title: Lost & Found Stories: Exploring Ecological Storytelling

contributor: Kim, Roy Jeong Kak (Roy Jeong Kak Kim) (author)

contributor: Armen, Haig (Haig Armen) (thesis advisor)

format:
36 p.
electronic
electronic

subject: Memory Nature Storytelling Sustainability

abstract: It is widely acknowledged that environmental issues are complicated – that the means we use to try and address them are knotted affairs made up of many, many complicated threads. Too often the response to this tangle is avoidance and denial. Arguably, unsustainable human behaviour patterns are a significant barrier to addressing environmental concerns. This thesis details a design research approach considers approaches for behaviour change through interaction design and personal storytelling. The aim throughout has been to uncover new opportunities that could potentially provoke: environmental awareness, motivation towards changed behaviours, citizen agency. Environmental researchers are continuously analysing and describing environmental problems. Dissemination of this information is often seen as the main means to not only prove and demonstrate the issues but also to provide evidence that might change our current unsustainable living patterns. Social Media, documentaries, and news reporting provide a plethora of images, scientific facts and statistics about the issues. These unfortunately are not always effective – rather than motivating people to act - they often provoke responses such as fear, shame and consequent inaction. Acknowledging that objective, rational evidence does not necessarily impact human behavior, this body of work looks to narrative and interactive approaches as a means to invite people to consider environmental problems on a more personalized level. A key goal of my work has been to create means for enhancing and appreciating people’s experiences with nature - to provide outlets for people to share and reconsider their relations with the environment. By engaging people with their own personal stories or memories related to nature, I have sought to explore means to merge people’s collective memory of nature. Digital strategies that are commonly used in digital marketing campaigns aimed towards consumer agendas have been co-opted and revamped for an alternate purpose; to provide means for people to consider and respond with more motivation towards care for the environment. To that end, an open-ended, generative citizen design research tool intended to widen the perception of the use of interactive platforms for pro-environmental research practices was developed.

abstract: Pro-environmental storytelling

abstract: Digital activism

abstract: Ecological stories

abstract: Environmental problems

abstract: Grieving and loss

abstract: Pro-environmental practices


title: Re-Imagining Place: The Eidetic Image and Vancouver's Urban-Landscape

type: thesis Text

contributor: Emily Carr University of Art and Design Graduate Studies (Degree granting institution)

format:
48 p.
electronic

rights: This thesis is available to view and copy for research and educational purposes only, provided that it is not altered in any way and is properly acknowledged, including citing the author(s), title and full bibliographic details.

subject: Multimedia (Art)--Imagery (Psychology)--Landscape architecture--Urban geography--Architecture

abstract: In this paper I explore the eidetic image as it relates to the rethinking and imaging of architectural and urban planning concerns. An eidetic image is produced through drawing, painting, modeling, mapping, and/or computer animation from which artists, designers and architects may conduct research into complex spatiality that challenges the passive Cartesian mode of picturing prevalent in both architecture and painting conventions. The term eidetic generally refers to mental imagery, “which are revived versions of [ . . . ] impressions called up by the imagination in the absence of the objects that originally stimulated them...” (Mitchell, Iconology 10). Which is not to say that all eidetic imagery must be recalled from memory. Within the context of this paper, an eidetic image is a visual model constructed by an artist, or designer. In his essay, “Eidetic Operations and New Landscapes” landscape architect James Corner calls on researchers to use this imaging methodology as a means of stimulating discourse, creative invention, and actualizing emergent realities. In his seminal work, “The Image of the City” Kevin Lynch categorizes the contents of the imageable city into five types of architectural components: paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks (46). A summary of what those components are and how they function within the urban-landscape will be provided. In addition to Lynch’s five categories, I address the phenomena of pictorial architecture. Pictorial architecture refers to the ubiquitous application of two-dimensional graphic imagery onto three-dimensional architectural structures in the form of retail signage, large-format television screens, and billboards. The thesis of my proposal is that, an artist, designer or architect may use the operational language of Lynch’s five architectural components, and pictorial architecture, within eidetic imagery, as a means of describing the contemporary urban-landscape. To elaborate how architectural components may be deployed in eidetic imagery I will review the works of contemporary artists such as Zaha Hadid, Benjamin Edwards, and Julie Mehretu who specifically deal with the urban-landscape. In addition, I have constructed my own eidetic image, Dream City: Vancouver (2008) and will describe my methodological approach towards urban exploration and image building. In relation to the exploration of cities, the works of The Situationist International and Franz Ackermann will also be discussed.

abstract: Eidetic image

abstract: Psychogeography

abstract: Tourism

abstract: Urban planning

abstract: Spectacle

abstract: Mind maps


title: The Unconscious Workspace: How Designers Can Use Shared Virtual Spaces for Creative Problem Solving

type: Text thesis

contributor: Albutt, Roxanne (Roxanne Albutt) (author)

contributor: Betulis, Eugenia (Eugenia Betulis) (thesis advisor)

format:
43 p.
electronic
electronic

subject:
Design process
Workplace communication
Creative ability
Problem solving
Virtual reality

abstract:
Design teams use online digital spaces to communicate when working remotely, varying from email to chat to video collaboration tools. Often, these spaces stifle the team’s creative problem-solving abilities. The opportunity space is explored through two focused explorations: Creativity in 3D virtual spaces, and collaboration and communication in 3D virtual spaces.
The first focused exploration between virtual workflows and the creative model described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi revealed a noteworthy difference between the two - the incubation phase. The incubation effect is described as a process of allowing the unconscious mind to process ideas indirectly while an individual participates in an unrelated task. These incubation periods often occur in physical spaces through play and discovery for a creative team before they can achieve a sense of creative flow. However, there is no clear emphasis to include a space in virtual team environments for incubation to occur.
3
Creativity is heavily influenced by our surroundings. Immersive virtual environments create an atmosphere that welcomes play and experimentation, as well as allowing developers to control sensory information given to the user. The flexibility of virtual spaces allows us to create an individual’s ideal creative space.
Secondly, complex design problems often require novel ideas generated from the knowledge of more than one area of expertise. George de Mestral, a Swiss electrical engineer, had studied the unique form of cockleburs when he noticed they had gotten stuck in his dog’s fur during a hunting trip. This had led to the invention of the hook and loop fastener. People from different fields tend to interpret information differently due to learned convergent thinking methods, leading to different perspectives. Working in isolation can lead to misinterpretation of information or the problem space, which can misdirect what the team is solving for.

abstract: Virtual teams

abstract: Creative problem solving

abstract: Incubation effect

abstract: Immersive reality


title: Re:possessed: Transforming Shadow Kin into Godlings

contributor: Jalovaara, Hannamari (Hannamari Jalovaara) (author)

format:
41 p.
electronic
electronic

subject:
Hybridization
Stop-motion animation films
Collage
Printmaking

abstract: Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts

abstract:
The goal of this process-based inquiry is to be responsive to the art making process and to what transpires when the work transforms in the different stages and different media. For this purpose, I use cut-out collage figures that are transformed from analogue to digital media, from inanimate to animate work, and from small scale to large and back to small. In addition to the physical
transformation, I investigate what this transformation means to the work both conceptually and as content. Through the cycle of disassembly and reconstitution, initial considerations about what constitutes hybridity, multiplicity or non-variability in the material practices of contemporary print media expand into thematic concerns of hybridity, alterity and repetition. These concepts are approached through a variety of texts on pluralism, polysemy, dynamism, hybridization and awkwardness. Starting as hand-pulled prints, the paper collage figures transform into scans, digital prints, stop-motion work and finally video projections. Within this series of metamorphoses, each experimental iteration of the process investigates what qualities, characteristics and possibilities are relinquished by the altered relationship between the work in different stages, and what are repossessed in
the final work.


title: Illusions For the Uninitiated: Traditional Special Effects in Potlatch Performances

format:
46 p.
electronic

subject:
Potlatch
Special effects
Aboriginal culture

abstract: Nuxalk Nation potlatch performances are multidimensional displays of supernatural mythology done through the use of traditional special effects. This is an untold story which I bring to light by reclaiming the descriptions of the secret society, the Kusiut, as recorded by anthropologist Thomas McIlwraith, and in the discussions on my own art practice. There are similarities between Nuxalk traditional cultural production and western mainstream cultural production that I investigate with my writing and my art making. I use a form of hybridization of traditional special effects and mainstream special effects in the making of contemporary ceremonial art objects that, like the masks and blankets of the Nuxalk Nation, are meant to be performed and come to life. Both forms of special effects shape the socio-political issues of their time. Nuxalk winter dances, which are generally performed and witnessed mainly by First Nations community members, have foundational special effect techniques. I discuss and elaborate on them as a woman actively engaged in reclaiming, revealing and participating in the stories of my own people through art. Nuxalk secret society performers and the magic they created reconstructed realities that could be collectivized and set precedents that while not known to European based cultures, were demanding and technically extremely disciplined. My art practice builds on that discipline from the endless hours learning specific Nuxalk traditional methods to my own engagement in the assertion of matrilineal protocols. In addition I learned extensive special effects for mask from the film industry that include malleable materials to allow performers to emote facial expressions. Through conventional research methods and traditional practices, I have fabricated hybrid works of Nuxalk art that blend ancestral aesthetics with current techniques of the special effects industry. Researching Nuxalk ancestry has provided a lens to explore possible indigenous artistic advancement in my own art while ensuring that the foundational contributions of Nuxalk traditional techniques are acknowledged. Nuxalk potlatch performances and Non-First Nations stagecraft have both mesmerized audience’s for generations. This work expands on those creative lineages weaving them together to hold space for a re-imaging of remnants from those dauntless cultural trailblazers of the Kusiut society.

