Industrial and Product Design Commons^™

Wood In Hand: Open-Ended Wooden Play, Farnaz Dastranj

Masters Theses

This project explores the design of a sustainable, open-ended wooden toy that encourages children’s creativity, collaboration, and physical development. Recognizing the important role of play in learning, the toy aims to connect children to natural materials while supporting skills like eye-hand coordination, flexible thinking, and visual-spatial processing. Free-form linear elements constructed from wood, a renewable, durable, and biodegradable material, the toy invites children to assemble and create various structures using dowels, pegs, and fabric. By offering different connection possibilities and free-form pieces, it fosters imagination, problem-solving, and group play. This project also addresses sustainability by focusing on material longevity, reusability, …

Immersive Stillness In Poetic Space: Textiles For An Uncertain World, Dora Hyunjung Kim

Masters Theses

In an era shaped by environmental crises, the erosion of seasonal rhythms, cultural uncertainty, and the accelerating pace of technological shifts, this thesis explores how textiles—through their tactility, atmosphere, and quiet presence—can serve as vessels for meditative and emotional spaces, which I refer to as "poetic spaces." In the midst of countless unpredictable variables and a rapidly evolving cultural landscape, there is a growing need for environments where silence and quiet reflection can unfold. Within this broader context, poetic space functions not merely as an aesthetic concept, but as a vital site for emotional grounding and inner restoration.

This research …

Patchworks - A Design Framework For Repairing Systems, One Patch At A Time., Jack A. Martinez

Masters Theses

Design interventions for social good often fall short—ineffective at best and harmful at worst. Even successful projects tend to have fleeting impacts. Despite prototyping, innovation, and scaling expertise, designers struggle to create lasting community change. Skills that drive capitalist markets remain underutilized in the social sector. Reducing barriers to entry in the design for social good field might foster a more equitable, service-oriented design practice.

This thesis examines how designers can collaborate ethically and effectively with community organizations to support their missions. It examines the challenges and benefits of applying a ‘patchwork design approach’ to social good through real-world partnerships. …

Time Reclamation, Yuming Hu

Masters Theses

In today’s involution culture or “internal competition”, epitomized by China’s 996 work schedule, time is tracked like a quota rather than lived. Drawing on Camus’ call to make one’s very existence a quiet act of rebellion, this thesis answers alienated time with multisensory design.

Four interventions, the Thermochromic Table, Blinds Light, Dappled Shadows Light, and a haptic Squeeze Timer, using temperature, light, shadow, and touch to stage brief “moments of awareness.”

Instead of urging users to optimize every second, these objects invite them to pause, feel, and enjoy time. Each prototype softens the clock’s rigid tick into a gentle cue, …

Gamifit, Sishu Wu

Masters Theses

How can we make fitness feel more like raising a pet than checking off a chore?

Gamifit is a playful system that helps beginners build exercise habits by blending AR fitness pets (Fitimals) with a simple physical reminder device (The Dock). Instead of tracking numbers and steps, it focuses on emotional motivation—your Fitimal eats, rests, and grows based on your workout consistency. Skip too many days, and they might get sick... or even leave.

This project uses gamification to bring short-term joy into a long-term challenge, creating a softer, kinder fitness journey—one that feels fun, forgiving, and actually worth sticking …

Designing Between Worlds, Levon Kostandyan

Masters Theses

This thesis reimagines design as a means of cultural continuity—an act of memory, resistance, and transformation. Rooted in the diasporic Armenian experience, it explores how identity is carried not only through storytelling, but through materials, rituals, and objects that evolve across time and place. Through the transformation of pomegranate skin from waste into a meaningful design material, the project navigates the space between symbolism and substance, honoring both the fruit’s ancestral weight and its potential as a living material language.


The work moves between personal narrative, historical research, and material experimentation, engaging with themes of displacement, hybridity, and embedded knowledge. …

Where Motion Lingers..., Cheng-Lin Lee

Masters Theses

In the pursuit of seamlessness, modern technology has become oversimplified, reduced to simple taps and pushes of buttons. This standardized interaction feels distant and mechanical, offering services without inviting touch, movement, or emotion.

This thesis explores how technology can blend into everyday life in a gentle way. The designed objects will focus on integrating familiar movements that elicit moments of harmony within interactions with technology. Through design transformations, this project seeks to uncover how everyday movements, like lifting a handle and placing flowers, can transform our technological exchanges into something felt rather than simply performed.

