Tag: design research

Chicago Design Milestones

An installation showcasing the evolution of design from 1920s to the present.

Sharon Oiga
Associate Professor
University of Illinois at Chicago

Guy Villa Jr.
Assistant Professor
Columbia College

Daria Tsoupikova
Associate Professor
UIC School of Design

Chicago Design Milestones is a media installation that brings to life the evolution of Chicago design by examining and showcasing the historic characteristics of design works from the 1920s to the present. Project material was researched and culled from the robust collection of the Chicago Design Archive (CDA), which holds over 3,200 works from over 1,100 designers and 400 firms. The CDA, the UIC School of Design & Electronic Visualization Laboratory, and Columbia College Chicago collaborated together on this project, as their underlying and ongoing quest is to spotlight the role of Chicago as a major national design center through the use of innovative technologies.

A significant challenge was figuring out how to represent the thousands of archived works from the past 100 years. This was done by scouring every single image, over countless hours, and selecting representative works for each decade.

Another challenge was figuring out how to best employ the distinctive installation structure of 150 Media Stream, comprised of 89 LED vertical blades that reach 22 feet high and span 150 feet wide — a vertical pattern combined with massive horizontality, which are opposing but interesting dynamics. These are constructs the team made sure to utilize, by ensuring that particular images animate to traverse the unique terrain.

Chicago design history is not commonly brought to the attention of the general public. The project offers it outside of the confines and prompting of a book, classroom or school, and it is instead framed in the context of an immersive technological experience.

The aim is to engage onlookers and inspire them with the city’s creative history. Hopefully, viewers delight and marvel in what they see. Perhaps they will feel a sense of nostalgia, a feeling of pride for the city, or gain a stronger appreciation for Chicago history and creativity.

This research was presented at the Design Incubation Colloquium 6.2: CAA 2020 Conference Chicago on February 14, 2020.

Design Incubation Colloquium 6.2: CAA 2020 Conference Chicago

Presentations and discussion in Research and Scholarship in Communication Design at the 108th Annual CAA Conference 2020 in Chicago.

Design Incubation Colloquium 6.2: CAA 2020 Chicago
Friday, February 14, 2020

Two colloquia will be presented at the 108th Annual CAA Conference, hosted by CAA Affiliated Society, Design Incubation.

Research in Communication Design. Presentation of unique, significant creative work, design education, practice of design, case studies, contemporary practice, new technologies, methods, and design research. A moderated discussion will follow the series of presentations.

The colloquium session is open to all conference attendees.

Design Intervention and Engagement: Design Incubation Colloquium 6.2

There is a presumed canon of visual communication design, one that includes its history, theory, practice, and even the interpretation of its global impact. While it is convenient to take this canon at face value, there are alternative lenses through which we can view the field. In order to continue advancing the discipline in equitable ways, to be inclusive and engage with a variety of practitioners and users, it is important to consider a multitude of alternative viewpoints. Interventions in our attitudes happen in many ways—from envisioning how design alters the world, to methods we use to interpret design in new contexts. This panel will explore such critical interventions, uncovering new ways to re-engage with design education, design practice, and design communities.

Friday, February 14, 2020
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM
Hilton Chicago – Lower Level – Salon C-1

Co-Chairs

Heather Quinn
Assistant Professor
DePaul University

Nathan Matteson
Assistant Professor
DePaul University

PRESENTATIONS

Four Counter-Narratives for Graphic Design History
Augusta Rose Toppins
Associate Professor
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Women’s Vote 2020: A Case Study in Civic Design
Kelly Salchow MacArthur
Associate Professor
Michigan State University

Lost on the Trail: Investigating Hiking Wayfinding and Trail Navigation within the National Parks
Sara Mitschke
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Texas State University

Strategy + Creative: Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration
Kathy Mueller
Assistant Professor
Temple University

Jennifer Freeman
Assistant Professor of Instruction
Temple University

Hierarchical Space: How the Use of Space Creates Bias
Katherine Krcmarik
Assistant Professor
University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Technological Frontiers: Design Incubation Colloquium 6.2

Recent advances in technology and improvements of accessibility allow designers to deliver meaningful experiences to broad populations of ages, cultures, abilities, etc.—those who have previously been isolated from the discourse. These rapid changes in technology have also changed the landscape of design practice (for both better and worse) creating the conditions for more collaborative and multi-disciplinary teams who leverage these new or improved tools. This panel will address research projects working at the edge of contemporary technology, across disciplines, and within emerging disciplines. They leverage technological innovation to address issues of representation and access.

