Senior Capstone
DESIGN RESEARCH, EXHIBITION, BRANDING, & WEB DESIGN
During the last year of undergrad, we were tasked with using design research methodologies to explore a topic of our choice. Our parameters were broad, allowing for our interests to guide our process.
Through careful consideration, the resulting capstone project culminated in a 40+ page research paper (including primary and secondary research, peer surveys, personas, mood boards, and visual documentations), a physical exhibition at Stevenson University’s School of Design, and a website experience to accompany the installation.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Love Thy Neighbor is an attempt to reclaim religious narratives from hate and explore the impact of Christian Nationalism in American Politics. This exploration juxtaposes the religious-fueled political consciousness of Christian Nationals with the original intent behind the Bible — love. By using shared symbols, images, and words with religious and sociopolitical connotations, I hope to convey an overt critique of the Christian Nationalism Industrial Complex.
From the start, I knew that the design process would require a great amount of consideration and care. I felt that it was crucial to include the educational material I developed as a result of my research alongside the visual deliverables I wanted to create. I took inspiration from brutalism, biblical manuscripts, deconstructionism, and the decolonization of design when it came to my typography decisions and collage compositions in order to visually convey the hypocrisies of evangelical politics. I also recognized that this topic is much larger than myself alone, and so, anonymous experiences and perspectives of my peers are also included in both the exhibition and the website. Taken together, all of these moving parts piece together the larger narrative and help to reclaim religion from hateful points-of-view.