The findings reveal that when …

Rooted In Embodied Making: A Notebook On Process, Vija Lietuvninkas

Masters Theses

This thesis takes the form of a wooden box containing an archive of fragments – scanned notebooks, sketches, photographs, emails, journal entries, and other materials – that trace a year of embodied, process-based inquiry. Rather than presenting a linear argument or a polished final product, the work reflects a nonlinear, exploratory methodology grounded in making, wandering, and self-reflection.

Born within the context of the 2025 Sustainability Design Lab, an interdisciplinary initiative at RISD examining the material culture of wood across design fields, this project documents the artist’s evolving engagement with green wood as both material and metaphor. Through practices such …

Smora: Breath As Memory, Pratikesh Pundkar

Masters Theses

Smora: Breath as Memory explores smell as a medium for memory, presence, and emotional communication in a world dominated by visual and audio stimuli. The project investigates olfactory interaction through multisensory design, proposing a tangible product system called Smora Cassette that captures, stores, and shares scent memories. Grounded in user research, expert interviews, and material prototyping, Smora speculates a future where smell reconnects us to the truth of lived experience, offering a poetic yet grounded alternative to AI-generated realities.

Graphic Gestures On The Digital Surface; In Defense Of The Observational, Soyoung Ro

Masters Theses

This thesis offers a subjective and process-based exploration of digital tools, challenging the dominant function-driven mindset that often defines digital design today. Rather than prioritizing speed, efficiency, or usability metrics, this work is a shift in focus toward experience, spatial awareness, and the subtle dynamics of interaction.

Rooted in acts of attention—looking inwards, looking outwards—this approach begins by setting aside assumptions about what tools are for, in order to ask how they shape our behaviors and ways of thinking. In doing so, it proposes a design methodology grounded in presence over productivity, process over execution, and agency over automation.

The …

Bell Telephone System’S Preeminent Role In The Growth Of Industrial Design, Ralph O. Meyer, Russell A. Flinchum

Purdue University Press Books

Histories of design pay scant attention to the corded telephone, which played an immeasurable role in early communication. Although the Bell System, with many Nobel Prizes, is justly acknowledged for its technical prowess, it should also be recognized for its early and considerable impact on the developing discipline of industrial design. In 1930, young Henry Dreyfuss, who would later become known as a pioneer of industrial design, was retained by the Bell System as a design consultant and matured in that environment. With substantial input from Bell System engineers, Dreyfuss and his staff produced attractive telephone designs that were manufactured …

Fountain, Sadaf Azadehfar

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the intersections of water, power, identity, and architecture through the lens of colonial and postcolonial landscapes, focusing particularly on Persian gardens and fountain sculptures. Drawing on historical, cultural, and symbolic frameworks, the study explores how water systems embody both practical and spiritual roles, positioning water as a force of control, resistance, and regeneration. Central to this work are analyses of arches and garden designs, which serve as architectural metaphors for cosmic harmony, community gathering, and contested space. Through a combination of visual analysis, historical research, and personal artistic practice—including ceramic sculptures and multimedia installations—this thesis traces the …

Sustainable Fashion Identified: An Exploration And Education Of Sustainable Apparel, Michaela M. Lentsch

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Consumers today are searching for and are loyal to companies who support their views and concerns about sustainability. The fashion industry is one of the biggest industries in the world, but one that has many environmental and sustainability concerns. Fortunately, there are many ways the fashion industry and consumers can take steps to make sustainable change and better the planet. Small fashion businesses and boutiques can make positive changes to operate and provide sustainable options and services for customers which can help the planet become more sustainable.

Through this manuscript, an assortment of sustainable methods and practices will be shared …

Mobile Hyflex In Product Design Studios, Ceri Almrott

Case studies: Digital Education

Studio 201: Design Process is a year 2 design studio module which looks to teach students the iterative design process and is typically structured around active learning and problem-solving in physical studio spaces. Historically the primary learning occurred during a 4hour studio session with an additional 2-hour supervision session occurring later in the week. For the 2024-2025 academic year this model was flipped with active studio activities taking the whole of the early week, 4-hour session and the more theoretical and knowledge transfer activities occurring in the shorter session via Hyflex delivery. The goal of this session was to take …

Corsets Of Empowerment, Dorsa Farzi

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This project explores the intersection of fashion and activism, using contemporary design to reflect on significant women’s rights movements from around the world. This exhibition presents four uniquely crafted corsets, each representing a pivotal movement, from the Suffragette era to the ongoing fight for gender equality in Iran. Through modern aesthetics, innovative construction, and symbolic details, this project transforms clothing into a medium for dialogue and advocacy. Fashion becomes more than just design—it becomes a powerful tool for storytelling, sparking awareness, and encouraging new perspectives on gender equality and activism.

