Each year Miami graphic design seniors work on a senior thesis project that falls under the broad theme of Design for the Social Good. Visiting designers critic the work at midterm and final stages. This year’s critics were Miami design alum Liz Chmela, of Made by We, and Dawn Hancock, of Firebelly Design. All the 2013 projects are detailed below.
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Katie Scott
Kidclusion: Progress for the Inclusive Classroom.
Design Problem: Teachers often don’t have the time or expertise to implement targeted interventions in inclusive classrooms.
Target Audience: Teachers of inclusive classrooms.
Solution: Design a website, app and set of cards to make it easier to implement and track interventions in the inclusive classroom and share results and tips with other instructors and parents.
Thesis process book: katie_scott_thesisprocessbook
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Jenna Samuels
Down to Earth: A Subscription System for Delivering Fresh Produce to Miami Dorm Students.
Design Problem: Students living in dorms have trouble accessing and storing fresh produce in their rooms. As a result, they often turn to processed snack foods.
Target Audience: Dorm residents and their parents. (Jenna’s research found that parents are concerned about their children’s food choices and willing to pay to give them a healthier lifestyle.)
Solution: A system through which parents and students can subscribe to monthly deliveries of fresh local produce directly to the dorms. The system includes branding, packaging and signage, as well as website and promotional T-shirts to help get the word out. Jenna worked with local farmers on this project.
Thesis Process Book: jenna_samuels_thesisprocessbook
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Julia Hustedt
Ohio Pug Rescue Rebrand
Design Problem: Many Ohio residents choose to buy Pug dogs from breeders and puppy mills rather than adopt them through the Ohio Pug Rescue because the non-profit is not well known. In addition, those who do use the the Rescue come home feeling unprepared for the responsibilities that they have just taken on—cleaning, feeds and other misc health care for the dog.
Target Audience: Ohio residents interested in adopting a Pug.
Solution: Design a new identity and website for the Ohio Pug Rescue, as well as promotional materials that include Pug t-shirts, iPhone covers and a Pug medical kit to educate new owners about their dog’s care.
Thesis Process Book:julia_hustedt_processbook
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Molly Stiebler
Snap Art Kit for Adults with Special Needs
Design Problem: There are not enough educational and creative resources for adults with special needs. Quite a few resources exist for children, but adults tend to be forgotten.
Target Audience: Adults with special needs, preexisting special needs camps, clubs, and centers; as well as families and their caretakers and therapists.
Solution: Subscription-based art kit for special needs adults. The kit includes a calendar for tracking projects and mood, a Snap sketchbook, art supplies and monthly art projects. The kit is designed to build self-confidence and creativity in special needs adults.
thesis process book: molly_stiebler_processbook (1)
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Eric Villareal
The Tortoise and the Hare: A Modern Reinterpretation of the Fable.
Design Problem: Books at at the YWCA in Dayton and the Children’s National Medical Center are scarce and not targeted to the lives of the children who frequent thesis organizations.
Target Audience: Children ages 4-6 at the YWCA in Dayton and the Children’s National Medical Center.
Solution: Illustrate and author a book geared specifically toward children with odds stacked against them. A donor funded physical copies of the book to be donated to the YWCA and the Children’s National Medical Center. An e-book version is available as a free download.
Thesis process book: Eric_htprocessbook
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Adam Cassidy
Stik Together: Grab a friend. Get Outside.
Design Problem: Adults spend so much time in front of a screen that they are losing the ability to connect face-to-face.
Target Audience: College students
Solution: A meet-up style platform that encourages young adults to get together and take part in outdoor activities. They system includes a website and app that facilitates these meet-ups, as well as a merchandizing point system to encourage further activities.
Website: stiktogether.com
adam_stik-together-process-book
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Brittany Stechschulte
Good Sense Chow: Eat for that Ache
Design Problem: Many young adults turn to medication to solve their aches and pains rather then considering simple dietary solutions.
Target Audience: Young adults
Solution: A app that can be used to find dietary solutions to health problems. The app not only provides instant suggestions in response to mood and symptoms, but allows the user to track their moods. This feedback helps the user determine whether or not specific remedies were successful.
Brittany Stechschulte Process Book: Brittany_thesis_handout_final
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Chelsea Naumann
Digital Dance Marathon Pass Down
Design Problem: Dance Marathons around the country have no way to stay connected or to easily pass information down. This is particularly a problem since organizers tend to change each year.
Target Audience: College students organizing dance marathons.
Solution: A website to make the same resources accessible for anyone organizing a dance marathon, as well as a flexible branding system that allows each new student organizer to customize the dance marathon identity.
Chelsea Naumann Process Book: chelsea_processbookthesis
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Emily Schwegman
Art Hunt
Design Problem: People in the Oxford community are not aware of the Oxford Community Arts Center and the programs and events that are offered there.
Target Audience: Families in the Oxford area and surrounding communities.
Solution: A scavenger hunt sponsored by the Community Art Center. Residents involved in the hunt seek icons placed on participating businesses throughout the town. Each stop provides clues leading to the next icon, as well as one of twelve puzzle pieces. All twelve puzzle pieces assembled in the right order leads participants back to the Community Art Center for final prizes.
Emily Schwegmann Process Book: emily_process_book_small
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Erika Chitwood
Caring Closet Rebrand
Design Problem: A lack of awareness of the Caring Closet in Hamilton which leads to a shortage in volunteers and poor quality clothing donations.
