Visual Communication
Collaborative Collage: A Method for Teaching Ideation in Graphic Design View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Anna Jordan
Perhaps the most challenging part of being a graphic designer is the anxiety one feels when facing a blank page. How does one teach a new designer to effectively and reliably come up with ideas? I developed a process for teaching ideation to graphic design students that can be applied to a wide range of design projects. This process is inspired by my personal design practice, the Surrealists’ exquisite corpse drawing game, and Skolos-Wedell’s form-to-content method for designing posters. We begin with an exciting collaborative collage exercise, involving an enormous selection of unconventional tools and materials, leading to spectacular and complex sculptural creations. Each sculptural collage is altered by each and every participant. Next, students photograph the sculptures to create two-dimensional images that we then mine for ideas, similar to how a miner would chip away at earth to reveal valuable gems. In a matter of hours, students generate hundreds of ideas, each with corresponding examples of design elements such as typography, grid, texture, color, and image. Then, I lead students through a flexible morphology that teaches them how to take these raw ideas and expand them into applied pieces of graphic design. Students are able to take this process with them into their careers and future work, ensuring that they will never again face designer’s block. In this paper I illustrate exactly how this process works, with real examples of student work, and explain how this innovative pedagogy could be applied to a wide range of design problems.
Measuring Historical Color Data with a Mobile Spectrophotometer: An Analysis of Two 1925 Real Silk Costume Color Harmony Charts View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Marcy L. Koontz
This project undertakes a rigorous historical and colorimetric analysis of two Real Silk Costume Color Harmony Charts from 1925, emblematic promotional objects produced by the Real Silk Hosiery Company of Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1922, the Real Silk Hosiery Company swiftly rose to prominence as a distinguished manufacturer of silk hosiery, lauded for its avant-garde marketing strategies and superior color fidelity. The 1925 charts, curated by color expert Katherine Harford, present a meticulously crafted selection of color sets designed to mirror the prevailing fashion decrees from the epicenters of style, Paris and New York. To conduct a precise color analysis, a NIX Pro 2 mobile spectrophotometer was used to capture the color measurements represented in the charts. The measurements were systematically recorded in RGB, CMYK, and CIELAB color spaces, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the color data. This methodological approach facilitates accurate digital replication and allows for detailed analysis. The resultant color metrics furnish critical insights into the chromatic preferences and marketing paradigms of the 1920s, elucidating the intricate interplay between aesthetic values and commercial imperatives of the period. By digitizing these historical color charts, this project not only preserves an invaluable fragment of sartorial history but also provides a resource for ongoing academic inquiry and practical applications within contemporary design and marketing domains. This endeavor underscores the imperative of synthesizing historical objects with cutting-edge technological methodologies, thereby fortifying our cultural and academic heritage through the confluence of historical insight and modern innovation.
Shared Visual Experiences: Exploring the Application of Design in Cultural Storytelling View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Narges Panahandeh
Effective communication and a sense of togetherness thrive on mutual understanding. However, cultural boundaries often limit our ability to empathize with and comprehend each other’s concerns and experiences. Shared Visual Experiences is a project that seeks to dissolve these boundaries by merging elements of American and Iranian visual cultures. Through a combination of illustration, typography, and storytelling, this project creates artworks that interweave traditional Iranian and contemporary American art and popular culture, fostering a shared space for cultural dialogue. This series of visual works explores the power of imagery in evoking emotions, memories, and collective identity. By visually juxtaposing popular heroes from Iranian mythology and American Hollywood culture, iconic characters, and national symbols, the work highlights how different cultures construct narratives of heroism, love, identity, and history. This juxtaposition enables individuals from different cultures to visually immerse themselves in a cultural medium where the boundaries have been challenged, redrawn, or erased. This immersion allows people to have bursts of feelings and memories that overlap with those of others, bringing them closer together. Five art pieces are included in this series. Using digital illustration, motion design, and typography techniques, Shared Visual Experiences explores hybrid design and highlights the potential of design in breaking barriers and creating an interconnected world.
Assistive Kitchen Tool for Women Aged 20-45 with Partial Hand Amputation: Designing Ergonomic and Customizable Kitchen Tools to Enhance Independence View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Niveditha Rajesh
Partial hand amputation poses unique obstacles while performing regular duties, especially in the kitchen where fundamental tools are not built for people with limited dexterity. This thesis is on creating adaptable kitchen equipment for women aged 20 to 45 who have had a partial hand amputation, intending to meet ergonomic demands and increase independence. Using user-centered design concepts, the study identifies gaps in existing tools and investigates alternatives using interviews, tests, and secondary research. The study included a lengthy interview with Anita, a 42-year-old housewife with partial hand amputation, observational trials with people with similar physical characteristics, and an experiment replicating impaired dexterity by limiting the movement of certain fingers on my hand by binding it with a cloth. Insights from these methodologies were used to design a wrist cuff with modular attachments for knives, spoons, and peelers. The design is on flexibility, ergonomic placement, and material safety, including medical-grade silicone for comfort and high-density polymers for durability. The degrees of freedom of the wrist have been studied to optimize tool positioning, assuring natural motions and reducing strain. For example, the knife attachment on the wrist's side uses radial-ulnar deviation to cut well, whilst removable palm-based accessories such as spoons increase adaptability. Challenges such as limited access to multiple users and material restrictions affected prototypes, resulting in the employment of 3D Printing, air-dry clay, and CAD modeling for idea validation. This thesis emphasizes the importance of inclusive design in increasing the quality of life for people with partial hand amputations.
