Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Aesthetic awareness'

Literature in art education suggests a link between aesthetic experiences and value awareness. The existence of such a link could have important implications for the role of art education in our schools, answering to the often expressed need to address values within our educational programs. However, most available work on this subject is theoretical, and often based on untested prior assumptions. Therefore claims to knowledge of this link cannot yet be explicitly made.
It is my contention that an inquiry into the nature of aesthetic experiences is required before subsequent claims to knowledge of its relation to value awareness can be made. I also believe that phenomenology offers the best suited method for carrying out such an investigation.
This thesis is therefore concerned with the rationale for the need of a phenomenological investigation into aesthetic experiences: justifications being provided on the basis of the available literature and the phenomenological method itself.

Cultural and creative industries are a growing and profitable sector in the UK. The industry blends historical culture with modern creative design to promote one's culture and to make profits. A cultural feature is the main characteristic of a cultural product; however most of the current cultural products are printed or decorated in a way that lacks any emotional or meaningful cultural link with consumers. Emotional engagement is the key factor when people make their decisions. Therefore, a design toolkit was created to assist designers to enhance an emotional connection between consumers and products. the research approaches involved a literature review to classify categories of cultural features, a questionnaire to measure emotional responses to Chinese cultural products, expert interviews to develop the toolkit, and workshops to validate the toolkit. This research is the first study to highlight emotional aspect of cultural products in order to enrich user experience. The contributions of the research are investigating human emotions of cultural products and developing a novel toolkit to support designers when creating cultural products.

In this investigation, I discuss how students can examine and reflect on themselves through aesthetic practice in various pedagogic situations. The field study took place over two months in the international settlement of Auroville in the south of India, where I visited schools and observed various pedagogical methods. In this study, I focus on two of these pedagogical methods: Play of Painting and Awareness Through the Body. In both, the body is considered an important part of the student’s learning and development. These experiences form the background for this investigation. I investigated Play of Painting and Awareness Through the Body through focussing on one lesson from each method. I describe how the methods are organised and practised in Auroville schools with observations, visual material, and interviews from my field study.  In this investigation, I use a phenomenological and aesthetic perspective together with a brief introduction to the theory of Integral Education. I believe that aesthetics can be used in many different ways in a school context. In this thesis, I use the term aesthetic practices to understand and study Awareness Through the Body and Play of Painting. I see these methods as two examples of how aesthetic practices and conditions for aesthetic learning processes with different ways of reflection can be encouraged in an educational environment.  The children in Play of Painting and Awareness Through the Body learn about themselves through the experience of practising aesthetics with their whole bodies and senses. Through creating conditions for aesthetic practice as in Awareness Through the Body and Play of Painting, children can reflect on themselves together with others.  The purpose of this investigation is to research how aesthetic practices can be used in pedagogic situations through the methods Play of Painting and Awareness Through the Body. I focus on how pupils can examine and reflect on themselves through aesthetic practice in these two methods.

Syfte: Denna uppsats är skriven utifrån ett genus perspektiv och behandlar främst kvinnors förhållningssätt och erfarenheter av skönhet och utseende inom yrkeslivet samt deras medvetenhet gällande begreppet estetisk kompetens. Begreppet estetisk kompetens är relativt nytt och betonar vikten av utseendets betydelse inom arbetslivet. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur kvinnor förhåller sig till och är medvetna om vikten av skönhet och utseende samt betydelsen av begreppet estetisk kompetens inom arbetslivet.

Metod: Arbetet har utgått från en kvalitativ datainsamlingsmetod genom intervjuer med ett flertal kvinnor. Materialet från de genomförda intervjuerna har därefter sammanförts med diverse olika informationskällor. Sedermera har respondenternas svar noga analyserats med relevant litteratur för att därefter finna en användbar teori.

Resultat & slutsats: Kvinnorna i studien var av den uppfattningen att utseende var viktigt och att det var betydelsefullt att vårda sitt utseende. Kvinnornas förhållande till skönhet, utseende och estetisk kompetens var ambivalent i karaktären. Begreppet estetisk kompetens var för de allra flesta av kvinnorna något helt främmande men jag vill ändock hävda att själva innehållet inte på något vis var nytt för dem. Kvinnorna var medvetna om innebörden gällande själva begreppet estetisk kompetens utan att för den skull ha ett samlat namn för begreppet.