abstract: In support of the fulfillment of the degree of Low Residency Master of Applied Arts at Emily Carr University of Art and Design.


title: The Social Life of Everyday Objects: Situating the Designer in a Collaborative-Creative Practice

contributor: Fraser, Hélène Day (Hélène Day Fraser) (thesis advisor)

format:
70 p.
electronic

subject:
Storytelling
Identity
Material culture
Design

abstract: The everyday objects that we surround ourselves with are deeply connected to our understanding of the world. These objects have the power to manifest and propagate particular world-views. This makes it particularly important for designers to study artefacts and the engagement we have with them. The meaning we (as introspective and social beings) draw from or affix to our objects is rooted in the socio-cultural perspectives of the world, an understanding that is largely created through actions of storytelling. This thesis explores the act of narrative-building through the process of making. It considers the significance of this in relation to understanding and expressing personal identity through objects. It seeks out ways a designer might use narratives as a means to: understand and make sense of personal experiences; situate oneself in relation in the act of making itself; create new forms and; engage with people around oneself. The research employs a reflective material practice made up of design methods such as research through design, heuristic inquiry, narrative inquiry and participatory workshops with peers in the studio. These were used as ways to actively respond to theories connected to emotional design, product longevity and shared practices of making. Through the act of making, the research explores unfamiliar ways of engaging with objects as a way to consider the multi-faceted relationships that can be found - between groups of people, between people and their everyday objects, people and their construction of identity in relation to their socio-cultural backgrounds. Through sharing the empirical learnings and insightful outcomes of these acts of building narrative and generative making with others, the research proposes a methodological framework that situates the designer within a collaborative-creative practice, driven by a heuristic inquiry.

abstract: Everyday objects

abstract: Human-object relationship

abstract: Narrative

abstract: Socio-cultural perspective

abstract: Expression

abstract: Reflective material practice

abstract: Collaborative making

abstract: Emotional design

abstract: Product longevity


title: Technological Health Clinic: Reframing and Reimagining our Relationships with Technology

contributor: Caceres Rivero, Laura (Laura Caceres Rivero) (author)

contributor: Badke, Craig (Craig Badke) (thesis advisor)

format:
47 p.
electronic

subject:
Ontological explorations
Technology
Health
Mental health

abstract: It is reasonable to argue that technology is disruptive, psychologically and socially; it can appear to be uncomfortably fast-paced, overbearing, and have unpredictable effects on our day to day behaviours, seemingly linked to anxiety, depression or stress (McFadden, 2019), and more so on socio-cultural values, perception, interdependence, and relational structures (Verbeek, 2005). Still, technology and society continuously co-shape each other. Systematic philosophy professor Hans Achterhuis reasons about the social logic of technology claiming that 'on the one hand, the development of technology is accompanied by a transformation of society, but on the other hand that process is determined by socio-cultural factors' (Achterhuis, 2001, pg. 8). This co-shaping conditions us to passivity due to our disposition to technological optimism while generalizing the aftermath of this shaping as unfavourable, reducing what we believe, think or know about technology to a merely instrumentalist perspective, in which technologies are conceived as a neutral means to help carry out a specific practice, while denying that they frequently transform this practice in radical ways (Smits, 2001). In either case, the spectrum both removes the user from the context and frames them as victims, taking away the agency and responsibility we as individuals have on said outcomes. The project seeks to develop techno-social literacies around our relationships with technology, the ways of being it co-constructs, and the behaviours it affords. Such literacy, as argued for by technology critic James Bridle, is seen as a necessary first step toward addressing a range of contemporary health conditions which are increasingly linked to our use of technology and immersion in media; it connects us to issues such as computational thinking (Bridle, 2019, pg. 4), novelty addiction, convenience culture, sedentary lifestyles, and FOMO, to name a few. By critically looking at how we relate with technology, not as the source but rather the output of fundamental human ethos, the work seeks to reframe issues with technology as social rather than technical. As a result, a generative and ongoing process of restructuring practice and unveiling action turned my interest in empathy, un-wellness*, care, and agency into the concept of technological health as a propositional, exploratory design research approach. To expose the shift in meaning, culture, and value that our current relationship with our devices appears to highlight, my Research looks at intervention structures that could aid in reframing and reimagining our relationship with technology. A Technological Health Clinic is proposed as a means of Research into such relationships, venturing with lifestyle experiments that question the ways we act, resist, and behave, to open up possibilities for restructured agency and self-understanding through the increased perception of our techno-mutualism.

abstract: Ontological design

abstract: Critical design

abstract: Design as research

abstract: Mutualism

abstract: Interdependence

abstract: Exploratory

abstract: Care

abstract: Techno-social literacy

abstract: Technological health

abstract: Focal practices


title: Praise for Discord: Collaborations in Talking Back

contributor: Langlois, Justin (Justin Langlois) (thesis advisor)

format:
43 p.
electronic

subject:
Social practice (Art)
Anti-racism
Self-publishing
Zines
Artistic collaboration
Comic books, strips, etc.

abstract: As an artist, I interrupt spaces with installations that invite community members to make zines or letterpress print together, to act out dialogues or to eat hot pot. I could frame all the artworks of my period of study at Emily Carr as attempts to define this tendency: discovering self and agency by embedding myself holistically in my community. Share My Lunch is an example of a series of community events that cater to the interpersonal connection often taken for granted by social superstructures. BACKTALK is a curatorial project behind which hours of collaboration took place to thoughtfully represent the voices of individuals in a collective call out of institutional racism. The Centre for Polite Dissent is both a physical and imaginary space where those who do not inhabit a norm (or don’t quite inhabit a norm) can be praised for their acts of denial as diversity work. Creating these spaces means understanding their separation from the bureaucratic work of altering infrastructure. These projects can ignore institutional oversight and methods of sustainability while presenting physical and conceptual interruptions for deeper connection, community strength and refusals of silence. But their realistic inefficacy doesn’t belittle their power. I use theory-driven social frameworks to imagine new possible worlds free from restrictions, walls, and hierarchies that limit the creation of necessary support structures. I propose that an art practice can flourish in the middle ground between imagining new realities and instigating institutional change. Framed by the inner workings of personal relationships and social experiences, this thesis support document showcases different projects that attempt to tread this middle ground by carving out community spaces that prioritize connection and solidarity.

abstract: Socially engaged art

abstract: Community based

abstract: Antiracist

abstract: Pedagogy

abstract: Publication

abstract: Food

abstract: Comics

abstract: Workshops

abstract: Collaborative practices


title: A LOUDER VOICE, A FASTER CAR, A FASTER PAINTING, A MORE REAL PLAY.

contributor: Hilder, Jamie (Jamie Hilder) (thesis advisor)

format:
40 p.
electronic

subject:
Sound in art
Performance Art
Installations (Art)
Music

abstract: This thesis considers shifting definitions of ‘liveness’ within the fields of performance, music, and visual arts. Liveness is explored through the dramaturgical processes of four artworks. The mechanics of the live event are discussed both in regards to the digital and analogue tools used in these projects and the cultural context from which they emerge. Oscillating between experiences of the personal and the public, this text proposes liveness as an active and relational phenomenon that is sustained by a communal desire for congregation and closeness. As audiovisual equipment, online communications, and analogue formats continue to reshape the parameters of spectatorship and gathering, conversations around sound, time, geography, and identity are also set in motion. Changing performer/audience dynamics and disparate forms of technological mediation warrant language beyond the written word. It is through an interdisciplinary practice connecting the vocabulary of the body, the stage, the gallery, and the urban landscape that one can question and engage with liveness in all its manifestations.

abstract: Expanded cinema

abstract: Liveness

abstract: Performance

abstract: Video

abstract: Sound

abstract: Interdisciplinarity

abstract: Technological mediation

abstract: Spectatorship

abstract: Installation


title: Reinterpreted Facsimile: N.E. Thing Co. Ltd. Companies Act (2020)

contributor: Hertz, Garnet (Garnet Hertz) (thesis advisor)

format:
67 p.
electronic

subject:
N.E. Thing Company
Book artists (artists)
Artists' books (books)
Facsimiles

abstract: This thesis questions the definition of facsimile pertaining to artist’s books and examines what information gets lost by adhering to it when remaking culturally significant texts. The primary case study is the physical republishing of Companies Act (1978), by the N.E. Thing Company — a rare book that summarizes a historically influential Canadian conceptual art duo. The aim of this thesis is to clarify the methodology and process used to reproduce this book and draw attention to its associated implications toward the field of print design. The standard logic of reprinting a manuscript generally follows the idea of facsimile reproduction, which is described by leading publishing authorities like Manfred Kramer as reproducing manuscripts as close to the original as possible. The aim of this thesis project is to expand on this concept by proposing the concept of a reinterpreted facsimile that adds contextual elements to the republished manuscript that would not exist otherwise. The case studies throughout this thesis have found that in at least this particular instance, Kramer’s goal of exact verisimilitude has many shortcomings. The conclusion of my work explores and defines the idea of a reinterpreted facsimile that productively blurs the line between art and print design.

abstract: Print design

abstract: NETCO

abstract: Publishing

abstract: Reinterpreted facimile


title: InfoWear: Clothing as Visual Communication Medium

contributor: Yaputra, Jonathan (Jonathan Yaputra) (author)

contributor: Jones, Christopher (Christopher Jones) (thesis advisor)

rights: This image is available to view and copy for research and educational purposes only, provided that it is not altered in any way and is properly acknowledged, including citing the author(s), title and full bibliographic details.

