Afanador-Llach, Camila

This thesis employs graphic design to envision the present and future scenario of humanity adapting to artificial intelligence and the current state of continuous data harvesting by organizations and platforms that lack transparency with the public. Explored topics include the impact of AI on families and the importance of gaining awareness regarding the potential negative and positive consequences of uncontrolled data collection about individuals. These themes converge in my exhibition to depict the current and potentially future reality of living in a family with the constant presence of AI and the associated dangers it entails.
The concept of data harvesting, depicted through artists books and web design, serves as a visual commentary on the current situation within families, seen as microcosms of the broader community and humanity as a whole. This situation highlights the notion that we are already residing in the Brave New World envisioned by Aldous Huxley.
AI possesses the capacity to profoundly influence all artistic genres, including artists books, introducing an additional dimension to their expression. From generating storytelling and art to facilitating collaborations between artists and artificial intelligence, the applications of AI are boundless. Utilizing Chat GPT and Adobe Firefly, I aim to create one of my artists books primarily generated by AI. This endeavor seeks to redefine a family portrait, illustrating the integration of artificial intelligence into the lives of families and humanity overall. By focusing on the family portrait genre within artists books and incorporating the latest family member, AI, I intend to prompt social awareness, fostering a deeper understanding of contemporary reality and inviting a dialogue.

Effective communication and a sense of togetherness between people from different backgrounds happen on a platform of mutual understanding. The boundaries of differences between people from various cultures limit our understanding of each other's conditions, problems, and concerns. As a designer, I seek to fade the boundaries between cultures and facilitate a conversation, promoting mutual understanding by blending visual elements from American and Iranian cultures. With interactive visual media and storytelling, I have created diverse visual artworks that combine traditional Iranian arts and crafts elements with visuals from American popular culture. This body of work includes illustrations, patterns, motion design, audio, and augmented reality. Through these shared visual experiences, I aim to introduce new values into the sphere of design, enrich the design world with diversity, and build a shared visual experience that talks both to Iranians and the cultural milieu of the United States. Producing art pieces with the theme of Shared Visual Experiences can aid in promoting diversity, fostering connection, encouraging innovation and creativity, and bringing attention to significant social and cultural issues. It is a meaningful way to contribute to a more interconnected world that benefits everyone.

The unbridled consumerism established during the industrial revolution in consumer society has become a mass phenomenon. The birth of industry caused significant transformations in the world economy, as well as in the human lifestyle, as it accelerated the production of goods and the exploitation of natural resources. People today consume in a way that their purchasing choices define them. Consumption is not driven by social responsibility: individuals often end up engaging in overconsumption habits due to the vast number of options and the perpetual launching of new trends. Consumption is the satisfaction of desires and wants, especially in current westernized societies.
In my thesis, I will address a concern that is shared by many people. I will be using Graphic Design to draw attention to the misuse and waste of our planet's natural resources while critiquing the consumer society and the lifestyle that compels consumption to maintain acceptance within a social group. I will be discussing the different concepts that people have about trash and waste, in hopes to make them aware of our role in the conscious use of Earth's natural resources.

The world’s path to climate change is inevitable. Activists and legislators, all around the world, are actively working to slow down this process or stop changes. Technology is moving toward a sustainable future of renewable energy and resources to lighten the impact that the human population has on the climate. Whether or not these efforts will slow down the changing climate is unknown, but the world’s scientists, engineers, and designers are preparing for any scenario that comes our way.
This thesis uses graphic design to visualize the future of humanity adapting to climate change. Topics that are explored include controlled-environment agriculture, vertical farming, sustainable food production, advancements in the medical industry, advancements in transportation, and sustainable energy production. These elements will come together, in my projects, to visualize one possible future of living in Arizona, where living conditions have become inhospitable for life as we know today.