This project is a simulation of the redesign of Växjö Lakers ice hockey club brand identity. A conversation about Co-branding and participatory design to include fans and people in general to take part in designing the brand identity of the club they support. My role as designer is to test, examine and analyse to come up with design methods and tools (Create your own logo website) that will enable fans and everyone to design their own version of the Växjö Lakers identity. In order to connect and create a bridge between club and fans that are willing to take part in such project, this will result of creating designs that would be more relevant to the image of the club that fans imagined.

Idag finns det mycket litteratur om Autismspektrumtillstånd att läsa, men det mesta är riktat till dem som redan har diagnosen eller föräldrar och bekanta. Det finns även många med AST som själva har skrivit böcker om sin diagnos. Det som saknas är en bok för barn utan AST men som möter barn med AST i vardagen och därför valde vi att skapa en bok om AST för barn. Detta för att barn utan kunskap kanske inte vet hur de ska bemöta sina klasskompisar med diagnosen. På ett lärorikt sätt ska barn utan AST kunna läsa och uppleva boken för att få en ökad förståelse om vad det innebär att ha AST. En bakgrundsstudie genomfördes för att få en ökad förståelse för AST och hur man skriver en barnbok. En webbenkätundersökning genomfördes för att ta reda på människors generella uppfattning och kunskaper om AST. Därefter skapade vi en barnbok för målgruppen 7–9 år med all den bakgrundskunskap vi fick fram. Vi testade vår slutprodukt med klass 3A och 3B på Hälsinggårdsskolan i Falun. De fick själva läsa boken och svara på en enkät med frågor om vad de tyckte om boken och om de hade lärt sig något nytt. Testet av vår bokprototyp visade att målgruppen uppskattade bokprototypen och att de elever som deltog lärde sig något om AST. / Today you can read a lot about Autism spectrum disorder, but most of the literature is for the people that already have the diagnosis or the people around them and some of the books come from people who have the diagnosis themselves. What we think is missing on the market today is a book for children who meet people with ASD in everyday life. Therefore we created a children’s book about ASD. We believe it’s important for children without knowledge to understand their classmates with ASD. In an educational way they should be able to read and understand what it means to have ASD. A background study was made to gain a better understanding of ASD and how to write a children’s book. A survey was also made to find out people’s general perception and knowledge about ASD. After the background study we designed a children’s book for children in the age of 7–9 years. To test our bookprototype we met class 3A and 3B of Hälsinggårdsskolan in Falun. They got to read the book and afterwards they answered questions about what they learned and thought about the book. The test of our bookprototype showed that the audience appreciated the book and that they learned and had a better understanding of people with ASD.

Assignment (MPhil (Afrikaans and Dutch))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this study, the mental models of the target audience of the FACT web site (official Stellenbosch University HIV/Aids web site) were investigated and compared with the structure of the web site (representing the mental model of the expert). The target audience were divided into six groups representing three different race groups (white, coloured and black) and the two sexes (male and female).

