Graphic design is a craft that involves interpretation and mediation of a message. It’s necessary for the designer to play many roles to be effective, whether it be the artist, the entrepreneur, or the humanist.
The Ohio University senior graphic design class is hosting the art show “Thought/Process” Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Seigfred Hall Room 536.
The show is the senior thesis project that secures 17 graphic design undergraduates with a BFA degree.
Don Adleta, graphic design professor, has offered assistance on all the projects along the way, although he said he’s been a marginal consultant.
“The project is really conceptually generated and controlled by students,” Adleta said. “They’re advanced enough in their careers to have autonomy. I’m simply a reference point.”
The only parameter of the project is that students must apply a design principle to a topic familiar to their own lives.
Maddie Cupp, a senior studying graphic design, has developed an accessibility instrument for people who are perceptually impaired. The project combines visual typography and braille.
She created a board of braille tiles that lights up visually and says words audibly. A person would use cards with circuits underneath whose placements correspond to different letters once pressed into the master pad, which relays the input to the larger board.
“It’s metaphorical how it’s constructed.” Cupp said, “The circuits create electrical connections that allow people to bridge the gap between tactile and visual language.”
This project has a personal connection to Cupp, whose two family members have suffered strokes that has inhibited their sense connections. Her project works as a versatile universal design to help those with diminished sensory capability.
“My topic was gymnastics,” senior Gina Keane said. “So I decided to revisit the judging book and create an interactive app for your phone, with the poses illustrated in a more accessible way for today’s users.”
Keane said she wished to revamp conventional depictions while using a digital element, considering technology’s undeniable importance and presence.
Eric Myers, a senior studying graphic design, has created “Colledger,” a website aimed at helping students with college application decisions. It includes ratings ranging from social aspects to factual demographics of various campuses.
Myers hopes to help people through the decision process, from their idea to their application, and offer a different perspective than others on the web.
The site has relevance to his plans to pursue a career in web development as well as his feelings on financial aid.
“With the national student loan debt being about $1 trillion, I think people really need to be especially aware of that,” Myers said. “It’s something that needs to change before the future becomes affected, and is definitely something we shouldn’t take for granted.”
If You Go:
What: “Thought/Process” graphic design thesis show
When: 6 p.m., Tuesday
Where: Seigfred Hall Rm. 536
Admission: Free
sn002310@ohiou.edu
