23923647 Graphic Desing MFA Thesis Guide

* * * — RESEARCH NOTES | 2023 — * * * * * 3 A guide to the thesis process This guide is based on the experience of working with graphic design MFA students at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art). Independent thesis projects are produced in many graduate programs. Each school has its own curriculum, research standards, and requirements for producing exhibitions, publications, written work, and other deliverables. We hope that faculty and students in other design programs will find our guide useful. We welcome your feedback as we update this booklet over time.

In MICA’s two-year, 60-credit MFA program, the thesis process begins with loose ideation and self-discovery during the second semester. The journey evolves in the third semester through active research, making, and testing. In the fourth and final semester, the thesis gains focus and clarity through distillation, refinement, execution, and documentation. All efforts along the thesis path are valuable. Some elements of the journey may apppear in a thesis exhibition. Many more ideas can find a home in a thesis book. This ongoing work, and the courage and effort necessary to put one’s creativity and capacity on the line, defines the thesis experience.

Special thanks to Ellen Lupton for putting together this guide, which compiles knowledge learned alongside our beloved students and colleagues over years of teaching and research. Sincerely, Jennifer Cole Phillips, Director Graphic Design MFA, MICA THESIS ARC Every story has high points and low points. Stories include uncertainy, sadness, and false starts as well as triumph, joy, and funny parts. Your thesis experience is a story, too. It will include thrilling bursts of energy and draggy periods of doubt and avoidance. starting over doubt, confusion, plot detour thesis exhibition opens i did it. why do i feel

* one more mountain to climb thesis book research, avoidance, workshops, & more avoidance baby steps: the starter project semester 1 semester 2 semester 3 semester 4 finally getting started yay! flow state! * The creative process has highs and lows. People often feel depleted after a period of intense activity and accomplishment.!? 4 5 overview What is a graphic design thesis? A thesis project is the primary outcome of most art and design graduate programs. A thesis is an independent project exploring a topic, theme, medium, or method through the eyes of the artist or designer.

Unlike scholarly dissertations, an art or design thesis focuses on creative work. Graphic design thesis projects take many forms: —a book or zine collection —a performance or installation —interactive media —a published website —a typeface or collection of typefaces —a series of posters, videos, or animations —a prototype for a digital product (practical or speculative) —a game or prototype for a game —textiles, stationery, furnishings, or useful objects —maps, diagrams, and other data graphics —a body of work encompassing diverse media —all or none of the above! For many artists and designers, a public exhibition is the most exhilarating moment in the thesis process.

However, a designer’s total thesis project includes much more than an exhibition. Your thesis encompasses your research process, written materials, early experiments, sketches, prototypes, presentations, and writing. At MICA, the thesis book is the final documentation of the thesis process. This book becomes a source of learning and inspiration for future faculty and students. It also helps you expand your publication design skills. The thesis book is an impressive design outcome in its own right. Read MoRe | visual aRts ReseaRch Dirk Vis, Research for People Who (Think They) Would Rather Create (Eindhoven, NL: Onomatopee, 2021).

Frequently asked questions How do I know if my thesis concept is okay? The best idea is one that excites you and supports your goals for graduate school. It’s natural to feel occasional feelings of doubt, but if you consisently dread working on your project and discussing your project with others, you may want to seek a new direction. Don’t stick with a dud! Can I switch to a new idea? Yes! The thesis is a process of discovery. You can’t evaluate an idea without testing and exploring it. Ask yourself early in the process if you are truly excited about what you are doing.

The sooner you shift course, the more time you will have to develop your new idea. How do I manage conflicting advice? You will get a wealth of feedback during your journey! You will inevitably hear conflicting opinions from different faculty, peers, guest critics, and even yourself. Some suggestions won’t work for you. Learn to be open to all feedback while also owning your project. Remember, it’s your thesis. Can I collaborate with others? Yes! At MICA, several wonderful thesis projects have been produced jointly by two or three GD MFA students. You may also collaborate with illustrators, musicians photographers, etc.

