Author: Design Incubation

Call for Entries: Communication Design Educators Awards 2017

Design Incubation is delighted to announce we are now accepting entries for the Communication Design Educators Awards 2017. The deadline for applications is May 31, 2017.

The distinguished jurors for 2017 are the following:

Audrey Bennett
Professor

Communication and Media
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Steven McCarthy (Chair)
Professor of Graphic Design
University of Minnesota

Emily McVarish
Associate Professor
Graphic Design; Design; Writing
California College of Art

Maria Rogal
Professor of Graphic Design
University of Florida

David Shields
Associate Professor & Chair of Department of Graphic Design
Virginia Commonwealth University

This year, we are recognizing work in four (4) categories:

  • Scholarship: Published Research
  • Scholarship: Creative Work (design research, creative production, and/or professional practice)
  • Teaching
  • Service  (departmental, institutional, community)

For eligibility and criteria, go to the Competition Overview page.

For application process, go to the Awards Application Process page.

The awards will be announced the first week of September 2017.

Science Rules: Why Design Research Needs Scientific Research Classifications

Dennis Cheatham
Assistant Professor of Graphic Design
Graduate Director, Experience Design MFA
Miami University

The multifaceted nature of design means that research activities related to it are difficult to define. For design researchers, educators, students, and practitioners, new knowledge production can look more like creative or scholarly activity than fact-finding research. In order to more effectively categorize these research activities to be shared inside and outside design, I propose that categorizations of “basic, applied, and clinical” research, common in the sciences, could be valuable for clarifying design research activities and outcomes.

In this presentation, I will specifically focus on the value of basic, applied, and clinical categorizations for framing student and faculty members’ research in design. I will address how these three categorizations can frame designing activities whose “creative” or “scholarly” formats don’t always align with popularly held research definitions, though they produce new knowledge. For design educators and students, the basic, applied, and clinical categorizations can effectively frame research efforts to review boards, promotion and tenure committees, and potential employers.

I will also address how the basic, applied, and clinical categorizations enable designers to more clearly communicate their work outside of design disciplines. The popularity of the design thinking movement has involved designers in social initiatives—concerned with stakeholder experiences as well as the design of products. As design expands and is associated with words like leading, planning, making, thinking, and researching, clearly communicating impacts of various design practices to uninitiated audiences can be challenging. I will share how these science-based categorizations can help improve clarity because they are established, yet they still remain flexible enough to represent design as it continues to be applied in new ways.

 

This research was presented at the Design Incubation Colloquium 3.3: Kent State University on Saturday, March 11, 2017.

Two Implications of Action-Centric Interaction Design

Ian Bellomy
Assistant Professor Communication Design
Myron E. Ullman, Jr. School of Design
University of Cincinnati

This presentation covers two implications for visual communication design education that stem from an action-centric view of screen-based interaction design. Brief excerpts of two student projects will be presented in support of the main theoretical argument. The premise, which will be taken for granted here, is that interaction can be accurately described in terms of action on malleable form. It follows from this that visual designers are well served by approaching screen based interaction design through the lens of information navigation, and that instructors can effectively constrain specific projects through action related variables.

The design of malleable screen form is predicated on basic human needs and entails unique but reoccurring communication design challenges. First, malleable form is not just an opportunity, it is a technical and human necessity—because digital devices can carry more information than they can display at once, their forms must be malleable. This also applies to screen-based control surfaces (e.g. a car dashboard) that have more functions than fit into a given rectangle. Second, malleable form entails the need to communicate the form’s malleability; as all screen form is malleable in some way, this communication need, or information navigation design problem, is very common. This makes it an appropriate foundation for studying interactivity in a visual design curriculum.

The action centric perspective also clarifies opportunities for defining project level constraints. An instructor can limit the kinds of forms allowed (type, photo, graphics, etc.), their capacity for transformation, and the kinds of input that affect these changes (clicks, swipes, drags, etc.). Such constraints can guide students into novel situations requiring thoughtful problem solving as opposed to interface convention regurgitation. Constraints can also be tailored to fit different prototyping technologies so that students can explore the limits of their materials while simultaneously engaging in human-centered problem solving.