Förslag till fortsattforskning: Det faktum att mängden respondenter var liten till antal gjorde det besvärligt för mig att dra mer vidgående konklusioner. Det skulle vara intressant att lägga tonvikten vid att studera mäns förhållande till utseende, skönhet och estetisk kompetens för att därmed kunna ge en mer nyanserad bild gällande hela begreppet estetisk kompetens. Det skulle även vara mer intressant att närma sig detta område från ett arbetsgivarperspektiv då det i grunden är arbetsgivaren, företaget eller den befintliga verksamheten som anger riktlinjer eller direktiv för hur man önskar att ens medarbetare skall se ut.

Uppsatsens bidrag: Min förhoppning är att denna studie på sikt skall kunna bistå till att öka medvetenheten kring själva begreppet estetisk kompetens samt synliggöra vikten av skönhet och utseende inom arbetslivet. Jag är av den uppfattningen att estetisk kompetens kommer att bli ett allt vanligare inslag och anser därför att detta arbete kan bidra med intressant och värdefull kunskap gällande begreppet estetisk kompetens.

Aim: This thesis was primarily written from a gender perspective and deals mostly about women’s own experiences of beauty and looks in the workplace as well as their awareness regarding aesthetic skills. Aesthetic skill is a relatively new conception and emphasizes the importance of being aware of ones appearance at work. The main purpose of this thesis is to study different women views on beauty and appearances in the workplace and more closely look into the conception aesthetic skills.

Method: Apart from studying different literature and other articles and notes about aesthetic skills was the main focus in this study the interviews that were conducted with a few selected women. All given materials, from both the interviews and from the literature had thereafter closely been monitored and compared in order to find a useful theory.

Result & Conclusions: The women who took part in the survey were mostly of the opinion that appearance and good-looks do matter and are important in the workplace. However, their thoughts and experience of beauty, looks and aesthetic skills were a bit undecided. The conception aesthetic skills were for the majority of the women completely new but that had mostly to do with the name and not with what aesthetic skills really are. All of the women who took part in the survey were aware of what aesthetic skills really are about without knowing the full name of it.

Suggestions for future research: Due to limitations regarding the number of women interviewed it would be far more interesting for future studies to emphasize more on men experiences and thoughts on beauty, appearance and aesthetic skills in the workplace. In doing so the thesis would be able to capture both a female and a male point of view regarding this phenomenon. It would also be interesting to look into how different employers perceive the importance of ones appearance in the workplace when it is mainly the companies and business that set standards and guidelines regarding how they want their employees to look.

Contribution of the thesis: The main aim for this thesis was to contribute to enhanced awareness regarding the concept aesthetic skills and furthermore more closely study the importance of being good-looking in the workplace. I think that the phenomenon aesthetic skills are more than just a simple phenomenon and that this concept will be far more important in the future and therefore I do believe that this thesis could be of interest.

The aim of this paper was to analyse foregrounding elements in Seamus Heaney’s poem “Digging.” The analysis shows that deviances from everyday non-literary language, i.e. foregrounding, are both likely to evoke defamiliarisation in readers and also provide readers with the likelihood of having an aesthetic experience. This has been done by adhering to the literary theory of Cognitive stylistics and to its related literary concepts, namely the theory of foregrounding. Furthermore, this paper also aimed to provide examples of how “Digging” can be taught in a pedagogical setting. In short, this paper argues for a teaching of poetry that focuses on the sensual aesthetic qualities in a poem. Therefore, this paper supports the claim that students need to attentively read, watch and perform poetry in order to experience its sounds and textures fully. Such an approach corresponds well to an aesthetic education which aims at developing, in students, a heightened awareness of and appreciation for all that touches our lives. Lastly, the pedagogical implementations showed that a foregrounding analysis of “Digging” can be fruitful to incorporate in the EFL classroom. Apart from evoking defamiliarisation and aesthetic reactions, a stylistic analysis can also serve to raise students' linguistic and literary awareness. As a result, students can discover why poets make particular language choices as well as develop their ability to interpret literary works.

