Parsons School of Design
BFA Communication Design
Thesis 2016

Parsons School of Design
BFA Communication Design
Thesis 2016

Genius, Disturbed, Both, or Neither
Katie Minchak

Genius, Disturbed, Both, or Neither challenges the relationship between authorship, anonymity, identity, and the ways in which persona is crafted through the internet. 
The story is framed through a cultural lens 
by following one active and anonymous author 
on Craigslist that fits 
the archetype of a 
tortured artist.

The chosen user, DannyMcDelta, writes in a turbulent stream of consciousness. Genius, Disturbed, Both, or Neither takes place in the small town of Crystal, Minnesota. Informative graphs and journal entries are used to introduce DannyMcDelta’s situation, relationships, and way of life. As the book progresses, and DannyMcDelta becomes less lucid, graphic devices such as typography and layout structure lose control. Readers become immersed in the psyche of an anonymous person. The final product exists as part character study and essay in which identity, the private and the public, and knowledge and the unknown are juxtaposed. The purpose as the author and designer is to find the intersection of persona and reality. Through investigative research, Genius, Disturbed, Both, or Neither explores what happens when content that begins online is taken out of context 
and brought into the physical world.

Selwa Abd

Ashley Seung Hyun Ahn

Natasha Alia

Aviva Atri

Marissa Baca

Miles Barretto

Lili Marie Bravi

Olivia Brodbar

Carla Campos-Rodriguez

Jiaying Cao

Robert Capaldo

Janet Chan

Purwa Chauhan

Patrick Chen

Sarada Chen

Linette Cheong

Eunsil Choi

Sung Ji Choi

Brittany Cutrone

Arianna De Gasperis

Paola Delucca

Rubina Melati Diran

Ann Dwyer

Dilan Emre

Douglas Escalante

Joshua Estrella

Joe Louis Evans

Marius Franc

Ceilidh Fraser

Gaby Garuz

Jiayi Ge

Stella Giavos

Meher Goel

Em Grey

Alyssa Gruber

Yu Bean Han

Cherish Hsiaohui Ho

Jasmine Hong

Jay Hsiao

Irene Hwang

Louise Pei Foong Hyde

Sanghyun Ji

Sharon (Eun Rae) Kim

Lisa Kim

Sharon Kim

David Klein

Teresa Koh

Da Min Lee

Lauren Elizabeth Lee

Stephanie Sumin Lee

Dana Li

Haowei Lin

Lucas Long

Lisa Looye

Zongliang Lou

Ankita Menon

Lauren Miller

Katie Minchak

Isabela Montalvo

Nathalie Moreno

Samah Mudasar

Shirin Muradova

Supisara Ngaovithunvong

Gabriela Nisenbaum

Inyegumena Nosegbe

Zoe Oleshansky

Yeon Soo Park

Anna Peditto

Pamela Pombo

Lisa Sakai Quinley

Josephine Rahadi

Sarah Rose Reichert

Ana Julia Rodriguez

Rick Rodriguez

Fernanda Romero

Hannah Rosen-Hamilton

Ivana Roumiantzeff-Pachkevitch

Taylor Russo

Ariella Saragossi

Nengneng Shen

Kripa Sial

Maurann Stein

Kurt Stives

Minji Sung

Vanshika Swaika

Nicholas Tanzman

Ana Cecilia Thompson Motta

Joel Tschong

Yue Wang

Laurie Waxman

Kevin Wen

Yingmeng Xu

Anna Yamoto

Jiawei Yan

Vivian Yang

Xiao Q. Yang

McLayne Ycmat

Evelyn Zhang

Xuan Zhang