subject:
Graphic design
Clothing and dress
Social media
Visual communication
Participant observation
Media studies

abstract: This research projects seeks to explore the potential for clothing to act as a socio-political medium that interrogates the emerging nature of personalized media environments. Social media platforms, governed by online algorithms, have altered the context in which we currently receive information (Steeg & Galstyan, 2012; Romero et al., 2010). This new and private media environment is often personalized to a degree that it can have an impact on our decision-making (Erkan & Evans, 2016; Liu et al., 2015). Using a “research through design” (Frayling, 1993) approach, the project proposes a system that allows participants to act as ‘publishers’ by bringing the content of their private media streams into public view, by incorporating them onto clothing. The resulting garments exist not only in a fashion context, but also act as a platform for civic engagement.

abstract: Clothing

abstract: Participatory Design


title: Craft Engagement For Environmental Sustainability

contributor: Khosravi Farsani, Nasim (Nasim Khosravi Farsani) (author)

contributor: Hethrington, Christopher (Christopher Hethrington) (thesis advisor)

format:
53 p.
electronic
electronic

subject:
Ritual
Environmental sustainability
Craft and art
Sustainability

abstract: This research incorporates cultural and traditional Persian practices in order to develop social engagement with environmental sustainability. Persian crafts and rituals are utilized as the means of engagement in developing tangible practices that nudge consciousness and lead to greater understanding of nature and ecology. Cultural rituals in Persian culture such as Nowrooz and Yalda inspired me to design a service that supports and amplifies their connection to nature. In the development of this service two facets of sustainability are explored: materiality and nature. Craft opens up fascinating possibilities that address sustainability. Locality is the remarkable aspect of Craft. Materials, methods of making and the meaning in a craft artwork talk about the specific characteristic of the place that it comes from. It helps us to identify the characteristics of our natural environment and understand how to benefit from its capacities. In this service design, people participate in traditional craft activities and learn how the materials and processes of these craft artifacts are in tune with ecological systems. They then use the crafts that they have created as artifacts for display in their own cultural rituals like Nowrooz and Yalda. This service promotes consciousness about sustainability in participants during their involvement with the practice. Key to the design is my belief that a viable service is inviting and provides an atmosphere for people to play an active role in addressing current ecological issues. This empowers citizens and helps to develop and nurture the culture of environmental sustainability in Persian society. By unlocking the roots and histories of traditional crafts in any given culture, and then tapping into the creative possibilities of how they can be re-combined and re-framed, a path to social innovation can be etched by applying the results to contemporary issues of environmental sustainability.

abstract: Social innovation

abstract: Craft

abstract: User engagement


title: Transmutations of Emotional Energy: Ceramics, Fibre, and Flesh

format:
34 p.
electronic

subject:
Mental health
Ceramics
Sculpture
Textiles
Feminism
Process
Abstraction
Emotions

abstract: This document explores the ways in which emotional energy, such as sentiments associated with depression, trauma, and anxiety, can be represented in a physical form with the mediums of ceramic and fibre sculpture. It discusses the ways in which using these materials’ properties can represent the complexities of these vibrations. When treating mood disorders or mental illness, when you are able to imagine something abstract like emotions as an image, form or object, it brings validity to it, and it brings something easy to visualize in order to work on ways to treat it. Therefore, within this document, I am questioning the ways in which this can be done with sculpture, and to create a dialogue, not for the viewer to connect with the specific emotion but rather to open up a space for contemplation of our interior lives that are often too elusive to share other than through material, abstract and affective works of art.

abstract: Affect

abstract: Emotional energy

abstract: Abject

abstract: Soft sculpture

abstract: Feminist art practice

abstract: Transmutation

abstract: Materiality

abstract: Bodily

abstract: Mental illness

abstract: Labour


title: Painting the View From My Doorstep

contributor: Moppett, Damian (Damien Moppett) (thesis advisor)

contributor: Reeves, Ben (Ben Reeves) (thesis advisor)

format:
33 p.
electronic

subject:
Landscape painting
Abstraction
Perception
Painting
Process art

abstract: This essay follows the journey of my process driven investigation surrounding nuances between seeing, perceiving, and representing the view from my doorstep through paint. The work I created and is discussed in this thesis is in chronological order and follows the progression of my studio exploration, as well as questioning past and current painting tools and techniques. I want to address the following questions: 1) What can painting do now that it could not before and how can contemporary painting practices challenge our notions of what a landscape can be? 2) Can I create a painting from my doorstep that steps outside of my own learned perception? This exploration has allowed me to learn more about the relationship between abstraction and representation, as well as the material potential of paint.

abstract: Process

abstract: Landscape


title: Materials of Resilience: Building Resilience Through Material Practice

contributor: Stonick, Damien (Damien Stonick) (author)

contributor: Doyle, Keith (Keith Doyle) (thesis advisor)

format:
141 p.
electronic

subject:
Resilience (Personality trait)
Design
Communities

abstract: This thesis entails the exploration of the potential of material practice in building resilience. The research is presented as three phases, firstly, the characterization of resilience as explored through material practice. Heuristic making, making as reflection, disassembly as learning, collaborative making, and reflective writing are used as the primary methods. Secondly, the characteristics and actions of practice as constructed through the emergence and definition of a resilient design practice. This emergence was structured by the characterizations of craft by both David Sennett and Richard Pye. The actions conducted were grounded by questions regarding what constitutes a resilient design practice. Thirdly, this course of research explores making as a mode of reorienting personal value systems by connecting the actions of practice that are corresponding to characteristics of resilience. This is presented through the design of a series of exercises compiled in a workbook. The discussion then leads to the position of a resilient designer as a Local Designer and the benefits of adopting resilient practices in individual practices and the potential to extend outward as distributed networks.

abstract: Local design

abstract: Material practice

abstract: Resilience

abstract: Community building


title: A-Resonances: Visual Representations of the Asexual Experience

contributor: Emily Carr University of Art and Design Graduate Studies (Degree granting institution)

contributor: Lantin, Maria (Maria Lantin) (thesis advisor)

format:
59 p.
electronic

subject:
Asexual people
Asexuality (Sexual orientation)
Visual communication

abstract: The most adopted definition of asexuality is simple — does not experience sexual attraction. In reality, however, people who identify as asexual are a very heterogeneous group, and more recognition and representation of this variety is needed. Through the analysis of existing asexual visual representations, this thesis proposes that new opportunities are arising for more nuanced representations that acknowledge the diversity of the asexual experience and help others further understand what asexuality can be. A small-scale qualitative visual study was conducted to extract symbolic visual elements of online asexual communities. Drawing from those elements, two projects and one experiment were undertaken to explore how visual communication tactics can be used to bring forth more nuanced asexual representations. Two projects propose to associate a broadened understanding of asexuality with the diverse asexual experience in visual representations: Andy Warhol is Aro Ace situates asexual possibilities in a broader cultural and historical context through visual storytelling; and #intimAces interprets common physical interactions from an asexual perspective, linking asexual/nonsexual intimacy with symbols of asexuality. An experiment of symbol-making for asexual spectrum identities seeks clarifications of the specific definitions, leading to a discussion around identity segmentation and the role of design to bring more fluidity. This thesis concludes by suggesting an inclusion of more nuances and possibilities of asexuality for future asexual visibility and education.

abstract: Visual study

abstract: Asexual representation

abstract: Asexual communities


title: Nostalgia Negotiated: Revisiting What is Lost in Contemporary China Through Design

contributor: Day Fraser, Hélène (Hélène Day Fraser) (thesis advisor)

format:
90 p.
electronic

subject:
Chinese diaspora
Modernization
Sichuan Sheng (China)
Culture
Visual communication

abstract: Cultural specificity is essential to an ethnic group and potentially the nation it belongs to. As a civilization with thousands of years’ history, China is home to an enormous network of diverse, rich culture. Contemporary Chinese society over time, has never been stable, it has frequently been influenced by different sociopolitical and historical aspects in the global culture. China’s tangible or intangible cultural heritage, as a result, is gradually fading away (“Top10: Fading Away”, 2011). Today much of it is being replaced by products of globalization. My research, focusing on the significance of traditional culture of China and the local culture of the Sichuan region, is rooted in an argument put forward by Hall (1996) and referenced in Chiang’s 2010 paper. It states that historical factors such as political movements or economic force heavily impact identity formation, and that people’s identity enables and effects the position they take when they speak (Chiang, 2010, p.39). Drawing on these assertions, my thesis starts from my Chinese and Chinese diaspora identities, and discusses traditional Chinese and Sichuanese cultural heritage in the flow of modernization. Concerned with national and regional identities, my work evolves out of observations of the mundane. The way in which Western perspectives and acts of Modernization have affected, misinterpreted, and changed aspects about the lifestyle of Chinese people since the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is ever present. Part of this work also relates to the Chinese diaspora in North America, a group I geographically belong to. A series of design projects serve as a means to reflect on locality and place, identity, globalization and modernization. Through design acts that preserve, modify, and replace these concerns, I demonstrate means of using visual communication design to reconsider the fading traditional culture in contemporary China, and reflect on the modernization of China.

abstract: Chinese vernacular

abstract: Chinese culture

abstract: Local dialects

abstract: Cultural preservation


title: Every 1 Welcome: Using Language and Story to Shift Perceptions Around the Type 1 Diabetes Community

contributor: McGroarty, Lucinda (Lucinda McGroarty) (author)

contributor: Emily Carr University of Art and Design Graduate studies (Degree granting institution)

format:
74 p.
electronic
electronic

subject: Diabetes

abstract: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic autoimmune disease that requires extensive self-management. Due to the daily demands of T1D, young adult and adult type 1 diabetics often lose momentum when managing their disease. Through exploratory research, it became apparent that a type 1 diabetic who is highly engaged in the T1D community is motivated, inspired and empowered by what the community has to offer. This individual is more positively and actively in control of his or her physical and mental health, contributing to an increased resilience towards “diabetes burnout.” However, despite the incredible benefits offered by the T1D community, there is an overall lack of participation. A gap exists between what the perception of the community is, and what it actually can provide for a type 1 diabetic. This thesis aims to transform the T1D community into something more familiar and reassuring, in order to appeal to those individuals who currently disregard the community as a resource. Through this process, the intention is to encourage these individuals to engage in the community and indirectly defeat burnout.

