Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Overcoming The Myth Of The Contemporary “Starving Artist”: An Exploration Into The Fusion And Viability Of A 21st-Century Career In Art And Design, Miranda M. Myles Jackson

Masters Theses

This research explores the myth of the “starving artist” surrounding the pursuit of a career in the arts. Artists are often dubbed as starving due to the pre-conceived notion that careers in art do not provide longevity or financial stability. Due to this stigma, budding creatives are often dissuaded at home, school, or both from pursuing a career doing what they love. Arts programs are often cut and or remain underfunded, mainly due to this biased perception. Research indicates that careers in the arts have expanded exponentially due to its merge with various fields. According to both the STEM vs. …

Lettering Design: Using Handwritten And Illustrative Techniques To Improve Memorization, Kathryn Will

Senior Honors Theses

Graphic designers have many choices when designing and communicating with words which can be seen throughout history. Hand lettering techniques have been used for centuries to record information. Then with the development of moveable type came the mass production of reading materials and the introduction of typefaces. Today, much written communication is viewed through a digitized typeface on a screen. However, there has recently been a noticeable increase in hand lettered type, one of these reasons being that hand lettered type can be easier for people to remember. This paper and the visual application of the research examines how hand …

Almost Home Humane Society: From Creating A Marketing Tool To Adopting A Dog, Jan Alyssa Gayle Agaton

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

This article will consist of a reflection upon my community engagement experience with Almost Home Humane Society. For the Multimedia Writing course offered at Purdue, I chose to single-handedly take on a project in which I created a magazine to be individually mailed to past donors, serving as personalized appreciation for their help, as well as a request for future donations in an entertaining format. I personally pitched the idea to Almost Home Humane Society’s marketing manager, Justin Henry, and I worked alongside him to gather the information necessary to make the magazine successful and visually appealing to the target …

Turning The Page: A Design Thinking Approach To Increasing Literacy Advocacy In West Alabama, Justin C. Walters

Masters Theses

Through the problem/solution lens of design thinking, this research critically analyzes the promotional activities and materials used by the Literacy Council of West Alabama (LCWA) to determine their effectiveness in reaching both functionally illiterate populations as well as the fully-literate population aiming to work the advocacy front with this nonprofit organization. Qualitative data was gathered through the utilization of a web heuristic evaluation, as well as the evaluation of current marketing materials for LCWA; these insights were used to guide the design and creation of new print and digital marketing materials for the organization. Results of this research aimed to …

Branding On A Budget: Marketing In The Nonprofit Sector, Nicholas Biere

Honors Projects

“Branding on a Budget: Marketing in the Nonprofit Sector” This service learning project combines academic research with experiential service learning. The purpose of this project was to create a strong brand for BeInstrumental, a nonprofit music education organization from Toledo, Ohio through the creation of a graphic branding plan. Principles of visual communication technology, graphic design, marketing strategies, branding, and graphic design are all implemented in this project.

Gaia Bioplastics: A Design Exploration Of Bioplastics Through A Brand Campaign, Kelsey Long

Honors Program Theses and Projects

The world is drowning in petroleum-based plastics. Plastics and their byproducts have created an environmental crisis by polluting our oceans and negatively affecting human health and diverse ecosystems around the world. Alternative bioplastics sourced from plants, especially hemp, seaweed, and lignin (organic polymers in wood and bark), offer promising solutions. Still, bioplastics currently make up only one percent of the global plastics market. My undergraduate scholarship in Graphic Design aims to build a consumer awareness campaign of bioplastics and promote their viability through branding, logos, and advertising designs. Based on research into hemp, seaweed, and lignin-sourced bioplastics, I have developed …

Establishing & Applying Brand Guidelines For The Wood County Humane Society, Paige Isovitsch

Honors Projects

The purpose of this combined VCT Synthesis and Honors Project was to create consistent branding for the Wood County Humane Society (WCHS). The objectives were to create brand guidelines for the non-profit, and then implement the guidelines to create new marketing materials. This project is interdisciplinary in nature and includes visual design, marketing, and communications.

