Browsing by Department "Design"
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Item Àjọ : a certification to promote Nigerian sustainable design(2019-08) Yussuff, Murktarat A.; Gorman, Carma; Walker, James, M.F.A.Why is there not more sustainable design in Nigeria? Despite being Africa’s Mecca of cultural production, and largest economy, Nigeria has the highest rates of poverty globally, along with some of the world’s worst waste issues, and is plagued by infrastructural and political challenges. Many Nigerian designers and NGOs have attempted to encourage sustainable design in Nigeria, but they have had only limited success because they have typically relied on Western models that are not a good fit with Nigerian infrastructures and culture(s). Addressing the challenge of sustainable design in Nigeria requires an incremental approach that is sensitive to Nigeria’s sociocultural and economic contexts, and that does not unrealistically expect Nigeria to change overnight. This approach must consider the limitations and challenges of the current context and find ways to encourage and support even modest gains in environmental, cultural, and social sustainability simultaneously. Àjọ is a sustainable design certification system that works toward that goal by showcasing and promoting Nigerian sustainable design. The platform takes its name from the Yoruba word àjọsepọ (to do together) and is inspired by the legacy of the grassroots cooperatives that Nigerians of the 1930s used in the face of structural obstacles in colonial Nigeria. The Àjọ certification system articulates sustainability standards for Nigeria that are not only environmentally but also culturally and socially appropriate.Item Artificial intelligence : a critique of our plastic consumption(2022-05-07) Diamos, Vanessa Zaragoza; Gorman, Carma; Lavigne, Sam (Samuel); Schell, JulieIn this modern age of convenience, we interact with many different types of plastic every day, including microplastics. Microplastics are tiny particles of broken-down plastic. A recent study suggests that people ingest about a credit card’s worth of microplastics each week, which doesn’t even include microplastic exposure through inhalation and direct skin contact. By design, most consumers are unaware of the reproductive, digestive, respiratory, nervous, immune, and environmental impacts of plastic production and packaging. In addition, the labeling on plastic packages is misleading: the recycling logos on the bottom imply consumers can recycle them, which rarely happens, and there are no federal regulations mandating that companies disclose the level of microplastic contamination in their products. These labeling problems prevent consumers from making informed decisions about whether to buy a product packaged in plastic. I suggest ways to remedy these labeling problems through graphic design to educate consumers about the extent of microplastic contamination in the products they buy. These proposed labels reveal the hidden dangers of microplastics on human health, animal health, and the environment while providing accurate information about the packaging’s recyclability and proper disposal.Item Autobiographical memories and design(2004) Pecha, Shelley Marie; Olsen, Daniel M., 1963-As a designer who has frequent emotional bonds with objects and places, I became curious as to how and why these things captivate me. Why do we cherish what we do? Is it possible to design with this in mind and make meaningfulness an intrinsic part of the design process and outcome? Since our past experiences make up who we are as people, individually and collectively, I start my design investigations with autobiographical memories. Through this methodology I have found a way to capture the essence of memories and present them in new forms. Do these new forms have a deeper level of meaning? The following is my 2-year experiment to try to find out.Item Autonomous healthcare transportation : a human-centered approach to delivering care(2018-05) Zimmerman, Eric Ervin; Park, Jiwon, M.F.A.Millions of Americans—especially those with limited mobility, vision, cognition, and financial resources—miss or delay healthcare appointments each year due to inadequate transportation. Although there are a handful of options for non-emergency medical transportation, they are expensive, complicated to use, and often deliver a poor patient experience, especially for those who could benefit most from these services. Using human-centered design methods and building on existing research, healthcare trends, and 20 interviews with target users and subject matter experts, this paper proposes a set of speculative autonomous vehicles and service concepts to increase access to healthcare through a patient-centered experience grounded in preventative care. The goal of this paper is to provoke cities and companies to utilize autonomous vehicles to provide more convenient and cost-effective forms of NEMT to those in greatest need and serve as an early guidepost for exploring design opportunities for autonomous healthcare transportation.Item Balance between humanity and