Emily Bassin, Jenny Procida, Cristina Pegnataro, Brittany Kearnan, Tom Agostino, and MAGD Program Director Rita Daly, at the opening celebration.
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Emily Bassin
Clear Report
Project Summary
I designed the branding and concept for Clear Report – an unbiased, investigative reporting and rating publication about corporate social responsibility. Through researching corporate social responsibility, I identified a need to combat the “good-washing” that is so prevalent in today’s corporate marketing campaigns, and to encourage corporate transparency. “Good-washing” is one-sided information about the positive impact that a corporation has on society. It comes directly from the corporation’s marketing departments and is not always accurate or transparent. I found that incentives and pressures need to affect the fiscal success of the company in order for companies to choose socially beneficial programs. By designing this system and brand for Clear Report, I was able to find a successful solution to pressure corporations into make more socially beneficial choices by increasing consumer power through knowledge.
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Jenny Procida
Men On Ice, A Visual Exploration of Men’s Figure Skating
Project Summary
Men on Ice is an exploration of gender expression in figure skating. In the United States, figure skating is viewed as a feminine sport, and thus, the promotion of the men’s events often falls to the wayside. Throughout the thesis process, I explored the unique spectrum of male expression as seen in a stereotypically feminine context, as well as the artistic qualities of figure skating that set the sport apart from traditionally masculine sports.
Based on my research, I chose to create advertising in the form of banners, print advertisements, and a revamped logo for the International Skating Union. This new promotion of the sport celebrates the complexity of figure skating, as well as the many forms of personal expression found on the ice.
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Cristina Pegnataro
Vigilantibodies: A Food Allergy Awareness Campaign
Project Summary
I approached the thesis process as an opportunity to utilize design to bring clarity and accessibility to issues regarding human health. With a topic such as food allergies, so heavily rooted in science and research, it was important to identify the key characteristics that would resonate with the public and benefit from creative solutions. In order to “redesign” the way people think about food allergies, the public must gain knowledge about the problem through empathy with those affected.
Health and wellbeing are fundamental human rights, yet those with food allergies must constantly be on the defensive. No matter how vigilant they are, there will always be a careless chef, a hidden ingredient, a negligent babysitter, a contaminated utensil, or a mislabeled package. With the safety of the food-allergic in communal hands, it is important that the general public understand the daily challenges. Exposing the hidden dangers will demonstrate the potential severity of food allergies in order to influence behavior and encourage dilligence.
Vigilantibodies is a food allergy awareness campaign that aims to foster a sense of community and shared responsibility while at the same time empowering those with food allergies to view themselves as strong individuals.
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Bittany Kearnan
IM Celebrating Individuality
IM is an online space for middle and high school aged youth to express themselves and celebrate who they are through videos.
Project Summary
For my thesis project I created IM, an online community for middle and high school aged students to express themselves and celebrate who they are through short videos. The goal of this project was to challenge the public perception of our surface self, and show that we may be seen as one thing, but we are made up of so much more.
Through my research on reality TV, I found that we relate to participants on the show based upon exaggerated stereotypes that require little to no background information. How we perceive people on reality shows is the same as in our daily lives, and we make judgements based on how we perceive a person without knowing their personal story.
IM is geared towards middle and high school aged students who are in the midst of establishing their own identity. They are trying to figure out who they are, how they want to be seen, and how to express themselves. IM not only gives them a voice, but also lets them connect to peers who are like them, different than them, or who inspire them. It creates a community that celebrates what makes each of us unique, and what does not fit into a stereotype.
IM is designed to be interactive and engaging, encouraging middle and high school aged students to visit the website to watch videos, make their own videos, and reach out to others to create a community. The bright, lively colors create an inviting tone, while the black and white videos mute out the background so that the focus is on the people’s words and their stories. The videos highlight each person’s unique handwriting, making their story both personal and expressive.
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Tom Agostino
Bandwagon, Bands be heard
Project Summary
Bandwagon is a web-based community designed specifically for the promotion of bands and musicians not involved with a major media corporation contract, i.e. Sony, Universal, EMI or Warner. These money hungry corporations dominate the music industry accounting for 75% of the entire music market in the United States. There’s more music out there!
Utilizing web and mobile application design along with a comprehensive branding system, Bandwagon offers independent (non-major label) bands and musicians a community to increase their exposure, distribute their music to a wider audience and an environment to continually grow their fan base. The Bandwagon community also provides music lovers and the general public access to music and bands they wouldn’t hear on popular radio and television stations or see their music sold in big box chain stores e.g. Best Buy or Target.
The goal of Bandwagon is to help independent bands thrive, keeping the power of music creation, control and distribution in the hands of the musicians, bands and supporters and away from dominate media corporations.
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Old Friends Return: Malorie Landgreen 2010 & Orpha Rivera 2011 MAGD graduates meet again.