This research investigates the position of creativity within graphic design education in general, and within the Omani educational context specifically. It situates itself among three realms: education, design, and creativity, investigating the relationships, effectiveness, and interrogations among these three topics. Creativity is defined within this research and in relation to graphic design education as problem solving , which is explained also as a cultural activity, or a cultural production. Graphic designers can involve themselves effectively in solving communication, social, and cultural problems that are classified as wicked problems , which usually require creative solutions. It is argued that Omani graphic designers should be creative problem solvers and able to find effective solutions for these problems. Yet this is not the case in Oman, at least from an educational point of view. The research problem is that the Omani design education system lacks a framework that recognises creativity as an important concept in education. Such a lack creates a twofold problem: 1) underestimating the importance of creativity in Omani design education; and 2) a shortage of pedagogical structured programmes that can enhance students creativity. It is argued that this problem is a result of the neglected situation of creativity in Arabic traditional education in general. Traditional education usually does not support creative thinking in design students, which consequently minimises their roles in social and cultural change. Based on the above, this research aims to develop a pedagogical model that can enhance and promote creative potential within Omani graphic design students. This aim can be achieved through re-establishing the position of creativity within Omani design education and valuing creativity as integrated part of graphic design. It proposes that the pedagogical model can offer a systematic approach for lecturers, to guide them into the best practice to enhance the creative potential of their students. Therefore, this research, and the proposed model, is the first step towards improving the position of creativity in Omani design educational systems in general. The model would propose to help Omani graphic design students to develop their creative problem solving abilities, which can allow them to effectively find solutions for several social and cultural wicked problems faced in Oman, such as the increased rate of car accidents nationally). The model will contain some creative-thinking techniques, and some pedagogical strategies that are already used internationally in education to improve creativity. The relevant literature has been reviewed to study the techniques and strategies used internationally to improve the creative potential of graphic design students. A qualitative interpretative methodology was used to answer the research questions and fulfil the aims. A survey approach was used for this research, implementing two methods: questionnaires and interviews. The online questionnaire was conducted with 33 international participants. It investigated how creativity is defined within graphic design contexts; whether creativity can be taught or enhanced; if yes, How, and by which techniques and strategies? Which curriculum contents are most suitable and effective? And how to assess creativity within graphic design education?. The same set of questions was asked in face-to-face interviews conducted with 39 design lecturers. The participants in these interviews were local lecturers who teach graphic design courses at six Omani institutions. All of the collected data were analysed by a thematic analysis method, by coding and categorising them according to different themes that had been extracted earlier from the literature. The contribution of this research is in defining the concept of creativity through scientific research; more specifically by practical research conducting an international survey and local interviews. Through this approach, this research has collected ideas, insights and trends about creativity in graphic design and how it can be developed. Also, this research has advanced knowledge of the relationships among graphic design, creativity, and education, specifically in the Arabic region. It is an attempt to emphasise this new field. Moreover, this research has given a snapshot of differing views regarding creativity in design education as perceived by international lecturers versus Omani lecturers, through conducting a cross-cultural study by asking these two groups the same questions, which was an interesting comparison. Finally, the collected data were utilised to develop the proposed pedagogical model designed for graphic design lecturers who teach design courses within Omani design education. The pedagogical model is the main contribution of this research. It would be suggested to the Omani Ministry of Higher Education that the model should be part of the Omani undergraduate graphic design curriculum.

In my degree project, I explore the importance of distance and how our perception of distance is affected by our experiences. During my investigatory work I studied the relation between distance and experiences. Among other things I concluded that distance can refer to several different kinds of distances (for example spatial, temporal or social distances) and that experiences are what you’ve learnt of these distances. The importance of distance can be illustrated by highlighting the effects of the distance, i.e. experiences. My degree project resulted in a pair of interactive binoculars which are used for looking at an virtual world of illustrations in 360°; a world of illustrations where distance and the importance of distance is shown. / I mitt examensarbete utforskar jag avståndets betydelse och hur vår uppfattning av avstånd påverkas av våra erfarenheter. I mitt undersökande arbete studerade jag relationen mellan avstånd och erfarenheter. Jag kom bland annat fram till att avstånd kan syfta på flera olika sorters avstånd (t.ex. spatiala, temporala eller sociala avstånd) och erfarenheter är vad du har lärt dig av dessa avstånd. Avståndets betydelse kan gestaltas genom att belysa effekterna av avstånden, dvs. erfarenheter. Mitt examensarbete resulterade i en interaktiv kikare som används för att betrakta en virtuell illustrationsvärld i 360°; en illustrationsvärld där avstånd och avståndets betydelse belyses.

I am interested in two spaces obverse to each other: open and closed. An open space develops organically based on how people inhabit it. Interacting with an open space is a dynamic, sporadic, multisensory, immersive, and subjective experience. In such spaces, we are confronted with an alternative aesthetic, one that is in conflict with the seamlessness of a closed space. A closed space is anchored on definite variables like structure, use and boundaries. While interaction between people and space is important, the space is tightly controlled and interaction is designed. Through this thesis project, I present a method that metaphorically transforms the experience of a walk through a closed space into an open-ended and immersive experience. When space develops as a response to our actions, it affords intimacy and a sense of belonging. It facilitates deeper expressiveness through engagement. By applying a method that uses fragmentation, recurrence and motion, I am metaphorically transforming an urban closed space to open. Through this transformation I am creating a fresh person-space dialogue that temporarily destabilizes perception and encourages physical sensation which allows for an intimate experience of the space. An immersive interaction with an open space transgresses the urban sterility of a closed space and is capable of creating a diversity of distinct experiences.