ecology(2009) Spears, Steven Joseph, 1974-; Catterall, KateIncorporating aspects of public and environmental art practices into my professional endeavors as a landscape architect and urban designer has provided me with opportunities to work at a human scale, consider human needs, and focus on environmental issues that are closely interwoven with those needs. The public and environmental art process has presented greater opportunities to balance the sublime with the pragmatic and allows for a more overt communication between designer and audience, viewer or user. Functioning in this interstitial space allows me to communicate ideas clearly and to initiate a broader discussion on how society might find a balance between the stewardship of the natural environment in the face of the exponential growth of communities and the desire to own and develop land. My aim is to strike a balance between economic development and environmental imperatives through work bridging the practice of landscape architecture and public art. My objective is to use art and design work in the environment to persuade people to utilize all of their senses and to realize the undiscovered in their own journey, to stop and notice the world around them, and to act to protect the delicate balance between contemporary civilization and precious ecosystems. Using a method to register and then to make overt ephemeral elements in the environment, I aim to both demonstrate the ever-changing quality of nature and, more importantly, abuses of the natural environment in our society. Although my interest in the natural environment is multifaceted, water quantity and quality is a focus for my work. It is fast becoming a global issue with dire environmental and social ramifications. In the southwest United States and Australia, water is scarce. In the northwest United States and Finland, water quality remains an issue. In parts of Africa and Asia, water is being privatized and villages are left without a source of life and livelihood that has been a constant for generations. The more poetic aspect of my work focuses on natural time and revealing the abstract beauty of the environment. Shadows, sun, water and wind are all environmental systems that we can learn from and are revealed to us through natural time. It is through natural time that we may learn, respect and come into balance with the environment. In order for my work to succeed on all levels and reach the broadest possible audience, it needs to exist in the public realm. In order for it to communicate effectively it needs to be both, persuasive and poetic; while revealing possibilities for harmony between humanity and ecology. This can be achieved by communicating natures’ equilibrium surrounding environmental issues in the face of human civilization and time.Item Beleaf : an earth-friendly solution to disposable dinnerware(2011-05) Adhikary, Amrita Prasad; Hall, Peter, 1965-; Olsen, Daniel M., 1963-This report is a documentation of an investigative design process that looks at how small shifts in established systems can be reconfigured to make big changes. It is an attempt at establishing a framework for designing sustainable solutions with the environment and social good in mind. In addressing the problems resulting from our indiscriminate use of plastic disposable dinnerware and offering a viable and earth-friendly system solution to the same, I am interested in reminding fellow designers that accountability towards the environment is the new design reality. The report advocates methods that synthesize design for people, profit, and most importantly, the planet. By using plates made from fallen leaves, the user fulfills his specific need for disposable dinnerware while simultaneously participating in an environmental task of closing the loop through responsible disposal and composting.Item Bloomer : a magazine promoting sustainable fashion(2017-05) Peeva, Nevena Boteva; Gorman, Carma"Seasons” in the fashion world have little to do with temperature. Fashion’s increasingly rapid turnover is meant to boost producers’ profits and respond to consumers’ desire for novelty. On the down side, “fast fashion” comes with grave environmental and social costs. Bloomer is a magazine and an online platform that aims to slow down the conversation around fashion, and offer a platform for reflection and appreciation. In a throwaway culture, what does it mean when someone rebels by keeping and cherishing a garment for years? What makes people value some garments more than others? Is it the labor value in its creation, or sentimental value gained through lived experience, or the status value in its brand identity? The aura of a garment is a complex intersection of market forces, cultural ideals, and metaphysical subtleties. Rather than scolding or guilting people into adopting more sustainable wardrobes, Bloomer takes a positive approach to sustainability by featuring glamorous Austinites wearing their own clothes, sharing their stories of sustainable consumption, and promoting local thrift shops and sources of high-quality “slow fashion.” The first issue