Design School Confidential

(RAY)

Job:05-11998/12412 Title:RP-Design School Con dential

06-AC51736 #175 Dtp:160(P) Page:192

026-224_C51736.indd 192026-224_C51736.indd 192 6/15/09 10:28:14 AM6/15/09 10:28:14 AM

(RAY) Text

Job:05-11998/12412 Title:RP-Design School Con dential

06-AC51736 #175 Dtp:160(P) Page:192

project brief

This project offers you a forum to showcase writ-

ing skills, conceptual thinking, visual invention,

digital and physical craftsmanship, sensitivity

to audience and human factors, as well as the

ability to acquire new expertise, collaborate with

experts, develop self-criticism, accept diverse cri-

tique, and scale your time and resources within

the scope of a complex project. Select a subject

that matters to you. Frame this subject as a thesis

and construct a narrative through editing exiting

texts or writing an original text. This is the arma-

ture for your project. Consider issues of audience

nuance that are triggered by your thesis and sub-

ject matter. Investigate and select a format and

media that best expresses/explains your subject.

Develop conceptual and visual strategies to sup-

port your thesis through an open, experimental

process. Be responsive to audience issues. Build

the narrative arc with a thoughtful, inventive, and

attentive production of the artifact. The project

concludes with individual, formal presentations

of your project to a jury of designers and non-

designers. After all of your hard work, now your

job is to listen carefully.

project goal

The goal of this project is to fuse the multiple tal-

ents of the student in a sustained endeavor to in-

ventively explain an issue, a subject, a text, or an

idea. An understanding of narrative and storytell-

ing structures provides the conceptual foundation

for success. The initial discovery process, married

to the process of making a design artifact, reveals

original ways of knowing particular to each young

designer. These are their new life skills.

project outcome

The degree projects culminate in presentations

to an invited jury of ten to twelve designers and

nondesigners. These jurors determine who will

be recognized for exemplary performance. Be-

cause of the comprehensive nature of the proj-

ects, they are often cited as evidence of crucial

benchmarks being met by employers and gradu-

ate admission committees: among them, techni-

cal skills, inventiveness, sustained commitment,

original research, writing skills, hand skills, and

time management.

Class: Design Studio

Level: Senior

Faculty: Ann de Forest, Kevin Finn, Nancy

Mayer, Chris Myers, and Rosae Reeder

Duration of Project: One Semester

45

The University of the Arts

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Senior Degree Project in Graphic Design

Î

We Are You

Student: Johnathan Pish

This is an edited compendium of entries from

military blogs written by serving soldiers and

their spouses to illuminate the life of the com-

mon soldiers and their family beyond the politi-

cal frame. It highlights the little things that hap-

pen during the soldiers’ daily routines.

192 design school confi dential

026-224_C51736.indd 192026-224_C51736.indd 192 6/15/09 10:28:14 AM6/15/09 10:28:14 AM

(RAY)

Job:05-11998/12412 Title:RP-Design School Con dential

06-AC51736 #175 Dtp:160(P) Page:193

n dential

Page:192

026-224_C51736.indd 193026-224_C51736.indd 193 6/15/09 10:28:16 AM6/15/09 10:28:16 AM

(RAY) Text

Job:05-11998/12412 Title:RP-Design School Con dential

06-AC51736 #175 Dtp:160(P) Page:193

n dential

Page:192

s

-

r

-

-

n

-

n

d

s

g

s

d

l

-

-

l

-

-

,

d

Ï

7A

Student: Ryan Thacker

The book is set up as a road trip, combining a

running historical account of the New Jersey

Turnpike with “rest stops” for various personal

anecdotes and relevant asides. It is told through

archival imagery, original photography, and

photo illustration. Growing up in New Jersey,

you essentially have two main route choices to

any desirable destination, depending on what

part of the state you live in: the Garden State

Parkway, which runs from the southern reaches

of Cape May County up the eastern part of the

state to points north; or the New Jersey Turn-

pike, which connects the Delaware Memorial

Bridge to New York City and serves as Inter-

state 95 through New Jersey. This means that

many travelers passing through the state can do

so without ever having to set eyes on scenery

that does not lie within their line of sight in a

speeding vehicle. This leaves out-of-staters with

the notion that the New Jersey Turnpike or the

Garden State Parkway is New Jersey, and gives

rise to the “So you’re from Jersey? What exit?”

jokes that Garbage State residents can’t escape.

This book is about standing up for something

that is part of your life, for better or worse, the

way you would stand up for your little brother

when someone puts him down, even if you just

released him from a headlock. It’s about turning

that joke into a point of pride, and answering

proudly (in my case): 7A.

the projects 193

026-224_C51736.indd 193026-224_C51736.indd 193 6/15/09 10:28:16 AM6/15/09 10:28:16 AM