Art and Design Commons^™

Cover

The Echo

No abstract provided.

Preface & Table Of Contents, Gabriella Williams

The Echo

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Echo 2024 - Complete Issue

The Echo

No abstract provided.

Cards With Class: Formalizing A Simplified Collectible Card Game, Dan Ha

University Honors Theses

Collectible card games (CCGs) have been a wildly popular game genre since the release of Wizards of the Coast's Magic: The Gathering. These games revolve around their thousands of cards and the hundreds of thousands of interactions they can create with their many effects. For designers, it is an incredibly demanding task to ensure that every single card works properly and that each card's text unambiguously conveys its intended behavior in all cases. The task only grows more difficult over time as the number of cards in the game grows and card effects become more complex or experimental. If the …

Hidden Scientists/Hidden Creatives, Con Kennedy

Conference Presentations

This presentation discussed how the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were integrated into an existing graphic design module delivered on the BA in Visual Communication Design in a joint project with the TU Dublin School of Art and Design, School of Biological, Health and Sports Sciences
 Sustainability and Research Hub
Research, the Ethics and Integrity Office. The project explored underrepresented women in science and graphic design.

The Robot On The Hill, James Ryan

College of Computing and Digital Media Dissertations

“The Robot on the Hill” is a rogue-like autobattler that procedurally models the state of the individual in the information age. The game abruptly transitions between diverse framings - a hill, a bedroom, a pond, a chessboard, the void - in order to highlight the disjointedness that is present in the informationalizing of self and reality. It dialogues with Byung Chul Han and Heidegger to portray what Han describes as a ‘narrative crisis’ in modernity and the devaluation of experience. When the value of experience diminishes and disintegrates, “all that is left is bare life, a kind of survival.” …

`The Very Beautiful Principles Of Natural Philosophy': Michael Faraday, Paper Marbling And The Physics Of Natural Forms, Robert Pepperell

LASER Journal

In 1854, Michael Faraday wrote to thank the author who had sent him a book on the art of paper marbling. In the letter, Faraday referred to `the very beautiful principles of natural philosophy' involved in the process of dropping ink on thickened water. What are the `beautiful principles' that Faraday referred to, and how are they involved in the art of paper marbling? Here I consider some of the physical processes that occur in paper marbling and how the patterns that emerge represent `dissipative structures' that are governed by fundamental principles of nature, in particular the tendency for physical …

You, Me, And The Unknown: A Creative Exploration Into The Emotions We Feel About What We Don't Understand, Lena Hall

University Honors Theses

I've always found the concept of fear and anxiety to be incredibly fascinating. As someone who grew up with extreme anxiety, I always wanted to rationalize it and figure out exactly why I felt that way. Anxiety is the inherent fear of the unknown and I wanted to know more about why we fear what we don't understand, or in other cases, why we love it. I conducted a research project on our perceptions of the unknown that resulted in an experimental page layout print publication where I shared the participant's views on the unknown through a visual storytelling medium.

A Conversation With Joe Horner (Internet Journal, Issue 001, 7-15, 2024), Joe Horner, Seb Taylor

Digital Laboratory: Publisher of Internet Journal

A conversation with Joe Horner, the Artist and Founder of @art_as_chairs on Instagram. The cultural competency of Joe Horner ever-present, with a strong influence from the dialogue between art versus artifact. Horner finds his artwork hiding within the mundane aspects of the contemporary cultural landscape.

Machines Of The Absurd: Leveraging Generative Ai For Creativity, Humor, And Playfulness, Tyler Sanders

College of Computing and Digital Media Dissertations

Machines of The Absurd is a collection of four projects exploring how generative AI can be leveraged for creativity, humor and playfulness.

1. neverOS — A node-based visual playground for interacting with large language models.

2. Other Calc — An iOS app with a calculator interface, where players can “calculate” text instead of numbers.

3. What Must Burn — An experiment where players type in text that can be dragged into a campfire to produce contextually appropriate sound effects.