abstract: Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Design at Emily Carr University of Art + Design.


title: Nature and Service of Care

contributor: Kulkarni, Srushti (Srushti Kulkarni) (author)

contributor: Bertulis, Eugenia (Eugenia Bertulis) (thesis advisor)

format:
102 p.
electronic

coverage:
Mumbai (India)
Vancouver (B.C.)
Weesp (Netherlands)

subject: Older people--Care

subject: Older people--Care--Mumbai (India)

subject: Long-term care facilities

subject: Long-term care facilities--Vancouver (B.C.)

subject: Nursing homes

subject: Nursing homes--Weesp (Netherlands)

subject: Social isolation

subject: Nature

subject: Community

abstract: An ageing population leads to challenges in long-term care homes such as social isolation in multi-cultural communities. While working in Mumbai, India, I observed this social isolation of seniors in long-term care homes first-hand. Familial and financial limitations are insufficient in providing seniors shelters in their own homes, leading to greater demand for ‘nursing homes’ in India. The seniors in care homes with smaller populations were more likely to quickly find relationships among their neighbours. In larger-scale care homes hosting more than 100 seniors, the feeling of institutions, unfamiliarity kept the seniors socially disconnected, in Mumbai as well as the care homes I visited in Vancouver, BC. The policies about eldercare are not updated, leading to insufficient resources and outdated norms. As part of my MDes research, I also visited De Hogeweyk (a dementia village) in the Netherlands. I used methods like observational research, fly on the wall, and interviews with the management members. As a designer, I explored and made iterative design objects and experiences for human-human and human-nature connections. This thesis describes design research activities and prototypes such as guided outdoor walking and reflection practices, using peer designers as proxy participants. I describe my service design workshops and architectural space and layout discussions. This thesis work includes historical perspectives and personal reflection on nature-human connections such as described in the Bhagavad Gita and practiced in traditional Ikebana. One significant insight through the research was that experiencing time in nature might solve institutional issues, whether in India, Vancouver, or the Netherlands. The second important lesson learned as a designer, addresses how time pressure makes people take shortcuts, such as overlooking the importance of material in concept review and testing and too little or too much preparation in developing interview scripts and protocols. The research also reflects on iterations of different design concepts, repeating and improving, recognizing the failures and appreciating them. It is an essential step as a designer to learn from the process, especially when it is imperfect. Lastly, through this research, I found that nature, space, memory and social connection are interconnected, intricately woven together to help humans survive independently and with fellowship.

abstract: Collaborative making

abstract: De Hogeweyk

abstract: Senior care

abstract: Human-nature connection

abstract: Human-human connection

abstract: Long-term care homes

abstract: Policies

abstract: Service design


title: Holding a Conversation with the Narrative

contributor: Langlois, Justin (Justin Langlois) (thesis advisor)

format:
55 p.
electronic

subject:
Feminism
Sexism
Racism
Language and culture
Installations (visual works)
Photography

abstract: In the centre of my artistic practice is the need to communicate. Throughout my life, there has been a primal need for what I am expressing to be understood and valued. I desire to articulate a balance between conveying the personal with a larger need to communicate to the broader public as the personal connects with my audience. In my thesis I describe how integral and important language is for respectful and mindful interactions with people we already know and people we do not yet know. The nuance of language consciously and unconsciously shapes how we respond to each other and how we relate within power dynamics. Many of the mechanisms that hold power-dynamics in place are reinforced by language. Ultimately, language reproduces and supports implementing and maintaining discrimination and subordination. My practice engages with the process of surfacing repeated discriminations and closed-minded actions, both of which are often hidden and ordinary. The insidiousness of these kinds of actions sustains ongoing racism, sexism and overarching patriarchal standards that divide and categorize people into a value system. In raising an awareness around how we interact and speak with others, we are able to slowly and arduously dissolve these discriminations. The conversation becomes integral to changing the structures that are in place. This is the starting point for what we all can contribute to the value of humankind and how we can start to reconsider how we treat each other.

abstract: Asian

abstract: Text-based

abstract: Language


title: Step, Choose & Play

contributor: Shackleton, Deborah (Deborah Shackleton) (thesis advisor)

format:
76 p.
electronic
electronic

subject:
Board games
Abused women
Feminism
Social justice

abstract: The global climate of #MeToo and #TimesUp has forced us to recognise that violence against women has a long and dark history that needs to be acknowledged. Antithetical to this are the number of crimes against women recorded by the India National Crime Record Bureau (thirty nine per hour) (NCRB, 2016). The brutal rape of Nirbhaya shocked countries world over. It forced Indians to take notice - this had more to do with the breeding of a culture of violence than a case of a one-off incident. In this context, the objective of this dissertation and its outcomes have been to expose a few examples of where this violence towards women potentially stems from. Within a research framework grounded in design and material praxis, this thesis used a narrative based enquiry along with embodied ways of knowing to develop a series of interventions that cite historical and contemporary examples. These informed three rounds of redesign of the well known game Snakes and Ladders. User participation and testing were used to refine schemas of chance to choice within the game. Throughout this design process I have aimed to challenge behaviors and provide spaces to have discussions about problematic biases that subjugate women. Moving forward this work will continue to be developed. It will shift, with care and attention, to India where it will be further developed to better reflect the nuances of the context it is meant for.

abstract: India

abstract: Women's empowerment

abstract: Design research


title: Nourishing Multiculturalism

contributor: St. Pierre, Louise (Louise St. Pierre) (thesis advisor)

format:
133 p.
electronic

subject:
Multiculturalism
Mindfulness
Empathy
Spices
Social justice

abstract: This thesis project explores the potential of embodied play to cultivate empathy among students in multicultural classrooms in the western educational context. In a progressively mobile and intermingled world, with greater net flow of immigration from poorer to richer countries and higher birth rate of immigrant population in their new domiciles (Grayling, 2012), I deem the questions of identity, social cohesion, assimilation have become more pressing. Students in multicultural classrooms face new challenges every day. In order to establish an environment in the classroom which is favourable for learning and growth, it is important for students to learn to function cohesively despite the cultural differences between them. This research endeavours to mitigate cultural differences using the vehicle of spices. When students in multicultural classrooms acknowledge that the flavours they enjoy are a result of someone else’s labour, then they become aware of the interdependence of people on one another. Spice growers are largely from the global south. Learning about them through sensory play with spices develops awareness of cultural differences. This can lead to higher acceptance of the many different cultural backgrounds of fellow students. The design outcome of this research are a series of artefacts that use game design as a structured tool to explore embodied play in order to cultivate imagination and empathy among students. The design is targeted towards students who study at university level in multicultural classrooms in privileged western societies. Subjects such as mindfulness, gratitude, pedagogy, sensory design and imagination were explored throughout and have contributed in the journey of this research.

abstract: Embodied play

abstract: Social justice

abstract: Inclusivity

abstract: Relationality

abstract: Critical pedagogy


title: Propositions for a Place-Based Practice: Implicating the Designer in Care and Relationality

contributor: Chisholm, Catherine Jean (Jean Chisholm) (author)

format:
71 p.
electronic

coverage:
Prince George (B.C.)
Vancouver (B.C.)

rights: This thesis is available to view and copy for research and educational purposes only, provided that it is not altered in any way and is properly acknowledged, including citing the author(s), title and full bibliographic detail

subject: Design Relationism Communities

abstract: This thesis reflects on the role of the designer within a place-based practice, exploring the implications of being knowingly and intentionally embedded within community and building a design practice rooted in relationality and reciprocity. Propositions for a place-based practice emerged from a methodology of material and collaborative making, as examined through three case studies (two completed, one proposed) within Prince George and Vancouver, Canada.

abstract: Place-based design

abstract: Participatory design

abstract: Relationality

abstract: Care

abstract: Making


title: Slow Design and the Lost Art of Shifting Gears

contributor: Hay, Sarah Catherine (Sarah Catherine Hay) (author)

format:
42 p.
electronic

subject: Slow design--Design--Industrial design--Sustainable design--Time perception

abstract: This paper is a contribution to the growing discourse around the transformations taking place at the intersections of design, ecology and culture. It is about slow design and the lost art of shifting gears. It embraces ‘Festina lente’ from the Latin, which means ‘make haste slowly’. The phrase and its implied meaning is central to a new interpretation of slow design, espousing the philosophies of ‘slow’ and a method that puts them into practice. Slow design does not imply idleness, but rather taking the necessary time to consider and visualize unintended consequences and actively seeking out ways to not only avoid these but to find better alternatives. Long term thinking (ex. Seven Generation Theory) and the notion of sustainments frame and orient the overall intention while new social processes transpire. This thesis describes in detail a new design methodology that is possible if designers focus first on one conceptual variable – time. The focus on time enables designers to recognize variations in physical and temporal scales (i.e. context), expanding one’s temporal horizon and building capacity to respond quickly to changing conditions. This is the true challenge for the designer working towards socio-cultural and ecological regeneration. Questions that will be answered in the paper are as follows: What is slow design? How does it differ from conventional design? What are the criteria? What are the precedents? What is the methodology and how is it applied? Conceived as a floating structure, built mostly of salvaged materials, the project component of my thesis (RAFT) is used as a way to test and work through the creative possibilities that surround slow design. I use RAFT as a research tool – a conceptual and physical sounding board to uncover and develop a template for practicing slow design. The method was conceived primarily for industrial designers, and therefore more often than not includes a physical product output. It has the ability to transfer to other forms of sustainable design and production.