Digital media are moldable spaces where an image is simultaneously a thought. This instance and flexibility enables digital existences to be malleable, transformative, situational, and unstable. They are plastic images. Video games generate digital bodies that are a fusion of subjectivities and cybernetic simulations, in a perceivable and ambiguous process. Such bodies are extensions of ourselves, being girlish, imperfect, unfinished and happening—digesting and emitting clusters of feelings, regardless of our biological gender and age. The performative experience of play is progressively departing from spectacle, gambling and competition, and increasingly shifting towards an emotional journey of alternate realities, spreading subjectivities into the visible and invisible areas of screens. Such experience, and our plastic identities that reside within, marks a collaborative attempt between designers and audience to establish a new protocol of liquid perspectives functioning within and beyond digital space. Digital plasticity itself is a practice, as well as an inextricable process of understanding and deploying identities in the contemporary media-saturated pluralistic environment.

Fashion embodies what is accepted and valued in a given culture or society and empowers individuals by building self-confidence, enabling them to express themselves authentically through their bodies and garments. The gender binary, perpetuated by the mainstream fashion industry, marginalizes individuals who do not conform to it. In Rebelution 17, I utilize clothing design and photography to empower and liberate individuals who do not conform to the standards of beauty in regards to gender identity and acceptability. The finished works are featured in a Lookbook – a digital and physical collection of photographs used to market fashion – designed to promote awareness of gender-neutral fashion and deconstruct industry norms. Rebelution 17 can be viewed online at www.francescainocentes.com.

Ett grafiskt designprojekt, en booklet med fokus på PMS och PMDS. Innehållet i bookleten är objektivt och subjektivt i form av information samt visualiseringar. Personer med PMS eller PMDS har kommit till uttryck genom sina berättelser och självporträtt. / A graphic design project, a booklet that focuses on PMS and PMDD. The content of the booklet is objective and subjective with information and visualizations. Persons with PMS or PMDD has manifested through their stories and self-portraits.

Les schémas en annexe ont été réalisés avec le logiciel Adobe Illustrator. / Le sujet de recherche de ce mémoire est le design graphique. Nous donnons une définition de cette pratique. Observant un déficit théorique en design graphique, nous expliquons que le design graphique ne peut pleinement revendiquer le statut de discipline universitaire. La question n’était pas tant de savoir si le design graphique était une discipline ou non, elle semble en être une, de facto, grâce à son histoire. Mais il s’agit ici de montrer qu’à date, les modalités de disciplinarisation du design graphique n’ont pas encore été exposées. Par la suite, nous constatons le manque de « théories fortes » en design graphique et plus particulièrement le manque d’un cadre théorique expliquant la pratique du design graphique et le projet de communication visuelle, que nous qualifions d’objet d’étude du design graphique. Nous présentons par la suite un modèle-synthèse composé du modèles du wicked-problem de Hörst Rittel, du modèle de la réflexion-en-action de Donald Schön et du modèle herméneutique de Adrian Snodgrass et Richard Coyne ; trois modèles identifiant la nature inter-subjective de l’activité en design graphique. Nous confirmons, dans cette étude, ce modèle-synthèse par le biais d’un terrain d’étude auprès d’une agence de communication-marketing, terrain sur lequel nous avons déployé trois méthodes de collecte de données : le Protocol Analysis, des observations faites auprès de l’agence ainsi que des entretiens semi-dirigés avec la directrice de création de cette agence. La présentation des résultats permet de voir notre modèle-synthèse à l’oeuvre, dans l’action, en pleine pratique professionnelle. Nous affirmons, à la lumière de nos résultats, que notre modèle-synthèse peut être considéré comme une brique essentielle des « théories fortes » et c’est autour de cette brique que nous proposons une structure disciplinaire originale pour les « études en design graphique ». / The subject of this thesis is graphic design. We start our research project by giving a definition of graphic design as a practice. We observe that graphic design cannot be considered fully as a disciplinary field of study because of a lack of theory explaining its practice. As of now, the modalities of its disciplinarisation have not yet been exposed and discussed. One of these modalities is the identification of its research object: the visual communication project. We present afterwards a synthetical model based on the works of Hörst Rittel, Donald Schön, Adrian Snodgrass and Richard Coyne ; three theoretical models identifying the nature of graphic design activity as inter-subjective. We confirm this synthetical model by grounded research in a communication-marketing agency. We deploy three data collection methods in our research : Protocol Analysis, observations made in the agency and semi-directed interviews with the creative director of the agency. Our results allow us to observe our synthetical model as it operates in action in a real professionnal context. We then conclude that our theoretical model is an essential part of what we qualified as “strong theories” of graphic design. We propose afterwards a disciplinary structure for graphic design.