Art and Design Commons^™

Wellspring: Visual Development For An Animated Series, Jane Anderson

Master of Fine Arts in Digital Media Culminating Experience

This paper delves into the interconnected stages of worldbuilding and storytelling for animation. Beginning with a single character sketch, the project explores and reports multiple phases that investigate how ideas take shape across different artistic mediums. Both visual and narrative processes are analyzed, including character and environment design, comic creation, and the production of hand-drawn animation tests. Each stage functions not only as a method of artistic study but also as a means of refining the story’s tone, themes, and visual identity. These explorations inform the final component of the project - a comprehensive show pitch package. This pitch synthesizes …

The Absence Of Something: Addressing Underrepresented Lgbtqia+ Communities In Video Games Through Holistic Character Design Techniques, Lydia Myers

Master of Fine Arts in Digital Media Culminating Experience

This research identifies pain points and gaps in current LGBTQIA+ representation in the video games industry, and showcases the characters that I have created in response to those pain points. Despite the games industry representing LGBTQIA+ individuals often, certain communities under the umbrella are included less often, less accurately, and less respectfully than others. The goal of this research is to identify important considerations for respectfully portraying underrepresented queer communities in video games: specifically transgender, nonbinary, asexual, aromantic, and polyamorous communities, which are especially under-explored. My included characters were created via a holistic approach to character design. Despite my professional …

Methodologies For Generating Passive Income As A Digital Artist, Levi Stone

Master of Fine Arts in Digital Media Culminating Experience

This research provides an in-depth exploration of 3D workflow methodologies for digital merchants, how and why to implement them, and their correlation with passive income earnings. Digestible strategies regarding the development, packaging, marketing, and sale of assets for digital marketplaces are explored at length. Motivated by the state of the digital media industry, this research demonstrates that secondary income is possible through consistent, applied methodologies. Topics include environmental storytelling, the importance of being user friendly, material variance, and much more. The author demonstrates the impact of reframing your approach when designing products with the intention to sell, and explores the …

Ayo: A Creative Fusion Of Advertising And 3d Modeling, Onyedika Okonkwo

Master of Fine Arts in Digital Media Culminating Experience

This culminating experience project tells the story of Ayo, an original cereal mascot developed through the intersection of advertising strategy, personal storytelling, and 3D modeling. Rooted in my professional background as an art director, this project represents my transition from 2D print design to digital sculpting, blending branding principles with character-driven visual storytelling.

Ayo and the fictional cereal brand Surf ’n’ Crunch serve as a portfolio-ready advertising pitch, built through reflective practice. My creative evolution at ETSU: first attempting animation, discovering its limitations for my skillset and timeframe, and ultimately embracing 3D modeling as a medium that aligns more naturally …

The Art Of Fantasy Illustration, Kurt Woodward

Master of Fine Arts in Digital Media Culminating Experience

This Culminating experience project showcases the full process for creating fantasy illustrations in the context of creating a tabletop board game. This project embodies all the different artistic elements that can go into creating a fantasy board game such as card illustration, logo design, card design, and board game covers. The author demonstrates skill and understanding of these elements as they pertain to their own purpose in the grand scope of this project.

For Emily Whenever I May Find Her, Dinah Biga, Special Collections, Fleet Library

12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest 2026

Entry for the 12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening reception and award ceremony Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6:30pm, Fleet Library, 1st Floor Main Reading Room. Juror: Gabrielle Reed.

Helen Marie Besch… Sure Is A Student At Risd, Helen Besch, Special Collections, Fleet Library

12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest 2026

Entry for the 12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening reception and award ceremony Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6:30pm, Fleet Library, 1st Floor Main Reading Room. Juror: Gabrielle Reed.

One Unending Thing, Keira Callahan, Special Collections, Fleet Library

12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest 2026

Entry for the 12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening reception and award ceremony Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6:30pm, Fleet Library, 1st Floor Main Reading Room. Juror: Gabrielle Reed.