In practice, graphic design is nearly always a collaborative process. Designers collaborate with artists, writers, typeface designers, musicians, curators, clients, community organizations, and individuals to create publications, exhibitions, products, and services. Although thesis projects typically focus on individual authorship, working with others can open your mind. It can also lead to a more rewarding (less lonely) journey. “A good thesis project continues after you leave MICA, giving you inspiration beyond your time as a student. So it’s okay to identify parts of your project to take on later, when you have more time or more

” —Brockett horne See page 18, The thesis essay See page 14, What is graphic design research? 6 7 notions anatomy of a thesis beast reading exhibition publication writing stuff i make prototypes extras good stuff oh, i forgot i made that iterations that thing from last year presentations feedback wishes worries pleasures that’s interesting! what’s interesting? school stuff personal stuff hobbies food client stuff happy accidents workshops mistakes pizza pizza Congratulations! You are creating a graphic design thesis. This guide will help you learn to love, understand, and cultivate your Thesis Beast. Will your Thesis Beast grow up to become a brain-eating zombie, a shape-shifting werewolf, or a lovable puppykitten?

Yes! All of the above! Your Beast will eat your brain, so feed it nutritious books, podcasts, horoscopes, and critical essays. Take it to museums, galleries, movies, and malls. Make sure it gets plenty of sleep, fresh air, exercise, and play time. — getting started — MEET YOUR THESIS BEAST GETTING STARTED How do you get your Thesis Beast out of bed and moving around? Let your Beast grow in happy little bursts of energy. Start with a small, manageable project. Whether your project is serious or playful, avoid huge expectations. Keep it light! Cultivate joy!

—Choose a project that you want to make —Choose a medium that you enjoy (animation, illustration, lettering,). What do you love doing? —Define an outcome that is concrete and small —Consider expanding a previous project —Consider using writing from a liberal arts class —To focus on a technique, such as 3D/4D, AI, or code, create a portfolio of experiments around a theme Give yourself space to start out with some short-term projects that may not lead directly to your thesis. **SKETCHBOOK** | Most designers and artists keep sketchbooks for, well, sketching but also for taking notes and brainstorming with lists, mind maps, and diagrams.

**ILLUSTRATOR ARTBOARD** | Many designers use an Illustrator file as a digital sketchbook for a project. Keep adding visual ideas to the artboard. Swatches of color, form, typography, and imagery can gather here and talk to each other. The mood is open and casual. **PROJECT BOARD** | Seeing your work in your studio environment (at home or at school) helps keep you inspired and triggers conversations with others. Pin-up prints, drawings, paintings, found objects, prototypes, and more. **WEB TOOLS** | Use Notion, Google Sites, Evernote, or other tools to organize your stuff and build your knowledge base.

Zine Game Card deck Kit Book Installation Experience Interaction App or website Research dossier Short animation Daily practice 360 video Data visualization Maps, diagrams Brand identity Type specimen Typeface Hand lettering Illustrations Poster series Motion poster series GIFs or memes Social media posts Sensory design Sustainability Animal behavior Plant behavior Food (science, culture) Language (poetry, translation, theory) Writing systems Decolonial design AI Generative design Authorship Feminism Queer studies Gender studies Race and bias Future of (money, books, time travel, work) Mental health Self care Humor World-building Storytelling 3D/4D Personal history Local history Design history Design pedagogy Cultural history and cultural identity

Your Thesis Beast is hungry for content. Alas, creating content is hard. You will need to grow and cultivate vibrant, nutritious content for your Thesis Beast. Start with a theme, topic, question, premise, problem, or narrative hook. Your subject matter should be interesting to you. Start with a big idea and then make smaller ideas that are more specific. **WICKED PROBLEMS** | A massive issue such as climate change, racial injustice, or the mental health crisis could crush you and your thesis. Make a list of smaller issues that fall inside it. Do these smaller topics connect to your own life?

Do they intersect with graphic design? Often, graphic design is best suited to visualizing a problem or telling stories. **OFFBEAT TOPICS** | Your topic doesn't have to be complex or socially significant. A quirky or local topic such as the anatomy of vegetables, the history of tea, or Baltimore's native plants can provide unexpected depth. **CULTURE AND IDENTITY** | Explore your family background, cultural roots, or gender identity. Areas such as street signs, folk tales, decorative traditions, and writing systems can make fruitful thesis projects. **VISUAL EXPERIMENTATION** | Identify a concrete aesthetic question to help ground and unify your experiments.

