Graphic Design Commons^™

Graphic Design And The Cinema: An Application Of Graphic Design To The Art Of Filmmaking, Kacey B. Holifield

Honors Theses

When the public considers different art forms such as painting, drawing and sculpture, it is easy to understand the common elements that unite them. Each is a non-moving art form that begins at the drawing board. Using line, color and shape to evoke a particular response from audiences is what ties these fine arts together. Graphic design, however, tends to separate itself from the fine arts. Because of its later development in the art world, as well as, its operation within modern technological developments, graphic design is driven by the idea of communicating to large audiences. In this way, although …

Alcoholism, Domestic Violence, & Mental Illness: As A Graphic Novel, Abigail Jackson

Honors Theses

My inspiration for my project, “A Day on the Back Forty”, came from my personal experiences with domestic violence and alcoholism and my interest in not only sharing and hopefully lifting the taboo of having these experiences cast a negative light on my life, but to expose these issues and hopefully bring awareness to those who are not close to domesticviolence or alcoholism and to also offer a connection to those who have experienced these issues. My thought process for this project was to be able to create a thought-provoking familiarity that could be experienced on both an intimate and …

The Waste Land, Mariesa Desantis

Honors Theses

Designing a handmade book with a concentration on the tactile qualities and ability to engage the senses will heighten the reader’s experience and revive tangible books’ relevance in a digital society. By driving readers to become physically involved and relating directly to the literature, the book will act as a vehicle that foreshadows the literature, so the readers can become more involved in the story.

My primary goal of my project is to open up new possibilities for printed book design that can become more common in society, while also keeping printed books relevant for as long as possible. The …

Visualizing Music, Thomas Grill

Honors Theses

The results of this project were far from what I expected both in process and final solution. My topic was rather vague, tempting me to research a broad range of information, much of which was not necessary to the development of my pieces, but perhaps got me thinking in new ways. My project was unique in that it was not the typical, world problem thesis, and the logic behind my decisions was made almost entirely based off of my knowledge of music and and visual subjectivity. Though it was easily the most important part of the piece, and most visually …

Environmental Systems And Patterns Applied To Design, Aaron Cooper

Honors Theses

Looking at the variety of organic form in a natural setting is always an eye opening experience. Seeing how those forms are based on a common system in the environment is even more amazing. Applying the concept of form driven by ratios in the environment to design layout seems like a common sense approach to functional design, yet this is not a common solution in modern design.

Organic form looks organic because it is a product of the environment it is from. If a page is the originating environment for content with a specific function, the content should look like …

Local Identity, Melissa A. Phizacklea

Honors Theses

Buying local is the first step preventing numerous economical and environmental issues and is becoming more crucial every moment. Unfortunately, independent businesses face unprecedented competition from larger competitors that enjoy national or international branding power. Local governments, chambers and independent business networks have recently launched hundreds of buy-local campaigns to increase awareness on these issues. Regrettably, most campaigns quickly fade away with little or no impact on shifting local culture.

With this idea in mind I am proposing to explore and develop a permanent local identity that will endorse a number of local brands. This identity highlights the individual local …

Increased Enrollment For The Graphic And Print Science Program Through Specialty Print Advertisement, Christa Ickowski

Honors Theses

This project evaluates whether a mailer (containing information on the Graphic and Print Science Program) that is folded in a unique manner and containing color graphics would attract more students to the program. With this printed piece the capabilities of the program's students and the program are demonstrated to attract more motivated students who wish to pursue the Graphic and Print Science field. The current method of advertising the program consists of sending form letters which tend to be a little interest to the target audience of high school graphic arts students. With a specialty folded, 4-color mailing in a …

Design Principles And Applications In A Corporate Trademark The Krystal Company, Kurt Hyder

Honors Theses

This Honors thesis sets out to examine some significant aspects of corporate trademark design. The thesis will provide an analysis of a corporate trademark program, focusing on the recent trademark change by The Krystal Company. I wish to point out early in the paper that certain features of Krystal's design program, such as uniform, package, and architectural design were reviewed only briefly. This restriction was necessary to keep the research from becoming too vast and losing sight of the main objective of trademark design. The thesis consists of three main parts: a) The principles of design and graphic design, b) …