Theses and Dissertations, Capstones, and Directed Research
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Electronic theses and dissertations, and graduate and undergraduate Capstones and Directed Research.
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Browsing Theses and Dissertations, Capstones, and Directed Research by Department "Art and Design"
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Item 798: Protest Subculture and Creative Industry(2013-05) Domer, Brittany Nicole; Duganne, Erina; Tarver, GinaThe Beijing 798 Art District in China has evolved from oppressed subculture to commercial entity. The argument has now been raised over the nature of the 798 artist community in today’s art world. The 798 originated as a subculture of avant-garde artists and now functions as a creative industry. The 798 is depicted by scholars as either a persecuted protest culture or a commodified and marketed Chinese identity. I gathered my research from sources on 798 evolution such as Jeroen de Kloet's article Social Semiotics, and Chinese scholars that study the 798's development in terms of China's communist past, most influentially Rey Chow. As a result of my research I discovered the identity of the 798 is a fusion of both commercial and protest. The current role of the 798 is complex, but is unraveled through comparison of past and present 798 works. From the evaluation of these works and their role, one thing becomes evident; that the 798 no longer functions as a subculture. The larger implications of this project lead to a questioning of the nature of a subculture, the definition of an artist community, and the role of the artist in oppressive cultures.Item A Comparison of Government-Sponsored Integration of Design and Society in the United States and the Netherlands(2021-05) Sorensen, Dillon; Röeschmann, Claudia; Tetin, Dimitry; Lieber, JeffreyNo abstract prepared.Item A Computational Design Framework for Regulation Volatility in the Cannabis Industry(2019-08) Jakhar, Yamna; Roeschmann, Claudia; Soto, Alvaro; Handwerker, MargoNo abstract prepared.Item A Mobile Application Designed to Improve Clothing Choice for Visually Impaired Users: An Application of Human-Centered Design(2018-05) Chattin, Cameo; Lawrence, Grayson; Davis, Jeffrey; Naimy, BrendaOne’s outward appearance becomes a dominating factor in a person’s representation in social situations such as job interviews, first dates, and social events. With all of the visual indicators that identify stylish and socially appropriate clothing—pattern, color, and texture—choosing an outfit for the day is a simple task for most people. However, people with visual impairment must use alternative methods to complete this same task by relying mostly on touch, memory and sound. Vision loss often limits one’s ability to identify colors and patterns making appropriate decisions about clothing combinations challenging. The goal of this thesis was to evaluate how a novel mobile application combined with a physical electronic device (i.e. RFID/radio frequency identification device tags) could improve the daily task of identifying and locating clothing for people with visual impairment. The research approach, using human-centered design and design thinking processes, was dependent on user-focused input in combination with digital prototype testing, with two different user flows, using advanced smartphone accessibility features. This thesis includes multiple phases of research, which led to the current outcomes and results, for the proposed accessible mobile application design. Using the design methods from the Inspiration, Ideation, and Implementation phases, of the IDEO human-centered approach, 92% of users found the application helpful when creating a matching outfit for the following occasions: casual, social, professional, and special. 76% of users inquired about when the mobile application would be available for download.Item A Quest for the Perfect Logo: A Tale of Squirrels and Nuts(2014-12) Shafiq, Zoha; Underhill, BarryA graphic designer's role is to utilize visual elements in order to exemplify, portray, and shape an idea or experience. Designers encompass the ability to work within a set of rules and limitations, without breaking them. Limitations of visual communication vary from dimensions of a large billboard to the legal sizes of a postage stamp. Through experimentation with line, color, space, typography, images, and words, a final design is obtained. Visual elements are secondary and a technical skill in a creative process. Enduring designs are constructed through a concise and well-developed creative strategy. However, to carry out such strategy, discovering the actual problem is the first step. During my quest of producing an everlasting logo for Sched, I applied the scientific method to streamline, breakdown, and guide my creative process towards a successful solution.Item A Tactical Guide For Transitioning To User Experience Design(2018-12) Puchek, Alexis Du