Unearthed Material, Hannah Chosid, Special Collections, Fleet Library

12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest 2026

Entry for the 12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening reception and award ceremony Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6:30pm, Fleet Library, 1st Floor Main Reading Room. Juror: Gabrielle Reed.

Chokor, Tauseeq Gulzar, Special Collections, Fleet Library

12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest 2026

Entry for the 12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening reception and award ceremony Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6:30pm, Fleet Library, 1st Floor Main Reading Room. Juror: Gabrielle Reed.

"Remove The Jacket", Shay Killeen, Special Collections, Fleet Library

12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest 2026

Entry for the 12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening reception and award ceremony Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6:30pm, Fleet Library, 1st Floor Main Reading Room. Juror: Gabrielle Reed.

Dolores (From "Lolita"), Minmin Liang, Special Collections, Fleet Library

12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest 2026

Entry for the 12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening reception and award ceremony Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6:30pm, Fleet Library, 1st Floor Main Reading Room. Juror: Gabrielle Reed.

Do Fish Have Dreams On Land?, Ellie Lin, Special Collections, Fleet Library

12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest 2026

Entry for the 12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening reception and award ceremony Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6:30pm, Fleet Library, 1st Floor Main Reading Room. Juror: Gabrielle Reed.

The Arcade Providence, Jacquelyn Rich, Special Collections, Fleet Library

12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest 2026

Entry for the 12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening reception and award ceremony Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6:30pm, Fleet Library, 1st Floor Main Reading Room. Juror: Gabrielle Reed.

A Day In The Life, Ruby Nemeroff, Special Collections, Fleet Library

12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest 2026

Entry for the 12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening reception and award ceremony Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6:30pm, Fleet Library, 1st Floor Main Reading Room. Juror: Gabrielle Reed.

What Does A Shoe Mean To You?, Lea Gyuwon Seo, Special Collections, Fleet Library

12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest 2026

Entry for the 12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening reception and award ceremony Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6:30pm, Fleet Library, 1st Floor Main Reading Room. Juror: Gabrielle Reed.

The Closest You'll Come To Flying, Lydia Smithey, Special Collections, Fleet Library

12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest 2026

Entry for the 12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening reception and award ceremony Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6:30pm, Fleet Library, 1st Floor Main Reading Room. Juror: Gabrielle Reed.

Resisting Facts Kills Jr, Maya Lakshmi Srinivasan, Special Collections, Fleet Library

12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest 2026

Entry for the 12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening reception and award ceremony Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6:30pm, Fleet Library, 1st Floor Main Reading Room. Juror: Gabrielle Reed.

Utopia, Mohan Qian, Special Collections, Fleet Library

12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest 2026

Entry for the 12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening reception and award ceremony Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6:30pm, Fleet Library, 1st Floor Main Reading Room. Juror: Gabrielle Reed.

Under The Feathers, Shawn Wang, Special Collections, Fleet Library

12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest 2026

INNOVATIVE STRUCTURE PURCHASE PRIZE | $375 Entry for the 12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening reception and award ceremony Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6:30pm, Fleet Library, 1st Floor Main Reading Room. Juror: Gabrielle Reed

.

Where Futures Grow, Joyce Zhang, Special Collections, Fleet Library

12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest 2026

Entry for the 12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening reception and award ceremony Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6:30pm, Fleet Library, 1st Floor Main Reading Room. Juror: Gabrielle Reed.

Mozgus, Damian Cerda, Madison Lopez

Computer Science and Software Engineering

The indie game market is flooded with genre experiments, yet few successfully combine fast-paced action with meaningful strategic decision-making. Our project aims to fill this gap by creating a game that fuses top-down action combat with resource-management tycoon mechanics. We found that in many games, the management phases lack mechanical stakes. Our goal was to intertwine these systems so that choices made in one phase meaningfully impact the other.