Areas to explore include design and sculpture, design and music, design and poetry, design and authorship, multisensory design, AI, generative design, and queer aesthetics. Formal themes can be very personal. **SPECULATIVE DESIGN** | Imagine new approaches to basic human activities such as reading, working, sleeping, cooking, and self-care. Speculative design emphasizes storytelling and social critique over practical problem-solving. Speculative design can be utopian or dystopian. Imagine the future of museums, restaurants, money, governments, underwear, or travel. Kersin Pinther and Alexandra Weigand, eds. *Flow of Forms, Forms of Flow: Design Histories between Africa and Europe*. Transcript-Verlag, 2018.

Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby. *Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming*. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2013. GETTING STARTED THESIS HABITAT Prepare the ground for your Thesis Beast to germinate, sprout, and flourish. Dig some holes, turn over some soil, and unearth a few demons. This process will help you find a thesis project that serves your needs. **VALUES** | What matters most to you in your design work? Do you want your work to be useful, inclusive, personal, healing, intellectual, or beautiful? Although you may care about all these things, pick two or three values that feel most important to you.

**HEROES | SHEROES | XEROES** | Who are the artists, designers, writers, ancestors, thinkers, and comrades who inspire you? Name the people who have shaped your design work and creativity. Do the people on your list all come from the dominant art and design canon? Who else do you want to learn about? **DEMONS** | Dig for some demons and let the purifying sun shine upon them! Who are these creatures that stop you from doing what you want to do? Your triggers and causes might include anxiety disorder, time management woes, financial worries, family stress, and self-doubt.

Naming your demons won't make them go away but can diminish their power. **GREEN SPACE** | What keeps you well? Cultivate the good: friends, walking, cooking, pets, etc. **FORMS** | Sketch some shapes, lines, letterforms, and textures that express your point of view. Think about an artist who inspires you, your favorite house plant, or a walk in the woods. Are you drawn to hard or soft shapes? From memory, what does the lowercase *a* in your favorite font look like? **NEW TERRITORY** | What new skills, media, techniques, or content areas do you want to try out?

Where can the thesis project take you? Try to picture your thesis exhibition 10 months from now. What will you see there? What will your portfolio look like? How will you get there? | VALUES | GREEN SPACE | | --- | --- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | HEROES | SHEROES | XEROES | FORMS | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | DEMONS | NEW TERRITORY | | | | | | | | | | |

GETTING STARTED MIND MAP Choose ONE content idea and create a mind map of related concepts, issues, products, user scenarios, potential design outcomes, and jpeg) 14 15 A graduate thesis project creates new knowledge. For example, your thesis might tell visual stories about a topic or propose a product and service addressing a problem or daily activity. Experimental or personal projects explore visual forms and techniques or family narratives. Design work employs many forms of research (reading, writing, exploring visual precedents, and conducting user research) in addition to the making process. What to read Complex topics such as climate change, mental health, or plant biology require reading.

If your content is more personal, explore topics such as queer theory, the science and culture of memory, or the philosophy of perception. Ask your instructors and MICA’s graphic design reference librarian for reading recommendations. Look for: —Current nonfiction books and scholarly articles —Journalism in reputable publications (such as The Atlantic, The New Yorker, and The New York Times in the US) —Online articles on platforms such as com. These can be helpful, but check to see if the text comes largely from other sources. —Novels, poetry, and essays (old and new) —Theory and philosophy, including explanations of influential texts —Texts in your native language —Texts by women and people of color —Texts by designers —Texts by non-designers (mostly) —Diverse media: TED Talks, recorded lectures, podcasts, films, exhibitions going deeper What is graphic design research?

How to read Reading is hard work—and it’s a skill that you can practice and enhance. Active reading strategies will help you find and remember useful information without getting lost and overwhelmed: READ EARLY. Reading will help you understand the shape of your topic, from the basic facts to burning controversies. Reading will fuel your making process, too, by warming up your mind for the work ahead. DON’T READ THE WHOLE THING. Scholarly articles have abstracts. Books have introductions. Many authors put their best material near the beginning of the book and the most esoteric stuff at the end.

