Drawings and Traditional Ghanaian Adinkra Symbols: Proposal Drawings of Emmanuel Ofosu Kwateng Architectural Designs

Adinkra Symbols are multifaceted by virtue of proliferating of ideas and exploration springing up across its symbolism and philosophy. The proliferating of ideas and exploration of Adinkra symbolic motifs has to lead the symbols to be amalgamated into several disciplined in academics such as drawing. However, drawing now has liberated from the traditional sense of supporting other disciplines to a medium of expression now, for this proposal drawing studies. This study reviews recent drawings of Architectural Designs by Emmanuel Ofosu Kwateng, a 21 years of age student of the University of Education, Winneba which adopts drawing as a medium to explore the multifaceted of Adinkra symbols in his Architectural Designs. Showing Emmanuel Ofosu Kwateng experimentation of adapting Ashanti’s Adinkra symbols in Architectural Designs this paper investigates how traditional Ashanti’s Adinkra Symbols and its visual culture is restaged and detoured in contemporary art-space to create artworks that not only bear cultural identity but possesses qualities that define contemporary art in both drawing and Architecture. The results to this search show that the philosophy and visual studying of Ashanti Adinkra Symbol exist in hybrid nature that can be appropriate into several disciplines for multifaceted form in contemporary art since it enables the re-invention of Ashanti Adinkra symbol for rich visual culture in contemporary art practices and techniques. This appropriated version of Ashanti’s Adinkra symbols in an Architectural Designs situate Emmanuel Ofosu Kwateng practices into the minimalist approach to simplicity as the symbols already exist in simple forms. The proposal drawings conferred here explain the practices of contemporary art in the 21st century can refer to cultural philosophies and symbols to produce new visual forms of realities reflecting 21st-century artistic development.Keywords: Proposal drawing, Adinkra symbol, Studio practice, Architectural design, and Minimalism art.DOI: 10.7176/ADS/80-02Publication date: January 31st 202

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND CUSTOMER LOYALTY: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF VISUAL BRANDING

This paper brings to light the powerful connection of visual branding of a product leading to customer loyalty. Thus, the visual impact of a product from the concept level, early sketches to trademarked logos, complements of branding approach, or the final endorsement level. The study relied on a survey that had 150 respondents as the sample. Purposive sampling and simple random sample procedures were used to select Nestle-limited graphic designers and customers. We show visual branding acts as a mediator between product development and customer loyalty. A survey is distributed to graphic designers of Nestle Limited in the manufacturing sector to collect empirical data. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) are used to analyze the data. The data was gathered using a standardized inquiry form specifically a five-point Likert scale. The results show that graphic designers contribute to product development leading to customer loyalty. We demonstrate that there is a partial mediating effect between product development and customer loyalty through visual branding. The main goal is to ensure graphic designers use visual branding to communicate reliable information to customers through drawing, color, shape, and design of a product, which would boost overall product performance, leading to customer loyalty

Recapturing the Spirit in Ancient Cooking Pots

Cooking pots have been important in understanding ancient social and technological environments. In Ghana, the traditional cooking pot is a common sight in most rural communities; same can however not be said in the urban areas. This study thus revisits the traditional cooking pot, investigating its physical characteristics and its relevance in the modern Ghanaian society. The study was descriptive, using primary data collected from 222 respondents selected from selected pottery centres in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in analyzing the data collected from the respondents with the help of the statistical package SPSS (version 22). The study established that the earlier techniques used in developing the traditional cooking pots stood the rigorous demands on their materials’ durability, making them survive for several centuries as evidenced by some archeological findings of early pottery products. The study also established that the ancient cooking pots had better fracture strength with higher ability to survive impact. It was observed that ancient cooking pots had better thermal conductivity and demonstrated higher skill level. However, the study observes that the traditional cooking pots have reduced in both purpose and symbolism and subsequently reduced in current usage. The study identifies the traditional cooking pot’s weak aesthetic appeal as a main factor driving its dwindling relevance. The study recommends the need for the pottery industry as a whole to be developed through a systematic integration of an improved quality of the various class of pottery product into societal demands and deliberately positioned to attract the needed patronage across the various societal engagements and needs. Keywords: Pottery, Cooking Pots, Clay DOI: 10.7176/ADS/97-03 Publication date: December 31st 202