This study mainly investigates the roles of product design and advertising in conferring identity related meanings upon products and associating them with certain consumer identities. For this purpose, firstly, the concept of identity and increasing centrality of objects in its construction and expression are explored. Secondly, the nature and dynamics of the relationship between people and objects are discussed with a specific emphasis on the identity related aspects of this relationship. Then, a more detailed discussion is held on the roles played by product design and advertising in the process of identity construction through designed products. Finally, a case study on a selected product group is presented in order to illustrate the theoretical discussions in previous chapters.

This thesis analyses the concept of sustainability as applied and reflected in industrial design practice in a theoretical way. The discourses on sustainability in general are explored in terms of ecology, economics and politics. The underlying motives resulting in unsustainable ways of production and consumption practices are attempted to be located in contemporary society.

This research project investigates factors contributing to what I consider to be an erosion within the contemporary culture of the imagination- crucial to the very concept of what it is to be human. It has been said that the 'civilising' of art within contemporary culture may have flogged the human imagination into retreat. If so what might be the best way for art to help us visualise more creative ways of living and being? This is the key question I have pursued in this research project, the main outcomes of which are a body of creative art works (presented for examination in the form of a site-specific installation, together with documentary archive of photographs and other interventions) and an exegesis which explores the critical context for these. In proposing site-specific installation art as a vital alternative to the over-commodification evident within much contemporary art, I also see repetition and play as being strategies with particular potential for encouraging active artist-participant dialogue on the subject of the poetico-ethical imagination- along lines suggested by thinkers such as Robert Kearney and Ken Wilbur. The artefacts and installations presented for examination are mostly devoid of textual explanation and commentary, with the aim of emphasising direct sensory experience. However, throughout the written component (exegesis) I have taken the creative liberty of including textual fragments and other visual elements as a means of suggesting that a form of disassociation, meandering or breakdown has occurred. The reader will also notice an absence of capitalisation in the titles of chapters (and certain works). In this I have sought to explore possibilities for undermining academic form through imaginative play.

This research project will explore Book Arts through the book of Genesis, focusing on the first seven days of creation. Particular attention will be paid to the interactive multi-sensual aspects of the book as object and to adding life and meaning to the reading experience. This exploration of Book Arts through Genesis will result in the development of a form of book that encourages engagement in both physical and psychological interactions to find new ways of reading – particularly scriptural texts – influencing spiritual growth and personal relationships. Particularly within, but not limited to, a Christian context. This project seeks to turn the book into a viable organism in our lives. The book itself will engage viewers through layers of sensory experience and nuanced psychological interaction.

This study arises out of the researcher’s experience in the fields of costume and fashion. It develops, through design practice and reflection, a design process for fashion wear made from post-consumer recycled materials. Theoretical analysis provides global, historical, philosophical and design contexts within which to develop an ethos for this variant form of fashion wear designated ReFashion. Differences in design process between conventional fashion and ReFashion are detailed to highlight the significance of provenance of materials in the light of a perceived need to slow down clothing production and consumption. This perception is informed by scientific predictions that failure to engage with urgently needed changes to the prevalent economic paradigm will result in planet earth reaching a tipping point with potentially disastrous results for its inhabitants. Fundamental to the ReFashion ethos is preparedness for a speculative post-apocalyptic future that might render the fashion system unable to operate as it currently does, necessitating a more self-sufficient approach to clothing needs, with an accompanying shift in perceptions of what is deemed fashionable. The theme Survivalist Fantasy provides a lens to bring conceptual and material aspects of the work into focus. Informed by sustainability, Survivalist Fantasy recontextualises a failure of sustainable initiatives on a global scale and their adaptation on a local scale specifically in the arena of clothing.

This study arises out of the researcher’s experience in the fields of costume and fashion. It develops, through design practice and reflection, a design process for fashion wear made from post-consumer recycled materials. Theoretical analysis provides global, historical, philosophical and design contexts within which to develop an ethos for this variant form of fashion wear designated ReFashion. Differences in design process between conventional fashion and ReFashion are detailed to highlight the significance of provenance of materials in the light of a perceived need to slow down clothing production and consumption. This perception is informed by scientific predictions that failure to engage with urgently needed changes to the prevalent economic paradigm will result in planet earth reaching a tipping point with potentially disastrous results for its inhabitants. Fundamental to the ReFashion ethos is preparedness for a speculative post-apocalyptic future that might render the fashion system unable to operate as it currently does, necessitating a more self-sufficient approach to clothing needs, with an accompanying shift in perceptions of what is deemed fashionable. The theme Survivalist Fantasy provides a lens to bring conceptual and material aspects of the work into focus. Informed by sustainability, Survivalist Fantasy recontextualises a failure of sustainable initiatives on a global scale and their adaptation on a local scale specifically in the arena of clothing.

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This project grew out of an interest in notions of ‘home’, what ‘home’ is and its relationship to the ‘house’ as a physical place of dwelling. Specifically, this project explores how the home is represented in vernacular image-making, such as the photographs in the family album and craft methods such as cross-stitch. This lead to an investigation into vernacular photography, collections and archives, and contemporary craft methods. An archive of photographs collected follows the text, as well as drawings and embroideries made during the project. The final work consists of a large-scale projection of a cross-stitch and the photograph it originated from.

No description available.