Study the table of contents and read the chapters most relevant to you. DON’T TRY TO UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING. An abstract or introduction explains the main argument. The rest of the text offers detail and evidence. Look for the big picture! DIG FOR GEMS. Works of philosophy and critical theory are full of obscure language and tangled references. Sift through the soil to find poetic gems that speak to your project. TAKE NOTES. If you don’t take notes, don’t bother reading. You won’t remember any of this stuff in two months (or two weeks). Later, you can reread your notes rather than flipping back through the whole book.

Underlining is not enough. Pro tips for taking notes: —Screenshots, collected in folders —Photographs of book pages. Use your phone camera to convert photos into live text. —Ebooks. Little-known secret: The Kindle app allows you to highlight passages. These quotes will be collected automatically in your online Amazon Kindle account. Wow! —Notes, consistently collected. For example, put your notes in a single Google doc, and create more docs as your topic becomes more specialized. Alternatively, use a tool like Notion to build a structured knowledge base. —Digital notes are more useful than notes in your sketchbook.

Digital notes are searchable! Handwritten notes are hard to find later, and they are difficult to sort and rearrange. —Track everything. Your notes should include author, title, date, publisher, and web link. KNOW WHEN TO STOP. Every text is connected to other texts, creating an infinite web of potential sources. Reading too much will prevent you from focusing on your own ideas and making your own work. “Frame narrowly and explore ” —Jennifer cole PhilliPs 16 17 Visual research includes seeking out precedents for your creative work. How have other artists and designers engaged your topic or worked in your chosen medium?

Conduct visual research with curiosity and respect: **DOCUMENT YOUR ** To avoid plagiarizing the work of others, always note the sources of the precedents that you collect. **TRACK YOUR ** Use bookmarking tools, such as Arena and Evernote, to keep a record of where and when you saw visual works. If you are using Pinterest, find links that aren't copies of copies of copies. **ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR ** When you create visual presentations and thesis documents, include the names of the artists who inspired your project. Their work is just as important to your research as books and articles.

**BROADEN YOUR ** Don't just look at graphic design. You are more likely to copy someone else's solution if you only look at work by other designers. Expand your vocabulary by seeing as much as possible: painting, sculpture, movies, crafts, architecture, decorative arts, popular culture, street art, photography, scientific visualizations, and more. **MAKING IS RESEARCH, ** Your experiments with materials, forms, code, printing, fabrication, and more are active forms of research. Document your process. Look back at your research for new jpeg) DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON INSPIRATION "Every big project is just a bunch of little projects.

Instead of viewing your thesis as a giant mountain to climb, break it down into little boulders and plateaus. Go bit by bit until you get to the top" —ELLEO LUPINS User research is an important part of the design thinking methodology and is especially valuable for designing products and services. User research can include observing people doing a task, distributing a survey, holding a focus group, or conducting a co-creation workshop. If you wish to conduct user research, plan your event carefully to create an equitable experience. **CONSENT** | Participants in a user study should agree to the process and understand what you are doing with the research.

For example, if you plan to include quotes from a written survey in a zine or show work from a creative workshop in your exhibition, will you use their names or quote them anonymously? Will you share the results of your research with them? **POWER GAPS** | Be aware of differences in power. Do you belong to the community you are studying (such as "international students" or "gen z consumers")? If so, you have equal power. If you are outside the community you are studying, there may be an imbalance of power between you and your collaborators (such as "maintenance staff at MICA" or "elders living in a care facility.")

Use inclusive language and processes. Be thankful. Avoid extractive behavior (taking something from the community without giving back). **SHARED EXPERTISE** | Acknowledge the expertise of your research collaborators. Designers often see themselves as experts while seeing users and communities as people who need help. Be humble. **DOCUMENTATION** | Keep records of your research so that you can refer to it later accurately. If you conduct a co-creation workshop, take photographs of people working and what they made (with their consent). If you intend to credit people for their contributions, keep track of their full names.