This research was presented at the Design Incubation Colloquium 3.3: Kent State University on Saturday, March 11, 2017.

Uncovering Classical Painting Through Design Process and Artifacts

Zachary Winegardner
MFA Candidate
The Ohio State University

This research is being conducted to investigate the question of “how can digital design tools and critical making uncover and inspire the presentation of complex information in classical paintings?” This approach is practice led research, in which a process of making serves as the primary generation of methods of inquiry and new information about the subject matter. This process consists of a series of technical creations culminating in a design research artifact. The artifact itself is a 3D virtual environment that mimics the scene represented in Jacques Louis David’s neoclassical painting, Oath of the Horatii. The artifact is able to both generate new questions and serve as a means to investigate them. One example of this is the posing of proportional human models to match the painting’s posed figures. Curiosities and discrepancies took form during this attempt and warranted further investigation. By using the 3D scene with an overlaying image plane of the painting to compare arm lengths, I was able to evaluate the comparison between the painting’s proportions and correct 3D human proportions to discover that David greatly manipulates his figures.

This study is significant to me because the process of making in a 3D medium generated questions that I would not normally find myself asking, and the further investigation of these questions through making led to new information on a painting that I was already very familiar with. This demonstrates how critical making can lead to new knowledge for design researchers. It is also significant in educational spaces by exemplifying a process in which the method of discovery can influence the presentation of information. The experiential learning occurring in this research will be carried through into the design of the presented artifact, which will aid in the understanding of complex paintings.

This research was presented at the Design Incubation Colloquium 3.3: Kent State University on Saturday, March 11, 2017.

Evaluating a Socialization and Companionship Augmented Reality System

Yi-Fan Chen
Experience Design MFA candidate
Miami University

Augmented reality (AR) systems have been designed and studies for over 20 years. With smartphones and wearable information and communication technologies (ICT) are ubiquitous, mobile augmented reality systems (MARS) open various opportunities for users to experience and interact with virtual information at physical locations. A MARS, Pokémon Go, become a global phenomenon since it launched in summer of 2016. The MARS users utilize the system to keep healthy, make connections with other people and keep them company in everyday life. Pokémon Go could be seen as the first normalizing AR for the masses.

An observation study was conducted for over six months at cities and a college town in Southeast Ohio to understand Pokémon Go users’ attitudes and behavior patterns toward to the MARS. Domestication Approach advanced by Roger Silverstone and Leslie Haddon is used to provide guidelines and directions for collecting data. The approach explains the process in which the use of technology becomes an integrated part of everyday life (Haddon, 2003; Silverstone, Hirsch, & Morley, 2005).

Preliminary results show that Pokémon Go users’ utilize the MARS into their daily life. When the MARS users are doing their daily activities, such as strolling, walking, running, biking and taking public transportations, they have their MARS on. They use the MARS to fulfill their socialization and companionship needs. For example, parents and grandparents are taking young children to catch wild Pokémon. Friends are making plans to catch Pokémon together. The MARS users are sharing the Pokémon information at PokeStops as well as online Facebook group pages with their networks and with strangers.  While the MARS was successfully designed with “exercise,” “to see the world with new eyes,” and “breaking the ice” between users (Weinberger, 2016), other design limitations, such as weather limitations, also found in the study.

Design suggestions and implications will be further addressed.

Haddon, L. (2003). Domestication and mobile telephony. In J. E. Katz (ed.) Machines That Become Us (pp. 43 -55). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.

Silverstone, R., Hirsch, E., & Morley, D. (1992). Information and communication technologies and the moral economy of the household. In R. Silverstone & E. Hirsch (Eds.), Consuming Technologies: Media and Information in Domestic Space (pp. 9-17). London UK: Routledge.

Weinberger, M. (2016, July 11). The CEO behind ‘Pokémon Go’ explains why it’s become such a phenomenon. Business Insider. Retrieved from http:// www.businessinsider.com/pokemon-go-niantic-john-hanke-interview-2016-7

This research was presented at the Design Incubation Colloquium 3.3: Kent State University on Saturday, March 11, 2017.

