The Imagination + Imagery model for design pedagogy is presented. Two studies were conducted to develop the model: (a) the visual imagery assessment of design students; and (b) a historical research on the concept of imagination. Results suggest the following implications as the components of strong imagination for design thinkers: (a) the ability to shape vivid images of objects in mind; (b) the ability to mentally transform the spatial representations of images; (c) to consider the ethical consequences of imagined situation; (d) to use imagination for resolving design wicked problems; and (e) to actively imagine for mental and emotional health.

Artists and designers are preparing for rapidly changing and competitive careers in creative fields that require a healthy dose of resiliency to persevere. However, little is known on how students within these fields become more self-efficacious, gritty, situated toward a growth mindset, and persistent over time. This mixed-method action research study investigates how undergraduate arts and design college students approach and navigate perceptions of failure as well as incorporates an intervention course designed to increase their self-efficacy, growth mindset, and academic persistence. Participants were eighteen arts and design students representing a variety of disciplines from an eight-week, one-unit, 300-level course that utilized arts-based methods, mindfulness, and active reflection. After the course, students had significant changes in their self-efficacy and academic persistence as well as moderate significant change in their fixed mindset.

In early 2026, the NASA Discovery Program will fall into orbit with a metal asteroid named Psyche. Through discovery and interaction, this exploration will give us insight into an asteroid that we cannot see or interpret. From a certain view, you can look at how this mission mimics that discovery with experimentation of our own senses. As a part of a team of eight seniors, we were tasked to help develop a mobile application that reflects the Psyche mission and shows the future of the project ten years from now. Since this is also a government funded project, it is pertinent to adhere to the ADA compliance guidelines required to make digital applications accessible to the larger public. As a designer, I wanted to push this concept further to showcase that accessibility is not something that should be stereotyped or discouraged from a design perspective. Each person that interacts with the application will have a different experience but it is this collaboration between the object and it's audience that creates this sense of discovery. Taking the mission's core values one step further, this application was designed and explored to uphold the foundations of what Universal Design is about. It is about connecting interested parties to the material they are looking for without unrealistic access that is dependent on ability.

Everyone experiences feelings of anxiety. This is part of being human. However, occasional stress and worry does not compare with today's rising epidemic of Anxiety Disorders, especially in the creative industry. A widespread stigma surrounding mental health, our high-stress culture, and rising medical costs leaves most of those suffering without treatment. Those that end up seeking treatment face the challenge of finding the right combination, to bring their overpowering anxiety down to a manageable level. The most common treatments include therapy, medication, and lifestyle changes. Alternative treatments such as meditation, exercise, and self-care have a great impact on reducing anxiety when combined with traditional treatments. Despite the fact that anxiety has become a cultural condition, we can end this epidemic by speaking up and offering the right support, often off the beaten path.

In the age of social media, the 24-hour news cycle, and an overwhelming pressure to become "successful," there is a marked lack of personal connection within communities and a constant state of stress and overwork. This constant state of stress then builds into anxiety, as there are few public resources for mental reprieve. The World Health Organization reports that anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders worldwide, begging the question as to how they can be addressed most effectively worldwide. As design is implicit within any environment that provides for mental wellness, it must be carefully curated to provide not only the physical necessities, but speak for something beyond explanation- a sense of mental refuge and comfort. Using the concept of mindfulness, architecture has the power to force users to truly be present in the experience, activating space to become a mental refuge rather than a passive infrastructure.

ABSTRACT

Recent studies indicate that there is a positive influence of nature and nature integrated built environments on human health and wellness in various physical, physiological and social domains. This thesis critically reviews formally and contextually three distinct residential typologies designed by renowned architects Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), Lina Bo Bardi (1914-1992), and Ryue Nishizawa (1966-), in different periods and countries; the United States of America (USA), Brazil and Japan. Yet, the buildings analyzed in the research are relatively connected by means of nature and the natural elements in their constructed essence. This research focuses on the features of the buildings that characterize the Biophilic Design, along with theoretical and practical ideas of the architects behind each building in their own process of formation.

The Biophilic Design Framework has been developed out of the Biophilia Hypothesis (Fromm, 1973; Wilson, 1984) which puts forward an explanatory suggestion that human affinity and affiliation with nature are based on genetic and environmental adaptation processes. This research is designed to display how specific natural phenomena apply to the built environment within the Framework of Biophilic Design (Kellert, & Calabrese, 2015) and how the Biophilia Hypothesis translates into the built environment. To accomplish this, two primary and three secondary research questions were developed for the study. The research will provide an understanding of the Biophilia Hypothesis and its impact on the built environment through the evaluation of research variables on the case studies using the ‘twenty-four attributes’ indicated in the ‘three experiences’ of Biophilic Design.

These architects’ approaches and the methods applied theoretically and practically to these research sites were unveiled and analyzed through three case studies. A positive correlation regarding the success of the case studies and their Biophilic characteristics is found by analyzing the research sites and critiques from the authorities in written literature. The applicability of the ‘Biophilic Design Framework’ was found and evidenced by the findings from these case studies designed by master architects and located in different climates, regions and contexts.

"Many Faces" is the result of a year-long exploration of online harassment. It includes multiple graphic design projects which reference the phenomenon of online harassment and attempt to solve it (or at least contribute to a solution), all in different ways.

