degree project 1

kansas city art institute // senior 1 // 2017

the senior degree project, comprised of degree project 1 and 2, will focus on each student’s unique topic and voice, in what will serve as the culmination of the graphic design undergraduate education. the degree project will be addressed both theoretically and practically, through extensive research, writing, visual experimentation, class discussion, personal insight and interest.

view online course documents: course syllabus // daily blog

course notes
i designed this course to be a series of rapid-fire exercises to get students reflecting on who they are as designers, where their interests lie, and how to start forming a “researchable question” through addressing discrete aspects of their stated interest areas. these include issues of audience, context, media, and content, which constitute the major components of any design problem. the anti-project intends to push them out of their comfort zone as far as possible in hopes of new discoveries. the ending “mix ‘n’ match” phase was intended to get them making quick preliminary versions of their degree project and avoid research paralysis by mixing and matching various aspects of their stated interests in audience, context, media, and content.

OBJECTIVES

[you will be graded on how much/well you...]

synthesize learning from design coursework with other formal and informal studies
research, expand, contract, and focus on a topic befitting and unique to you
repeatedly develop questions and ideas through iteration and making [quantity and quality]
articulate ideas through writing [formal/informal; traditional/experimental]
experiment visually; push your comfort zone in terms of form, media choice, design issues
produce and craft artifacts for final exhibitions and presentations