This project was exhibited at the Robert Hillestad Gallery, University …

Space Odyssey Mobile App And Board Game For Vaping And Smoking, Brittany J. Baker

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Brittany Baker

Belmont University

March 29, 2025

Abstract

Space Odyssey is a creative initiative designed to reduce the stigma around vaping and smoking while raising awareness of their risks and healthier alternatives. Due to negative judgment, open conversations about vaping and smoking are often avoided, leading to a lack of education and awareness. To address this, Space Odyssey combines a social mobile app and an interactive board game. The app offers a safe digital space for education and discussion, while the board game encourages social interaction and community dialogue. By blending technology with personal connection, Space Odyssey aims to empower …

The Curious Case Of Japanese Denim, Aaron Francis Ward

Japanese Society and Culture

From its humble beginnings as wholly utilitarian workwear in the 19^th century, to its modern rise to high-fashion, the ubiquity of denim, particularly in the form of jeans, has had a fascinating journey in its little-over-150-year history (Beazley, 2015). Of note has been the recent rise in popularity of Japanese denim. Since the end of the Second World War, Japan seems to have had an insatiable demand for Americana (Marx, 2023). Yet, if considered in the sociohistorical context of Japanese-American relations, this ought to be highly improbable. The current paper examines the sociological nature of Japanese denim from semiotic …

Use And Benefits Of A Therapeutic Hypnosis Interactive Media Program For Chronic Pain Management: A Pilot Study, Mark P. Jensen, Joy F. Chan, Owen Gottlieb, Laurence I. Sugarman, Emily Stensland

Articles

Chronic pain is a common condition that has significant negative effects on individuals and society. Opioids continue to be the primary treatment provided to the billions of individuals with chronic pain, despite their general lack of efficacy and significant negative side effects. A growing body of research supports the potential of therapeutic hypnosis for helping individuals better manage their chronic pain. However, access to this treatment is limited. The availability of a hypnosis digital therapeutic has the potential to address this access problem. The current study was designed to evaluate the feasibility of a digital therapeutic hypnosis prototype (not yet …

Moonlight Matcha Process Book, Adrienne Liang

Graphic Communication

As matcha continues to rise in popularity across the United States, there are significant gaps in consumer awareness regarding its health benefits and cultural significance. Moonlight Matcha, a fictitious brand developed for my senior project, seeks to bridge those gaps by educating consumers about the wellness benefits of matcha while featuring a modern, appealing design that resonates with a broad audience. This project has been especially meaningful because it allowed me to explore the full process of building a brand from the ground up – from brand strategy and storytelling to packaging development and user experience (UX) design. It brings …

Releaf By Design: Eco Conscious Cannabis Packaging, Abigail Jane Fleishman

Graphic Communication

ReLeaf is an innovative project that explores the dynamic intersection of sustainability and functionality in cannabis packaging. This project explores the urgent need for environmentally responsible solutions in an industry often reliant on single-use plastic. This project uses an innovative lens to research current eco-friendly packaging using kraft paperboard tubes, ultraviolet glass jars, and post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastics. This project aims to create a packaging solution that meets industry safety standards while appealing to eco-conscious consumers by prioritizing recyclability, biodegradability, aesthetic design, and compliance with safety regulations. The branding strategy, embodied in the name “ReLeaf,” emphasizes the therapeutic benefits of …

Defining Inclusive Ux Design: Key Criteria And Industry Insights For Creating Equitable User Experiences, Layla M. Bakhshandeh

Graphic Communication

This study establishes key criteria for inclusivity in UX design to aid designers in creating more inclusive practices. Analyzing inclusivity guidelines from Adobe, Slack, Microsoft, and Google, the scope expanded to include the top ten UX-related companies, such as Apple and Amazon, to reduce bias. The identified criteria are community, diversity and representation, non-discrimination and equity, and adaptability. Interviews with professionals revealed limitations in terms of diversity and highlighted the need to address power and accessibility. The study also linked inclusive design to universal design principles, emphasizing error prevention and adaptability. The final criteria consist of Inclusion, Community, Communication, and …

Design Thinking Process Leads To Prototype, Rouri Takahashi

CAFE Symposium 2025

This project follows the Design Thinking Process and involves the development of an innovative, zippered small pouch designed with unique interlocking. The idea and design are entirely original, inspired by the principles of the Interlock system. I would like to present my steps through the current prototype.

