Arts and Humanities Commons^™

More Than Just Video Games: Analyzing Japanese Game Design 1985 - 1995, Gerald Demattia

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This thesis is an exploration of how the Japanese experience in the second half of the 20^th century shaped video game design in Japan from 1985-1995 – particularly the formation of the Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) genre. To understand the connection between the Japanese experience and JRPGs, research for this thesis was conducted around specific game developers and their creations, namely: Yuji Horii and Dragon Quest; Shigesato Itoi and Mother 1 & 2; and Tajiri Satoshi and the Pokémon games. The crux of this paper centers on primary source interviews with developers where social commentary was cited …

Chinese Gardens: Solutions For Urban Nature Deficit, Zachary K. Warner

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

Research shows that time spent in nature is good for human health and well-being. However, as the world’s population becomes more concentrated in urban areas regular time in nature, especially extended time, is becoming more difficult to have. On the other hand, Chinese gardens can provide one solution to this problem because they have a unique way of providing a naturalistic space within a small area. Despite this fact, there aren’t many Chinese style gardens outside of China. Therefore, the objective of this thesis was to identify possible barriers to using Chinese garden design principles and construction techniques, then address …

Waiting Room, Adam Lefebvre

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

Waiting can be exasperating, but sometimes that helplessness, knowing there is nothing to do but wait, is a comfort.

I have come to understand the value of the handmade through using and living with thoughtfully crafted objects. I am attracted to goods made by people who give voice to their material. When this is done well, I slow down and pay more attention to the object and the task they are performing.

Attraction and distraction. What are the differences between objects meant to attract our attention and those meant to distract? I would much rather lead a life full …

The Role Of Designers In Promoting Healthy Masculinity With An Approach To Stopping Violence Against Women And Girls, Fatemeh Abolbashari

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While awareness about violence against women and girls is growing, there is still a lack of evidence about what changes behavior to prevent it from happening. As a graphic designer, I wanted to find the root problem of this issue and work towards a solution. Through my research and questioning, I concluded that this problem begins with men’s thoughts on hierarchy, language, and behavior, and supported by a prevalence of toxic masculinity in men’s culture.

Where does this violence come from? What has society done to raise this kind of man? Violence against women and girls is being couched in …

Scenic Design For “Topdog Underdog”, Austin Aschbrenner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The 2019 production of Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks at the University of Arkansas was produced with a guest director who, throughout the process of the production, experimented with the typical perception of the Pulitzer Prize winning play and added conceptual spins to help open the eyes of the mostly small town and rural based audience. This thesis will explore the various elements of this particular production and which of these elements contributed to exploring the depths of Topdog/Underdog.

This document will analyze the design process of the University of Arkansas’s production of Topdog/Underdog, and will analyze specific design choices which …

The Scenic Design Of "A Little Night Music", Kathleen Holmes

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A Little Night Music by Hugh Wheeler and Stephen Sondheim was produced by the University of Arkansas Department of Theatre in 2018-2019 academic school year. The scenic design process entailed a series of private meetings, design meetings, independent research, and analysis that all culminated into a full scenic design package. The show itself has many locations that quickly transition into one another. It was my challenge as the designer to cohesively design the scenery so that it could be transitioned easily and in time with the music. The major themes of the show that I based the design around were …

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.

The Use Of Diverse And Varied Cultural Inspiration In Visual Development, Minna Zhang

Theses - ALL

This thesis aims to show different cultures in children's literary works, to help them to understand different cultures and backgrounds. Our world is quickly developing, people can observe various kinds of cultures through the internet. We are becoming more and more aware of education, which also casts a vigorous development on the children's education industry. How to show different cultures in children's literary works to let them understand each other from different cultural backgrounds?

My thesis is based on oriental culture and adapted from Andersen's story The Snow Queen from Western culture. Through the combination of different elements, this visual …

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 …

In Hindsight: Non-Visible Patch Points, Erik Ordaz Lozano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Exhibition consisting of seven ceramic vessels. I constructed these objects on the potter’s wheel by throwing and joining sections together based on a set of loose measurements and visual guidelines I have developed using slips and underglazes for mark making and soda firing for final surface treatment. This work is the result of my reflections on the concepts of form, shape, balance, time, and connection.