Doctor of Philosophy
Environmental Design and Planning Program
Robert J. Condia
The unique contribution of Vision and the Experience of Built Environments is its specific investigation into the visual processing system of the mind in relationship with the features of awareness and embodiment during the experience of architecture. Each facet of this investigation reflects the essential ingredients of sensation (the visual system), perception (our awareness), and emotions (our embodiment) respectively as a process for aesthetically experiencing our built environments. In regards to our visual system, it is well established in neuroscience that human vision divides into the central and peripheral fields of view. Central vision extends from the point of gaze (where we are looking) out to about 5° of visual angle (the width of one’s fist at arm’s length), while peripheral vision is the vast remainder of the visual field. These visual fields project to the parvo and magno ganglion cells which process distinctly different types of information from the world around us and project that information to the ventral and dorsal visual streams respectively. Building on the dorsal/ventral stream dichotomy, we can further distinguish between focal processing of central vision and ambient processing of peripheral vision. Thus, our visual processing of, and attention to, objects and scenes depends on how and where these stimuli fall on the retina. Built environments are no exception to these dependencies, specifically in terms of how focal object perception and ambient spatial perception create intellectual and phenomenal experiences respectively with architecture. These two forms of visual processing limit and guide our perception of the built world around us and subsequently our projected and extended embodied interactions with it as manifested in the act of aesthetic experience. By bringing peripheral vision and central vision together in a balanced perspective we will more fully understand that our aesthetic relationship with our built environment is greatly dependent on the dichotomous visual mechanisms of awareness and embodiment.

The introduction establishes the goal of the research, which is to discover that art concerned with re-evaluating the relationship to the environment and spirituality can serve to connect people to one another, and to the environment. The context of the research is the contemporary ecological and spiritual crisis of the postmodern world. The background places the discussion within the contexts of modernism and postmodernism. The historical background focuses on the period from the 1960s to the present day. Land and Environmental artists who work in a manner that is conscious of environmental issues and who suggest a sacred and creative attitude to ecology are discussed. My own creative work which is a response to both ancient and contemporary sites as well as to contemporary theories of art and spirituality is discussed. The four projects, are discussed in chronological order, they are: Quest - A journey into Sacred Space; Gaika's Kop - Sacred Mountain; Labyrinth - Journeys to the Centre; and Transforming the Centre. The conclusion shows that the multi-faceted, intertextual and relativistic philosophy of postmodernism has brought about a significant change in the attitude of humanity towards the environment. Artists who reject the modernist aesthetic and philosophy are making art that emphasises relationship to, rather than separation from the natural world.

The recent history of computer-mediated textual art has witnessed a controversy surrounding the aesthetics of these texts. The practice-based research described by this thesis responds to this controversy by posing the question - Is there an aesthetic of computer-mediated textual art that can be used as the basis for a positive evaluation of contemporary practice? In exploring answers to this question, it poses three further questions that investigate the role played by materiality, participation and earlier claims for emancipation in the formation of an evaluation. This thesis develops its answer to these questions by turning first to the work of Bakhtin and the Bakhtin Circle to provide a generalised, architectonic model of meaning-making which serves as a conceptual framework for understanding computer-mediated textual art. This model describes meaning-making as a participative event between particularised individuals, which is defined, in part, by the addressivity oftheir shared utterance. This thesis then draws on the work of Ken Hirschkop to argue that the addressivity of print-mediated utterances contributed to the obscuring of participation of the reader-participant in the event of meaning-making during the period ofthe national culture of print. It also argues that this obscuring of participation had an effect on the development of democratic consciousness during this period. This thesis extends the concepts of the utterance and addressivity to describe computer-mediated textual art. It describes the historical context and the variety of aesthetic interests underpinning contemporary practice. It then argues that a sub-set of these texts exhibit a mode of addressivity that is different from the norms of the national culture of print. It draws on these differences to develop the original contribution ofthis thesis by describing an axiology (a theory of value) of computer-mediated textual art predicated on role played by their addressivity in raising awareness ofthe participation of the reader-participant in meaning-making. This thesis then illustrates the theoretical assessments derived from these questions through practice. It details the methodology employed in this research programme. It then describes the motivations for this research, the course of study, the preparatory practice and provides a social evaluation ofthe technology deployed. It argues for a 'contingent' model of practice in which the design process is framed as a reflective experiment. It then provides an analysis ofthe design process of the computer-mediated textual art work 'Homecoming' to illustrate the arguments made in thesis. This thesis concludes by placing the new axiology into the wider cultural context by arguing that it provides a valuable but non-exhaustive, nonexclusive evaluation ofthese works.