Re-Inscribing History

Yoonkyung Kim
Assistant Professor of Visual Communication
OU School of Visual Arts
University of Oklahoma

Most images and informational data from historical records and databases remain unseen because there is a massive over-saturation of visual material. This material has not been thoroughly investigated or understood.

Historical archives offer opportunities to discover stories that reposition history in more intimate terms. I explore what remains unseen by revealing new routes that these “facts” can take.

Exploring the boundaries between the public and the personal, I visit archival documents, public databases, and historical collections. Fascinated by their stories’ multifaceted nature, I critically examine these primary sources that nourish generations of new histories.

My intention is to redefine our relationship with controlled primary  sources. By creating new narrative structures, I expand the terms of the archives’ accessibility through personal encounters. The resulting works produce a new interpretation of history that links the past and present, disseminating stories that challenge the fate of most archives. Re-inscribing history helps viewers connect to historical details by offering them proximity to the primary source through my experience of various archives. My practice is specifically that of reconstruction; linking the past to my personal life.

This research was presented at the Design Incubation Colloquium 3.3: Kent State University on Saturday, March 11, 2017.

Video Games Help to Prepare Girls For a Competitive Future In Stem

An analysis of how video games help to build visual-spatial skills and the positive influence early childhood gaming can have on girls.

Leigh Hughes
Adjunct Instructor
School of Visual Communication Design
Kent State University

Play is beneficial for children—it allows for freedom to explore and problem solve while freely using their imagination in a safe environment. It is imperative to allow girls this freedom to explore digital games and all of their possibilities. Video games help to build visual-spatial capabilities, which is the ability to mentally construct and organize 3-dimensional objects in an imaginary space, a skill that promotes advanced mathematical and engineering skills.

In order for women to compete in male dominated STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) industries, females must have more opportunities in early childhood to develop their visual-spatial skills. To do this, girls should play more video games, suggests a study by University of Toronto researchers. Research shows, most girls play with toys that emphasize relationships or creativity. In contrast, boys typically play with computers, video games or build, which develop problem-solving and spatial skills. There is considerable evidence that these gender differences are generated from nurture, not nature.

By designing video games that engage young, female interests while incorporating essential, 3D building tools, and by offering girls more opportunities to practice their visual-spatial skills through this media may begin to help close the STEM gender gap and encourage females to pursue engineering and computer science. Women’s representation in STEM occupations remains low in engineering and computer occupations. Video games can begin to slow this decline by providing girls with the confidence they need to succeed in the classroom.

In conclusion, early exposure to video games could have significant impact on whether women choose to pursue engineering or computer science. Girls need to be engaged at their level, be provided more opportunities to construct without restriction or bias and should be encouraged to play video games as a means of developing crucial competitive skills.

This research was presented at the Design Incubation Colloquium 3.3: Kent State University on Saturday, March 11, 2017.

INPLACE: Innovative Plan for Leveraging Arts Through Community Engagement

Robert J. Thompson 
Assistant Professor
Graphic & Interactive Design
Department of Art
College of Creative Arts & Communications
Youngstown State University

Terry Schwarz 
Director
Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative
Kent State University

In 2015, the National Endowment for the Arts, an independent federal agency that funds, promotes, and strengthens the creative capacity of our communities by providing all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation awarded the Department of Art in the College of Creative Arts & Communication at Youngstown State University with a $100,000 “Our Town” grant to fund arts engagement, cultural planning and design projects. Their programs support creative place-making projects that help to transform communities into lively, beautiful, and resilient places with the arts at their core.

