Date of Award
Spring 5-22-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
Graphic Design
First Advisor
Ryan Waller
Second Advisor
Elizabeth Goodspeed
Third Advisor
Clara Balaguer
Abstract
Optima. Optimal. Optimism. Optimalism.
Optima is a humanist typeface created by designer Hermann Zapf (German, male)
Optimal is what design—and life—in 2026 wants to be: maximum productivity, maximum output. But optimal for whom, and by whose measure?
Optimism is what you find in jeepney decalomania, or sari-sari store signage in the Philippines. It is the joy of everyday making, an assemblage of color and humble material. In Clara Balaguer’s words: of turning shit into gold.
Optimalism is my (Filipino, female) thesis; an accumulation of what I've learned trying to persist in graphic design. This is its progression: a mastery of craft, that caring about a letterform is not precious but ethical, a practice of attention that extends to everything; a critique of a design culture increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and the logic of optimization, where speed and maximum profit have replaced discernment and authorship; and a turn toward critical optimism grounded in Filipino collectivity—the relational labor of making together—and, following curator Patrick Flores, a constellation rather than a canon: authorship as proximity and co-presence, not hierarchy; and resilience—remaining steadfast amidst forces beyond our control.
Between the perfectionism that optimization demands and the pessimism it produces, there is another way of working.
Recommended Citation
Cayosa, Clara F., "Optimalism" (2026). Masters Theses. 1645.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/1645
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