of Bloomer features a series of photos documenting how a variety of people practice sustainable fashion. Using the visual and written language of advertising and fashion, is it possible to cultivate an appreciation for the garments we already own, and for sustainable wardrobe practices? The goal of Bloomer as a magazine about sustainable fashion is to show pictures and tell stories of people who have unique and meaningful relationships with their clothes, and encourage the rest of us to ask ourselves “What is my relationship with my clothes?”Item Byheart : a personalized heart-health companion(2018-05) Barve, Ajinkya S.; Gorman, CarmaThe number of people living with some form of chronic cardiovascular disease is growing worldwide. Studies have shown that people often lack sufficient information about their heart condition. This issue can be addressed by improving heart health literacy and by helping those with a chronic heart disease to understand and manage their condition so that they are empowered to make informed decisions regarding their health. Although many existing online resources provide heart-health-related information, most fall short on providing actionable content—namely, nudges, prompts, reminders, and tracking features—that would help heart patients and their families make that information actionable in ways that would improve health outcomes. Byheart is a personalized heart health web and mobile companion that helps heart patients and their caregivers understand, track, and more effectively manage chronic heart conditions.Item ChalkTalk : a participatory design framework for designing resilient sustainable transportation infrastructures(2019-06-19) Degeal, Jacob Edward; Park, Jiwon, M.F.A.American cities looking to reduce car congestion, improve air quality, and increase safety on the road are focused on shifting car commutes to sustainable “human-scaled” transportation modes like biking, and walking. As studies show though, 51% of car commuters cite safety concerns for their reluctance to bike on the road. This feeling of safety is either created or impeded by the quality of cycling infrastructure. Due to declining federal and state funding for municipal transportation improvements, more and more cities are looking towards local tax-based funding options like mobility bonds to build this type of infrastructure. These bond packages require significant public input, communication, and buy-in. However, emerging transportation technologies like ride-hailing and micromobility, in addition to fraught histories of grass-roots advocacy, have challenged the way cities communicate with their neighborhoods and residents about sustainable transportation. Contemporary practices of holding open houses, utilizing online commenting systems, and partnering with local advocacy groups help to disseminate information, but still fall short in encouraging active participation and engagement from the public, resulting in a failure to attract the 51% of commuters mentioned above. It is my hypothesis that public life studies, participatory democracy, and tactical urbanism are by nature methods of observation, ideation, and rapid prototyping and iterating respectively that can be used to adapt design thinking to the transportation sector. By using the ChalkTalk framework, designers, residents, and planning professionals alike can collaborate on an innovative way to capture evolving transportation patterns, and create a rich set of qualitative data that lays the groundwork for a better participatory design practice.Item Cita : a feminist open-access digital library and print-on-demand publisher(2018-05-07) Castro Varón, Juliana; Park, Jiwon, M.F.A.; Gorman, CarmaMost of the nineteenth century’s feminist literature is now in the public domain, but many of these writings are not being republished by commercial publishers. When publishers do reprint public-domain texts, they rarely do so in open-access book formats. Because commercial publishers invest in curating and marketing well designed collections of reprints, they frequently commission original annotations or introductions from scholars, which in turn enables them to copyright and profit from their new editions. In contrast, Internet-based archives such as Google Books, HathiTrust, and Archive.org make an enormous corpus of public-domain books available for free online, but do so as scans or in poorly designed digital formats. Moreover, internet archives usually do not make their collections particularly navigable or appealing to non-scholarly audiences, nor do they make it properly designed and easy to print. Responding to the lack of well designed, affordable public-domain reprints, Cita is an open-access feminist digital library and print-on-demand publisher that promotes and distributes the writings of female authors whose works are open-licensed or in the public domain. Cita’s network of scholars and designers works to make and distribute free, high-quality editions that readers can view online using any device, or download, print, and—following simple instructions—bind for personal, library, museum, or