged bands, and acted as systems of propaganda. The research further deconstructs these systems and reveals underlying narratives, intentions, tropes and visual codes. The research presents three main novel contributions to scholarship and knowledge. The first is the creation and cataloguing of the most extensive archive to date of the material under analysis providing an instrumental resource for further research on the subject. The second is the development of a methodology for analysing the dissemination of ideological and political content through graphic design objects in a subcultural context. This methodology allows for an exploration of the heretofore neglected area of the inter-relationship between dissemination of the message and specific graphic systems. The analysis is conducted through the use of multiple research methods, drawing upon qualitative research methodologies and the development of complementary methodologies devised for the field of graphic design. The focus is on the analysis of political camps and comparisons between them, noting points of commonality and divergence between dialogues of opposition within the common subcultural context. The third contribution is the identification, analysis and interpretation of ‘extreme’ political music graphics produced by artists from the United Kingdom from 1978 to 2008. Covering an under-researched field and time span of subcultural movements that were critical for the punk subculture and the corresponding political groups, the analysis of the music graphics presents an insight into their political theory and strategies. This comparative work involved methodologies drawn from cultural studies, subcultural studies and historical studies, and can therefore be seen as a contribution to these fields as well as to that of graphic design studies.

This research comprises interrelated elements of video works and a thesis. The philosophy and aesthetics of nature are explored through light and motion in the time- based image. Framed within selected aspects of G.W.F. Hegel’s philosophy, I explore digital aesthetics, nature and dialectics, bringing new perspectives to the poetics of the image and a different understanding of the formative influences of nineteenth century aesthetics and twentieth century modernism on contemporary film and video. I approach these questions from the position of practice, of which the project has two components. Firstly, the representation of natural phenomena is discussed in a number of experimental films and videos, examining selected works in Europe and North America across the last century. The practices focused upon are those where techniques and processes of moving image technologies are brought into critical reflection in the representation of nature (and interests in motion and form). This includes the ways in which photosensitive silver halide crystals on film, electronic signals or pixels are engaged in the material process of the work’s making. Secondly, the works that I have made focus on the constituent technologies of the videographic image; the progressive scan, pixel, properties of digital colour, compression and display technologies. The technologically mediated image of nature is foregrounded with recordings of the sky, sea and terrain explored through system-based processes. The outcomes reflect a dialectical theory of knowledge in the experience of landscape and the human relation to nature. The video works have made present, in sensuous form, the transient ideas accorded to nature in the theories and concepts defined. The relations of practice (video works) and theory (the thesis) are dialectical, where both components interrelate, reflect and determine one another.

Personal exposure to, and in-depth investigations of cultural artifacts can be used to inform visual explorations that represent the universal experience of existing in a world where cultural boundaries are blurred and constantly evolving. Cross-cultural understanding and visual language are expanded throughout the research and making processes, resulting in work that has increased resonance with diverse audiences. Artifacts are not only expressions of a specific group of people, but also reflections of societal influences on one’s thinking, creating, and experiencing the world. In an increasingly global society, there is more interaction between cultures, resulting in a greater exchange of beliefs and perspectives. Through this exchange, certain aspects of a culture are retained, while new approaches to form and material are also intro-duced. When culturally-specific methodologies and aesthetics are visually or conceptually layered, work is produced that communicates relevant, meaningful narratives about the intersection of cultures.

Designers are often concerned with communication through the visual; we focus on the printed object, images on screens, furniture, spaces, and other visual experiences. We should also be cognizant of audio and its communicative properties, especially when contextualized with visual content. Pairing visuals and audio can make a greater impact upon a viewer/listener than each media might make alone. My research focuses on a practice of working within strict sets of rules and boundaries to create visual-audio work. This visual-audio work not only communicates a concept or idea, but also lives as a research artifact of my design processes.

We have gathered the following pages to archive our time here in Richmond, Virginia. We have been here for two years, growing slowly, moving when needed to new anchorholds to avoid detection or arrest. We scrutinize the urban environment like modern archeologists. We collect stories and speculate about new uses of old things. It is imperative to be resourceful here, and we do so out of necessity but also in the spirit of practice. These pages were made en route, each an exploration of the tools at hand when on the move. The method of creation is just as important as the creation as the story itself. The ancients invented stories about the constellations in order to track their routes across the earth. A cluster of stars exists called the seven sisters. Only six are visible. According to myth, the sisters leave to look for the seventh sister and disappear below the horizon for a month. Their return to the sky signals the end of the planting season. The story becomes allegory, told to educate stargazers about the growing cycle. Like those sisters, we come and go. We tell stories to teach. We tell stories survive.

