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Master of Science / Department of Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design / Sherry J. Haar / The overarching goals of the project were to acknowledge both traditional and modern aspects of Turkish culture, inform designers and researchers of natural dye and screen printing methods, and advance the developing practices of sustainable design. Mixed methodologies of scientific and practice-based research guided the project. A collection of 25 prints inspired by the Anatolian region of Turkey were screen-printed with thickened natural dyes onto sustainable fibered fabrics. The research of traditional Turkish art and culture led to the inspirational concepts and brought the textile prints to fruition. Understanding the dyeing practices, regional traditions, and political rule of this nation informed the design process and directly influenced the composition and imagery of the designs. The final outcomes were exhibited at the Kansas State University student union art gallery. Research was conducted on the use of natural plant-based dyes madder, weld, and woad for screen-printing by determining the most effective thickener and thickening method. Thickening agents gum tragacanth and gum arabic were tested for fabric hand and the printed natural dyes were tested for colorfastness to light. Gum tragacanth at a ratio of .9875 g agent to 10 ml water emerged as the most smooth and pliable when evaluating fabric hand. Colorfastness to light was as expected for madder and woad with excellent to good fastness. Weld had an unexpectedly low rating indicating further study is needed. The developing practices of sustainable design were advanced as I used sustainable materials (natural dyes, natural gums, naturally fibered fabrics) and methods (hand screenprinting) throughout the project. The information from this project may be valuable to artisans to further develop their natural dye and screen-printing techniques; to researchers to provide a foundation for testing additional thickened dyes; and to industry professionals to modify their practices.

Attempts during the late twentieth century to create an office/work space containing an appropriate amount of flexibility, combined with generic specificity (to make speculative developments economically viable) have failed. High-rise workplaces no longer work [there's no room for fun and just being there is a drag]. The nature of work is changing [the nature of work is change]. As early as 1993, 21% of Fortune 500 companies had telecommuting programs in place. By 2000,80% of all jobs in America will involve knowledge work. Today, 15% of active people work 50% of their time at home [or outside of what would be considered (traditional) office space]. Lines between formal and social programs within the workplace are beginning to blur. The product of these changes in the economic climate, coupled with the continued advancement/development of mobile and information technologies necessitate evolution of the workplace.

<p> As e-commerce becomes an increasingly large industry, questions remain about how the isolated effects of design elements on websites influence consumer perceptions and purchasing behavior. This study used a quantitative approach to measuring the effect of a ubiquitous element of design, white space, on the perception of the monetary value of individual items. White space is a key component of design and website usability, yet it has been shown to be related to the perception of luxury. Little is known about the direct relationship between manipulation of white space and the outcomes on consumer perceptions of value in an e-commerce context. This study found no significant difference between two levels of total white space area (large vs. small) measured by participants' perceived cost of items (chairs). In contrast, while holding total white space constant, the effect of white space distance between images was significant for males but not for females. Additionally, no significant relationship between gender and frequency of online shopping behavior was found, &chi;²(1) = 3.19, <i>p</i> = .07, &phis; = .17. Gender and amount of time spent per month online were significantly related, &chi;²(1) = 6.21, <i>p</i> = .013, &phis; = .24.</p>