Abstract
Visual plagiarism is a persistent challenge in art and design, where the boundaries between inspiration, referencing, and copying are often ambiguous. Over the past seven years, my research has laid the groundwork for addressing this issue. Cut and Paste, a study investigating perceptions of undergraduate art and design students, resulted in the development of a conceptual framework for addressing Visual Plagiarism. Project Echo introduced a modular toolkit aimed at pre-tertiary educators, while the KATS framework—focusing on differing levels of Knowledge, incorrect Assumptions, lack of Time, and lack of Support—highlighted key barriers to addressing visual plagiarism for art and design faculty. The emergence of AI tools for image generation adds a further level of complexity to this discourse, raising new moral and ethical concerns regarding visual integrity and image ownership. Building on my previous research, my latest project explores these challenges from a multi-stakeholder perspective, engaging international art and design faculty and industry professionals through participatory design workshops and in-depth interviews to co-create resources and establish best practices. This paper first outlines the key findings and impact of my earlier research before introducing the objectives and research trajectory of my latest initiative. Through the recently established Design Ethics and Visual Integrity Lab (DEVIL), this work seeks to foster a deeper understanding of visual integrity while equipping educators and professionals with the tools to navigate the evolving ethical challenges of image production and consumption in contemporary design education and creative practice.
Presenters
Lisa WinstanleyAssistant Professor, School of Art Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Cheryl Chong
Research Associate, School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Visual Plagiarism, AI Ethics, Design Education, Visual Integrity, Participatory Design