4. Jazz vs Waffles — A turn-based comedy game, where players battle anything they type in.

Together, these projects make the …

Do You Know Where Your Games Come From? Artificial Intelligence And Game Development, Andrew Begemann

International Journal of Emerging and Disruptive Innovation in Education : VISIONARIUM

ABSTRACT

This paper was written to explore the possible effects of artificial intelligence being implemented in the design pipeline of video game development. In it, we will explore a history of artificial intelligence, from its early imaginings in books and philosophy, to its current iterations, such as ChatGPT and other popular engines like Midjourney and Stable diffusion. We will also discuss steps in game development so as to understand where the potential implementations of artificial intelligence can, will, or does occur. Following those explanations, we will explore the three methodologies of Marxism, Psychoanalysis, and Cultural Studies as ways of examining …

Crafting 21st-Century Trend-Compliant Fashion Collections For Muslim Women: Ghana In Perspective, Rashida Abdulai, Ninette Afi Appiah, Isaac Abraham

Journal of Art, Design and Music

Purpose: The study examined the integration of global fashion trends with Islamic modesty principles in clothing design for Ghanaian Muslim women. It explored the blending of contemporary styles with the requirements of Islamic dress codes, considering the increasing diversity and modernization of Muslim women’s fashion preferences.

Method: The study utilized art-based studio research and the double Helix Praxis-Exegesis Model, which involves customer profiling, concept creation using mood boards, and design techniques. Ten respondents were purposively selected and interviewed. Feedback from interviews ensured the designs resonated with the target audience.

Findings and Conclusion: The study discovered that contemporary Islamic fashion combines …

Naming And Interpretative Meanings Of Selected African Prints And Ankara Fabric Designs, Adeola Abiodun Adeoti

Journal of Art, Design and Music

Ankara fabric has colourful designs, but both the colours and the designs on the fabric have hidden meanings with proverbs and events attached to them. As much as the fact that the paper is art historical, the naming system of Ankara fabric is yet to attract scholarly interest. Therefore, the ephemerality of the fabric and the changing nature of fashion call for immediate and chronological record of the histories of the designs before it fades out of memory. The study adopts qualitative approach of analyzing data with the use of both primary and secondary sources of data collection which were …

Codex Occultus, Aya Abdallah

Masters Theses

The occult reveals itself in ruins, ruptures, and rituals, evoking a melancholic sense of loss that invites revelation and reenactment. CODEX OCCULTUS is an investigation into divinatory practices, namely coffee reading, as a methodology of speculating fictions and realities embedded in contested time-spaces. The method relies on a ‘failure to capture’ geopolitical sites using traditional technologies of seeing. Codex Occultus operates in different mediums and takes shape as a video, a sculpture, a machine, a talisman, and an archive emphasizing that an excess of imagery in both physical and digital spaces is necessary.

Umbrella And Jellyfish, Yanran Bi

Masters Theses

Rainy season arrives as soon as the summer begins in Shanghai. For some reason, I rarely remember to bring an umbrella with me. I have a lot of umbrellas, most of them are transparent ones bought at subway stations. When it suddenly starts pouring rain, umbrella vendors in Shanghai gather at each crowded exit of the subway sta- tions to sell umbrellas to people like me. The cheapest umbrellas they have are always the transparent ones. The whole city is turned upside down by the rain with its reflections on every street. Then a transparent umbrella opens up, then another, …

Half Dawn, Catherine Ashley

Masters Theses

By presenting these words on paper, I have given entry into a microcosm of recent research, questions, and creative explorations. There is potential for disconnection when trying to turn your head inside out and present it in a way that feels beautiful for other people. I’m trusting the moments of authenticity I’ve found in my wandering. Segue. Relationship. Gesture. Illusion. My musings all stem from notions of temporality. Time dances on the farthest ends of both immensity and desolation. I’ve spent stretches of time asking the people, texts, and experiments around me to define time in a way that I …

Review Of Meaningful Stuff. Design That Lasts., Niklas Hermann Henke

Book Reviews

No abstract provided.