The point of departure for this study is the hypothesis that the American genre of nature writing has reached an important crossroads in the way it describes the human-nature relationship. My study argues that the awareness of the large-scale environmental changes that are signaled in terms such as the Anthropocene has changed the way nature writers approach their genre. Where traditional nature writing would tend to posit a separation between pristine and humanized environments, the nature writing of the Anthropocene emerges from the awareness that environmental impacts have reached a scope where no such distinction can be made. The traditional narrative of retreat to pristine nature or the wilderness from civilization has thus been replaced in Anthropocenic nature writing with the narrative of confrontation with a natural environment impacted by humans. This is a dystopian tendency in the genre, in which descriptions of nature are increasingly characterized by the writer’s concerns over what is happening to the landscape in question, and what the future might hold in a world where industrial humanity is affecting all ecological processes. Such literature increasingly foregrounds the best available environmental science, and the texts mark a shift from the traditional focus on spiritual connections with the environment, towards more material and functional understandings of the role of humanity in the complex organic and inorganic dynamics that maintain the world’s ecosystems. This dissertation analyzes the emergence of Anthropocenic awareness in selected texts of contemporary American nature writing with reference to its five main features: scientific interest in the function of ecosystems, interest in the agency of matter rendered through what is referred to as material nature writing, the dignification of the overlooked, the environmental landscape of fear, and a turn in the genre towards matters of environmental justice. Even though what I refer to as Anthropocenic nature writing may seem dystopian, this dissertation foregrounds the various ways in which the narrative of confrontation with the human also invites activism and engagement in the hope of stimulating change and environmental justice.

碩士
台灣首府大學
幼兒教育學系碩士班
102
The research aims to explore children’s receiving situation through the natural experiment activities. The purposes of the study include: 1. to explore th earrangement and the process of parent-child natural experiment activities. 2. to examine the way and the situation in which children gain the esthetics experience. 3. to explore the essence of natural experiment integrated into children’s esthetics experience. With qualitative research, observation, recording, interview, learning sheets, children’s work, activities records, daily life observation and dialogue records and the researchers’ self reflection and examination. The results are as follows. 1.With parent-child natural experiment activities, the interaction between nature and people develop parent-child interrelationship and their dialogue depth and quality. 2.The esthetics experience children gained from nature are from children’s exploration and experiment with Nature. With imagination, creativity, children gain the joyfulness and satisfaction from the combination with the beauty of Nature and the objects. Children are as the creation of the beauty of the Nature. 3.In Exploration and Awareness, children learn to explore the essence of observation and feeling; in Expression and Creation, children and Nature are as two sides of a coin; in Response and Appreciation, with the correspondence with life, children gain deeper thoughts for Nature beauty.