Eco-Friendly Wall Organizer With Pegboard, Phuong Doan

CAFE Symposium 2025

This DIY wall hanging organizer is a functional and stylish way to store everyday essentials like mail, stationery, or craft supplies. Made from durable canvas fabric, it features multiple pockets for easy organization. The simple sewing process includes hemming, attaching pockets, and adding a wooden dowel for hanging. Perfect for decluttering any space while adding a handmade decorative element!

Evolving Design Critique For A Changing Industry, Sejin Hwang, Amy Ai, Leo Bang, Yuchen Chen, Kathryn Chen, Tiffany Chang, Stephen Jiang, Chloe Jo, Eileen Lee, Nicole Lu, Ray Liu, Kevin Wei, Elaine Zhang, Ellano Zhou

Student Work

This class serves as an exploratory practice in response to existing studies evaluating critique environments in the design industry. Previous studies identified three key limitations in the critique process: (1) a lack of experience for novice designers working with non-designers when reviewing their work, (2) an ineffective final review structure, and (3) a need for a more constructive and engaging feedback-sharing environment.1 To address these challenges, the course was designed to “critique” critique activities and develop strategic solutions to transform the way design work is reviewed, analyzed, and critiqued. The course was part of a pilot fall semester program called …

You Go, I Will Wait, Rasim Bayramov

Theses and Dissertations

On the other side of the coast, a hand is waiting. On the other side of the shore, someone is waiting for you to come. This space between you and them is an asymptote. The more you wait, the colder the pan is to the hand. But the salt of the sea will cover and warm your hand. There’s much to play with while you wait. The destination is only a promise, a figure disillusioned. Waiting spaces are enchantingly altering

in their premise. A bureaucratic fantasy with no avail and no ending. Systematically accumulated levels of power and control lies …

Adaptation For Whom? Understanding The Impacts Of Dyke Policies On Small-Scale Farmers In Ca Mau Province Of Vietnam, Nguyen Minh Quang, Nguyen Van Minh, Nguyen Vo Chau Ngan, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Low-lying deltas worldwide are extremely vulnerable to sea-level rise. As the risks of climate-induced flooding become increasingly clear, the thirst for infrastructure-driven adaptation increases. This highlights a patent need to understand the impacts of engineering adaptation solutions, especially those targeting built structures such as dykes and sluices, on farmers from a bottom-up, farmer-centred perspective. The study addresses this call by examining cases where dyke policies, while successful in some dimensions, have undermined small-scale farmer livelihoods in Ca Mau ― Vietnam’s southernmost rural province. It identifies areas in need of attention and adds empirical data related to this group of farmers. …

โครงการพัฒนาการออกแบบเปลือกทุเรียนเพื่อนำไปใช้เป็นวัสดุในการตกแต่งภายใน, วาสิตา หนูอิ่ม