According to a survey performed by Pew Research in 2014, 40% of Internet users have experienced online harassment. 18% had experienced severe harassment – stalking, sexual harassment, physical threats – while 22% had only experienced less severe harassment, such as name-calling. Women ages 18–24 receive a disproportionately large percentage of all severe online harassment. The emotional trauma suffered from severe or long-term harassment can lead to (and has led to) fear, depression, and suicide in the worst cases.

The anonymity of the Internet partially enables online harassment, since it allows perpetrators to hide behind usernames or false images while they harass others — there is little accountability. However, 66% of online harassment happens on social media platforms, where people's names and images are usually readily available. This indicates that anonymity is not the only factor, and not even the main factor. Rather, the separation of the Internet from the physical world, that which makes it less "real," is what enables harassers to treat it as entirely different experience. They can say across a keyboard what they might never say face-to-face.

To increase my understanding of the problem, I made two three-dimensional pieces – a functioning clock and an exhibit wall. Each project explored different aspects of online harassment and implored the audience to keep compassion and kindness in mind while interacting with others digitally.

Another goal was to create a campaign which could tackle the problem on a larger, more definite scale. To learn from others' attempts, I studied two recent, real-world campaigns against online harassment, Zero Trollerance and HeartMob. Each of these received significant amounts of good press on online news outlets, but people who enjoyed or were helped by those campaigns were grossly outnumbered by those who criticized and even lambasted those campaigns, for various reasons.

I determined that the reactive nature of those campaigns was the main cause of their failure, so I created a proactive campaign with the goal of preventing online harassment, rather than correcting it. I designed the beginnings of "You & I," a multiplayer online game for children ages 4–6, which would encourage positive interaction between players through its very game mechanics. Ideally, the habits formed by the children while playing this game would carry over to their future Internet experiences, and a new generation of kinder, more cooperative, "native" Internet users would arise, reducing the amount of harassment seen on the Internet.

In a world where tweets, texts, posts, likes and favorites are a part of our daily lives, it's hard not to believe everything we see. Every little detail of one's personal life is easily shared with the world with the click of a button. And because of this, the beauty standards that society has created is jumping from the pages of magazines and TV shows to apps such as Instagram and Facebook. The majority of social media users are young teens and adults, but the popularity of these apps is rising among kids as young as five years old as well. These are some of the most impressionable years of one's life. So, by seeing these standards that qualify someone as "beautiful," individuals are likely to strive toward these standards. And while some may seem impossible to attain, individuals are willing to go to extreme lengths to get there. Qualities like the "thigh gap" are slowly becoming more popular, and are putting individuals at risk. In a country where the ideal woman is skinny, and most of the celebrities and models showcase these nearly impossible standards, it's hard not to fall into the trap. With the addition of editing software and filters to already existing social media applications, the ability to edit and enhance photos is in the hands of the user. Photos can be edited so dramatically different from the original that what we're seeing doesn't even exist. This project explores the false reality that social media is creating and the negative effects it has on young girls and women. It also offers a solution to the problem.

The overall purpose of this study is to address how graphic design can begin to solve the particular social issue of the effect of screen time on child development. In order to reach that particular conclusion, the research begins with an exploration of theories of child development themselves, both physical and cognitive. After establishing their relevance and importance, the issue of the predominance of screens in this current culture is discussed. When it comes to the main point, that screen time affects how children develop, there are two polarized sides to the argument: pro-screens and anti-screens. After reviewing the valid points from each position, the discussion moves to the solution: graphic design. The specific solutions of the pixelPLAY campaign website, the Start Them Young promotional video, and the exhibit, Playing With Pixels: How Screens Can Affect Your Infant's Development, are described in detail as to how they can effectively communicate this social issue and spread awareness. Overall, the argument stands that screens are not going anywhere. It benefits this current generation of new parents to properly educate their child on the correct way to use this omnipresent digital medium in order for them to grow up as healthy, independent, socially responsible and capable individuals. The best chance for success emerges if the parents themselves become aware of the right and wrong ways to use screens, lead by example, and halt unhealthy habits before they even begin. Graphic design can be the match to the flame and set fire to getting this extremely relevant and important issue into the public eye.

Humans are undeniably a part of nature. Without Earth's and her resources, we cease to exist. However, in recent years society has lacked the foresight or possibly care to understand the impact of our actions both on the planet and ourselves. Resources that industrialized societies are based on are dwindling in reserves and the impact of our actions in getting such resources has been largely harmful. In order to change cycles of overexertion both in our selves and the planet, we must change the ways we think. I propose that humans, very much like the Earth, have limited resources and need to be more mindful in our choices. Wellness and sustainability are two branches of sustaining a larger system and our collective future. On an individual scale, wellness is sustaining our individual resources (i.e. time, energy, thoughts), and can be aided through simple practices to encourage healthy patterns and processes. Sustainability in terms of the planet is sustaining our common resources. This requires a change in our individual selves as well as cooperation to change the larger systems that we are parts of. I separated wellness into three components, core values, positivity, and time management. Sustainability is separated into lifestyle, systems thinking, and learning from life. For each of the six components, I briefly describe their importance and benefits.