Mond; Lawrence, Grayson; Davis, Jeffrey G.; Browning, TonyaIt has been ten years since we have lived in a world that has not included social media, smart phones, and mobile applications. Over the last decade, User Experience design has been infused into these digital products and services, with companies like Google and Apple creating in-depth design language systems for their platforms that can be used extensively as an open-source framework. With this growing breadth of experience in digital platforms, User Experience designers have been able to focus on the bigger user-centered needs and not reinvent the wheel with some of the more commonplace solutions. “…because designers are deeply committed to advocating for user needs/wants/desires in the face of corporate inertia…” User Experience design has been an important discipline for designers to enter and be the true voice for the user (e.g. user-centered design) as they create new products and experiences (Fabricant, 2014). Over the course of three months, more than sixty-five prospective User Experience designers, current User Experience practitioners, and current recruiters for the User Experience discipline participated in tailored surveys for each of their roles (see Appendix D). These results have culminated in the final outcome for this thesis, a book concept consisting of a chapter outline and introductory chapter, and a book query that pitches the idea of a book (Making the Switch: A Career Transition Guide Into UX) for how designers from an auxiliary discipline can make a successful transition to User Experience design. This book query was sent to forty-one individuals who had indicated that they were interested in entering into the User Experience design discipline, as well as current practitioners in the field for Validation Testing and feedback. The result was a reinforcement of the hypothesis and proposed solution, with 90% of the participants in the book query Validation Testing confirming that the book proposal had a unique perspective and would be a useful publication that they would consider purchasing. After successful endorsement of the proposed solution of a book by the participants in the book query Validation Testing, an outline of the book and first chapter were written. The purpose of these two artifacts was to articulate the results from this thesis in an organized manner that orchestrated how the book, Making the Switch: A Career Transition Guide Into UX, would solve the needs and struggles of prospective designers and provide an example of the language, tone, and writing style that the book would take. Twenty-two individuals responded to this final round of book concept Validation Testing, ranging from prospective designers, to current practitioners, to educators in the discipline of User Experience design. Overwhelmingly, the responses acquired 100% positive support and demand for this book to be written and introduced into the arena of User Experience design publishing. This thesis outlines the methodologies and results that concluded in a successful validation of the hypothesis that practitioners in Visual Design, Web Design, Industrial Design, and Architecture (adjacent disciplines to User Experience design) are making the transition from their current discipline to that of User Experience design with varying levels of success. These prospective practitioners require a step-by-step, tactical guide–– one that is founded in research and recommendations by industry practitioners, recruiters, and hiring managers––to teach them how to successfully make the transition into User experience design.Item Accountability in Communication Design: Advocacy, Community, and the Immigration Debate(2021-05) Riojas, Yocelyn; Sherman, Molly; Reed, Jason; Menjivar, MarkNo abstract prepared.Item Adventurestorming: Conducting Collaborative Ideation Utilizing Creative Play(2016-05) Terrell, Trey Joel; Lawrence, Grayson B.; Davis, Jeff G.; Wright, MaiaMembers of the communication design industry are playing larger roles than they have before. Methods used by communication designers are being implemented in businesses to shape research practices and direct projects that impact larger sections of the world’s population. Most often, larger projects involve multidisciplinary groups working together for a common goal. As a result, it is imperative that the communication design industry have effective tools for interacting with diverse groups of people during the ideation phase of project planning. This thesis examines the aspects of successful brainstorming sessions, collaboration, and gamification to determine if creative play can be used as an effective method for conducting group ideation sessions consisting of designers and non-designers. The goal of the proposed brainstorming game is to be easy to implement, foster greater interaction between all members of the group, keep the group focused on the problem, build greater empathy for the users, and generate better outcomes when compared