Art and Design Commons^™

Ecological Functions Of The Document In Art And Design: Diplomatic Documents In Artistic Inquiries, Yann Aucompte

Proceedings from the Document Academy

A certain ecologist art form has been on the rise for the past twenty years. Those artworks include documents. The analysis will take two examples : Tale as Tool, and Chroniques de l’accueil. The use of documents doesn't deal with representation, as it used to be in art, but with inquiries. The ecological art tries to trigger testimonies and transformations of the common representation of nature. They don’t use documents as a trace but for their diplomatic capabilities. The document doesn’t record events or facts but it changes the situation. The ecological artists come with this paradoxical art stance : …

Art Therapy Awareness: A Social Media Campaign, Hannah Barnes

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

A push towards advocating for mental health has made mental health services and care a primary focus. There are numerous ways to receive mental health care, art therapy being one option. This project seeks to provide information and resources on art therapy while also bringing awareness to the field and challenging misconceptions.

Always Judge A Book By Its Cover, Abby Miller

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The goal for this honors project is to build my illustration portfolio and to explore the world of children's book illustration. This project will facilitate my improvement in design layout, theming, and illustration. I would love to pursue a job involving children's book illustrations at some point in the future and completing this project would help me to understand the challenges that come with designing such covers, it would improve my ability to illustrate in a purposeful manner, and it would strengthen my portfolio overall.

Graphic Design & Painting, Emily Zepp

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Starting with the desire to explore the connection between GD and painting, I realized the only difference between the two is the context in which the work is created. Both graphic design and painting seek to impart messages upon the viewer and explore a certain perspective. Success can be measured in both disciplines by the effectiveness of the communicated message.

Women's Hall Of Fame, Brianna Kean

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

No matter how you identify we can all take actions in support of gender equality. Women have come a long way in society since Sacagawea’s time, but that doesn’t mean we live in an equal world. I was inspired by these ten women, and I hope you are too. Take that inspiration and turn it into action, so that maybe one day people might honor you for supporting women’s rights. This project honors ten women throughout history that have made an impact on women's rights and societal values. I created a portrait, a bio, and a poem that aims at …

An Exploration Into Public Art, Samantha Fazio

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project explores both the processes of designing and creating a mural and the community impact of public art. It aims to answer questions including: What goes into creating a mural? What is public art and why is it important? How does it socially and economically impact the community and its members? In doing this project, I aimed to gain a deeper understanding of how to create a mural and of the greater cultural context that public art projects exist in.

A Study In Transparency, Rachel Wilson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In a generation that feels more lost than ever, we need transparency in order to feel less alone. We need to see others, and we need to truly see ourselves. This is my way of being seen, and in turn, helping others to feel seen and understood. When I was in middle school I began to record my daily life and thoughts in journals, which evolved to help me cope as I grew up. In putting these pages on display, I’m presenting myself. That’s Rachel Wilson. I’m a writer, a designer, an artist, maybe a song writer. Maybe a lot …

Community Through Commonality: Growth Beyond The Academic While In College, Lekesha Parkman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

I’ve drawn on the knowledge I have gained while attending The University of Akron to complete this project. Before I became a student, I carried myself differently but in my years here I have grown in a variety of areas and have also had the privilege of seeing some of my classmates grow in similar ways. My project is multifaceted and each piece is necessary to the other components. It consists of an essay, interviews, photography and full size portraits. During this process I hoped to convey an appreciation for people and their experiences. The participants included in my project …

Cleo’S Crown: An Original Illustrated Children’S Book, Rachael Mion

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

As children, our imagination is extremely vast and unpredictable, and the

books we read influence how we view the world. As we grow, many people slowly

lose the ability to get lost in their imagination. With Cleo’s Crown, I wanted to bring

back some of the magic that inspired me as a child, and the art is heavily influenced

by physical representations of magic and creativity. This project was created to spark

others imagination and remind them of their childhood. Even after the book and my

exhibition is completed, I am determined to share and hopefully publish Cleo’s

Crown. I …

With Love, Greta Conley

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Greeting cards are an important piece of communication that people don't often utilize as much they can. This paper explores many aspects of these small paper cards including the looks of the current greeting card market, an average consumer's relationship to greeting cards, and how professionals create them. With technology and social media as a distraction, it can be more difficult to remember to send cards, and their great impact can be forgotten. The project got its origins after reflecting upon how much greeting cards have had an impact on my own life and wondering how they affect the lives …

Typemaking, Rebekah Sorensen

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objective of this project is an exploration of typemaking—an analysis including the development of letterforms to the various methods in printing these forms, including the rich history behind these developments—which ultimately results in the form of communication known as graphic design. Research begins with the history of print processes and evolving typographic styles, providing a comprehensive understanding of how typography has been applied as a means of communication, and the benefits to society throughout time. The information is then applied through the digital design of letterpress type, followed by the physical production of these pieces using a range of …

Explorations In Book Binding Techniques, Kristen Faux

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project is to explore different binding methods and techniques used in book creation. The final product will be 4-5 books created using the binding methods. The contents of these books will be research about the methods used as well as a description of the creation process. The final books will be displayed in the Projects Gallery at the Myers School of art, in the Fall semester of 2019.

