Poster Session
Asynchronous Session
Reporting to Work-from-Home: Post-pandemic Employer Expectations of Graphic Design Graduates View Digital Media
Poster Session Nancy Miller
The global pandemic has pushed many employers in the creative field to re-imagine workplace responsibilities and formats for new graduates. This reinvention has fueled a significant increase in remote working opportunities for students majoring in Graphic Design. Working from home was once an option only available to seasoned, self-employed freelance graphic designers. Post-pandemic, the widely accepted WFH format has given students the flexibility to pursue an expanded offering of national jobs. As educators, how can we position students to best align with employer demand in this new job market? What competencies, technical, and soft skills do new designers need to be competitive in an unprecedented labor market? To respond, we must first understand employer expectations by looking at national post-pandemic occupational trends and job listings to discern commonalities and trends in advertised expectations. This data can inform our focused preparation of new graduates for a work format once reserved for experienced professionals.
Women’s Work and Sustainability: Print Textile Use in Early 20th Century America View Digital Media
Poster Session Marie Botkin
In early twentieth century America, many women were responsible for the design and production of clothing and household textiles for the whole family. Left with increasingly smaller and smaller budgets to do so, especially during the Depression Era when one in four workers were unemployed, they were forced to use their creativity to provide textile resources. One of the most successful examples of this was a uniquely sustainable and aesthetic option: the printed flour sacks that were created by companies such as Gold Medal, Pillsbury and Gingham Girl Flour. This research examines design practices and cultural norms from this time which provided the superstructure during which industry and homemakers were able to successfully integrate sustainable design practices in the home.
Exploring Closure in Time: What Can Gestalt Closure Be in Narratives on Screen? View Digital Media
Poster Session Jinsook Kim
This research discusses motion and time as new design elements considering new media. Digital design involves navigation or sequence for the user’s process or expectancy. What can Gestalt Closure be in narratives on screen? Closure in general, we can forgive individual idiosyncratic or not perfect forms using group-wise definition or holistic understanding such that the comprehension becomes more meaningful. For screen, a class project Motion Dictionary is exemplified to discuss Closure in space-time in relation to the transformation of the principle into screen-based media. Students designed a short, compelling, narrative movie clip jumping off from simple to transform the motion to its word meaning. The research discusses motion behavioral content, form, and function as they create motion meaning for a word they inform. The rhythmic properties of sound or sound effect that corresponds to the creative motion is also discussed. The goal is to engage with Closure in time with examples enhancing the act of creating stronger narratives or storytelling thereby multimedia designer can apply the logic into their creative design process.
Digital Versus Physical Textiles: A Browzwear Appearance Survey Study View Digital Media
Poster Session Amanda J. Thompson, Trevor Collins (Hill)
The apparel industry has recently tried to lower its global pollution by switching to more sustainable production methods. One of these methods is virtual apparel sampling. It provides less waste, is cost effective, faster, and more sustainable. Browzwear is one of the leading software companies that brands are using to produce virtual prototypes. Digitized fabric is a major component in creating a proper virtual garment. To test how visually similar or different digital fabrics are, specifically in Browzwear, researchers selected five fabrics that were different weaves and knits. The fabrics were manipulated using different sewing techniques and compared to their virtual render. These comparisons were put into a survey that was deployed to university students and faculty with different experience levels to understand how similarities and differences were perceived. Prior to deploying the survey, the researchers developed six hypotheses they thought may be the outcome of the survey. Once the survey was complete, the results were statistically analyzed to see if it matched the developed hypotheses. The visual survey indicates that participants preferred the physical fabrics and digital fabrics do not create a perfect digital double at this time.