碩士
實踐大學
企業管理學系碩士在職專班
104
Affected by the stronger perception of individualism and increasing influence of materialism, consumers’ pursuits of goods, which satisfy their senses of self-fulfillments and vanity, have become inevitable. The proliferation of cosmetic surgery mirrors such phenomena as medical solutions have been widely sought out for the improvement of appearances, forms and shapes, etc. This might, in turn, help individuals attain compliments or attentions. Hence, based on theoretical framework of brand identify prism, the research aims to determine factors which impact the consumers’ choices of cosmetic clinics and aesthetic medicine products, and their perceived vanity and body image associated with consumer preferences for cosmetic surgery and products. Convenience sampling was employed and a total of 307 valid copies of questionnaire were secured from patients of cosmetic clinics located in Kaohsiung. Empirical data are concerned with the identification of consumer characteristics (i.e. demographics, vanity traits and perceived body image) associated with their cosmetic surgery and product consumption behaviours. Moreover, the research also elaborates on the adequacy of cosmetic clinics’ marketing approaches and probes the future development of the products in the aesthetic medicine field. Results revel that besides solving the problems of the appearance basic function( i.e. the physique dimension of brand identity prism), the more renowned aesthetic medicine brand exerts direct correlation toward “the younger age”, “the lesser time period of using the aesthetic medicine and its service” from the consumer or the “ appearance concerns type” from aspects of vanity and “stronger preformed type” of body image, in addition, the more visibility of social media has better appeal to the consumers. Besides, for those people of “appearance concerns type” from aspects of vanity and “stronger preformed type” of body image tend to choose the renowned brand in order to have stronger sense of safety and satisfaction, they intended to increase their own competitiveness, making themselves more valuable and getting the admiration from others. Of the above are all positive and direct correlation influences. These are the aspects of brand identity, “self-image”, “culture”, “reflection” and “relationship”. Aesthetic medicine owner should emphasize on brand image, using the brand for differentiating and gaining the brand feature and give emphasis to the positioning. Through the application of IPA analysis, findings indicate, regarding the current consumption and future development of the aesthetic medicine, the operators should avoid developing the products which have been saturated such as Botox, hyaluronic acid, pulsed light and acid peels. Especially, Botox has been the most frequently used products for those in the “appearance concerns type” from aspects of vanity and “stronger preformed type” of body image. Instead, the industry could emphasize on using more of 3D Poly-L-Lactic acid (PLLA), Fraxel laser and thermocool, consumers prefer low price strategy. As the research discovered, Thermocool is interested by those in “appearance concerns type” from aspects of vanity due to the reason of low cost. Also, if the industry could highlight the visibility of the result of 3D Poly-L-Lactic acid (PLLA), combining the suitable price deduction, it will gain the attention and the usage from the consumers. Due to the involving of invasive the surgery of the aesthetic medicine, the risk of the unexpected damage and sequela is exist. Whether the consumers influenced by the “risk physical” feature when choosing the products will left for the following research.

This research follows the topic of art and the everyday, and focuses on how our experience of the everyday is a significant area of educational inquiry. This study investigates the potential of walking as an interactive method of art education that relates to the way we learn from our everyday environment, and is connected to the field of visual culture art education, and the aesthetics of everyday life. By taking participants on an art walk, I can observe how they engage with their everyday environment directly, and examine whether walking can promote visual and aesthetic awareness towards their ordinary surroundings. A total of eight participants will be studied during the walk; participants represent a mixed variation of age and gender, with and without backgrounds in art, and will participate in a walking interview followed by a sit-down interview.

碩士
世新大學
企業管理研究所(含碩專班)
101
In the large discount store, consumers must face thousands of products, without industry promotion and purchase guidelines, it will be difficult to develop purchasing decisions. When circulation faced by the poor overall economic environment and new competitors enter the market demand, how to choose an effective marketing strategy and tactics, is particularly noteworthy. Circulation understand the competitive advantage not just from product innovation, marketing mix, price competition, but rather to give customers a valuable consumer experience, makes "experiential marketing" as if an unmistakable surge of commodity marketing trend. The Experiential Marketing Hing Te mainly because customers grew tired of the monotony on the market, the regularization and stone products or services, if the customer experience from life and situations which products or services, will enable customers to feel more comprehensive brand consumer value and cognition, and thus affect the the customer ultimately the consumer decision-making.