Friday, February 14, 2020
4:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Hilton Chicago – Lower Level – Salon C-1

Co-Chairs

Alex Girard
Assistant Professor
Southern Connecticut State University

Dan Wong
Associate Professor
New York City College of Technology, CUNY

PRESENTATIONS

The Fusion of Art, Science and Technology
Min Kyong Pak
Assistant Professor
University of Southern Indiana

Chicago Design Milestones
Sharon Oiga
Associate Professor
University of Illinois at Chicago

Guy Villa Jr.
Assistant Professor
Columbia College

Daria Tsoupikova
Associate Professor
University of Illinois at Chicago

Interactive Game Design: Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves
Leigh Hughes
Assistant Professor
Coastal Carolina University

Design Delight: A Framework For The Analysis And Generation Of Pleasurable Designs
Omar Sosa-Tzec
Assistant Professor
University of Michigan

Critical Visual Analysis of Graphic Expressions of Emotions Over Time
Ann McDonald
Associate Professor
Northeastern University

A Peace of Mind: Design Research for Pervasive Healthcare
Hyuna Park
Assistant Professor
University of Kansas

Designing for the Visually Impaired
Min Choi
Adjunct Professor
San Diego State University
San Diego City College

Colloquium 7.1: Oakland University, Call for Submissions

Call for design research abstracts. Deadline: Saturday, June 20, 2020.

Submission Deadline:
Saturday, June 20, 2020.

Event date: Saturday, October 17, 2020.

This has been reformatted to be a virtual event.

Oakland University
Department of Art and Art History
310 Wilson Hall 
Rochester, MI 48309

Design Incubation Colloquium 7.1 (#DI2020oct) will be held at the Department of Art and Art History at Oakland University on Saturday, October 17, 2020, 10:30am-4:30pm. Hosted by Maria Smith Bohannon. This event is open to all interested in Communication Design research.

We invite designers—practitioners and educators—to submit abstracts of design research. We recommend reviewing our white paper on best practices for writing an academic research abstract.

Presentations format is Pecha Kucha.

For more details, see the colloquia details and description. Abstracts can be submitted online for peer review.

Place Matters: Design for Regenerating Under-Utilized Spaces

An investigation of the affordances of a local theatre and an escape room in Ohio to seek for opportunities of under-utilized space design.

Yi-Fan Chen
Assistant Professor of Interaction Design
Farmingdale State College

Jerald Belich
Assistant Professor
Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies
Miami University

Yashodhan Mandke
User Experience Consultant
Fusion Alliance

This design research project began with an investigation of the affordances of a local theatre and an escape room in Ohio to seek for opportunities of under-utilized space design. The participation observations were conducted and found that people, community, content, and environment made positive user experience and increase the users’ loyalty to the spaces. When people co-create a meaning of the spaces, they are likely to make the spaces “their own” and bring their social networks to the spaces.

Kenneth Burke’s Dramatism provides this project with a theoretical framework for the design process. Dramatism analyzes human relationships and has been applied to a broader range of cultural productions. Design researchers and scholars are seeking opportunities to apply Dramatistic Approach to analyze and create designs. For examples, Sadler and Bellew (2009) propose to utilize Burke’s perspectives to analyze and understand a usability situation of design whereas Bowie (2015) proposes to employ Dramatism to examine design products, processes, and discourses. Moreover, Bemer (2010) utilizes Dramatism to design a computer lab for an English Department. According to Burke (1945, 1950, 1968), just as in any plays, the acts in life are keys to revealing human motives. Dramatism provides researchers a method to examine the relationship among human, text, and environments.

A prototype was created by combining empirical research findings and Burke’s (1945) pentad, including act, agent, agency, scene, and purpose, to build positive user experience and increase the users’ loyalty to the spaces. The space design includes three phases, before during and exiting the space. Each phase tells stories that focus on how users see, touch, hear, smell, and feel. Additionally, the design is hoping to change the under-utilized space into a new community space. The users could make the space to their own and revisit the space often with their social networks.