What are ‘educational typefaces’ and why are they needed today? Do Arabic beginners need special typefaces that can simplify learning further? If so, what features should they have? Research findings on the complexity of learning Arabic confirm that the majority of language textbooks and pedagogic materials lead to challenging learning environments due to the poor quality of book design, text-heavy content and the restricted amount of visuals used. The complexity of the data and insufficient design quality of the learning materials reviewed in this practice-based research demand serious thought toward simplification, involving experts in the fields of graphic communication, learning and typeface design. The study offers solutions to some of the problems that arise in the course of designing language-learning books by reviewing selected English learning and information design books and methods of guidance for developing uniform learning material for basic Arabic. Key findings from this study confirm the significant role of Arabic designers and educators in the production of efficient and effective learning materials. Their role involves working closely with Arabic instructors, mastering good language skills and being aware of the knowledge available. Also, selecting legible typefaces with distinct design characteristics to help fulfil various objectives of the learning unit. This study raises awareness of the need for typefaces that can attract people to learn Arabic more easily within a globalized world. The absence of such typefaces led to the exploration of simplified twentieth-century Arabic typefaces that share a similar idea of facilitating reading and writing, and resolving script and language complexity issues. This study traces their historical context and studies their functional, technical and aesthetic features to incorporate their thinking and reassign them as learning tools within the right context. The final outcome is the construction of an experimental bilingual Arabic-English language book series for Arab and non-Arab adult beginners. The learning tools used to create the book series were tested through workshops in Kuwait and London to measure their level of simplification and accessibility. They have confirmed both accessibility and incompatibility within different areas of the learning material of the books and helped improve the final outcome of the practice. The tools have established the significant role of educational typefaces, bilingual and graphic communication within visual Arabic learning.

My practice involves leveraging analog and digital techniques from many disciplines, but especially graphic design, craft/material studies, and sculpture. I embrace reproduction and repetition as both tools and means to visualize what is often unseen, and to recognize not only what is made, but what supports making— from the straightforward and immediate to the complex and conceptual.

For my MFA, I have decided to explore data visualization not as an automated technology but as a craft—a systematic and precise practice done entirely by hand. Though the craft-based approach is not appropriate for all types of data creation and visualization, as an investigatory tool it grants a level of access and intimacy lacking in computerized analyses. I discuss the limitations and benefits of this type of approach, as well as provide an overview of key influences and precedents. I have also included select projects developed over the course of my studies that highlight my use of data visualization for a range of subjects and intents, including reading piano sheet music more easily and investigating a photographer’s compositional process. The report concludes by projecting how this craft-based approach for data visualization may be integrated with an automated method. / text

„Woman pride“ – project of feeling vision. The album „Woman pride“ – project of feeling vision was prepared and predicated according to art, design theory (knowledge of artistic and composite expression means) and evaluation criteria of design creation (aesthetics, functionalism, solid style and availability). The conception was formulated and it was grounded by philosophical and social aspects. Creative work organisation, general statistics, colouristics, constructional and other decisions were concretized with reference to prototype analysis and examples. Creative work span is planned and design decisions of concrete parts are formulated. The hypothesis is based with work results that synthesis of painting, graphics, drawing and photography enable to create subtle and modern product.

The Taro cards are the theme of the work. The point of work is to create the classic Taro deck of cards, containing all 78 cards, decompounding of 22 senior arcades and 56 cadence using traditional taro card system and sustaining with symbolisms of the Baltic tribes. The target of work: 1. To scrutinize the history, structure and symbolism of Taro cards. 2. To scrutinize the string of Taro cards with the magical world. 3. To scrutinize symbolic meaning in philosophical aspect. 4. Sustaining on the analysis of prototypes to concretize the volume and organization. 5. Designing (the generation of the idea for the work, sketching, projecting with a computer programs). There is the analysis of the literature and other sources of information used in the work. The photography and computer graphics are used in the magisterial work. In pursuance of the best quality there was the photography session with the reselected models organized. The pictures were processed with Adobe PhotoSHOP and Corel PhotoPAINT computer programs, later the results were processed with CorelDRAW computer program. Appearance and in abstract a growth of human mind gain abstractness, gets some new names, newer the less the target remains the same ��� to find the very point of reference, which could lead the life in harmony. Primitive minded people understand the ambience more in prominence to the parts that are important to their empathize which are important to experience, it is its harmony with nature... [to full text]