“More Beautiful Than God!”: Hair And Makeup Design For Eugene O’Neill’S Ah, Wilderness, Jackson L. Jones

Honors Theses

This thesis follows an undergraduate theatre designer’s process of designing and realizing hair and makeup for the University of Southern Mississippi’s Spring 2020 production of Eugene O’Neill’s Ah, Wilderness! The student conducted a thorough script analysis, researched Edwardian style and society, and collaborated with the production’s artistic team to produce effective hair and makeup designs and fulfill practicum requirements.

Designing Theatre Lighting For New Works Festival 2020, Bridger P. Caicedo

Honors Thesis

Lighting Design encompasses a major part of the theatre experience and this responsibility must not be taken lightly. It requires extensive preparation, expertise, technological expertise, and quite a bit of creativity. I have since experienced most of this process and learned an incredible amount about how to design a show. Over the course of this project, I outlined goals and mile markers to measure my progress until the project was completed and opening night filled the eyes and hearts of the audience. Unfortunately, this progress was harshly and quickly halted by the emergence of the worst global pandemic in almost …

Wafuku: An Exploration Of Historic Japanese Apparel And The Future Of The Kimono Form, Elaina M. Reck

Senior Theses

This thesis is an exploration of historical Japanese dress for women, especially focusing on the kimono. It will delve into the comparisons between Western and Japanese dress (respectively yōfuku and wafuku), especially focusing on form and silhouette. It will conclude with an examination of the current status of the kimono, what led to its demise, but also what recent revitalization efforts have been made in Japan. The companion creative portion is a collection of modern clothing that is inspired by elements of these historic garments, showing that these design elements are timeless. I desire for this project to be …

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 …

Uniting Maternity Care With Neonatal Intensive Care: Analysis Advancing Hospital Experiences For Families Of Newborns Through Design, Stephanie Legg

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The landscape of childbirth has changed immensely over the last century. Medical intervention has surpassed the needs of mother and infant to be together when either requires medical attention. By bringing medical equipment for both into a single hospital room, separation between the two will be decreased. For this study, mothers of infants admitted to neonatal intensive care were questioned with a mix-methods survey to discover what challenges they faced in order to amend the built environment to increase their satisfaction with their hospital and post-birth experience. Mothers showed less ability to interact with their infants when medical needs were …

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 …

Arabic Beyond Arabic, Abir Zakzok

Theses and Dissertations

Arabic is the best and the most complicated language of all time!” Even though this statement seems like an exaggeration, it is what I grew up hearing; from my Arab parents as a child, my Arab teachers as a student, and my Arab customers as a salesperson. The Arabic language has a significant role in Arabs’ identity, yet most Arabs only scratch the surface and do not fully grasp the embedded meaning of the language. I have long been fascinated by the relationship between language and community as well as how it translates to design - specifically, the relationship between …

Hidden Gem: Realizing The Value Of Community In Healthcare Environments, Nicole Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Holistic approaches in healthcare address a problem from its root causes. The American healthcare model – both its treatment and distribution methods – is among the many issues that divides the nation. We have found ourselves with millions of uninsured people among a growing population where chronic illness is on the rise among adults and children, especially within low-income demographics (Goodman & Conway, 2016). Though this is a widespread epidemic, only recently has there been any effort to question and reform traditional healthcare.

The way that wellness is assessed in America has been detrimental to patient outcomes …

Creating The World Of Newsies: The Musical, Benjamin Kramer

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This document is a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the Master of Fine Arts Degree in theatre. It is a detailed account of the author Benjamin Kramer’s artistic process in producing the scenic design for Minnesota State University, Mankato’s production of Newsies: The Musical in the fall of 2019. The thesis chronicles the scenic designer’s artistic process beginning with an early production until the end of performances in five chapters: early production analysis, historical and critical perspective, journals, post production analysis and process development. Appendices and works cited and consulted are included.