Creative Connections: Building Empathy To Foster Ecoliteracy Through Art Education, Jocelyn Salim

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates the potential positive impact of fostering empathy and understanding for the natural world through art education. Through action research, this study examines various teaching approaches, such as incorporating scientific knowledge, employing literature to discuss ecological themes, and engaging in participatory storytelling activities to cultivate empathy among elementary school children. The objective of this thesis is to explore empathy as a potential pathway to encourage children to foster connections with the natural world and develop compassionate traits, attitudes, and behaviors towards nature as they grow. The findings of this study reveal that children exhibit high levels of enthusiasm …

Review Of Teaching Graphic Design: Approaches, Insights, The Role Of Listening, And 24 Interviews With Inspirational Educators, Ellen Christensen

Book Reviews

No abstract provided.

Wild Joy: An Exploration In Queer Spatial Dynamics, Kipper Thomas Reinsmith

Masters Theses

What does it mean to feel represented in a space?

What does a trans space look like?

How can we queer our interior spaces?

Our world is crafted by the many designers that have come before us. These systems, products, and spaces are built upon assumptions of the bodies that will use and occupy them—namely cisgender, able-bodied, straight folks.

Designing and creating objects as a trans person is an act of radical nature. To take up space, to design for trans luxury, for the sake of beauty, for joy itself, feels counterintuitive to the narratives we’ve been served: that of …

America, Dreaming., Sarah Meftah

Masters Theses

There is a version

of America

that exists

only in dreams,

a kind of folklore,

shrouded in images,

technicolor interiors,

wrapped in plastic,

ghosts of recent past

to haunt and guide;

a constant reminder.

Wishful thinking

a constructed imaginary,

one I can hold in my hand.

Popular culture and spectacle, America and the domestic ideal, capitalism and the collective unconscious of a national identity. As an artist, I am interested in the myriad images that manifest for a viewer when they think of the spectacle of American pop culture, its domestic archetypes, and the material worship it revolves around. My …

Unfurling Blue Carpet Memories, Sara Ahli

Masters Theses

Glass is an amorphous solid, existing in a liminal space, embodying indeterminacy. Its states of transformation from viscous flow to structural solidity carry the imprints of bodily influence. With the direct intention of using glass as a conduit to explore materiality, memory, and self-awareness, I construct a language of embodiment that arises through a series of performative encounters between my physicality and glass in the hot shop.

The mediating process I employ to create and arrive at the glass artwork I make is as necessary as its final form. Motivated by the desire to claim agency over my personal narrative, …

Emotional Factory, Yukun Cui

Masters Theses

该项目设想将上海一个历史悠久的仓库改造成一个创新的、以情感为主题的联合办公空间，超越传统的办公环境。在工作环境质量深刻影响生产力和幸福感的时代，该项目旨在创造一个协调身体、心理和情绪健康的空间。该设计融合了促进健康的元素，例如健身设施、美食和丰富的绿色植物，确保居住者在整个工作日中保持动力和灵感。该项目涉及个人与其环境之间的动态互动。认识到传统的办公室布局往往会限制移动和空间感知，我们的设计引入了一个固有的动态工作空间。灵活的布局，可调节的家具和可移动的隔板使空间能够适应各种活动和需求。互动元素和视觉刺激全天变化，鼓励探索和互动，而不需要持续的身体运动。使用不同的纹理、颜色和照明方案创造了一种多感官体验，使空间充满活力和不断变化的感觉。通过结合这些元素，该项目旨在重新定义现代工作空间，创造一个不仅能提高生产力，而且能丰富人类工作体验的环境。这种创新方法旨在为全球联合办公空间设定新标准，培养社区意识、创造力和幸福感。最终，该项目旨在创造一个开创性的环境，增强人类的工作体验，展示工作空间设计在广泛影响和改善情绪和心理健康方面的潜力。

Sweet Relief, Aaron Feltman

Masters Theses

Relief holds both an emotional and a physical connotation; both the lifting of a burden or emotional baggage and the description of an object with forms that protrude from a planar surface. This thesis explores the ways in which these connotations can co-mingle and inform each other through the creation of hand-carved wooden reliefs. The relief becomes a vessel through which an emotional connection can be formed between viewer and maker by way of a shared sense of labor.

