Digital Commons Network^™

Motive And Responsibility As Influences On Graphic Design Outcomes, Jackie Clements

Theses

In the world of visual communication many message-making strategies are used to convey information to a defined audience. The ways in which these strategies are used can greatly impact the meaning and success of a graphic design solution. Often strong emotion is employed to intentionally influence a defined audience. In addition, the format and context in which facts are presented in a message are also greatly effective. When looking at the potential communication power that solutions can hold, it is important to assess the types of messages being communicated and related ethical responsibilities that accompany them. This thesis study focuses …

Making Time, Christine Coffey

Theses and Dissertations

We are living in an age where the quantity of information has exceeded its quality. No doubt the digital and information revolutions have provided the world with countless positive improvements, but they have also increased the speed at which we live and work to the detriment of the heath of our world. This project explores ways in which designers can aid in an effort to slow down in order to reinvigorate a more sustainable graphic design product.

Typography As Performance: Bringing The Stage Into The Design Process, Ann Ford

Theses and Dissertations

Graphic design is historically a visual language consisting of text and image composed for the purposes of sending messages in print format. The voice of graphic design is typography—structuring and arranging letter forms into visual language. Over the past two decades, new communication formats such as motion and interaction have frequently been related to performance. My intention, however, is to explore how performance can influence typography in two and three dimensions, and even in digital environments.

Fundamentals In Nature, Andrea Quam

Theses and Dissertations

This project explores innovative methodologies for design education. It is an investigation of teaching design fundamentals in an outdoor classroom.

The Influence Of Context On Message-Making And Audience Reception In Graphic Design, Sarah Kirchoff

Theses

The reception of a graphic design solution is greatly affected by the environment in which it is viewed: the space around it, and how it is approached and accessed. Obviously, the designer cannot control the specific life experiences that shape a viewer's personal response, or how that viewer may be situated in a broader, cultural context. Designers often have at least some degree of control over contextual factors that contribute to the message-making potential of a graphic design solution, as well as the form the solution takes, and how it is presented to an audience. When carefully constructed, content, application, …

American Sign Language: An Influence On Graphic Design Problem-Solving, Allison Ucci

Theses

In American Sign Language (ASL), variables of communication such as volume, tone, emotion, and emphasis are represented through the deliberate use of these variables which include: handshape, location of the sign in proximity to the human body, movement, direction, and repetition. ASL imposes strict rules of how and when to use each of these variables. Together, the rules and variables create a language of communication that is of equal value to spoken language. Similarly, these attributes currently exist in graphic design message making. The alternation of one or all variables in design can also result in an entirely new idea. …

Argent Sound Recordings: Multimodal Storytelling, Matthew L. Klimas

Theses and Dissertations

ARGENT SOUND RECORDINGS explores the integration of visual, written and sonic elements to tell a story. "The Silver Bell," a fairy tale, is delivered through the internet – providing users an opportunity to experience and interpret a constructed narrative under the guise of an independent record label website.

Voice By Design: Experiments In Redistributing Media, Bizhan Khodabandeh

Theses and Dissertations

In this project I conduct two experiments in redistributing media power and reflect upon how successful they were. The experiments include a poster campaign specific to Richmond and a project dealing with educating people about guerrilla media techniques.

Gaining Attention And Encouraging A Response: My Criteria For Successful Graphic Design., Kerry Scott Jenkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As a graphic designer, my goal is to clearly express my clients' message to their intended audience. Based on the diversity of my clients and their products and services, finding a consistent style in my projects might be difficult, although there are usually some typical traits. With examples of my work and dialogue from leaders in the graphic design industry, I intend to point out a common thread that runs through all successful design projects, regardless of the projects' designer, era, or individual design elements (e.g., typography, copywriting, color, layout, imagery). Success comes from graphic design's ability to gain attention …

Effective Use Of Negative Space In Graphic Design, Dong Hyun Lee

Theses

This thesis will investigate the potential use of effective negative space to improve the readability of text typography in graphic design. Negative space in two-dimensional design is also referred to as "white space" -- which is void of text or graphics. Negative space is more than just the background of a design. This thesis will demonstrate negative space as an element of design itself and develop a systematic approach to address negative space as it occurs in the following: margins, background, space for the eye to rest, signal that there is a break or end in the communication, variation in …

The Impact Of Variable Data Print On Usability In Design, William Wells

Theses

In a world where people see, process and remember information differently, the question arises: Is technology being used in a manner that acknowledges and addresses user differences to the fullest extent? Currently, new print technologies like Variable Data Printing (VDP) are only being used to create customized direct mailing pieces and personalized products for the purpose of marketing, sales and promotion. However, VDP introduces the ability to change data and design elements in printed documents on an individual basis, making it possible to address differences in visual and cognitive abilities, language and culture, and situational considerations. Applying this concept of …

Outside Inside Out: Perspectives On Social Anxiety, Kevin Andrew Hagan

LSU Master's Theses

“Outside Inside Out” is a study of how the visual perspective of an installation design can be used to create interaction, animation, and multiple messages. Traditionally, graphic designers have tended to present their messages either as flat printed materials, such as newspapers and billboards, or as videos/animations on television and the Internet. While both of these mediums provide an adequate means to convey a message, they fall short in presenting information to the audience in a non-obtrusive, interactive form. By using a technique I developed called “Passive Interactivity,” designers can use a viewer’s visual perspective to create interaction, animation, and …

What Are The Visual Communication Requirements Of A Built Environment?, Robert Harland