In my encounter of Peter Zumthor’s Seniors’ Home and Kolumba Museum, I found architecture to affect well-being within the daily course of life. I saw the Seniors' Home contribute to the dwelling of the entire being of the elderly residents within the challenging yet hopeful season of life they face in aging, while at Kolumba Museum I encountered an experience of aesthetic embodying meaningful knowledge that addressed not only my mind but also my heart. Centered on the inherent operative dimensions of aesthetic at these two buildings—as an intervention, as a material reality, as an image, and as something we are positioned in and move in—and deepened by aesthetic philosophy and spiritual readings, I seek for an awareness of the way architectural decisions influence the human journey through space and time, and for principles and considerations that supplied and realized this architecture to be vitally contributive. The thesis is a meditation on the vitality of the medium, searching for a relevance that can justify architecture not as mere shelter that barely satisfies nor as inessential excess, but as an efficacious act that can satisfy the human being who encounters it and truly improve well-being in its existing. The thesis posits that architecture is fundamentally a craft and an act of giving a gift to the other. Its created existence in space and time is capable of producing lasting good in the world, if the design of architecture, through love, is primarily concerned about its affect on the other and the world rather than its object.

碩士
國立新竹教育大學
藝術教育與創作碩士班
101
The present study is to investigate the influences of nature photography instruction on fifth and sixth grade elementary school students’ analytical ability of aesthetic forms, environmental awareness and environmental attitudes. This study adopted the quasi-experimental design. The subjects were 31 fifth grade elementary school students, who received sixteen experimental instruction sessions and received tests before and after the experimental instruction sessions. The study conducted a literature review and analyzed theories about photography instruction for children, nature photography instruction, aesthetic forms, environmental education, environmental awareness, and environmental attitudes to lay a foundation for the study. Subsequently, the study designed the instructional units and compiled a test of analytical ability of aesthetic forms and an environmental awareness and attitude scale to investigate the influences of nature photography instruction on students’ analytical ability of aesthetic forms, environmental awareness and environmental attitudes. The study used matched-sample and independent-sample t tests to quantitatively analyze data and understand the influences of nature photography instruction on fifth and sixth grade elementary school students’ analytical ability of aesthetic forms, environmental awareness and environmental attitudes. This study also used qualitative data to present students’ opinions about their learning. The main findings from the study are summarized as follows: 1.Nature photograph instruction can effectively enhance the students’ analytical ability of aesthetic forms. 2.Nature photography instruction can enhance the students’ environmental awareness. 3.Nature photography instruction can improve the students’ environmental attitudes. Finally, according to the findings, the study proposed suggestions on how to introduce nature photography instruction into the curriculum of art education and environmental education, and future research.

博士
國立成功大學
建築學系碩博士班
100
Advances in ubiquitous computing technologies have intensified development in sensors and sensing software, which have led to advances in applications with interaction designs. A new generation of interaction design software uses voice recognition, gesture recognition, and virtual technology to seamlessly gather and analyze data. This has enabled the conceptualization of an environmental awareness system. Recently, sustainability has become important in all fields. Researchers are increasingly using Human-Computer Interactions (HCI) in the fields of energy, health, and sustainability. Green technology and environmental awareness are permeating people’s homes and lives. Currently, environmental awareness systems are focusing on interface design. Aesthetic experiences relating to users’ emotions and feelings are rarely tackled. A good environmental awareness system should, however, be equipped with several important features; providing tangible environmental data is merely one of these. It should draw attention and encompass the characteristics of being interesting, joyful, and aesthetically pleasing to enhance interaction experiences between users and sensing technologies. Interaction designs focusing on ease-of-use should, specifically, concentrate on the aesthetic experience. This thesis focuses on the aesthetic aspect of interaction designs. We are introducing an “Open Innovation Design” (OID) methodology based on user experiences and living experiments. An assessment technique was established to integrate both ease-of-use and joy-in-use. Through OID, users take part in enhancing the design, allowing exploration of technologies and aesthetics. Guided by these innovation principles, we use case studies to touch on platforms designed to incorporate Environmental Awareness Systems (EAS) and Smart Living (SL). With integrated environmental awareness media, space is transformed, aesthetically resulting in new user experiences fulfilling aesthetic desires in life. This study examines the following subjects: 1) “iAWN” prototypes that can detect air quality in the environment using EAS, 2) OID methodology using common objects as living experiments, and 3) establishing a design assessment technique based on user experiences of aesthetics. The architecture itself is a platform to integrate various systems around daily life. In the future, a Smart Living Service Network (SLSN) will be launched using an “iAWN” prototype or another living service system, leading to a living experiment network. Further research will be conducted to develop new interaction aesthetic theories. Additionally, various physical interfaces will be used to interact with “iAWN” prototypes, architectural practices, interior designs, and industrial designs to ensure an environmental awareness system closely integrated with living spaces.