Wood, a material grown from the earth, is transformed into an entirely human-created form, the car; embodying the just-as-human desire for …

Making Room, Rachel Strompf

Masters Theses

Massachusetts is the only state in the United States with a right-to-shelter law which guarantees shelter for families with children and pregnant women.¹ As of February 2024, 3,500 homeless families with children are being sheltered in a motel or hotel with an average length of stay of 14 months, because traditional family shelters have reached capacity.^2,3 While these families are provided temporary shelter, these shelters do not allow for the development of a true sense of “home.” While a motel meets the needs of rudimentary shelter, motels were never designed as long-term accommodations and certainly not with a …

The Researcher, Esther Du, Special Collections, Fleet Library

11th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest 2025

Entry for the 11th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening reception and award ceremony Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at 6:30pm, Fleet Library, Main Reading Room. Juror: Roger S. Williams.

Jugaatronics, Monica Bhyrappa

Masters Theses

Jugaatronics is a body of work that aims to address the current e-waste issues by designing consumer electronics that are repurposable, creating new electronics and objects. This project is born from the cultural practice of 'Jugaad' - the practice of repurposing everyday objects to extend their usability, a form of frugal innovation deeply embedded in my upbringing in India.

Most electronic devices are often discarded at the first sign of malfunction—deemed unnecessary. My thesis highlights this throwaway culture by integrating the concept of Jugaad(repurpose) into the lifecycle of electronic products, demonstrated as a hairdryer.

By showcasing potential repurposing opportunities at …

Touch By Angels Café Rebrand, Hailey Choi

Graphic Communication

Touch By Angels, a local Korean-dessert café in San Luis Obispo, CA, specializing in bingsoo, taiyaki, and specialty teas, has struggled since its December 2023 opening to establish a cohesive visual identity across its B2C interaction spaces, including its website, social media pages, and on-site signage. This rebranding project aims to develop a comprehensive visual identity for Touch By Angels by enhancing its logo design, color palette, typography, and photography, revamping its social media, and on-site signage to create a unified and appealing brand image. The expected outcome is improved customer engagement, enhanced brand recognition, and business growth, positioning Touch …

A Retrospective Review: Oxford County Wellness Collaborative's Contributions To Community Health, Emma Schwartz, Rachel T. Gallo Mph

Publications

Since 2011, Oxford County Wellness Collaborative (OCWC) has been transforming personal, environmental, and economic health by building strong relationships among people and organizations. OCWC contracted with the Data Innovation Project at the Catherine Cutler Institute of Health and Social Policy to synthesize previously collected or reported data and collect primary data to conduct a retrospective evaluation. The evaluation team used this data to convey past successes, better understand the outcomes of the collaborative to date, and provide recommendations for OCWC’s next steps in furthering its impact.

Lucid Dream: Embracing Uncertainty, Zhiyun Zhang

Masters Theses

Glass is a tool, a projection surface, a medium for optical phenomena. It creates a tangible link between physical space and perception, transcending the physical realm to reshape our sensory perceptions and resonate within our psyche, deepening our understanding. Inspired by cosmic and natural phenomena, my installations narrate the contemplation of the moon and the appreciation of rainbows. They reference historic optical technologies, incorporating glass, mirrors, light, darkness, and space to produce an encounter that extends beyond personal experience, resonating with our collective unconscious, uniting us in profound ways. The blurred boundaries between observer and observed, reality and illusion, sensory …