Cynthia Schilling
Seeing Music
A pianist and artist, I am interested in the combination of music and visual art and how the perceived context of a piece of abstract art changes when it is associated with a piece of music. For my capstone project, Seeing Music, I created five abstract paintings inspired by five classical piano pieces, and I designed them into a book. The integration of multiple forms of art compels the audience to utilize several senses simultaneously, which may enhance the experience of assimilating the work. My paintings provide a glimpse into how I interpret the expressive qualities of the music, and they may offer another perspective to others.
See the alumni page for a continuation of this thesis at the graduate level.
Emily Celona
Color Theory Book
In an exploration of the relationship between color and pattern, I created a study on color theory and the origin of colors. Using both design and historical research sources, this book details where color comes from, the historical significance of color, and provides a general overview of what color theory is. An emphasis on pattern serves to highlight the manner in which colors work together and how various shades and tones can change the meaning of a color.
Connor Murphy
Hank Typeface
Hank was designed to be macho, somewhat comedic, and most importantly, bold, dark, and heavy. The description from my promotional poster reads: “Hank waltzes onto the page with an oafish pride unmet by any other typeface. Hank commands the space it’s in, acting as more than just text. Hank creates a strong shape, and an instantly recognizable silhouette. A header typed in Hank is an uber-confident, in-your-face header, one that grabs you by the shoulders and says READ ME!”
Cynthia Schilling
Connected: Experiments in Photography
The photographs in this book were inspired by the photography of Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. Moholy-Nagy’s images present wonderfully-unusual angles and perspectives, which allow viewers to see things in new and intriguing ways. I took photographs of various places and things, experimenting with depth of field, unconventional perspectives, extreme close-ups, and cropping. I then expanded on the concept of seeing things in new ways by arranging the images into pairs that were connected on a visual level, and then aligning them so that the lines and forms in one image align with the lines and forms in the adjacent image. By positioning the photographs in this way, interesting connections can be made between the images, both visually and conceptually.
Ben Bursell
один, два, три
This poster series is rooted in a semester-long study in the history of graphic design.
While reading for this course I took a liking to Constructivism, and in particular, El Lissitzky’s work. I found that a lot of early designers were also architects. Architecture and design at the time were practically synonymous; buildings and layouts were equally cold in a future-dystopian regard.
Each poster features a single structure and horizontal rule. This letterpress work was inspired an exhibition of Soviet Brutalist architecture that I saw at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The exhibit included many schematics for structures that would never be built. Below is a brief description of each image.
“один” (one) a concept for a pod-like kiosk system to be used by small vendors.
“два” (two) has a series of balconies connected by a tube or chute.
“три” (three) is also made up of balconies, but encased in hard lines without clear exit.
Medium; ink pen, Speedball block printing ink, paper/thin canvas, Nolan showcard letterpress, Adobe CC
Jessica Coates
Perfectly Imperfect
My thesis, Perfectly Imperfect, is an exploratory and poetic study investigating my own struggles with imperfection and self-confidence, both as a visual communicator and person. Through poetry, imaging, book design, and research into visual theories, I learned about myself as a maker of design and explored my challenges and passions in design in a book of poems and images. This work is important because imperfection, design, and the human experience go hand in hand. As humans, we live and create and strive for that unattainable sense of perfection, and along the way we learn what is possible and what is not. Through this, we can use design as a mediation between people and their needs. In order to understand people and design for them, one must first understand oneself. This ability to understand who we are allows us to go through the process of design with true empathy—a primary criteria for human-centered design. Through this book, layers of images combined with text juxtapose personal themes of imperfection, confidence, acceptance, and beauty. In my work I discover imperfection, not as a flaw, but in fact a design element worthy of use and its long tradition of appreciation in other disciplines. Perfectly Imperfect is a culmination of worry, doubt, and insecurity, yet it also contains a sense of hope, progress, and growth.
Ethan Ham
Web & Color
These images represent a diverse set of color studies created with HTML and CSS.
Using only a limited knowledge of web design forced us to strip back to design basics and use simple ingredients to create pieces worth more than the sum of their parts. The assignment had diverse objectives such as; to communicate depth with only color and form, to use the hover function to change color, and to change the appearance of colors by altering their background. We also had to collect our own color samples—I scoured for these in my dorm while thankful that I hadn’t cleaned recently. I found many scrap pieces of paper that gave me a diverse color palette to work with. Using these colors I composed a day/night theme represented this with a the sun setting/rising over the ocean. View website
Amber Palizzolo
Web & Color
Over the course of the semester, not only did I get to learn more about how to create a website and understand web, but was able to explore the complex idea of color, and how interaction with color can create a different type of experience. Web design is not something I find the easiest to learn, but with this type of project, the web aspect came naturally as I was searching for new ways so play with color. Learning something so unique and creating a different space for it was much more effective than learning a few lines of code every week and finishing with a website. View website
