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Defense Date

2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts

Department

Graphic Design

First Advisor

Rob Carter

Abstract

Visual communication is a part of everyone's daily existence. It is a ubiquitous mode that shapes not only the environment that individuals inhabit, but the very identity of the individual. Graphic designers, who create the vast majority of the visual communication encountered, play a crucial role in the production of cultural identity. It is a necessity that designers understand that role, as agents of cultural production.[ethno]graphic design is an ever-evolving approach to graphic design which utilizes anthropological methods in the creative process. This document presents a collection of projects which take an anthropological approach to the design process, utilizing techniques developed by cultural anthropologists to aid the design process — primarily ethnographic fieldwork, participant observation, collaboration, multivocal representation and reflexivity.

Comments

Part of Retrospective ETD Collection, restricted to VCU only.

Rights

© The Author

Is Part Of

VCU University Archives

Is Part Of

VCU Theses and Dissertations

Date of Submission

June 2008

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