school use.Item COLONNETTE: A Practice Driven Investigation of Type Design, its History, and the Field as Occupation(2023-05) Benes, CharlotteFor my combined Plan II Thesis and Design BFA Capstone project, I designed a 6-weight display typeface called Colonnette that is steeped in the history of traditions of type design and calligraphy through the ages. The design and process of developing this typeface was informed by concurrently conducted visual and typographic research as well as a literature review and communications with practicing professional type designers.Item Color fields : what designers need to know about color(2016-08) Witcher, Diana T.; Gorman, Carma; Steiner, Frederick; Schumacher, JadaThe goal of this report is to identify what designers today need to know or understand about color and—consequently—what design educators should be teaching design students about color. While designers use color intuitively like artists, they also use color instrumentally as a means of communication and a medium for creation. Fine arts paint-mixing models of instruction have long dominated color education for designers. While traditional color education holds much value, I propose that today, designers need a more complete understanding, which includes color theory, color systems, color materials and color management. Design educators therefore need to teach more about the practical use of color in practice: color management, color science, color systems and color standards (such as CIE, Pantone, NCS and Munsell) that are used today in design, commerce and industry. I seek to help designers and educators achieve a more comprehensive understanding of color through a series of artifacts designed to illustrate color concepts and through a curated list of existing print and online color resources. These artifacts and resources provide methods for design educators to teach a more contemporary, comprehensive and practice-based understanding of color. The artifacts at the center of this project are didactic toys that demonstrate important concepts in color theory and form a system that illustrates the technical and practical aspects of color as well as an updated framework for understanding color and its production.Item The combination of imaginary and real worlds.(2011-05) Wei, Wei 1983-; Shields, David, M.F.A.; Hall, Peter, 1965-DesignItem Cultura Within : designing workshops and transitional objects that empower young Latina women to persevere in higher education(2016-08) Sibrian, Ana Angelica; Gorman, Carma; Catterall, Kate; Park, JiwonLatinos are one of the fastest-growing ethnic minority groups in the United States. Yet they have the lowest college graduation rate of any racial or ethnic group in the United States. This report documents self-reflective, participatory processes I used, based on my personal experience as a Latina in higher education, to design engaging workshops and transitional objects to support the Latina community at the University of Texas at Austin. I propose that workshops promoting awareness of structural barriers, coaching in self-reflective techniques, and the co-creation of totemic objects that serve as transitional objects and aides-mémoires can empower young Latina women to persevere in higher education. The workshops were designed to use group storytelling, self-reflection and sharing methods to educate and empower young Latinas to create an on-going sense of agency and build stronger communities within higher education.Item Data visualization as craft(2011-05) Rowe, Cathryn Elaine; Shields, David, M.F.A.; Hall, Peter, 1965-For my MFA, I have decided to explore data visualization not as an automated technology but as a craft—a systematic and precise practice done entirely by hand. Though the craft-based approach is not appropriate for all types of data creation and visualization, as an investigatory tool it grants a level of access and intimacy lacking in computerized analyses. I discuss the limitations and benefits of this type of approach, as well as provide an overview of key influences and precedents. I have also included select projects developed over the course of my studies that highlight my use of data visualization for a range of subjects and intents, including reading piano sheet music more easily and investigating a photographer’s compositional process. The report concludes by projecting how this craft-based approach for data visualization may be integrated with an automated method.Item Design : a tool for transformation(2009) Ferguson, Beth Jean; Catterall, KateMy graduate research has been focused on testing how visual communication in the form of three-dimensional polemic works can become a tool for effecting social change. The change I am interested in relates to the global energy crisis, and resolving imminent transportation and associated ecological problems by promoting the use of electric vehicles. The main focus of my work has been the use of a strategy that is best described as the transformation of old and iconic artifacts in order to communicate complex new ideas. The main project that I will use to