to traditional brainstorming methods. The prototype tabletop role playing game (RPG), named Adventurestorming, was tested with two groups of five to six people. When compared to the control group, who used classic brainstorming methods, the test groups showed that the game was successful in creating a strong connection with the user, as well as being more successful in exploring problems in the area of user interaction.Item Alleviating Hospital Stress: An Examination of Children's Hospital Navigation and Design Methodologies Resulting in a Toolkit for the Implementation of Stress Relieving Systems for Adult Hospitals(2019-05) Hussey, Heather; Davis, Jeffrey; Lawrence, Grayson; Sherman, MollyNo abstract prepared.Item An Exploration of the Environmental Brand Experience (EBE) As Applied to the Digital Publishing Model(2013-08) Bulsiewicz, Michael J.; Röeschmann, Claudia; Newton, Rose; Visit, ChristopherAs companies evolve to offer new media products, they can lean on the communication design discipline to find ways to help inform and acclimate audiences to the user experience. Using the proven successful approach of an environmental brand experience (EBE), the Communication Designer (CD) can create controlled environments that communicate product functionality and reduce user apprehension. The focus of this thesis is a case study exploration of how an EBE can be used to promote digital publishing content. This investigation will demonstrate how American publishers can embrace an EBE approach to educate and inform their audiences using DC Entertainment as an example.Item An Ideation Process for Building Brand Identity: The Graphic Atlas Ideation Nexus Applied to the Crab Cay, Exuma, Resort and Real Estate Development(2009-08) Davis, Jeffrey G.; Meek, William E.Ideation strategies are essential tools utilized by the communication design discipline (COD), which depends on ideation strategies for creative problem solving. The COD has historically used a variety of ideation strategies in their creative process appropriated from other disciplines. This thesis explores these ideation strategies, which are historically and currently utilized by the COD, and the role these strategies play in the creation of ideas. The preliminary research focuses on three categories; historical and current ideation strategies used by the CDD, understanding brand, and designing brand identity. These ideation strategies are analyzed and compared to the Graphic Atlas Ideation Nexus (GAIN), a fact-based research ideation strategy specifically designed for building objective brand identities. In 2006, the GAIN process was applied to building the brand identity for Crab Cay, Exuma, (CCE), a master planned real estate development and luxury spa resort in the Bahamas. This thesis also examines the results of utilizing the GAIN process in building the brand identity and brand narrative as presented in the Crab Cay, Exuma, brand presentation book.Item An Observational Study of Ukrainian Mail Order Brides(2011-05) Barton, Brittany N.; Stone, Barry; McKinney, AudreyThis thesis is a study of the representations of Ukrainian “mail order brides” over the Internet via personal profiles from a broker agency that specializes in the marriages of Ukrainian women and foreign men. In exploring the women as both objects of consumption in an international economic market and as individuals who are exhibiting their own power and control in a historically patriarchal society, I am analyzing the profiles and photographic representations of Ukrainian women through a catalog of found portraits and profile text. By creating a book of photography and text, I am recreating the very personal experience of seeing and searching through pages of women who are both exotic products to choose from and persons with whom to connect. And with the idea that these women are performing for a desired and targeted audience, the book is visual effort to embody the written portion of this thesis that explores the Ukrainian woman’s control. The examination of the profile text is directly influenced by post-Structuralist theorists who considered the context and authority of language as dependent on the context of its setting and circumstance. This is especially important because of the historical repression of Ukraine, a country that has only seen national independence and identity for twenty years after centuries of war, border conflicts and Soviet control. Queer and feminist theory is also an essential part of this thesis when examining the exhibition of gender performance, emphasized femininity and hegemonic masculinity.Item Analysis of Six Communication Design Principles for Missing Children Awareness Campaigns(2021-12) Soto, Brianna; Park, Hannah; Röeschmann, Claudia; Stone, BarryNo abstract prepared.Item Art as Autobiography: Sofonisba Anguissola and Artemisia Gentileschi as Case Studies(2022-05) Penny, Sofia; Chen, AndrewFeminist theory has developed through the years but its goal remains the same, to