References

Bemer, A. N. M. (2010). The rhetoric of space in the design of academic writing locations. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Utah State University, Logan, Utah. Retrieved from  https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/752

Bowie, A. (2015, April 22-24). Exploring the rhetorical orientations of design trends: A Kenneth Burkean approach. In L. Valentine, B. B. de Mozota, J. Nelson, S. Merter, and P. Atkinson (Eds.), Proceedings of the 11th International European Academy of Design Conference. “The Value of Design Research”, Sheffield: Sheffield Hallam University, UK. Retrieved from https://ead.yasar.edu.tr/conferences/ead-11-france-2015/11th-ead-proceedings/?csrt=9122487017854515442

Sadler, V., & Bellew, K. (2009, July). Introducing rhetoric into usability: Applying Burke’s pentad. In 2009 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference (pp. 1-5). IEEE.

This research was presented at the Design Incubation Colloquium 6.1: Quinnipiac University on October 5, 2019.

Colloquium 6.3: Fordham University, Call for Submissions

Call for design research abstracts. Deadline: Saturday, December 28, 2019.

Fordham University Manhattan Campus
Saturday March 28, 2020

Submission Deadline: Saturday, December 28, 2019

Design Incubation Colloquium 6.3 (#DI2020mar) will be held at the Visual Arts Department at Fordham University Manhattan Campus on Saturday, March 28, 2020, 10:00am-5:00pm. Hosted by Abby Goldstein. This event is open to all interested in Communication Design research.

We invite designers—practitioners and educators—to submit abstracts of design research. We recommend reviewing our white paper on best practices for writing an academic research abstract.

Presentations format is Pecha Kucha.

For more details, see the colloquia details and description. Abstracts can be submitted online for peer review.

A Day of Writing

Come spend an uninterrupted day working on a writing project.

Quinnipiac University
School of Communications
Room CCE140
October 6th 2019
10:00am –4:00pm

Design Incubation is proud to be able to partner with Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut to offer a Day of Writing. Join long-time author Robin Landa and spend an uninterrupted day working on a writing project of your choice. This event will be held the day after the Design Incubation Colloquium at Quinnipiac University.

Participants will spend the day writing or conducting preliminary work on a writing project. The Day of Writing is open to design faculty and to those working in related fields.

Using the online registration system (see below), applicants should submit a 150-500 word synopsis of the project they intend to work on along with their title and institutional affiliation. The cost is $30 for the day. A total of 12 seats are available for this event.

Optional Event at 9:00am 

Start the day early and get your creative juices flowing with a short hike on Sleeping Giant Tower Trail. Host, writer and fellow hiker Courtney Marchese will lead the group to the stone tower and overlook (3 miles total). The hike starts directly across from the main QU entrance and is rated as “moderate” and appropriate for all skill levels.

Applications will be considered immediately upon submission and they can be submitted through September 30th, 2019. Official letters of acceptance can be provided to allow attendees to request funding from their institutions.

Parking

Parking is available in either the Admissions Visitor Lot or the School of Communications lot. Security will be notified and can help to direct attendees. Both of these lots are on Mount Carmel Ave. across from Sleeping Giant State Park.

Quinnipiac Day of Writing Application Form

Complete the form below and submit online. Payment will be required upon acceptance to secure the seat.

  • 200–500 word description of the writing project.
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
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CFP: The Fellowship Program at Design Incubation 2020

Call for Participation: 3-day academic design research and writing workshop. Application deadline, October 15, 2019.

Application deadline: October 15, 2019

Fellowship dates: June 4–June 6, 2020

Location: St. John’s University, Manhattan Campus, 51 Astor Place, New York, NY 10003

Target Audience: Design academics in one or more of the following areas: graphic design, information design, branding, marketing, advertising, typography, web, interaction, film and video, animation, illustration, game design. Full-time tenure track or tenured faculty are given preference but any academic may apply.

Format: All Fellows accepted into the program participate in the Fellowship Workshop as part of the overall experience. The Fellowship workshops offers participants the opportunity to share and develop ideas for research and individual writing projects while receiving constructive feedback from faculty mentors and peers in their field.

Fellows arrive with a draft of their writing and work on this specific project throughout the various sessions of the Fellowship Workshop. Each meeting includes a number of short informational sessions and a session devoted to analyzing and editing written work. The remainder of the 3-day workshop will be focused on activities which allow participants to share their projects with peers and receive structured feedback. Between sessions, Fellows will have time to execute revisions, review others participants work, and engage in discussions. Initiation of and work on collaborative projects is encouraged.

For more further details visit:
The Fellowship Program at Design Incubation

To apply visit the application details and online form:
Fellowship Program format and online application process

For Frequently Asked Questions visit the FAQ page:
Fellowship Program frequently asked questions

Call for Entries: 2019 Communication Design Educators Awards

An international juried competition of communication design research, practice, teaching, and service.

