Student Work

 

Web-based Interactive Book
Junior/Senior Interaction Design Studio, North Carolina State University

Based on a book chosen from a list of primarily math and science texts, students developed an online primer. Working from a single source for their research, students drew on the concepts and organization of the book which allowed them insight into the writer’s narrative structure and gave them greater time to focus on digital production and design.

 

DESIGN: JUSTIN STIMMEL

DESIGN: MIA BLUME

The studio had a unique structure in that students could take the course twice. This allowed greater depth of study for both the individual and group—something quite beneficial when exploring the complexities and possibilities of the media.

 

 

 

Interactive Periodic Table
Graduate Studio, North Carolina State University

New media allows for simultaneous and unfolding stories to be told. In this case the periodic table is introduced not as a static monolith to be deciphered in abstraction, but as a timeline building over centuries to reveal patterns and their greater historical and scientific contexts. Students worked with Dr. Alton Banks, a professor in the NC State Department of Chemistry, to develop several interactive studies of the table.

 

DESIGN: LUCAS CHARLES

DESIGN: STACIE ROHRBACH

Hybrid structures between database and narrative developed as the students explored issues of pacing, duration, and story-telling. Searching gave way to browsing and exploration in visually rich, informative, and engaging tables. The student designers considered learning outcomes and incorporated many customizable features to accommodate a range of learning styles.

 

 

Large-format Information Design
Junior Studio, North Carolina State University

Students researched and visually explained a mechanical, historical, biological, or social process.

 

DESIGN(IN ORDER FROM TOP): BRITT HAYES, CAROLINE MADIGAN, RYAN COOK, IOANA BALASA

Information was gathered and synthesized in weekly iterations at scale—most were over 4' with some as large as 12' wide. Work began with rapid sketching directly on the walls in an exhibition space. A broad range of prototypes were considered.

DESIGN: TRAVIS STEARNS

DESIGN: PAUL VENUTO

I have presented this project several ways and found students respond quite differently when there is no mention of exhibit or information design. One version was presented as an enhanced form of storyboarding for a motion design project. I asked the students to humor me and develop large graphic scores that mapped their movie concepts—strong results in little time without assumptions.

 

DESIGN: JOSHUA SMITH

 

 

Toy Packaging
Junior Studio, North Carolina State University

The founders of Wootini, an artist toy gallery and store, spoke with the students about the growing culture of custom and limited-edition toys. They provided a history and shared a range of toys and their packaging. This project offered a rare opportunity within the curriculum to work in 3-D and gave the students a strong contrast to the personas and scenarios they were developing in their UX studies. In addition to toys and packaging, students also created a detailed back story for their characters.

“In puppetry, the teacher will find many possibilities to enrich most educational situations. Often through the medium of the puppet, the child finds himself able to express thoughts, ideas, and feelings which he otherwise could not.” —Edward L. Mattil, Meaning in Crafts, 1959

 

Bitmap Fonts
Sophomore – Graduate courses, NC State University and The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

As an introduction to systems for lower-level students or as a means for experimentation at upper levels, there are few better assignments than designing bitmap glyphs. Students started out with base grids of five or seven and worked both on paper and screen.

 

 

Bitmap Animation

Sophomore – Graduate courses, North Carolina State University

Following bitmap font design, students chose a conjunction to animate. Simplified color and shape allowed students to focus on the complexity of motion and transition.

 

 

 

In advanced typography courses, bitmap animations have been followed by type and video explorations of light, reflection and projection. Students work in small teams to generate and capture a broad range of in-camera effects. Footage is then edited and scored individually.

 

 

 

Branding
Junior/Senior courses, North Carolina State University

Over three different courses, students worked with the board of the Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh. Initial identity, print and web studies from one class were further developed in two sponsored studios which grew to consider community outreach and programming, and production of print and web.

 

 

Sequencing: Mapping Time and Space with Books
Freshman – Senior vertical studio, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

This 30-student experimental studio was cross-listed as a 200/400-level course. Students explored framing, serial and sequential imaging. Beginning exercises included multiple photo sequences which defamiliarized the experience of a familiar space. Those sequences were translated into books. Students then chose a moment that felt like an eternity and designed a book exploring the sense of expanding time. This was followed by a book that documented the longest duration they directly knew. The second half of the semester was open for students to collaborate, publish multiples, and work in a range of media (e.g., video, web, gaming) with a continued focus on temporal unfolding.

DESIGN: GREG FRANK, DAVID CZYZ, CHRISTIAN COX