Target Audience: Caring Closet volunteers and Hamilton, Ohio, residents
Solution: A brand redesign which included a new website, direct mail and signage. The website is fully functional.The direct mail highlights a kids look book that educates donors about which items are currently popular with kids. The flexible signage uses an icon system to communicate current donation needs to residents driving or walking by the Caring Closet location.
Erika Process Book: emily_process_book_small
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Jenny Miller
Brain Games: Take Learning Out of Slow Motion
Design Problem: Kinesthetic learners are often left out of the traditional classroom. Most teaching methods instead cater to visual and auditory learners because the resulting lessons are more manageable.
Target Audience: Teachers of children between the age of 3 and 5
Solution: Develop a series of classroom tools to bring kinesthetic activities into the classroom. The resulting tools: a giant set of dice that specifies simple kinesthetic motions; a Reading Recess mat to bring motion into the experience of listening to a story, and a magnetic board game that allows children to independently bring motion to their learning experience. Jenny worked closely with a kindergarten teacher to develop these tools.
Jenny Miller’s Process book: jenny_processbook21
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Jeremy Smetana
A Brief History of the Bhutanese Refugee
Design Problem: Bhutanese refugees living in the Dayton community have little support to help them adjust to life in the Dayton.
Target Audience: Residents of Dayton who are unfamiliar with the Bhutanese people.
Solution: Develop an awareness campaign—direct mail, brochures, posters, motion graphics—to help Dayton residents better understand and support their new Bhutanese neighbors.
Jeremy Smetana’s Process Book: jeremy_thesis_processbook
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Kiera Morgan
Parky
Design Problem: Parking is a source of great frustration for students and visitors to Miami University. Signage is complex and difficult to understand. Parking zones change throughout the day, so parking areas that are valid in the morning, for example, are no longer valid in the evening.
Target Audience: Students, staff and visitors to Miami University
Solution: A fully coded app that identifies which parking zones are valid for the user. The app is designed for Miami University but could be scaled for use at other institutions.
Kiera’s process book: kiera_pb2
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Krista Adkins
St(art) in Loveland
Design Problem: Although there are quite a few artist studios in Loveland, Ohio, few residents and visitors are aware of the growing art scene.
Target Audience: Residents and visitors of Loveland, Ohio.
Solution: An art crawl that encourages visitors to experience each of the Loveland artist studios. The art crawl could be a single event as well as an ongoing self-guided tour. The resulting materials: a brochure/map, a website, and corresponding signage for each of the local studios.
Krista Adkins’s Process Book: krista_process-book1
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Marie Mock
Community Connect
Design Problem: Christian college students can find quite a bit of church-based support for their faith while attending school, but, once they get out into the world, finding the right church can be a challenge.
Target Audience: Young Christian adults who have recently moved to a new city, specifically those who recently graduated from college.
Solution: A website that matches people with the ideal church for their particular needs post-graduation, as well as supporting promotional materials to be handed out at campus Christian organizations prior to graduation.
Marie Mock’s Process Book: marie_process-book2
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Rachael Fraleigh
Gluten Free Zone
Design Problem: Students at Miami University need a better system for comfortably accessing gluten free resources on campus.
Target Audience: Miami University Gluten Free students
Solution: A new brand that drives an app for finding and ordering gluten free food on campus and a poster campaign/shelf signage to designate clearly gluten free areas in food services facilities.
Rachael Fraleigh’s Process Book: rachael_thesis-process-book
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Paige Hake
Power Up
Design Problem: Obesity is a growing problem for teenagers in America.
Target Audience: Teenagers in America
Solution: A comic book/workbook to be completed by a parent and child together as a strategy for combating obesity, as well as a corresponding app that allow teens to challenge their friends to short bursts of exercise. While researching the problem, Paige discovered that parental support is a huge factor in successfully combating teenage obesity.
Paige Hake’s Process Book: paige_thesis_process_spreads
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Reid Groth
WA+A: Wertz Art + Architecture Library
Design Problem: Miami students seldom utilize the Wertz Art and Architecture Library. The problem is two-fold: the library is difficult to find on campus and, once found, the students have trouble navigating the interior space.
Target Audience: Miami students and faculty whose interests lie in the material found in the Wertz Library.
Solution: Develop a fresh contemporary brand and awareness campaign for the library. The awareness campaign includes the following: A brochure guides student to the library and helps them navigate the space. Stickers on the back of the brochure encourage students to come to the library and vote on “What is Art.” by placing their stickers on large posters in the library; new wayfinding for the interior space that coordinates with the brochure; and a Wertz library app to make the library more accessible to students. The app functionality includes searching the library catalog, checking the print queue and the status of their student account, as well as location and library hours.
Reid Groth’s Process Book: reid_reid-groth-thesis
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Arianne Krekeler
Refresh: Mental | Physical | Collective
Design Problem: Many emerging adults in the San Francisco Bay Area struggle to balance work–life, social–life, and maintain their overall health and well–being.
Target Audience: Recent College Graduates & other Emerging Adults in the San Francisco Bay Area
Solution: A campaign focused on providing mental health and wellness information specifically for emerging adults, particularly those that have recently graduated and have not yet managed balancing the many aspects of their lives.
Arianne’s Presentation: ArianneK_Final Thesis Presentation
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Amy Lewin
Opening Minds Through Art: An Intergenerational Art Program for People with Dementia
Design Problem: Dementia care patients do not all have access to art therapy programs with proven success rates.
Target Audience: Students and community member.
Solution: Develop an awareness campaign, social media plan and website for the Opening Minds through Art program so that the program might expand through several different outlets and ultimately encourage more students and community members to get involved.
Amy Lewin’s Presentation: AmyLewin_Final Presentation