Many non-profits struggle with revolving staff, and some, such as WCHS, do not have a staff member with expertise in marketing and design. In the case of WCHS, this resulted in inconsistent branding that appeared unprofessional and confusing to the community. With this project, I …

Interaction Design For Retention., Susan H. Pallmann

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

UI/UX design, or interaction design, is still relatively new as a discipline and has not been well-studied. Interaction design is typically geared towards facilitating ease of use of technology for the person using it, also called the user. However, interaction design and digital media in general have great potential to impact emotion, action, and retention of information. This creative thesis develops several design principles that govern a resulting conceptual website and the design process behind it. The website brings the user interactively through a narrative and aims to make an otherwise unremarkable story more memorable. Although empirical data was not …

Hyperreal Communication, Idil Tayhan

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

”In societies where modern conditions of production prevail, all of life presents itself as an immense accumulation of spectacles.” -Guy Debord

Particularly in the contemporary era, image duplication and manipulation techniques have been advancing rapidly. These advancements are forming a new discourse around communication that is drastically different from its predecessors. For this reason, in the contemporary era, communication has become questionable in its truthfulness and sincerity. As a designer, I am concerned with the extreme commercialization and commodification of communication. My work looks to the situationist movement of the 60's, which sought to disrupt every cultural front in order …

Designing A School: Creating A Map For Pace University, Tanner Maple

Honors College Theses

The map of a university is an essential tool for students, not only for navigation but also to promote the campus. When the map is outdated, students don’t find it functional and it can not complete its purpose. With the map of Pace University’s downtown campus, a new design was needed to go with the renovations that are taking place. When redesigning the map, features that are seen amongst the most common maps should be considered in the design. One feature that most maps now have is some sort of interactivity. To include this, maps have an online version that …

User Research And Real User Problems: Improving The User Experience Of Online Shopping, Lauren Ciulla

Honors Scholar Theses

“User Research and Real User Problems: Improving the User Experience of Online Shopping” is a creative thesis project that incorporates user research, user experience design, and coding skills. The first phase of the project consisted of market research and generative user research to develop a plan for a shopping companion app. The findings of this research shaped the scope of the project according to user needs and established the basis of a plan to create a progressive web application and Google Chrome browser extension that will respond to specific user problems. These tools would solve three key user problems: users …

Quarantining And Dining, Madeline Flagg

Honors Projects

Quarantining and Dining captures and reflects the many ways in which comfort is provided through food. The project content was collected through food culture research, interviews, and observation and then mediated through Instagram. The Instagram feed has a designed aesthetic architecture and branding system that makes it distinct and identifiable. The Instagram account name can be found @Quarantininganddining. Although the project is rooted in Midwestern food culture, the perspectives provided are from across the United States, as well as from numerous occupations in order to express a diverse range of perspectives. The Instagram account encourages interaction and an exchange of …

Meritpatch - Family Collaborative Activities, Jason Allan Crouch

Masters Theses

There is no doubt that the modern family is very busy and disrupted by outside influences. Social trends and expectations have caused many families to become disconnected. There is research that points to overuse of technology as one culprit. Other research suggests that lack of spiritualism has negatively affected families. Regardless of the cause, it can be argued that the more disconnect within a family, the more likely it is for family members to experience negative social, emotional and/or health related issues as well as broken relationships. This study seeks to define family interactions and activities that support a healthy …

Digital Design Portfolio, Muyuan He

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Typography 2, Muyuan He

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Noah Fidlin Senior Art Portfolio, Noah J. Fidlin

Senior Art Portfolios

An art, photography and design magazine that combines analog and digital media.

Design Hub: Activating Community By Design, Ed Williams

Theses and Dissertations

MOTIVATION

At the turn of the century, Robert Putnam (2000, 27) wrote “...a powerful tide bore Americans into ever deeper engagement in the life of their communities, but a few decades ago that tide reversed and we were overtaken by a treacherous rip current.” Putnam is describing a loss of “social capital” throughout American society. Research suggests that many of our contemporary issues are the result of a decline in “social capital,” or “community.”

This pervasive lack of community is thought to be detrimental to “educational performance, safe neighborhoods, equitable tax collection, democratic responsiveness, everyday honesty, and even our health …