Date

7-21-2026

Department

School of Communication and the Arts

Degree

Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design (MFA)

Chair

Joseph Cleveland Wright

Keywords

Creativity, Creative Burnout, Creative Labor, Design Education, Graphic Design, Creative Identity, Mental Health, Creative Block, Intrinsic Motivation, Creative Process, Burnout Culture, Productivity Pressure, Artistic Practice, Creative Industries, Visual Communication Design, Creative Well-being, Innovation, Flow State, Design Thinking, Creative Resilience, Higher Education, Student Creativity, Workplace Burnout, Cultural Production, Self-Expression, Burnout Culture, Productivity, Creative Identity, Creative Block, Design Practice, Visual Storytelling, Creative Process, Artistic Burnout, Student Well-being, Creative Resilience, Design Research, Intrinsic Motivation, Flow Theory, Contemporary Creative Industries

Disciplines

Art and Design | Fine Arts

Abstract

In the creative industry, the phrase “fast-paced environment” is often treated as an essential ingredient for productivity and success. The contemporary design landscape operates within an output-driven system that prioritizes speed, visibility, and measurable worth, contributing to the growing commercialization of creativity. Within this framework, the creative process is often diminished or overlooked where it no longer serves efficiency, reducing creativity to a consumable outcome rather than a reflective and sustaining practice. As a result, creative professionals and students increasingly experience creative anxiety, burnout, and paralysis, alongside imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and self-doubt. These conditions are rarely examined as systemic outcomes and are instead normalized as necessary markers of growth. This dissertation, Murder of a Creative, investigates how such structures contribute to the erosion of creative identity and process. Drawing in part from self-reflexive inquiry, the author positions their own experiences as a case study to examine the internalization of these pressures and their impact on creative practice. To bring this critique into public awareness, the research is translated into a practice-based outcome in the form of a newspaper. Employing satire, dark humor, and sarcasm, the newspaper acts as a form of rebellion—subverting familiar media language to expose the contradictions of the contemporary creative industry. By framing the “murder” as a slow, systemic condition, the project invites audiences to reflect on these realities while encouraging creatives to reclaim the process as a space for exploration, resistance, and psychological well-being.

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