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Theses and dissertations (Arts and Design)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://ir-dev.dut.ac.za/handle/10321/8

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Start date: 2023Subject: search.filters.subject.Semiotics

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    An exploration of the applicability of graphic facilitation for ideation in tertiary institutions in South Africa : an action research study of second-year graphic design students at Durban University of Technology
    (2023-03-01) Chiwandamira, Tendai Rogers; Carey, Piers Christian; Chitanana, Lockias
    This study investigated how graphic facilitation could be applied in a tertiary graphic design setting to help students improve their ideation process. Graphic facilitation is a technique used to rapidly develop and capture innovative ideas or solve problems amongst groups in a workshop. The study aimed to develop and recommend a more successful ideation process that could be adopted by second-year graphic design students in order to reduce cases of plagiarism. The study drew on a theoretical framework that combined the Social Constructivism theory (Zone of Proximal Development, scaffolding), the Emmert and Donaghy communication model, Petty’s model of creativity and the associative theory of creativity. A qualitative action research methodology was employed within an interpretive paradigm. Data was gathered by means of semi-structured interviews and observation of graphic design students and lecturing staff at a graphic design department in a South African tertiary institution. The results of each cycle informed the following cycle. The initial cycle examined previous applications of graphic facilitation, with a pilot study simultaneously conducted on how students are currently ideating their projects, and pre-testing of the interview questions. Cycle 2 consisted of a graphic facilitation workshop informed by the findings of the initial cycle; and cycle 3 was an iteration of cycle 2, but refined based on the findings of that cycle. The inconclusive results highlight students' lack of comprehension of graphic design terminology, and hence non-development of critical thinking. Despite the research constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, some students improved their ideation process by enhancing their critical thinking. This suggests that graphic facilitation could be adopted to enable students to be less prone to plagiarism.
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    Analysing Instagram pages of South African fashion models with Vitiligo using multimodal communication for a practice-based study
    (2023-03-01) Sarupdeo, Emilia; Mchunu, Khaya Jean; Rapeane-Mathonsi, Maleshoane
    An increase in fashion models with vitiligo are observed from the sharing of representations of themselves and the skin condition on multimodal forms of communication on social media platforms, notably Instagram. The study is located in fashion and focuses on vitiligo that has been widely discussed in the medical field. Vitiligo is a skin condition where the deterioration of melanocyte cells lead to white patches that present in various areas of the body (Vallerand et.al 2019: 1371). The significance of this study is to understand the representations led by fashion models with vitiligo and to join them by using my profession as a fashion designer with vitiligo to shift the beauty narrative through inclusivity and raising awareness about the skin condition. The study is framed by a multimodal discourse analysis and specifically a four-step analytical process of modal transfer (Kress 2000 and 2010). This frame is used to focus on how fashion models with vitiligo use multimodal communication in the form of photographs, captions, and hashtags to communicate themselves, as people with vitiligo through their public Instagram pages. This form of communication is argued to be their practice of challenging and expanding accepted notions of beauty. An analysis is followed by a practical component framed by Sullivan’s (2010) and Skains (2018: 86) creative practice as research. The study results show how the models have represented themselves and their skin condition. Some posts touch on themes that seek to shift the narrative and expand notions of beauty. They share perspectives on inclusivity and diversity, self-love, self-affirmation, body-positivity, perceptions of the gaze, and what should not be regarded as fashion trends. Optimism expressed by such themes resulted as psychological healing and promotes good mental health towards the incurable skin condition. I designed a body of fashion artefacts for this practice-based study as my contribution to using fashion as communication to shed light on vitiligo and body positivity. A new Instagram page has been created to display the practical collection through my own use of multimodal communication. This process has resulted in 6 fashion artefacts that use hashtags as titles to speak about vitiligo. The fashion artefact collection celebrates inclusivity and diversity, depicts the types of formation which vitiligo presents in, and concludes by perceiving all as beauties, expressed in both in practice and theory.