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

ปัจจุบันทั่วโลกมุ่งค้นหาวัสดุทดแทนที่เป็นมิตรต่อสิ่งแวดล้อม โดยเปลือกทุเรียนซึ่งมีปริมาณของเสียสูงและก่อปัญหามลพิษ ถูกมองว่าเป็นวัสดุที่มีศักยภาพเนื่องจากมีปริมาณเส้นใยเซลลูโลสสูงและสามารถพัฒนาเป็นวัสดุทางเลือกใหม่ได้ อย่างไรก็ตามวัสดุจากเปลือกทุเรียนยังมีข้อจำกัดด้านรูปลักษณ์และคุณค่าทางสุนทรียะ จากผลการสำรวจความคิดเห็น พบว่าผู้ใช้มีทัศนคติในเชิงบวกแต่เห็นว่าควรมีการปรับปรุงด้านการออกแบบและคุณสมบัติเชิงใช้งานเพื่อให้เหมาะสมต่อการประยุกต์ใช้ในบริบทจริงงานวิจัยนี้จึงมุ่งหวังเติมช่องว่างในการพัฒนาวัสดุในด้านการออกบบให้เกิดสุนทรียะแก่วัสดุ โดยมีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อพัฒนาแนวทางในการสร้างสรรค์วัสดุทางเลือกใหม่จากเปลือกทุเรียนมาใช้ในงานตกแต่งภายใน ซึ่งใช้การวิจัยผ่านการปฏิบัติ เริ่มจากการศึกษาคุณสมบัติของเปลือกทุเรียน โดยใช้แนวคิดจากหลักการ Material Driven Design (MDD) ร่วมกับการประยุกต์ใช้เทคนิคหัตถกรรมการเคลือบเลคเกอร์ประยุกต์ (การลงรัก) และหาวิธีถ่ายทอดลักษณะเฉพาะตัวของเปลือกทุเรียนผ่านการตัดตกแต่งใน 3 รูปแบบ ได้แก่ การตัดปลายหนามทำให้เกิดรูปทรงที่มีหลากหลายขนาด การตัดตามแนวเรียงหนามทำให้เกิดโครงสร้างทรงสามเหลี่ยม และการกดอัดเผยให้เห็นเส้นใยของเปลือก จากนั้นนำมาประยุกต์สร้างพื้นผิวด้วยเทคนิคการลงรัก โดยใช้เปลือกทุเรียนแทนกระบวนกาผลิตแบบดั้งเดิม เช่น ลวดลายวาดมือหรือการฝังเปลือกหอย และทดลองใช้เจสโซ่ (Gesso) แทนวัตุดิบอย่างยางรัก เพื่อหาแนวทางใหม่ในการสร้างลวดลาย โดยยังคงรักษาขั้นตอนดั้งเดิมของการฝัง ทา ขัด ผลการวิจัยชี้ให้เห็นว่าการแปรรูปเปลือกทุเรียนด้วยการตัดตกแต่งสามารถใช้เป็นวัสดุทดแทนในการสร้างลวดลายและพื้นผิวได้อย่างมีประสิทธิภาพ โดยให้รูปแบบที่หลากหลาย มีเอกลักษณ์ และสะท้อนความงามตามธรรมชาติอย่างชัดเจน อีกทั้งการประยุกต์ใช้เจสโซ (Gesso) ยังช่วยเพิ่มมิติด้านสีสัน ลดขั้นตอนการผลิต และลดต้นทุนได้ในเวลาเดียวกัน เหมาะสมในการผลิตในระดับหัตถอุตสาหกรรม จากการประเมินความคิดเห็นของกลุ่มเป้าหมาย พบว่าวัสดุที่พัฒนาขึ้นได้รับการยอมรับในฐานะวัสดุทางเลือกใหม่ที่มีความแปลกใหม่ มีเอกลักษณ์โดดเด่นเฉพาะตัว และนำเสนองานหัตถกรรมที่ประณีตและร่วมสมัยได้เป็นอย่างดี ส่งผลให้เกิดการค้นพบแนวคิด “Natural Craft” ซึ่งเป็นแนวทางการออกแบบที่ผสานบทบาทของธรรมชาติและมนุษย์เข้าด้วยกัน มุ่งเน้นการขับเน้นคุณค่าความงามของวัสดุธรรมชาติผ่านกระบวนการหัตถกรรมอย่างกลมกลืน

Content Team: Open Educational Resources Faculty Flyer, Candise Liburd

PREL 4316 Student Publications - Archive

The purpose of the Open Educational Resources Faculty Flyer is to raise awareness about OER, highlighting the benefits, free textbook costs for students, enhancing accessibility, and improving teaching and learning experiences. It serves as a concise guide to encourage faculty to explore and integrate OER into their courses.

Design(Ing) Disruptions: Towards Intimacies Between Feminist Situated Knowledge, Gossip And Design, Senjuti Sangia

Masters Theses

This project highlights and problematizes the knowledge traditions and politics foundational to problem-solving paradigms in design education and practice. By emphasising the ontological nature and turn in design (Willis, 2006, Fry, 2012) , this thesis critically appraises the aforesaid formulations by extending intersectional feminist theories to dominant design epistemology. Drawing on the sociological framing of the matrix of domination, I investigate the dichotomy of the designer and user- as designers, users, and communities find themselves at different junctions in the matrix of domination. Further, I critique design frameworks from the analytical lenses of feminist situated knowledge, In so doing, I …

Juegos De Rol En El Desarrollo De Projectpipe: Una Inmersión En El Uso De Metodologías De Diseño, Julieth A. Gómez Hernández, Cristian C. Orozco Ospina, Nicolas Restrepo Henao

Journal of Roleplaying Studies and STEAM

En el entorno digital actual, la evolución del concepto de juegos de rol ha llevado al desarrollo de aplicaciones web interactivas y educativas. En sintonía con este planteamiento, se presenta la siguiente propuesta, que adopta una metodología integrada para aprovechar la versatilidad del método de Bruno Munari y el Diseño Centrado en el Usuario (DCU). La metodología de Munari descompone la gestión macro del proyecto en pasos manejables; mientras que el DCU se enfoca en la creación de una interfaz intuitiva y funcional mediante prototipos iterativos y pruebas continuas de usabilidad. Como complemento a estas estrategias se integra la metodología …