discuss this strategy uses the form and implications of a 1950’s gas pump emblematic of the golden era of petroleum production and the heyday of the automobile as the lynchpin for a conversation with my audience. By tweaking the original meaning of the pump and by juxtaposing an image of gas guzzling vehicles with a proposal for sustainable electric powered vehicles I have created a public dialogue about the current energy crisis and a compelling argument to support the move towards alternate fuels. This 3-D design intervention in public space has proven to be an effective way to, convey a socio-political message, more effective than any poster because it is a functional element which is both warmly received because it hits home an idea in a positive, even humorous way and elicits an emotional response from the viewer. The station not only charges electric vehicles and encourages the public to test ride them, it allows people to re-envision mobility through experience, become involved and take action.Item Design and the qualities of craft(2012-05) Culpepper, Lindsey L.; Catterall, Kate; Lee, GloriaDuring my research, I’ve studied craft through various lenses as a way to explore the realm of meaningful experiences within material culture. It is through an understanding of materials and process, through craft, that we may appreciate the value and impact of our material culture. By considering both the object and the systems it exists in, I have clarified my understanding of sustainable material culture. My explorations with reuse materials culminate in utilizing standardized, industrially manufactured parts, which can be found in multiples, to facilitate small batch production of crafted items. These explorations are not about the singular crafted object, but multiple crafted products. Craft, unlike conventional industrial design, accommodates a conversation between material, maker and methods. An understanding of both practical conventions and experimental methods paired with an appreciation for materials and technique, craft is the foundation for thoughtful making. The convergence of design and craft is rich territory for developing sensible and purposeful objects that are truthful and valuable.Item Design for reflective behavioral change(2012-05) Xu, Yi, M.F.A.; Olsen, Daniel M., 1963-; Catterall, KateThis report is concerned with using design to encourage reflective behavioral change through the use of everyday objects. Many designers have studied behavioral change in the context of sustainability and social interaction through information technology in the field of industrial design. While lacking of enough philosophical depth, those designs are mainly adopting symptom-focused approaches, which does not lead to a meaningful experience for users. The goal of the report is to create a reflective experience for behavioral change. My approach is to create a sense of situatedness, which is a holistic experience revolving around a product where designed artifacts recursively derive their meaning and is simultaneously the object of interpretation. This text will illustrate how the strategy of “playful disruption” can be applied to achieve the sense of situatedness in its three different levels: Action, Environment and Nostalgia. If the outcomes are intended to achieve reflective behavioral change, I contest that both playfulness and disruption are necessary; the strategy of “playful disruption” is most effective when applied in a subtle way. While studies of behavior change tend to focus on technology use, this research suggests that behavior change can be initiated in the physical environment through redesign of everyday objects and that subtly disrupt everyday routines.Item Design to re-nourish(2006) Benson, Eric, 1975-; Olsen, Daniel M., 1963-My graduate research explores how sustainable principles can be more fully incorporated into professional graphic design studios. The experiments and projects that I have undertaken include both printed and digital pieces that educate the designer on the impact and importance of his/her work, as well as pieces that both promote design work and actualize sustainable principles in the final object itself. I have adhered to strict design parameters in all of these projects, using strictly organic, recycled or "sustainable" materials. This work provides a starting point for graphic designers to explore further environmentally conscious design in their daily practices.Item Design toward dialogue : a graphic design methodology(2004) Paredes, Xochitl Angela; Taylor, Chris, 1965-This report emphasizes the social design aspect possible in graphic design. It focuses on creating a dialectical environment where critical thinking can begin and flourish. A methodology of graphic design is presented as it relates to social design. How this methodology was created is discussed by presenting what is contrary, what is analogous to it, as well as, introducing positive design influences. Terms relating to this methodology are defined. Finally, works by the author are submitted as examples of how this graphic design methodology functions.