The grant authors, Asst. Professor of Graphic Design, Leslie Brothers, Executive Director of the McDonough Museum of Art, and Dominic Marchionda, City-University Planner with Youngstown State University successfully proposed the “INPLACE” project, otherwise known as “Innovative Plan for Leveraging Arts through Community Engagement.” INPLACE came together over the course of three years through a unique blend of artists, designers, community stakeholders and civic leadership. It focuses planning initiatives and resources in targeted locations within city-in-revival Youngstown, Ohio to draw on the compounding effect of well-coordinated action and creative output. It is directed toward community driven public art projects that combine storytelling with art and design to create memorable, permanent place-making experiences throughout the city. The NEA chose only 64 of nearly 250 applications from across the nation for funding. INPLACE offers unique opportunities for members of Youngstown’s creative community to play an integral role in this prestigious NEA Our Town grant.

This presentation seeks to present the process of discovery, working with various constituencies within the Youngstown community, mentoring teams into cultivating meaningful, high-quality projects, share project proposals, and provide updates on the INPLACE project, which ends in July 2017.

This research was presented at the Design Incubation Colloquium 3.3: Kent State University on Saturday, March 11, 2017.

Design Incubation Colloquium 3.3: Kent State University

Saturday, March 11, 2017
School of Visual Communication Design
Kent State University
Kent, OH 44242

Design Incubation is excited to announce our first excursion to the midwest.  We have been invited by Kent State University, School of Visual Communication Design to hold a day of design research presentations and discussion.

Saturday, March 11, 2017
10:30AM–4:30PM
School of Visual Communication Design
Kent State University
Kent, OH 44242

Visit back for more details. We are accepting abstract submissions now until February 18, 2017.

Hosted by
School of Visual Communication Design, Jessica Barness (jbarness@kent.edu) and Sanda Katila (skatila@kent.edu)

Venue

Cene Lecture Hall, Center for Architectural and Environmental Design, Kent State University.

This venue is across the street from the Kent State Hotel in downtown Kent, where there are also many restaurants, shops, bars, etc. Parking is available (campus lot, street, and downtown parking ramp).

Travel to Kent

Kent is located in the Cleveland-Akron metro area and is easily accessible from I-80 (Ohio Turnpike) and I-76. Two airports serve the area: Akron-Canton (CAK) and Cleveland Hopkins International (CLE).

Parking

Parking: Kent Central Gateway parking ramp ($5/day).

Directions to venue from parking: After exiting the parking ramp on foot, walk to the left and across Haymaker Parkway to the KSU campus gateway. Look for the large, brand new brick-and-glass building just ahead on the right – roughly 1 block. Entrance is at the far end of the building: Center for Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED).

Accommodations

The Kent State Hotel is located across the street from the colloquium venue. Contact the hosts for other accommodation recommendations in the area.

Schedule

10:15 Presenter setup

10:30 Introduction

10:45 Morning Presentations

Grafik Intervention: Sparking Urban Revitalization Efforts Through Graphic Design
Brit Rowe
Associate Professor of Art & Design
Department of Art & Design
Ohio Northern University

Re-Inscribing History
Yoonkyung Kim
Assistant Professor of Visual Communication
OU School of Visual Arts
University of Oklahoma

Hearing What Isn’t Said: Visualizing Non-Verbal Responses In Data Analysis
Sanda Katila
Associate Professor  
School of Visual Communication Design
Kent State University

Science Rules: Why Design Research Needs Scientific Research Classifications
Dennis Cheatham

Assistant Professor of Graphic
Design 
Graduate Director, Experience Design MFA 

Miami University

Framing Metaphors in Visual Identity Design
Jason E. Murdock

Undergraduate Instructor

School of Visual Communication Design

Kent State University

Evaluating a Socialization and Companionship Augmented Reality System
Yi-Fan Chen
Experience Design MFA candidate
Miami University

Video Games Help to Prepare Girls For a Competitive Future In Stem
Leigh Hughes
Adjunct Instructor
School of Visual Communication Design
Kent State University

11:45 Q&A / Discussion

12:30 Lunch in downtown Kent

1:45 Afternoon Presentations

Featured Presentation:

Critical Practices as Design Scholarship: Strategies and Opportunities

Jessica Barness
Assistant Professor
School of Visual Communication Design
Kent State University

Steven McCarthy
Professor
College of Design
University of Minnesota

Presentations:

Uncovering Classical Painting Through Design Process and Artifacts
Zachary Winegardner

MFA Candidate 

Ohio State University

Place Into Words: An Unconventional Approach To Communicating The Story of Human Space Flight

Alan Walker
MFA Candidate & Adjunct Instructor
School of Visual Communication Design
Kent State University

Alex Catanese
MFA Candidate & Adjunct Instructor
School of Visual Communication Design
Kent State University

Jordan Kauffman
MFA Candidate & Adjunct Instructor
School of Visual Communication Design
Kent State University

Reveal, Empower, Propel: Design Education for a Tenacious Community

Herb Vincent Peterson
Associate Professor of Design: Coordinator of Graphic Design
Co-Founder of Marion Design Co.
Division of Art + Design
Indiana Wesleyan University

Wendy Puffer
Assistant Professor: Coordinator of Design for Social Impact
Co-Founder of Marion Design Co.
Division of Art + Design
Indiana Wesleyan University

INPLACE: Innovative Plan for Leveraging Arts Through Community Engagement

Robert J. Thompson
Assistant Professor
Graphic & Interactive Design
Department of Art
College of Creative Arts & Communications
Youngstown State University

Terry Schwarz
Director
Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative
Kent State University

The Process Of Exploring the Next Urban Condition

Adam Fromme
MFA Candidate 
Department of Design
The Ohio State University

Participatory Design Research and Social Practice: Postcard Exchange as a Generative Design Research Tool for Eliciting Stories
Hemalatha Venkataraman
MFA Candidate
Design Research and Development
The Ohio State University

Two Implications of Action-Centric Interaction Design
Ian Bellomy
Assistant Professor Communication Design
Myron E. Ullman, Jr. School of Design
University of Cincinnati

Multi-modal Interface Design: Communicating Design Through  Presentation and Review
Peter Lusch
Assistant Professor of Graphic Design
College of Arts and Architecture
Penn State

Danielle Oprean
Post-Doctoral Research Scholar
Stuckeman Center for Design Computing
Penn State

3:45 Q&A / Discussion

5:00 Drinks and conversation, location TBA in downtown Kent (optional)

Light Switch Graphically-Assisted Nudges

Niyati Mehta
Adjunct Lecturer
New York City College of Technology
Nassau Community College
Lehman College 

Aim

The aim of this nudge is to demonstrate how Visual Design combined with Behavioral Science can have a positive impact on user (kids’) behavior through the unknown creation of choice architecture. Parents told us that an often-encountered irritant was the necessity for them to remind their young children (aged 5-10) to switch off the light. We took this cue to develop a nudge to encourage children to use the light switch when leaving a room. The aim of this nudge is to reduce electricity consumption to save money, promote the practice of sustainability and to mitigate parental stress.

Description and Development

The graphically-assisted nudge developed is a cutout template that is printed on a home computer printer and then affixed to a light switch plate. Parents access the graphically-assisted nudges via the Nudging for Kids website (nudgingforkids.com). Step by step instructions are included in the downloadable pdf package.

In the ‘fish and bowl’ template, children understand that the fish is, “out of place” and they want to help it get back to where it belongs (the fish bowl). Two alternate templates were developed using ‘basketball’ and ‘bug’ motifs. The bug motif, uses the “cognitive learning effect” where the child remembers to switch off the light by associating it with the bug’s color or a name it has given the bug. The basketball template, with its requirement to pull down the string holding the basketball, uses a child’s desire to explore and understand by exercising her/his manual skills.

The nudges also take advantage of the, “IKEA Effect”–the tendency for people to place a disproportionately high value on objects that they have partially assembled themselves (regardless of the quality of the result).

Preliminary Small Sample Size Try-Out

In an initial proof-of-concept try-out, all three graphic nudges were installed in ten homes near Westchester, New York (USA) in December of 2016.

The preliminary results are promising, but the sample size is too small to draw conclusions.

A larger sample size test is in the planning stage.

This research was presented at the Design Incubation Colloquium 3.2: Parsons Integrated Design on Thursday, Feb 16, 2017.