Elizabeth -N. Sanders and Pieter Jan Stappers, *Convirial Toolbox: Generative Research for the Front End of Design* (Amsterdam: BIS Publishers, 2012). Deana McDonagh, "Design Students Forseeing the Unforeseeable: Practice-Based Empathic Research Methods," *International Journal of Education through Art* 11, no. 3 (2015), --> 3.421_1 GOING DEEPER STAYING WELL At MICA, a thesis essay lives inside the thesis publication. This printed, bound book and archival PDF serves as a permanent record of each thesis. The essay length at MICA is 1,500 words minimum. By keeping the required length short, we encourage students of many language backgrounds to excel in this endeavor.

Some graduate program require a longer and more scholarly essay. DEVELOP A COHERENT IDEA ABOUT DESIGN. Try to summarize your focus in a compact phrase, such as "World-building as a design process" or "Designing for neurodiversity." The essay should express an insight related to design. Although your topic may encompass ideas from political science, neurobiology, or some other subject, your essay should highlight your expertise as a designer in a way that can benefit other designers. EXPLAIN WHY YOUR PROJECT MATTERS. What is the intellectual purpose of your thesis? Is your goal to create cultural commentary?

Propose a speculative product? Explore form in a fresh way? Design for user interaction or participation? Address ethical questions? Design a tool? Illuminate ideas from another field? Create a design process? Draw attention to a problem? Contribute to the design discourse? USE NARRATIVE STRUCTURE TO ENGAGE YOUR READER. Your essay should feature a question or challenge. You could describe a childhood journey, a personal struggle or transformation, or a problem you have faced. If you are designing a speculative product or prototype, write about the product's impact on a potential user. If you conducted user research, share these stories.

Such stories can be short—from a few sentences to a few paragraphs. Use structures such as the Hero's Journey or the Narrative Arc to intrigue your readers. REFERENCES. Give credit to the scholars, writers, designers, artists, and others whose ideas influenced your thesis project. These references give credibility to your work and protect you from plagiarizing. References may take the form of footnotes, endnotes, inline credits, or captions. You are encouraged to follow the Chicago Manual of Style for citations. "Remember that you will be discarding 80% of what you create, so when you make something that isn't good enough for the final thesis, you're chipping away at that 80%."

—JAN BURICENNY See page 20, Intellectual property guidelines It is hard to stay healthy during grad school. Listen to signals from your mind and body, and know when to slow down and take a break. Don't let your Thesis Beast fall prey to oppressive expectations. Worrying about whether your concept is big enough or smart enough can prevent you from getting started at all. Staying stuck at the edge of your project causes more mental pain than jumping in and doing the best you can. MAKE | Print, draw, cut, paste, fold, paint, diagram, map, record, vectorize, generate, animate, interpolate, extrapolate.

MOVE | Take a walk to free up your brain (and your Beast). Or, take a shower. Because, stinky. SLEEP | Pause. Rest. Recover. After spending time apart, you and your Beast will treat each other more kindly. REPEAT | Don't rush to the finish line. Revise, redo, refresh, and regurgitate. SHARE | Talk to your friends about your Thesis Beast. Let the Beast eat their brains for a while. RELAX | It's never too late to stop worrying about your Beast. MOOD SWINGS | You and your Beast will have highs and lows. Follow the curve.

It's okay to walk away and do something jpeg) 20 21 WHAT IS PLAGIARISM? Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and using them as your own. Synonyms include copying, piracy, theft, stealing, and cribbing. Plagiarism includes: — Claiming that you created someone else’s writing or visual art/design. — Getting someone else to write part or all of your essay. — Submitting as exclusively your own, written or visual work created jointly by a group in which you participated. (Just credit the group.) — In a written essay, failing to cite a source that is not common knowledge.

— In a written essay, failing to put quotation marks around an author’s words. — In visual art or design, directly copying (cut and paste) another person’s work, or closely recreating another person’s design. — Restating another author’s exact idea, but changing the words, is called paraphrasing. It’s okay to paraphrase IF you include a footnote, endnote, or a reference to the author directly in your text. CITING YOUR RESEARCH Every GD MFA thesis book and/or essay should include sources for your research. These sources may take the form of footnotes, endnotes, and/or a bibliography.

— Footnotes are references to a book, article, or website; a footnote appears on the same page as the relevant text. — Endnotes are references gathered at the end of your essay or at the back of your thesis book. Footnotes and endnotes are numbered; they include author, title, publisher, date, web address, etc. — There are several conventions for footnotes and endnotes; you may follow any convention you like, as long as you are consistent. — Every concept, quotation, data set, or fact that is not original to you or isn’t considered “general knowledge” should have a footnote or endnote.