abstract: Praxis

abstract: Bricolage


title: 10 Minutes of Empathy: Exploring Ways to Create a Better Doctor-Patient Relationship

contributor: Armen, Haig (Haig Armen) (thesis advisor)

format:
90 p.
electronic
electronic

subject:
Physician and patient
Medical technology

abstract: This thesis is an exploration into ‘getting the human element back into the doctor-patient relationship, in the technology driven future of healthcare’, within the 10 minute time frame of a walk-in clinic, using design tools strategically. ‘Care & comfort’ between the doctor and the patient has been on the fall over the last decade. Population explosion, myriad of choices, technology boom and medical discoveries have all contributed towards this changing dynamic. In today’s tightly timed clinic visits, there is a lot of repetitive questioning on the part of the patient, which leads to repetitive explanation from the doctor. The mind of the patient is often clouded with anxiety which leads to them being less receptive to the doctor’s instructions. All this, coupled with a growing push towards digitisation of healthcare, sophisticated technology will soon provide diagnosis, treatment strategy and recommendations to the doctor, minimising their role as the sole decision making person. Penetration of smart technology into the intimate, personalized doctor- patient space brings the inherent risk of dehumanizing the relationship further. Thus, in this technology driven future of healthcare, it is important that we do not lose the ‘human connection’ between the doctors and the patients. This thesis aims to examine the factors affecting the relationship, communication methods and emotions involved in the doctor-patient interaction area, using explorative and generative design methodologies. This work sits within the larger body of relational design, as the core focus is understanding people who communicate within stressful conditions. This thesis uses participatory design methods within a human centered design approach to understand the problem space. Stakeholder mapping, journey maps, evolution mapping, interviews, cultural probes and mental models are the design tools used to understand, categorise and organise the information within the research area. An approach similar to the one suggested in this thesis can be extrapolated for use in spheres beyond healthcare. The thesis offers a set of design opportunities which can be carried forward for further research. The main inference shows that decreasing patient anxiety levels and introducing better communication methods can lead to improved human connection. Therefore, it offers possible design interventions which provide alternative ways of for enhancing the quality and content of the patient’s experience and keeping it within the ‘comfort zone’ of reduced anxiety without sacrificing the benefits accruing from smart technology.

abstract: Relational design

abstract: Doctor-patient interaction

abstract: 10min clinic time

abstract: Technology in healthcare

abstract: Human connection

abstract: Participatory design

abstract: Strategic research

abstract: Design research


title: Skin as Feeling Vessel

contributor: Muzaffar, Adiba (Adiba Muzaffar) (author)

contributor: Tsang, Henry (Henry Tsang) (thesis advisor)

format:
29 p.
electronic
electronic

subject:
Body
Skin
Video art
Multimedia works
Performance art

abstract:
This paper is the textual component for an ongoing visual arts MFA graduate thesis at Emily Carr University of Art and Design (Vancouver, BC). The document is structured to take up ideas around discomfort for the female body, through a phenomenological analysis of human skin as a feeling vessel. The media and installation work produced alongside this thesis is a cinematic visual inquiry to pose the question: where is feeling found?
Socio-cultural, linguistic and psychological spaces are activated in a manner of thinking such that skin gets read as a border, drape, peel, screen, collector and container for feelings of discomfort, or dis-ease. As the chosen medium for this inquiry is the moving image, the thesis hones in on the ability of transference that film-as-body is capable of triggering. To locate subjectively internalized manifestations of dis-ease via the experience of embodiment is the broad ambition of the work.

abstract: Female body

abstract: Video

abstract: Film

abstract: Media installation

abstract: Dis-ease

abstract: Discomfort


title: What Makes an Image Indian? The Vernacular Design of Matchboxes

abstract: India’s seemingly kitschy, contemporary visual culture is a result of a multicultural history. Its visual culture is transitioning into a more digitally influenced language as a result of globalization. Matchbox labels have represented various points in India’s history by drawing from cultural, political and social changes. A collection of these old labels will tell the viewer a story about India’s history. However, the focus of these communicative matchbox labels has shifted. This research aims at analyzing, deconstructing and creating Indian Matchbox labels in order to experiment with cultivating a visual language of labels that can engage in current and contemporary narratives of a changing India. It aims at contemporizing the themes on these labels in order to reflect socio-political change and their capacity to tell stories and raise dialogue. The labels on these matchboxes draw from several sources, from socio-political movements to the flora and fauna of India. Comparing the labels produced during India’s early years of Independence with those from the last decade, this paper aims to understand how Indian matchbox labels can be used as lens to explore a complex visual language. The research has chosen to focus on matchboxes as they are accessible, well documented and have been used for an array of purposes over history. Matchboxes as opposed to posters, pamphlets and other forms of printed media have been the most financially accessible printed product, hence making the content presented on them an exploitable form of communication.

abstract: Indian Visual Culture

abstract: Visual Language

abstract: National Identity


title: Glass + Digital Making

contributor: Oussoren, Aaron (Aaron Oussoren) (author)

subject:
Design
Glass blowing and working
Cross- and interdisciplinary fields
Three-dimensional printing

abstract:
Since the mid-1970s, 3D printing has been used as an ideation tool by industry. Recently, broad access to 3D printers and other digital manufacturing technologies has delivered these tools to artists, designers, crafters, and makers, enabling us to expand, develop, and challenge our concepts of approaches to cultural production. This design study looks at new production paradigms emerging from access to digital manufacturing, and explores approaches to creating in the digital manufacturing context.
This study focuses on emergent modes of creation using glass, in particular how 3D printing not only provides room for innovation with material production, but also extends the poetics of materials. The bases for these conclusions are founded in a practice-led study, which developed workflows that incorporate both 3D printing and traditional glass working techniques. This practice-led study led into a course-led study which used the previously gained material knowledge to develop a new approach to digital manufacturing, taught in a third-year design course at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. A reflective practice throughout these studies served to inform the codification of an emergent method and approach to glassmaking within the context of digital manufacturing.

abstract: Digital fabrication

abstract: 3D printing


title: Designing Indeterminacy: User-Led Creation of Liminal Spaces at Work

contributor: Lee, Ian Sang Yun (Ian Sang Yun Lee) (author)

contributor: Day Fraser, Hélène (Helene Day Fraser) (thesis advisor)

format:
83 p.
electronic
electronic

subject:
Interior design
Work environment

abstract: In the midst of a time where many concurrent shifts in cultures and technologies are shaping the future of work in unexpected ways, Designing Indeterminacy looks at the interior design of the contemporary workplace and considers its limitations. Through practice-led research this project attempts to understand everyday work experience of users. Participatory design methods are used to investigate the spatial limitations that knowledge workers today are facing in the contemporary work environment; a lack of user autonomy caused by the prescribed use of designed workspaces, and insufficient spatial integration of work-life concerns. The theoretical underpinnings of Liminality and Indeterminacy and their conceptual and lived connections to the workplace design are explored and considered as a means of mitigating such issues. Through hands-on making, the intersections of Liminality and the interior design process of workspaces are materialized. Designed artifacts enable a look into the ways that undetermined in-between spaces can empower users to better navigate their workplace. The designed artifact, its conceptual meaning and potential use are discussed with the intention to facilitate conversations and concerns around issues opened up and addressed throughout the research.

abstract: Participatory research

abstract: Liminal space

abstract: Indeterminacy

abstract: Research through design

abstract: Practice-based research


title: Making Kin

contributor: Brant, Jennifer (Jennifer Brant) (author)

contributor: Cutler, Randy Lee (Randy Lee Cutler) (thesis advisor)

contributor: Emily Carr University of Art and Design Graduate Studies (Degree granting institution)

format:
35 p.
electronic
electronic

subject:
Artistic collaboration
Textiles
Sculpture
Object (Aesthetics)
Ceramics

abstract:
In this document, I outline the research, theory and practice that are the foundation of my work with the more-than-human world. I draw on the theoretical discussions of what constitutes a person, the inherent vitality of thing power and ideas about kinship and multi-species survival to investigate how we might move towards a glimmer of poly-ontological possibility. The body of work described in this text is an attempt to concurrently experience, facilitate and chronicle my interactions in material form through the creation of objects that serve as both agents and archives. I utilize ceremonial field studies that involve approaching the subject with openness to whatever might transpire, and studio practices with materials that refer to a homesteading vernacular. As a woman of both settler and Indigenous ancestry, I explore my relationship to the more-than-human from a place that straddles, and honours, different cultures and ontologies. There are many ways to create kin, and in this paper I present several potential avenues. Reflecting on the writings of Priscilla Stuckey, Rosi Braidotti, Donna Haraway and Zoe Todd, I propose that we need to adapt our approach to encounters with human and non-human alike in order to be in solidarity with one another as we begin to structure a collaborative response to our unknown future. My research reflects a sensibility that believes in ethics, is concerned with our relationship to nature, is socially oriented and seeks a kind of in-betweeness. To further my understanding of how we might transform mythologies, language and definitions, and to situate my practice within a thinking within a broader artistic and theoretical context, I refer to contemporary artists centralizing relationships with the more-than-
human world, including Rebecca Belmore, Marcus Coates and Tanya Willard.