We are excited to announce the beginning of the 2019 Communication Design Educators Awards season.

The aim of the awards program is to discover and draw attention to new creative work, published research, teaching, and service in our broad and varied discipline. We hope to expand the design record, promote excellence and share knowledge within the field.

Promoting Excellence

Help us support fellow design educators and advance the discipline by sharing this announcement. Encourage your colleagues to help us find the most talented faculty in our field and to recognize their efforts through a peer-review process.

New this year—Nomination

This year we are launching a new initiative—a nomination process. We ask mentors and colleagues to identify outstanding creative work, published research, teaching, and service being done by educators in our field and to nominate these individuals for an award.

How the nomination process work

Beginning from April 15 through July 31, 2019, you are invited to nominate a colleague’s creative work, published research, teaching, and service. Our short online nomination form will automatically notify your colleague that their project has been recommended for an award.

We will also contact the nominee to ensure they have received your recommendation and encourage them to submit their materials. All nominees are offered early submission to the awards allowing them to begin their entries immediately.

Self-nomination

We will continue to accept self-nominated entries to the awards. These applicants should submit their materials between June 1 and August 31, 2019. (No form completion needed for self-nomination. Simply enter.)

Important dates

  • April 15–July 31: Nomination Process Opens
  • April 15–August 31: Nominated educators may submit application materials
  • June 1–August 31: Self-nominated educators may submit application materials
  • September 2–30: Jury reviews applications
  • October 10: Award recipients notified
  • October 15: Award recipients announced

The Design Incubation Residency at Haddon Avenue Writing Institute 2019

Rolling acceptances until Sept 30, 2019. Only 14 seats are available for this event.

October 25-27, 2019

Design Incubation is proud to be able to partner with the Haddon Avenue Writing Institute to offer a design-writing residency. This 3-day residency allows researchers and scholars time to work on existing writing projects or to start a new writing project. The residency is open to design faculty and to those working in related fields. It offers participants concentrated time to work on writing projects and the opportunity to take advantage of one-on-one consultations with event facilitator Maggie Taft. Using the online registration system (see below), applicants should submit a CV and a 200-500-word synopsis of the project they intend to work on. The cost is $180 for 3 days. A total of 14 seats are available for this event.

Applications will be considered immediately upon submission and they can be submitted through September 30th, 2019. Official letters of acceptance will be provided to allow attendees to request funding from their institutions.

October 25-27, 2019
Haddon Avenue Writing Institute
2009 W. Haddon Ave, Chicago Illinois

Please note: Housing is not included as part of this residency. Participants are encouraged to stay in Ukrainian Village or a nearby neighborhood though if you choose to stay at a hotel you may have to stay in downtown Chicago as options in the immediate area are limited to Airbnb’s.

The Haddon Avenue Design Writing Residency Schedule:

Friday, October 25th: 10-5

10-11:00: Individual Writing Session

11:00-12:00: Welcome; Goal setting

12:00-1:00: Individual writing session

1:00-2:00: Lunch (bring your own or in the neighborhood)

2:00-5:00: Individual writing session

Saturday, October 26th: 9-5

9-9:30: Goal setting

9:30-12:30: Individual writing session and optional one-on-one strategy sessions by appointment

12:30-1:30: Lunch (bring your own or in the neighborhood)

1:30-2:00: Techniques for overcoming writer’s block, the blinking cursor, and other writing obstacles

2:00-5:00: Individual writing session and optional one-on-one strategy sessions by appointment

Sunday, October 27th: 9-1pm

9-12:00: Individual writing session and optional one-on-one strategy sessions by appointment

12:00-12:30: Group wrap up

12:30-4:00: Open writing (Optional)

Colloquium 6.2: CAA Conference 2020 Call for Submissions

Deadline for abstract submissions: July 23, 2019.

SESSION CHAIR:

Heather Quinn
Assistant Professor
DePaul University

Hosted by CAA Affiliated Society, Design Incubation.

We invite designers—practitioners and educators—to submit abstracts of design research. Presentations are limited to 6 minutes, preferably Pecha Kucha style. A moderated discussion of the research will follow.

Chicago, February 12–15, 2020
Hilton Chicago
Michigan Avenue

Date, time, and location to be determined.

We are accepting abstracts for presentations now until July 23, 2019.

For details visit the Colloquium Overview description, and online Colloquium Abstract Submission form.

Questions can be directed to info@designincubation.com.