— A bibliography is a list of all the books, essays, blog articles, and websites that were important to your research. You don’t need to connect these to specific ideas in the text. Your bibliography should appear at the end of your thesis book. A bibliography is also titled “References” or “Works ” the legal stuff | updated 4.2023 Intellectual property guidelines — Direct citation on the page. If you choose to present a beautiful quote from an author floating on the page as its own element, you can credit the author’s name directly with the quote.

Include a full reference in your bibliography, unless the quote is extremely common, such as a Shakespeare play. VISUAL SOURCES AND REFERENCES You will be looking at work by other artists and designers and assembling examples that inform your own practice (precedents or inspiration). — At times, you may assemble these sources in a presentation, formstorming document, moodboard, or your final thesis book. — Always credit visual references to the best of your ability. If you don’t credit these works, readers/viewers of your work can mistakenly believe that all the images in your project are original to you.

— Credits should include any available information: creator, client, date, and source s(uch as museum collection, Getty Picture Archive,). Full information is not always available. Do your best! — Any image you use should be credited: photographs, illustrations, data graphics, etc. Credits can run small if needed. WHEN IS IT ACCEPTABLE TO USE AI IN YOUR WORK? Academic policies on this matter are evolving quickly. Please reach out to faculty if you are uncertain. Students and faculty can discuss individual use cases together and help create a robust and fair policy. Below is MICA GD MFA’s policy as of January, 2023.

— YES, you may use AI in a critical, experimental, self-aware way to generate ideas, forms, and text, but you must disclose your use of AI and track your process by noting the name of any AI products you have used. For example, “Illustration generated by ” Create an archive of screenshots of all AI-generated images. Create an archive of all AI-generated texts that serve a significant role in your research. — YES, you may use AI tools such as ChatGPT to ask technical or fact-based questions, just as you use Google searches in your research and design process.

— YES, you may use AI tools such as ChatGPT to create dummy text for a project, but you must disclose the source of the text. For example, “Text generated by ” — NO, you may not use AI to create texts or visual forms that you claim to be original visual work or original writing and research. — NO, you may not use AI in place of citations. Citations must include names of authors and publications and/or links to authored online articles. 22 — Avoid using AI to research opinions or interpretations of literature, philosophy, art, legal issues, public health policies, or any other subject that is subject to misinformation.

ChatGPT produces many errors related to such questions. Always be wary of AI content and back up any facts or ideas you uncover with citable research. — Be prepared to show your work process if a client, peer, or faculty member asks if you generated your content or visuals with AI. Be aware that detector software is available to identify the presence of AI-generated material. PUBLISHING YOUR WORK BEYOND GRADUATE SCHOOL If you want to publish your work in a competition, publication, or website, you should request permission from the creator for any image, song, or photograph that you have used in your work.

Some uses of another person’s artwork are considered “fair ” In the, some uses of copyrighted materials are allowable without seeking permission from the creator. Examples of fair use in the United States include commentary, search engines, criticism, parody, news reporting, research, and scholarship. See also htm Fair use provides for the legal, unlicensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author’s work under a four-factor test. 1. The purpose and character of the use: nonprofit and educational are generally okay. “Transformative” uses are those that add something new. 2. The nature of the copyrighted work.

Reusing factual work is more likely to constitute fair use than reusing creative works such as fiction or paintings/ drawings 3. The amount and importance of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; using less is better than using more. 4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. It is not fair use to create a competing product. read more | intellectual ProPertY Jess Zafarris, “Graphic Design Copyright Laws: Inspiration vs. Infringement,” How, August 29, 2016. Eileen MacAvery Kane, Ethics: A Graphic Designer’s Field Guide, 2010, Eric Schrijver, Copy This Book: An Artist's Guide to Copyright (Eindhoven: Onomotopee, 2019).

one cell two cells shapeless blob too big to fail life cycle of a thesis beast MICA Graphic Design MFA Thesis Guide 2024 Maryland Institute College of Art EDITED BY ELLEN LUPTON Betty Cooke and William O. Steinmetz Design Chair