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper aims to explore the role that visual communication plays in the urban environment, and the potential for further discussion as a single domain. The scope of enquiry covers aspects of Geography, Urban Design and Graphic Design, exploring briefly the broad contexts for the subject, and the relationship between the emerging disciplines that are playing an increasing and highly visible role in how we use public spaces. It concludes that Graphic Design is playing a significant role in determining the success or failure of the multitude of behaviour settings in the built environment, and a closer relationship with Urban …

Human Centering Design Across Dimensions, B. Hanington

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The uneven application of human centered research and design across disciplines is evident in both practice and education. In particular, graphic or communication design is much less familiar than industrial or interaction design with human research and testing. The underlying human criteria for design activity should know no dimensional boundaries. The creation of printed material to convey information, digital interfaces for devices or web-based interactions, and three-dimensional products and environments, all share a foundation of human use. There is no reason why any design discipline should be disadvantaged in the sensitivity to human factors, and therefore in the exposure to …

The Barbershop: A Photographic Documentation And Exhibition, Justin K. Howard

Theses and Dissertations

In this project I explore the environment that surrounds and frames my life experiences. Interests in form, architecture, vernacular typographyand community blend into a photographic documentation—communicating my perceptual experience of Richmond barbershops through public exhibition.

The Unwantables: An Exploration Of Visual Narrative, Marius I. Valdes

Theses and Dissertations

The Unwantables is a creative project that has evolved from my lifelong interest in and relationship with visual stories. To me the most compelling aspect of visual storytelling is "imagination". The author possesses the ability to create new worlds, interesting characters, and situations that can have the potential to communicate about any topic. My project explores visual narrative as a communication tool to explain the role of imagination in my life.

Guanajuato: A Virtual Exhibit, Norma Elena Gonzalez

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis will present a virtual exhibition of a tourist destination in Mexico, Guanajuato City. By applying my previous experiences and the knowledge and skill acquired during this MFA program, I developed a Multimedia exhibition that encompasses a new virtual experience of the Mexican culture. This exhibition demonstrates my proficiency in the area of motion graphics.

Designing Without Boundaries., Mickey Glover

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis was written as a supporting paper for a graphic design exhibit for a Master of Fine Arts Degree. The focus of my design is the creation of successful pieces of expressive graphic design that defy many traditional or formal rules of design.

This thesis begins with a brief explanation of my methods and what I feel makes for good expressive design. These include a heavy reliance upon intuition, the necessity of traditional design education, historical and contemporary influences. I then characterize my motivations and methods of creating graphic design. Followed by the relation of my work to historical …

Environmental Graphic Design Program For The 220th Anniversary Of Rochester, New York, Nataya Brahmacupta

Theses

None provided.

Stuttering Awareness, Joshua Bodman

Theses

This thesis project will provide information about stuttering and attempt to eliminate some of the stigmas attached to the disorder. By increasing awareness, more light will be cast on stuttering, eliminating some of the burden of disfluency. The disorder will no longer be a mystery if people understand that stuttering is composed of concrete thoughts, feelings and actions. A publicized campaign will dispel some of the negative views of this disorder and reduce the pressures that are created in different speaking situations. These stuttering awareness goals will be disseminated through a collection of design applications. The awareness campaign as presented …

Design For Sensitive Topics: Empowering The Teen, Alison Fichter

Theses

None provided.

Structure Of Visual Storytelling And Graphic Design, Didon Danisworo

Theses

None provided.

Experiencing Discovery: Designing For Visual Delight, Sandy Knight

Theses

None provided.

Present Absence: The Visible And Invisible In Graphic Design, Michelle Carfagno

Theses

None provided.

Visual Propaganda In Editorial Design, Jarrod Gahr

Theses

The focus of this investigation is to determine how graphic design decision making can influence the understanding of information in news magazine articles ... this thesis will identify specific visual elements and show how the treatment of those elements can amplify or diffuse content bias.

Interplay: Dialogue Of The Systematic And Intuitive, Amy Fox

Theses

This thesis focuses on the congnitive activity of graphic designers, and the aim is to help the designer think about their thought developments that formulate their actions.

Medical Information Design: Empowering The Patient, Jon Benjamin-Rupp

Theses

The goals of this project revolve aound the development of a cancer information source book that will provide an accessible resource for cancer patients upon or soon after diagnosis.

Design For Public Service, Cristine Beckley

Theses

This thesis is aimed to use graphic design to increase volunteerism and aid in the alleviation of homelessness in Rochester, N.Y.

Graphic Design & Ubiquitous Graphic User Interfaces; The Third Wave Of Computing, Frank Marino

Theses

Graphic design is an integral component of user interface design. Ubiquitous computing is the a form of computing that is "everywhere all the time" through technology advances in hardware, software, and communication networks. Consumers are able to retrieve and send information whenever a task needs to be completed. Graphic design is part of the visual mechanism through which people interact with devices. The visual interactive components of these devices are the part of computing systems that are addressed in this project. This thesis addresses the problems that arise when people need to interact with several devices at a given time. …

Visual Syntax And Intelligence, Tanya Harding

Theses

This thesis project is concerned with the role that graphic designers have in making learning materials more effective. It is focused on the need for instructional materials to reflect current advances in cognitive psychology and our society's definition of intelligence. Most instructional materials today are outdated and ineffective. Some reasons are political, others are socio-economic, and some fall within the scope of the designed environment. Learning materials, especially textbooks, designed before the 1980's have been designed without standards, and at a time when intelligence was seen as a narrow list of abilities.