Designing A Website For A Non-Profit Organization, Kristen Lauck

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this honors project is to redesign and launch a website for the nonprofit organization Better Future Facilitators. Better Future Facilitators is a 501c3 non-profit organization that helps homeless men and women start their own businesses by providing them with the education, skills, and support necessary to be successful and break the cycle of homelessness.

Starting June 3rd, I will be writing website copy, taking photographs, reorganizing content, and designing a simple website layout for betterfuturefacilitators.org via Wix.com’s website creator. This website will allow the organization to better communicate with their target public and create a secure place …

Led Screen Resolution: A Lego Visualization, Andrew S. Trowbridge

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

As a graphic designer, understanding the way a computer displays type and image is extremely beneficial. Before going into college, my knowledge of how a line of ones and zeros translates to a full color, high definition screen of pixels was abstract at best. This project serves to explore and demonstrate the meaning and process of LED screen resolution through a more playful and tangible lens of LEGO® bricks.

LEGOS® encourage the creative, child-like side of us. The bricks become a doorway into another side of learning. It pushes us to not be afraid to explore and delve deeper into …

Interaction As A Lost Art, Megan Steele

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In today’s day and age, people are consumed by technology. We tend to use phone and email rather than meeting up in person to share the experiences in our lives. It’s easier, more convenient, and quicker, but in-person interaction is a critical key in keeping relationships alive. Body language, tone of voice, and emotional cues are absent or easily taken out of context when using technology to communicate. The use of electronics takes away human presence.

This exhibition focused on encouraging the idea of meeting up with people face-to-face whether it’s a long time friend, or a stranger. The mural …

The Bunny Who Wore A Red Hat Children's Book, Alyssa N. Myers

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

As an artist as well as a developer, having the ability to think both creatively and critically has helped me become an excellent problem solver. This along with the experience in animation for which I long will transform me to become a great storyteller as well. There is beauty in a universal language that can bring others together, and I believe that is what animation and illustration can accomplish. This project has given me the opportunity to incorporate my illustration skills, practice the writing aspect of storytelling, and develop a small animated trailer for marketing the book. Nevertheless, bringing something …

The Call Of The Undertow, Rebekah Bradford

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Artist Statement

Prior to becoming a graphic design student, I was very interested in illustration. I wanted an opportunity to hone my illustration skills, focus on one consistent style of illustration, consistently draw the same characters, and practice writing. Creating a children’s book gave me the opportunity to do all of those things. And, after several semesters of work, it’s great to finally see The Call of the Undertow completed! I hope that you enjoy reading this story and looking at the images because I enjoyed creating it.

Hand Lettered, Jennifer L. Shaw

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Around this time last year, I discovered hand lettering on chalkboards around Folk for the NASAD accreditation show. I found these pieces to be particularly inspiring and wanted to learn how to create something similar. Having absolutely no experience with hand lettering I knew that this was going to be a long process. I tasked myself with creating 100 small pieces in varying styles to teach myself hand lettering. I was inspired to end the project with a large chalkboard mural about the school of art to then be donated to the school when the project is complete. The reason …

Work It: A Study In Fashion Photography Portraiture, Dominic J. Iudiciani

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Fashion is a device with which the perception of one’s appearance is manipulated. It is a device that is used across all cultures to identify, symbolize, isolate, and appropriate. It is figuratively and literally woven into the fabric of humankind as a whole. Fashion has the ability to reinforce gender or create dissonance within it through androgynous silhouettes. It can express strength and confidence or emphasize vulnerability.

Through this study, the use of specific studio lighting techniques accentuates design elements of a highly curated collection of avant-garde, 21^st century garments. Drape, texture, form, and luster are but a few …

Roam: Where She Goes, Tamara Lewis

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The app, Roam, was designed to be a one-stop destination for all happenings and information related to, and tailored for, the lesbian community. With the world moving toward the digital age and mobile app development becoming its own category for streamlining information, I wanted to create a platform for consumers to access the information they needed that fit the fast-paced lifestyle of today. More specifically, I wanted to design an app for a travel guide that gave the user all the information and material in one source.

Chinese Chess Site, Andrew M. Krigline

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project was an effort to demonstrate my technical abilities gained during my time at the University of Akron to design and develop a website dedicated to educating English speakers about Chinese Chess. The design was mocked up and prototyped with sketches and Photoshop. I used a multitude of web techniques when developing the website, including HTML5, CSS3, SASS, jQuery, and Bootstrap. My overall approach was to design a site that felt Asian by way of aesthetics and typography, but also to break the information down into digestible chunks.

Honors Project Database Ui Redesign, Fred L. Johnson Jr.

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

For my Honors Project I designed a new user interface for the Honors Project Database on the Honors College website. I also developed training materials for the Honors College staff and facilitated a training session for them that showed them how to keep the database updated.