碩士
國立臺北大學
企業管理學系
107
In todays society, there is an increasing emphasis on the quality of life and on the interaction between people. In the past, aesthetic concepts were mostly used in art fields such as painting and sculpture. However, aesthetics has been widely discussed and applied in recent years. It has been widely used in life, extending to food, clothing, housing, travel, recreation and aesthetics. This study focuses on shoe stores as a research area, introducing the concept of relationship aesthetics, through the exchange, communication and concept sharing between shoe store service personnel and customers, thereby enhancing consumers willingness to purchase and generating impulsive purchase behavior. The shoe store service personnel are the first people to enter the shoe store, so the service attitude of the shoe store service personnel to the customer is very important. In the process of shopping in the shoe store, the shoe store service personnel are often required to assist the customer. The stores experience and feelings come from a series of services provided. What kind of behavior can make customers feel deeply impressed after leaving, is still a part of the shoe store service industry must constantly improve. Therefore, the professional knowledge training and service attitude of shoe store service personnel are the key factors affecting consumers shopping. Footwear-related companies cultivate aesthetics and establish interactive relationships through the concept of shoe store service personnel relationship aesthetics, thereby enhancing customer shopping behavior and exploring whether brand perception has a significant impact on the aesthetic and impulsive purchases of shoe store service personnel. This study uses the SPSS analysis method, LISREL8.80 and PROCESS software. The results show that the "shoe store service personnel relationship aesthetics" has significant differences in "impulsive purchases", and "brand perception" has no interfering effect but has an intermediary effect. The hypothesis is: H1 shoe store Service personnel relationship aesthetics and impulsive purchases have a significant positive impact; H2 brand perception and impulsive purchases have a significant positive impact; and H3 brand perception has a mediating effect on shoe store service personnel relationship aesthetics and impulsive purchases. The results of this research can add new research areas to the field of shoe store service personnel relationship aesthetics, and provide a reference direction for business managers to apply the shoe store service personnel relationship aesthetics to enhance the customers impulsive purchase intention.

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Technology: Graphic Design, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2014.
The aim of this study was to investigate how images of women in the media that espouse women’s empowerment can indeed have the opposite effect and may even contribute to lowered self-esteem in women. To this end, this project is intended to explore issues such as body image and image manufacture in order to find a possible answer to the question of what is ‘real beauty’ in the South African context. A semiotic approach seeking to review the ways in which women are seen through visual communicative images was undertaken. This visual research revealed the importance of the ‘gendered gaze’ at the centre of issues that relate to self-esteem. An in-depth analysis of the literature, pertaining to self-esteem, interrogated the works of Naomi Wolf, John Berger and Susie Orbach, amongst others. This was carried out in order to understand more about how the dictates of consumerism pervade the work of the style industries. These sectors are well supported by the diet, food and cosmetic surgery industries who tend to effectively increase and add to a sense of body related insecurities. In addition, content analysis of selected South African editions of Cosmopolitan magazine was conducted. The images described represents a significant development period in the emergence of certain beauty ideals in South Africa. The British Unilever marketing campaign, The Dove Campaign For Real Beauty, was used as a base model for the applied design component of this study. In addition an action research approach was employed through a series of interviews and questionnaires directed at mostly female participants in South Africa. This method revealed that self-esteem issues have far reaching implications, affecting women of all ages. As a response to the perceived need for a South African based campaign, this research project informed the development of The Sisterhood Self-Esteem Crusade. In contrast to The Dove Campaign For Real Beauty which was created to promote increased sales of beauty products, The Sisterhood Self-Esteem Crusade’s focus is to interrogate and raise awareness of self-esteem. Underpinning this was an attempt to build confidence, cascade new ways of understanding and to propagate sense making, informed through action research, amongst South African women.