Senior Thesis Projects
The senior thesis course which I team taught with Professor Audra Hubbell and later Professor Dennis Schmickle was the single most challenging and gratifying course I have been associated with. The challenge and the gratification applied equally to the students and the professors. In this course senior graphic design majors on the BFA track would propose a thesis project and eventually execute that project in a public exhibition. Every thesis proposal was vetted and scrutinized by the class and the professors to ensure it was concise, clear, and provided a roadmap for the rest of the project. Each thesis would contain an observation or an argument, an investigation approach, and lastly an intended discovery. Some projects were personal and other commercially oriented. The final form of their design thesis ranged from apps, interactive installations, projection mapping, animations, books, poster series, illustrations, brand development, etc.
As any of our BFA's would tell you, the course was a climactic finale of their undergraduate studies. The audience's response to these design projects was often jaw-dropping and the students left with an incredible high knowing what they had accomplished.
Designer, Haley Gamber's thesis project dealing with sexual assault victims
Designer, Haley Gamber's thesis project dealing with sexual assault victims
Designer, Krista Von Holten's thesis project dealing with understanding the needs of the visually impaired
Graphic Design BFA Opening Reception in the Boyle Family Gallery, Scheidegger Center for the Arts
Designer Majo Aparicio's thesis project dealing with female weight lifting
Designer Majo Aparicio's thesis project dealing with female weight lifting
Designer Lacie Lehman's thesis project involving paper brand and stationary
Designer Lacie Lehman's thesis project involving paper brand and stationary
Designer Lacie Lehman's thesis project involving paper brand and stationary
Installation time-lapse of BFA graphic design thesis exhibition
Visitors attending the BFA opening reception
Motion Graphics
Mood Footage Day
The images below are from an in-class exercise that would help prepare students for the final project. Students would bring materials to class and then film those materials with their phones. The goal was to create short clips that evoke certain feelings or moods. In preparation for this day, we discussed the title sequences of Kyle Cooper and low-tech ways of make striking and effective motion design. This day was not high stakes, students were encouraged to experiment and try things that came to mind as they worked with their materials.
A drop of ink between panes of glass, then pulling the panes apart
Graphic design Studio Course
This senior level course prepared student designers for their upcoming profession in a variety of ways. In the user experience project featured below students divided up into creative teams. These teams would develop creative briefs, audience personas, wireframes, and an interactive, high-fidelity prototype. Later in the semester, students created a creative services proposal /designer-client agreement or contract.
Typography
In this sophomore level course students learn about type and how to use it. Ellen Lupton has a terrific book called Thinking with Type that every designer should own. It's been a part of my typography course since I developed the curriculum for it. Building off of the content in the book I try to make type matter to the students in varied ways. One recent way I tried to make type more meaningful to students is to make type a physical thing. From their experience type is something that exists on screens or possibly printed in a textureless way in a textbook. Making type tangible can have big impacts on student understanding of concepts from the text. After showing the class Jessica Hische's Daily Dropcap project, the class was asked to design a letter in Adobe Illustrator and that letter would later be output on a laser cutter. In later semesters I extended it to table tennis art inspired by the Instagram #ArtofPingPong. Below are some of the student examples and some of my own designs as well.
Foamboard Ampersand by Darren Collier
Photography
I've taught analog photography in the wet, darkroom a few times and I have offered digital photography many times. Of course I teach students about the camera, exposure, composition, shutter speed and apertures. But one thing I like to do in my photography course is what I call "Demo Days". In these Demo Days class periods I break out special photographic equipment (not part of the usual check-out kit) or we focus on a specialized technique. I have a presentation regarding the day's topic and then I demonstrate the technique. After that, the students take over. I spread these demo days throughout the semester and sync them with the content at hand. The images below are from demo days and are student art-directed.
Long exposure demo day image featuring painting with light plus flash photography
Heightened emotion portrait shot with a studio strobe to freeze the confetti.
Studio lighting demo day using gels
Long exposure image with streaking light sources
Other Art/Design Courses taught
In my 17 years of teaching and being a full-time faculty member I have taught at every level of undergraduate design. I have created the curriculum for the major and have personally offered each course (Intro to Graphic Design, Photography, Typography, Imaging, Illustration, Motion Graphics, Senior Portfolio, Capstone/Senior Thesis). In addition to undergraduate, I have taught graduate level courses in a graduate only format and also in the cross-listed grad plus undergrad format. Please see my CV for more details.