abstract: More-than-human

abstract: Polyontology

abstract: Interdisciplinary

abstract: Kin

abstract: Emergent


title: Was This Helpful? Yes Or No: Design Explorations Of Ethics And Agency In Social Media

contributor: Zabolotney, Bonne (Bonne Zabolotney) (thesis advisor)

format:
93 p.
electronic

subject:
Social media
Data privacy
Data protection
Behavior modification
Ethics

abstract: This thesis project focuses on exploring the ways in which designers can facilitate agency and ethical understanding in social media users. My research began with the investigation of how consent forms for online platforms are designed, the rules that govern them, and the amount of user information collected through these forms. At the same time, I investigated the definition of true informed consent on these platforms. I conducted various data visualization experiments, using both simple and complex data, to learn the ways in which information design can make data understandable. Using quantitative methods and design action research, I expanded my investigations to interrogate concepts of data exhaust, inferences, and behavioral modification, with the aim to empower users to understand and control the use of their personal data. Throughout these investigations and research projects, I understood that information design can be a useful tool to uncover ethical, political, and corporate structures which affect the privacy and agency of social media users. Uncovering these structures also assist future designers in understanding their own contributions to these spaces.

abstract: Inferences

abstract: Behavioral data

abstract: Data exhaust

abstract: Data literacy

abstract: Information design


title: Prospecting A Greater Connection

contributor: Conbere, Nick (Nick Conbere) (thesis advisor)

subject:
Graphic novels
Painting
Storytelling
Coming of age

abstract: I have created a template of a graphic novel that is iterative and emergent as a process, building on themes of storytelling, coming-of-age, and introspective explorations. It is a blending of two stories. The first is a personal interpretation of a tale of a lost 1920s prospector abducted by a Sasquatch on the west coast of British Colombia. This was first told to me by my late mother, but it’s based on local lore. The second story is a series of autobiographical vignettes, based on personal histories and experiences  that I had written about in my journal. The two stories were then interwoven in a single document because I see them as connected; there is a poetic connection with these stories, with overlapping themes  of coming-of-age as a settler within small town Western Canada and eventually the far Sunshine Coast region near Lund, BC. These connections arose as part of an investigation into self and positionality as a broader part of the Emily Carr MFA program. I offer stories from the viewpoint of a 41-year-old, Caucasian male currently living in Port Alberni, BC. I have been grappling  with growing up in Western Canada, navigating my family and my surroundings,  and considering how my artwork and writing can add to reconciliation within my life and those Indigenous communities on whose territory I currently live. This project has pushed me to explore various life experiences with openness and vulnerability.  Although not yet completed in final form, it is my intent that this work will eventually add a new individualized viewpoint challenging  existing colonialist perspectives, such as those I grew up with.

abstract: Illustration


title: Imagining the Ecosphere: A Material Exploration into the Fantastical Possibilities of Life

contributor: Achjadi, Diyan (Diyan Achjadi) (thesis advisor)

format:
32 p.
electronic

subject:
Painting
Installations (Art)
Nature
Human-animal relationships

abstract: Watercolour Paper Interconnectivity


title: The Hybrid Designer

subject: Design--Research methodology--Design research--Industrial design

abstract: Between September 17 and December 14, 2007, I observed third year design students enrolled in a course at Emily Carr Institute in Vancouver, British Columbia. The course, titled Interaction Design, was taught and devised by Louise St. Pierre, an Associate Professor of Industrial Design. The purpose of the course was to learn and apply co-creation as a method for both graphic and industrial design students. My main question while researching the classroom was whether primary research (such as co-creation) could create new avenues to inspire the designer’s creative process; and if these personal connections could be transferred onto the design itself. In other words, I wanted to see if the designer felt compelled to create design solutions that directly reflected his/her specific audience. My report is informed by both qualitative analysis and the work of other researchers and psychologists (Dr. Elizabeth B.-N. Sanders, Dr. William Gaver and others). While Sanders promotes a participatory mindset, she has studied the landscape of different research methods and offers a wide sample of research ideas for designers. Gaver, on the other hand, emphasizes the importance of subjective design. Throughout this report, I focus on potential outcomes and benefits from applying different mindsets during the design process, ranging from an expert to a participatory mindset. While being as objective as possible is crucial at times, it is also important to be aware of the role subjectivity plays during the creative process. As a result, I discuss the emergence of the dual researcher/designer—referring to him as a hybrid designer. There are three characteristics that I would encourage in a hybrid designer: a humble and participatory mindset; an open-minded approach to research and design; and a strong reliance on intuition. I contend that the hybrid designer’s solutions could be noticeably holistic, personal, and sustainable compared to those obtained by other design methods that do not incorporate primary research.

abstract: Co-creation

abstract: Mindset


title: Family Mise en Place

contributor: Whistler, Karen (Karen Whistler) (author)

format:
86 p.
electronic

subject: Design--Family--Cooking--Food habits--Nutrition

abstract: Using whole, unprocessed food (True Food) to make dinner for weeknights can often be a daunting task for busy families. There are several barriers that keep parents and children (ages 6-10) from cooking nutritious meals together on a regular basis—the main barrier being time. This thesis identified the narrow window of time between when a family arrives home and when they eat dinner as an opportunity to help members of the family to spend valuable time together. This research poses the question: Can a design system help families involve their six- to ten-year-old chidren in preparing True Foods for weeknight dinners? The result is Family Mise en Place, a set of collaborative Meal Cards. This collaborative cooking system seeks to organize meal preparation  so children can contribute equally to cooking, supporting parents on busy weeknights. Family Mise en Place facilitates inclusive cross-generational cooking, helping families build dialogue and learn from one another. A secondary objective is to connect parents and children to the food they eat. Within this context, family members explore sustainability and health implicitly through the experience of cooking with True Foods.  Family Mise en Place came together by pairing participant research with theories of systems thinking, constructivist learning and Information Interaction Design, supported by an investigation into the history of the North American food system. Research involved interviewing Current Parents (CP; those raising children ages 6-10) as well as Empty-Nesters  (EN; those fifteen or more years removed from raising pre-teen children). It also involved a web survey of Current Parents and ethnographic cooking activities with Children (C). Finally, prototype testing consisted of observing families cooking together using the Meal Card prototypes. The outcome of this thesis is a toolkit that breaks the cooking experience into three stages: Gather, Prepare and Cook. Each stage is depicted through a Meal Framework, which is a series of Meal Cards that uses iconography children can understand, makes cooking accessible, and enables kids to contribute to preparing the family meal.

abstract: Interaction Design


title: Let's Walk to Saudi: Saudi Students' Self-Representation on Facebook.com

subject: Stereotypes (Social psychology) in mass media--Facebook (Electronic resource)--Identity (Psychology)--Popular culture--Saudi Arabian students -- Research--Saudi Arabia--Stereotypes

abstract: This thesis investigates issues of representation from multiple perspectives, but particularly those of the self and other as occurring in the West and in Saudi cultures. It also critically reflects on the methodology, conceptual thinking and artistic process of working on the thesis project Let’s Walk To Saudi. Popular cultural media and the role it plays in creating and perpetuating stereotypes was the initial motivation behind the thesis and was central to the media-based project. Artists and practitioners have begun to investigate similar issues within the context of art production using social media as a form of participatory art practice. An analysis of comparative art projects are included in the examples that contextualize Let’s Walk To Saudi. Let’s Walk To Saudi is a project that established an online community platform on Facebook enabling Saudi students around the world—there are more than 80,000 internationally—to share unedited stories about their experiences abroad, and receive feedback from others in the form of writings, photos, audio, and video clips. The project began by inviting Saudi students studying abroad to represent themselves, challenge themselves to face their fears, rethink cultural boundaries, and question their own preconceptions towards others, while also considering the others’ (Westerners’) preconceptions about Arabs and Muslims. The thesis explores cultural, political and social forms of representation and self-representation between home and abroad. By using social media, the project explores and encourages better communication, increases awareness about individuals from other cultures, and ultimately sets out to challenge stereotypes.

abstract: Social networking

abstract: Communication

abstract: Internet

abstract: Media

abstract: Social media


title: Mapping Meta Portrait: A Socially Engaged Cultural Probe

format:
60 p.
electronic

subject: Social movements in art--Design--Identity (Philosophical concept) in art--Ethnology

abstract: This thesis investigates a process-based socially engaged practice from the perspective of a designer and architect by training. It outlines a trajectory of research as explored  through  two  projects, Diary (1976-2009) and  the Meta  Portrait. Using a methodology underpinned by empathetic design thinking (Gaver, Sanders, Brown) and  animated by  an ethnographic  and reflexive approach to site-oriented (Green, Hiller) and socially engaged art practice (Chang,  Kimbell),  this thesis focuses on the Meta Portrait, as experienced through a virtual and material-based project. The work aims to reveal unique insights into the cultural, social,and political layers that shape an individual's  identity, and ultimately a place, relative to time and space (Massey). Meta Portrait is a site-oriented method of inquiry  into  the social fabric  of Emily Carr University. The project utilizes a visual and textual ethnographic tool in the form of a cultural probe to engage a small cross section of the university community, including  myself as a participant observer. The work explores the possibilities  for a type of place-specific socially engaged interdisciplinary practice, one with  the capacity  to understand individuals, communities, or cities through temporal and impermanent interventions within the public realm. The possibilities for socially engaged cultural probes within an interdisciplinary social practice may lead to new ways of thinking about how, as artists and designers, we may begin to engage and/or catalyze an individual or collective agency within a place-specific framework.

