Senior Thesis

At the UIC School of Design, the senior-level Graphic Design Thesis course is taught across two semesters. The first semester is focused on exploration and research; the second semester is focused on implementation and exhibition. Sharon co-teaches the course with Design Writing Instructor Meghan Ferrill.

Investigating potential thesis topics, students work on three projects in the first semester as well as writing exercises and assignments, and they assemble an image collection. By the time students reach the second semester, they are prepared to create their final thesis project, to determine the vehicle and design of their writing, to craft their final thesis statement, and to exhibit at the school year-end show.

Nostalgia | Installation and motion graphics | Jeff Torres | 2018–2019
Jeff: Distant memories are tucked away in the back of my mind. Some I can vaguely recall; some I’ve all but forgotten. It’s fascinating how easily a distant memory can be triggered, how a forgotten event can be instantly revitalized under just the right circumstances. A thought-provoking question that prompts a reverie, or a phrase that recalls a particular story to mind. Life being, as it is, on an unremitting forward trajectory, it’s important to take a little time and think about the road you’ve been on, so to speak. As a designer, I am interested in how design mediates experience and activates the mind of the receiver, and how language, especially, can enter the recesses of the mind and recast a memory into the here and now.

Raza | Mural installation and zine publications | Miguel Castro | 2018–2019
Miguel: Design plays a critical role in the dissemination of ideas and information. It is a particularly powerful tool in support of protest movements; getting the word out, calling attention to the cause, unifying the messaging. Investigations into the forms of expression created around the Riot Grrrl and Chicano movements reveal different manifestations of oppression and resilience. Both garnered support and rallied their allies through the design, publication and distribution of zines and posters. As a designer and writer, I am committed to speaking up on behalf of the voiceless and oppressed, and to engendering a sense of unity and solidarity. The power of design speaks to the power of communication. Whatever the medium—zine, poster, or mural —design can bring about real change.

Identidad | Installation and ephemera | Noah Perez | 2018–2019
Noah: The process of Identidad explored the idea of something that many share within a community—the fundamental idea of being Mexican and being American. This experience included the idea of having the classic culture that we share and bringing it into the now and the future. I used buttons to represent the staples in Mexican-American culture; the flyers to discuss my reasoning, my purpose, my story and why I exemplify the richness of my culture; and the wall of flowers to alter the negative outlook on our borders that separate us from our families and our friends.

Shadow-world | Installation and publication | Kilenmarec Howard | 2018–2019
Kilenmarec: Mental illness in the African American community is seldom discussed. The silence, or hush, around the subject is a menacing co-conspirator, a corrosive agent eating away at the health and wellbeing of an otherwise proud people. I know. I’ve been there. I am a designer and a writer. Prompted by a set of single words, I crafted a series of short narratives and an installation. Rather unwittingly, I came to see these narratives as telling vignettes into the shadow-world of mental illness. My work as a designer provides the perfect carrier for my writing. Form amplifies language and vice versa.

Fantastical | Poster series and publication | Tessa Alioto | 2018–2019
Tessa: The constants in all forms of expression are a source of light, a source of darkness, and some kind of story in between. As a designer, striking a balance between polarizing elements is among the things I strive for. As a storyteller, I oscillate between the substance and the void. I am a designer-storyteller interested in pushing the expressive transitional boundaries between presence and absence; form and language; and the spectrum of alignments between darkness and light. My work can best be described by a single word: Fantastical.

Beauty | Letterforms, poster series, and publication | Ewelina Rusek | 2018–2019
Ewelina: Thousands of years ago, sculptures and artworks portrayed curvaceous, voluptuous, full-bodied women. The female form was the embodiment of fertility. The earliest known representations of women are the Venus figurines, with their pronounced hips and robust breasts. The Venus of Willendorf, unearthed in 1908, dates back to circa 25,000 BC. It is only in the modern era that the “perfect” female form has come to mean slender, even slight, an image that dominates commercial media and adversely affects the wellbeing of countless young women. The advent of social media has made matters exponentially worse. For me, design is about advocacy. With its reliance on the visual, design can scale cultural divides. Its language is by and large universal. As a designer, I am committed to revising how we envision beauty, starting with the physicality of the word itself, constructed in all caps: BEAUTY.