highlight issues that arise from gender as it works as an oppressive force and impacts art in its fabrication and patronage. A feminist analysis is crucial for artists such as Sofonisba Anguissola and Artemisia Gentileschi as sexism plagued their lives and made access to the art scene nearly impossible. Their work results in a visual biography due to the undergoing of a performance that is unique to the female experience. As they were considered minority members in society, they had to prove their value and integrity. The construction of female identity inserts itself in even the minor details of paintings. Biographical information, along with contextual, and a focus on the formal qualities of art, is key to understanding their works. It is through a mixture of a formal and feminist analysis that we can read these paintings as visual autobiographies in which performance plays a key element.Item At The Crossroads of Theatre and Technology: The Effect of Mobile Technology on a Century Old Publication(2013-11) Hurtado, Adriana; Davis, Jeffrey G.; Lawrence, Grayson; Newton, RoselynnNo abstract prepared.Item Being an Ally: Communication Design's Role in Improving the Health Information Seeking Experience in People with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome(2021-12) Gordon, Katherine; Sherman, Molly; Kim, MiHyun; Myers, DanetteEighteen percent of reproductive-aged people assigned female at birth have PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). It is very likely that most people have or will have a relationship with someone that has PCOS. It is a complicated, difficult to treat, underfunded, chronic health condition. People with PCOS struggle to get diagnosed, have a good relationship with healthcare providers and find quality information. Helping people affected by PCOS access accurate information regarding their health can encourage hope and healing. This research describes the creation of a prototype website aimed to improve the health information seeking experience of someone with PCOS. The prototype is an interactive digital tool and educational project named Allyist. Allyist’s features and format are informed by human-centered design methods. The primary goals of the website are to help people test suspicions of having PCOS, thoroughly explain PCOS while also giving more specific information, improve the search for PCOS specialists, and provide personalized information that encourages self-advocacy. User-testing with a small sample of people affected by PCOS revealed that participants had a favorable experience using Allyist. Results also show that educational visual aids that are simple and interactive are valuable to participants over personalized features. This suggests that most people are looking for straightforward health information online. Allyist can serve as a model for similar websites focused on other chronic health conditions.Item Black Girl Happy: The Visual Language of Black Women Pursuing and Creating their Happiness(2024-05) Otuata, Chika; Lee, Alice J.; Wright, M.; Arceneaux-Sutton, TashekaNo abstract prepared.Item BoxLab: A Comparison of Brand Experiences for STEM Toys and Their Influence on Gender(2020-12) Brown, Kimberly Michelle; Roeschmann, Claudia; Justice, Sean; Lee, Alice J.Strides have been made to make STEM inclusive, however the gender gap is still significant. The added attention given to STEM-related fields has not only increased consumer awareness, but also assisted in the growth of a multi-billion-dollar STEM toy industry. But are these products effective in curbing the STEM gender gap or are retailers utilizing tactics that perpetuate the status quo? This research will explore design trends among STEM toys through observational studies to better understand what attracts female participation, and as a result proposes an open-ended learning opportunity while removing outdated traditional gender stereotypes.Item Brand Identity Exploration: Redesigning Spec's Wine, Spirits, and Finer Foods Brand Identity(2011-05) Haffelder, Clinton H.; Davis, Jeffrey G.; Röeschmann, Claudia; Berno, Thomas C.The objectives for creating this brand identity book (BIB) were to modernize the Specs Wine, Spirits, & Finer Foods (SWS) Brand Identity (BI) and introduce the brand into markets where the company does not have brand awareness or equity. The process of modernizing SWS brand identity included preliminary research, methods, and outcomes (i.e. creative process) and resulted in the following illustration.Item Branding for religious non-profit organizations: A case study for the Harvest Food Pantry(2011-05) Honea, Jeremy; Davis, Jeffrey G.; Berno, Thomas C.; Hays, MichelleThis research explores branding of a faith-based non-profit organization. Research focuses on development of a visual brand identity and supporting brand applications for the Harvest Food Pantry (HFP) in New Braunfels, Texas. The mission of the HFP is to supply food to underprivileged citizens in the New Braunfels community.