abstract: Philosophy

abstract: Social media

abstract: Culture

abstract: Art


title: Reclamation and Decolonization: Stepping Towards a Uncertain Future

type: Text thesis Collection Text

format:
54 p.
electronic

subject:
Hong Kong (China)
Decolonization
Reclamation of land--China--Hong Kong
Political science
Printmaking
Screen prints

abstract: This thesis investigates the difficulties of reclamation and decolonization within the context of Hong Kong, recognizing the fluidity of how decolonization is defined, and the transitional nature of both people and place. Through printmaking and the metaphor of the Chinese squatting body, the artist examines how the squatting body can embody the transitional and transformational qualities of Hong Kong that express the hybridity and complexity of Hong Kong’s identity and colonial history. By combining Frantz Fanon’s definition of decolonization and Chantal Mouffe’s agonistic model, the artist argues that there is potential for political discourse within the space of Hong Kong to be resolved without enforcing a friend/enemy relationship, which often escalates towards violence, which is seen through the 2019-2020 protests. This research also shows the potential issues that may prevent the decolonization of Hong Kong due to the inherent conflict between Hong Kong’s identity as a part of the British colony, and its identity as a part of China.

abstract: Chinese squatting body

abstract: Reclamation

abstract: Political

abstract: Screen printing


title: Sympoetics of Squirrealism

contributor: Yardley, Carollyne (Carollyne Yardley) (author)

subject:
Ecology
Photography
Installations (art)
Interspecies encounters
Squirrels in art
Assemblage (Art)
Pandemics
COVID-19 (Disease)
Decolonization

abstract: This thesis project researches the ethology of grey squirrels and their links to human systems to speculate possible futures in hybrid human development through artistic practice. Humans living in urban spaces interact daily with nonhumans as cities spread out into the natural world and technology reshapes our existence. I began creating art and thinking with grey squirrels after an interspecies boundary was crossed when I held an injured squirrel in my hands. The intimacy of the encounter touched me and evoked a desire to document my alliance to the squirrel through artwork—thus, Squirrealism was born. Squirrealism developed into a method of art-making that channels conceptual and material connections between species to think and make, as feminist philosopher Donna Haraway says, “sympoetically.”

abstract: Squirrealism

abstract: Covid-19 pandemic

abstract: Psychometry

abstract: Plastic

abstract: Interspecies

abstract: Becoming-with

abstract: Touch

abstract: Sympoiesis

abstract: Colonialism and animality

abstract: Urban squirrels


title: See the Smell: Participatory Design with the Lost Sense

format:
53 p.
electronic

subject:
Olfactory receptors
Smell in design
Smell
Design
Communication
Storytelling

abstract: Smell is the only sensation that reaches the emotional and memory centres of the brain directly, which results in a close connection between memories, emotions, and odours (Shepherd, 2005). However, with the development of modern science and technology, the sense of smell has gradually come to be perceived as less important when compared to the other senses and the other ways we connect with our surroundings such as sight and hearing. Current research into smell primarily focuses on explaining biological phenomena, such as the individual differences in olfactory perception and the mechanism of odour receptor genes, whereas the aesthetic aspect and how olfactory experience could be applied in visual arts is rarely examined. This thesis explores the opportunities and creative methodologies of an alternative way of creating an interactive experience: applying smell to design to enrich the sensory experiences. This project was led by several inquiries that questioned the effect that smell brings to people, unveiling deeper research potential in the process. It not only focused on people’s relationship with smell, but also explored the possibilities of applying olfactory stimuli to alternate fields in the search for balance between all five senses in the general design field. The goal of this research has been to investigate the affective and evocative impacts of scent, review how scent is treated as a medium in a design context, examine the current usage of smell, especially in interaction design, and lastly, discuss the opportunities of combining smell with design to provoke communication.

abstract: Olfactory system

abstract: Multisensory design

abstract: Interaction design

abstract: Participatory design


title: Stillness and Movement Studies: Portraiture, Identity, Time

format:
33 p.
electronic

subject: Portraiture--Time in art--Self-perception in art--Identity (Psychology) in art--Video Art

abstract: This thesis discusses my video art practice in relation to the philosophers Henri Bergson and Gilles Deleuze. Bergson and Deleuze have written extensively on time, consciousness, matter, and the universe, holding that the only constant is change. What I find useful from the two philosophers is their shared attempt to give materialist and immanent (not transcendent) accounts of time, change, movement and representation. In my video art, I have been producing a kind of extended portraiture that introduces time and change into what I think is usually a static form. The works of Bergson, Deleuze and other philosophers/cultural theorists who write about their work have helped me to develop and discuss what I see to be a different approach to portraiture. My ‘video portraits’ approach questions of identity from the hypothesis that both the self and representations of the self are expressions of material forces, temporality, and change. This has many implications that are discussed in this paper. The most important implications are: One, the self is treated less an unchanging essence and more as process occurring through time. Two, representation, although it tries to delimit and fix a certain idea of the self, is still nonetheless subject to the forces of change. The thesis begins with a short autobiographical discussion and explanation of some pertinent undergraduate work I did, putting it in Deleuzian/Bergsonian context. It then elaborates two key notions for understanding my recent work: Bergson’s duration and Deleuze’s virtual. Roughly speaking, these are concepts that treat time, consciousness and matter as being continually shifting and indivisible. These concepts are used to explain some recent artistic developments as well as contextualizing my work in a broader artistic context, linking it to painting and music.

abstract: Virtual

abstract: Time

abstract: Movement

abstract: Duration


title: Facilitating the Process of Change:  Exploring Alternate Approaches to Behavioural Design

contributor: Bertulis, Eugenia (Eugenia Bertulis) (thesis advisor)

format:
62 p.
electronic

subject:
Healthy living
Design
Research

abstract: The adoption of healthy lifestyle habits can have a profound impact on individual health and wellbeing on a global scale. This research investigates the use of behavioural insights in interactive digital health technologies, and the potential for these tools to motivate personal behaviour change for improved health and wellness. Explorations into this space have revealed the controversial nature of behaviour change which has motivated a search for alternative methods of facilitating the habit formation process. This shift away from the traditional approach of behavioural design has resulted in one that educates and encourages users to use these behavioural techniques on themselves instead in order to allow human agency to flourish. Design-based explorations that lead to the design of an educational wellness tool and investigates the applications of behavioural insights, using methods borrowed from interaction design, are the focus of this work.

abstract: Interaction design

abstract: Habits

abstract: Behavioural insights

abstract: Behaviour change


title: Outpatient Empathy: Refining the Waiting Experience During Medical Daycare Visits

format:
96 p.
electronic

subject:
Medical care
Outpatients
Health facilities
Design
Research

abstract: Extended wait time in healthcare affects the experience and overall perception of care for outpatients as well as the stress it puts on the clinical team that is providing treatment services. Through this research, some factors like the lack of information about treatment encounters, and insufficient interaction and understanding of what goes on behind-the-scenes during waiting periods have been seen to contribute to extended wait times. Wait time affects more than just the physical wellbeing, but also the aspects of the economic and psychological aspects of the patient (Chu, Holly, et al., 8). Therefore, the goal of this research was to use participatory methods to understand and identify potential design opportunities that can help improve the outpatient experience by reducing the effect of the factors that contribute to the extended wait periods. This research is carried out at Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Center, an outpatient facility in Surrey, British Columbia. The research goes through phases of needs finding through exploratory prototyping with stakeholders, which includes mapping the outpatient journey during their visit to the facility. Afterward, based on the insights that were gathered through these exploratory activities, the next was to conduct participatory design workshops, including an interview with health professionals. The outcome of these activities was a potential design opportunity that would give outpatients more information about their treatment encounter, and what happens behind-the-scenes as a way of improving their experience during extended wait periods. The design opportunity that was prototyped and iterated on is called the patient pathway. It includes an app prototype, an armband, and an information board.

abstract: Touchpoints

abstract: Medical daycare

abstract: Service design

abstract: Patient experience

abstract: Exploratory prototyping

abstract: Evaluative prototyping


title: Disrupting Social Contracts Through Portraiture

contributor: Plessner, Daphne (Daphne Plessner) (thesis advisor)

format:
41 p.
electronic
electronic

subject:
Portrait photography
Portraits
Strangers
Vulnerability
Photography

abstract: This paper is in support of the artwork created during the MFA program at Emily Carr University of Art and Design and as such will be focusing on encounters with ‘strangers’ through the ‘act of photography’. This essay will discuss the notion of the ‘stranger’ in relation to staged ‘photographic acts’, that attempt to trouble the boundary between the ‘public’ and ‘private’. I offer a brief outline of the notion of the ‘public’ and ‘private’ by citing authors such as Hannah Arendt and Kio Stark, who question the history and its modern understanding of these two social spheres through their analysis of social behaviour. Social contracts, the unspoken and unwritten rules informing our everyday interactions in the public, will be challenged through photographic interventions that expose social conventions and expected behaviour, in relation to the ‘stranger’. Through the use of the camera, as well as the use of self-imposed rules, I outline how the ‘act of photography’ can play with the performed norms and interpersonal relationships in the public space. My aim is to both disrupt and reveal -- i.e. ‘make visible’ -- these normative practices of public behaviour. Importantly too, my aim is to reveal the subject’s vulnerability. Vulnerability plays a central role in my practice, and acts as a way to penetrate the boundary people build around themselves in public situations. That is, their ‘masks’ or ‘public face’, so to speak. The aim of my research is to trouble the hidden social contracts that determine normative social behaviour in the public space and make them visible within the photograph, either through portraits that take on the form of still photographs or video. This essay will discuss the trajectory of my projects, alongside artists and theorists, while highlighting the use of photography and portraiture as central to my practice.