The Graphic Shift: Leveraging Superhero Graphica To Un-Ban Critical Conversations In The Secondary English Language Arts Classroom, Avery Clason

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis investigates the challenges that books are receiving during an era of social and political turmoil based on their content. Understanding why these books are polarizing for most readers and the general public is in direct connection with finding different books that can harbor the same conversations about dense topics and cultivating connections between students, the text, the world, and themselves. While there has been a search to find alternate books that are not considered "political flashpoints,” there has been limited research into the use of superhero graphica in the ELA classroom, especially in connection to utilizing this genre …

Ink (2025)

Rabble, 2014-

The student-run features magazine covering the fashion, art, music and culture worlds at VCU and in Richmond. Published annually in print and updated regularly online.

Adaptive Compulsion, Amanda A. Santos

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Adaptive

Adjective

Adap.tive ( ə-ˈdap-tiv)

of, relating to, or being a heritable trait that serves a specific function and improves an organism's fitness or survival

Compulsion

Noun

Com.pul.sion (kəm-ˈpəl-shən)

a repetitive behavior or mental act that a person feels driven to perform to alleviate the anxiety and distress caused by an unwanted thought or urge, known as an obsession.

For years we have lived in unprecedented times. From the worldwide quarantine in 2020 resulting from the pandemic, to our current US political crisis. The constant barrage of events is overwhelming and demoralizing.

The work in this gallery is a display …

Dwelling / Knowing / Loving: Imaging The Immanent Present, Joel Pasquarelli

All Theses

This thesis serves as an attempt to articulate, understand, and testify to my experiences within the immanent present. Defined as moments where the world impresses itself upon my awareness with such a force that it eclipses all else, the experience of immanence is necessarily undeniable and ephemeral. These moments are accompanied by a combined sense of exultation in the world’s existence and poignant longing for something beyond. I feel as though I am embedded within something great and meaningful, as the material world acts upon me, yet I remain ever unsatiated by this experience as the world inevitably returns once …

Make Ready: Productive Disruption And Interstitial Sites Of Graphic Design Practice, Peter Maybury

Theses

This thesis draws on five publications produced between 2010–22: My 2020 film installation Landfall; a series of four museum and gallery-published books made with artist Gerard Byrne (2010–18); Gall, my practice enquiry with Tom dePaor which encompasses film, writing, books, sculpture, curation, and gallery works; releases and live performances by my band Thread Pulls during the period 2010–12; and my exhibition, conference talk, and book Make Ready (2015), the structure of which is taken as ‘armature’ for the writing of the thesis. Through these wide-ranging pursuits, this thesis articulates a non-normative role for the graphic designer. It identifies my operative …

The World Of Color, Hannah Lee, Special Collections, Fleet Library

12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest 2026

Entry for the 12th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening reception and award ceremony Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6:30pm, Fleet Library, 1st Floor Main Reading Room. Juror: Gabrielle Reed.

Itadakimasu: Recipes From Japanese American Internment Camps, Alexander K. Nishida

Graphic Communication

This project presents a historical narrative told through the format of a cookbook, exploring the relationship between food, memory, and resilience during the Japanese American Internment of World War II. Using primary resources such as news publications from within the camps (Topaz Times,1943), historical interviews (Herzig, 1994), and secondary resources from an archival podcast (Campu, 2021) to highlight how food served as both a means of survival and an expression of identity under confinement.

The cookbook will combine recipes inspired by documented internment-era meals with stories and reflections gathered from interviews, archival materials, and community voices. Each section will contextualize …

Communicating Change: A Visual Analysis Of American Political And Activist Posters, Hana Sage Morshedi

Graphic Communication

Across U.S. history, posters have helped movements inform, persuade, and mobilize the public, going beyond information to signal identity and values. In this project, I analyze 40 historically significant American political and activist posters, from wartime propaganda to civil rights and queer liberation, to explore how visual choices shape public opinion and drive social change. I focus on elements such as community/heritage colors, typography, composition, and cultural or movement-specific motifs to see how they signal identity, guide action, and contribute to a “successful” poster.