abstract: Disruptions

abstract: Social contracts

abstract: Public

abstract: Private


title: Beyond the Viewfinder: From Origin to Trace

contributor: Jones, Chris (Chris Jones) (thesis advisor)

format:
28 p.
electronic
electronic

subject:
Painting
Families
Absence in art
Memory
Figurative painting

abstract: This essay describes the final body of work produced during my MFA research. The return series explores the subject of personal memory by referencing family photographs to create painted works on paper. Incorporating certain aspects of the photographs while omitting others, the paintings oscillate between the familiar and the unknowable. It is this concurrence of intimacy and distance, and the potential this combination holds for evoking a particular type of desire, that are the driving concerns of this research. Questions related to what is being re-membered are addressed through themes of the ‘original’, absence, and spirit animals as well as through the formal techniques of tracing and layering. I am intrigued by the capacity for certain images to engender a visceral impact that is similar to the experience of memory; to discuss this aspect of my work I refer to Roland Barthes’s notions of the studium and the punctum. To discuss the potency of absence as a strategy to cultivate a sense of longing, I examine the work of painter Brenda Draney. In relation to the implications that are inherent to missing faces, I consider the writing of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. Thinking through the simultaneously intimate and distant, I also situate my work in relation to American poet Susan Stewart’s meditations on the “souvenir”. Fascinated by the ability for paintings to hover between states, I discuss the gap between the visible and the signified with reference to Jaques Rancière and through the enigmatic work of painter Ben Reeves. To further my understanding of some of the ways in which memory’s mercurial and archival nature can be invoked, I look at painter Angela Grossmann’s use of layering and at the creation of imagined contexts of origin in the work of photographer Augusta Wood. I intend for my work to generate an experience of partial recognition, the incompleteness of which echoes the fragmentary construction of memory and provokes in the viewer a longing for connection. Through the process of editing and embellishment, I move across time, the question of what is being recollected revising itself along the way.

abstract: Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Art

abstract: Family

abstract: Intimate

abstract: Distant

abstract: Longing

abstract: Trace


title: Designing Visitor Experience Through Creative Engagement: A Case Study at New Media Gallery

contributor: Parikh, Devansh (Devansh Parikh) (author)

contributor: Hethrington, Christopher (Christopher Hethrington) (thesis advisor)

format:
57 p.
electronic

subject:
Graphic design
Branding (Marketing)
Storytelling

abstract: This research study explores the role of visual identity with narrative methodology and visitor engagement in the exhibition design process. Literature suggests that the visitor experience in art exhibitions are still relatively passive; their interactions are limited to catalogs and wall texts, which offer few opportunities for personal input. Furthermore, art is especially difficult for visitors to interpret and engage in. This study is an attempt to address this gap by using experiential visual identity system in museum exhibitions and by introducing embodied physical cues as a way to engage visitors with art. The primary purpose behind this research is to identify issues involved in the relationship between exhibitions and audiences. The study suggests narrative methodology as a critical component in the exhibition-making process and how it helps visual identity facilitate an exhibition by evoking visitor participation. Two case studies worked at New Media Gallery grounds its findings by using narrative methodology with visual identity. The main goal of this study is to develop interactive exhibition graphics as a means to embody the thematics and mood of an exhibition as a way to engage an audience offering them a more holistic experience.

abstract: Visual identity

abstract: Exhibition design

abstract: Experiential design

abstract: Embodiment

abstract: Spatial design


title: In and Out of Doors: A Study in Ecological Design Pedagogy

contributor: St. Pierre, Louise (Louise St. Pierre) (thesis advisor)

format:
40 p.
electronic

subject: Design Teaching Education

abstract: This thesis focuses on the use of Gnosis centred learning inside and out of the post-secondary design classroom using pedagogical prompts and prompt building as a guiding research method. Discussed are the merits of Gnosis, an ancient term which involves learning in the spiritual and personal realm and offering it as a chance to rebalance modern design education. The author uses examples of personal and professional reflection and evidence to posture prompts as a tool to "threshold" students into a worldview which allows them to understand nature and design in a more relational manner. It is through this relational lense that students may come to better understand their roles and responsibilities to designing for a climate crisis.

abstract: Cascading

abstract: Gnosis

abstract: Pedagogy

abstract: Prompts

abstract: Nesting


title: Quotidian Blindness: Finding Commonalities Through the Overlooked

contributor: McMillan, Vaughan (Vaughan McMillan) (author)

contributor: Mallett, Kyla (Kyla Mallett) (thesis advisor)

subject:
Textiles
Identity
Indigenous people
Storytelling

abstract: In this thesis, I outline my research project that investigates how everyday materials and consumables from the quotidian help us to understand who we are and how we fit into the communities we are a part of. My thesis questions include: As an Indigenous woman how can I unpack how subjectivity and identity are constructed through understanding my own identity as well as others? Why are objects and the things that we consume in our lives often overlooked? How can we interpret what they signify, and what commonalities do they reveal between us? Throughout this paper I consider my own identity as an adopted Indigenous woman and discuss the intricacies of identity and subjectivity and how these topics are continually being pieced together throughout our lives. I delve into contemporary artists and writers who explore concepts around identity and how we relate to others as a means to support this discussion. Through referencing writers and artists from the past and present, I discuss the significance of serendipitous moments that occur around us on a day-to-day basis. I define the everyday in relationship to my process, and consider what it means to concentrate on unnoticed items and how this informs my practice. I follow with a section about storytelling and how it is tied to my research and my completed artworks. Writing informs every step of my practice and helps me to contextualize the environments that I occupy and critically question how they operate socially. This thesis defines a practice that strives to learn how the communities that we occupy collectively share more than just the landscape. We hold connections together through our own subjectivity and identity that is assembled through commonplace objects and consumable items from our everyday environments. I am advocating for the power of these overlooked ties in society as they transcend the power structures and social positions we hold.

abstract: Food

abstract: Everday

abstract: Quotidian

abstract: Objects

abstract: Narrative

abstract: Fabric


title: What Moves Us: Emotional Understanding and Affective Engagement Through Material Practices

contributor: Saxton Smith, Jill (Jill Saxton Smith) (author)

contributor: Hilder, Jaime (Jaime Hilder) (thesis advisor)

format:
35 p.
electronic

subject:
Emotion
Psychology
Body and soul in art
Home
Motherhood and the arts

abstract: Domesticity Affect Body Materialism Motherhood Trauma Childhood


title: Random Acts of Making: Discovering Tools, Methods & Mindsets for Making in the Classroom (Grades 4-6)

contributor: Emily Carr University of Art and Design Graduate Studes (Degree granting institution)

contributor: Doyle, Keith (Keith Doyle) (thesis advisor)

format:
101 p.
electronic
electronic

subject:
Core competencies
British Columbia
Curriculum enrichment
Maker movement in education

abstract: This thesis investigates how design activities taken on by makers and designers can illuminate real-world, contemporary issues relevant to the new BC Curriculum. The recent redesign of British Columbia’s K-12 Applied Design Skills and Technologies (ADST) curriculum aims to support the development of active citizens in a way that is in touch with today’s rapid pace of technology development and information exchange (Ministry of Education, 2015). As a designer and maker, who is also informed by observations and work with Vancouver’s maker community, Emily Smith has explored possible directions and philosophies for developing a maker education-pedagogy, informed by the maker movement, her own practices, and the Emily Carr students and faculty. This work is an exploration of TOOLS: Including drop spindles, knitting needles, and backstrap looms; METHODS: Including her own artistic textile and music-making practice and primary persona known as a “One-Woman Band”. This persona is an application of clowning practices, as taught by David Macmurray Smith. Methods borrowed from the maker community include designed materials and facilitation in the form of “Lightning Talks”, and “Zine-Making” (Appendix C&D). Finally, this thesis explores MINDSETS: which includes constructivism and constructionism, Design-Make-Play, Head, Heart and Hand, the Maker Mindset, the work of Maryann and Gregory Bateson and cybernetics. Guided by exploration of tools, methods and mindsets, Smith conducts a series of co-creation sessions and interviews with 15 participants (see Appendix A & B), which include Emily Carr students, local makers, faculty and educators in Vancouver. Findings provide a series of case studies which reveal that social making activities engage learners in a multiplicity of subjects, and can meaningfully address ADST’s Core Competencies through making, and discussion led by a facilitator. Other insights include possibilities to inspire students through the use of “memes”, through public forums, programs, and published materials. Designed materials constitute prototypes and proof of concepts for possible extensions and modules to further extend and develop the Maker Club format.

abstract: Research through design

abstract: Maker club

abstract: Maker education

abstract: ADST

abstract: Material practice


title: Medical Mapping Methods: Designing Interactions for Self-Care

contributor: Winkel, Nathan Edward (Nathan Edward Winkel) (author)

contributor: Emily Carr University of Art and Design Graduate Studies (Degree granting institution)

format:
59 p.
electronic

subject: Industrial design--Human-computer interaction--Interaction design--User interfaces (Computer systems)--Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice--Health promotion

abstract: This project addresses how information and interaction design can create new data collection and interpretation methods that will improve individual efficacy in the management of the chronic illness type 2 diabetes. Medical journaling is an important method of recording and tracking the diabetes condition. Diabetics who journal to self-manage their condition can prolong their lives, gain a better understanding of their disease, and communicate more effectively with medical professionals. To address these issues, this project aims to create a software journaling application on a hand-held personal digital assistant (PDA), where diabetics can journal their day-to-day health-related information, such as blood glucose, diet, exercise and medications. Once data is input into the application, individuals can output the data in the form of visual maps. This allows the individual to look for patterns and trends in the hope of discovering something new about what works for managing the condition. Since health literacy and numeracy are issues for some, the use of an iconic visual language to navigate the user interface makes this application simple, easy to use and interactive. The individual’s effortless gathering of personal data and the ability to see that data in new visual forms offers an alternative to current self-management systems.

abstract: Diabetes

abstract: Pictograms

abstract: Health literacy

abstract: Journaling

abstract: Self-management

abstract: Mapping