Category Archives: Student Work

Capstone Project Proposal – Frogs in the Pacific Northwest

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For my Capstone Project, I would like to discuss the state of frogs in the Pacific Northwest. I will discuss facts about Pacific Northwestern frogs, the issues they are currently facing, the risk of extinction each species faces, and ways we can ensure their survival and well-being.

For the first media object, I will create an infographic file that provides concise information about what I listed above, tailored to fit each of the frog species that inhabit the Pacific Northwest. The IUCN conservation status (from “least concern”, such as the northern leopard frog, to “threatened”, such as the Oregon spotted frog) of each frog species will be shown in a way that allows them to be easily compared, which will provide emphasis for which species need the most assistance (and which are regarded as pests, such as the bullfrog). In addition to the conservation statuses, I will provide information about each frog species’ habitat needs, food and feeding habits, reproduction and life cycle, and mortality and longevity. For the second media object, I will create an animation detailing ways in which we can provide assistance for frogs. Some methods I will likely include are protecting the frogs’ natural habitats and removing invasive species.

The two media will work well together, chiefly via matching style and continuity. Both will be concise and remain focused on the topic of Pacific Northwestern frogs. I plan to aim for legibility and ease of understanding, which may prove to be a challenge, given the vast amount of information about this topic available to compress into this project.

Capstone Project Proposal – Major Cultural Shifts in the 1920s

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For my capstone project, I would like to create a website concerning major cultural shifts of 1920s America. This site would be exploring how these societal turning points were connected to each other as well as examining some remnants of the decade that effect us even now, such as women gaining the right to vote.

I would like the website to be influenced by Art Deco yet still modern, so while it will be clearly ’20s-inspired the overall style will be very flat-style. I am still looking at color schemes, but so far I’m considering teal and/or gold, with black and charcoal text and accents.

For the first page, I plan to have my first media object, an animated infographic. This infographic will illuminate some major milestones of the 1920s, such as the start of the Prohibition, famous artistic works such as The Great Gatsby, and the 19th Amendment. I’d like the animation to cover lesser-known facts about generally well-known occurrences, in order to center the audience and not overwhelm them with information. This information would be repeated in text below the video as well in order to increase accessibility.

My second and third pages will be accessible through a top bar. The second page will focus on major artistic milestones of the ’20s, and will covers topics such as: new or evolving styles of music, writers, fashion, and visual art. I would like to include my second media object here, an infographic on different emerging art styles such as Art Deco, Cubism, and Surrealism.

For my third and final page, I would like to discuss important political occurrences of the ’20s, such as Prohibition, women gaining the vote, immigration restrictions, and presidents. Since I’ve already used my media objects, I would include some small illustrations so it isn’t just text.

Capstone Project Proposal – Military Spending in the U.S.

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The subject matter that I want to do my capstone project on is military spending in the United States. I am interested in this subject because I have worked for defense contractors in the past and I was surprised at the amount of money the Department of Defense spent on overhead alone. Currently, the U.S. spends billions of dollars every year on the military. This amount is excessive, and the funding could be put towards other areas such as education, science, or healthcare. The direction I am going to take in this capstone is to highlight how the U.S. spends discretionary government funding inefficiently on the military. In addition, I will be comparing the U.S. to other countries and detail the advantages and drawbacks of using a high percentage of their funds on defense.

The two media objects I will create are an animated infographic and remixed video. For the remixed video, its main purpose will be to introduce my audience to my subject. It will not be as informative but will help draw viewers into my website. My main media object will be an animated infographic. Its purpose will be to provide statistics and figures that detail how inefficient military spending is in the U.S. It will be informative but succinct so that my viewers will not lose interest. I chose an animated infographic rather than a print because I would be able to deliver the information in a more entertaining way. The final piece of my capstone would be an HTML page that provides much more detailed facts with sources. If time permits, I will create more media objects to further enhance my site.

Capstone Project Proposal – Space Race

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The subject matter I would like to focus on for my capstone project is the United States/Soviet Space Race. The Space Race was a monumental time in world history. By covering this topic, I could write on how the space race affected the Cold War and how it brought about the advancement of many different technologies. I believe this topic has a lot of content ripe for remixing.

Because NASA is a government organization, footage created by them is considered public domain. Considering this, I think it would be interesting to make a video remix showing the various rockets that were launched during that time. I would likely remix it using a voiceover from President Kennedy or perhaps a NASA scientist speaking about the topic. I will probably also use music of some variety to have something to sync my visuals to.

My other media object would be an infographic that covers a timeline of the Space Race. I would use Adobe Illustrator to create the graphics. I would create caricatures of John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, as they were the two most important political figures involved with the Space Race. I could also make some images of various spacecraft and how they developed. Many of the early spacecraft had unique designs, Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite comes to mind, along with many others.

I have always been fascinated by space and space travel, as my other projects in this class may have hinted at. I believe the focus on history will make this a fun and interesting topic to work on.

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Capstone Project Proposal – Voting

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In the spirit of the current midterms that are occurring right now, I’ve decided to make my capstone project about the importance of voting, not only for presidential elections, but for the lesser viewed midterms, which are just as important. For this project, I’ll be creating an infographic to show different demographics and recent voting turnouts in past years, along with an animation about the importance of voting and what the different elections are for and who they elect. I plan on connecting my animation and infographic together by using some of the same imagery in both. In my infographic, I would show which states are typically blue, which ones are typically red, and which ones are swing states, and what swing states mean. I would sum it up to what the most important need-to-know information, and would explain things like how the electoral college is the deciding factor of who wins the Presidential Election. I’d write it out as if I was explaining to someone who had never voted before, or was from a different country and wanted to know more about how we conduct voting here. In the animation, I’d go more into detail about how different states conduct voting differently, like how some states have mail-in ballots, as well as where to go to vote in person and how to register online. I’d like to talk about the different parties that aren’t democratic or republican and are also represented on ballots, since most new voters probably don’t know what these parties stand for or who they tend to align with.

The Growth of Esports in CS:GO, Overwatch, and LoL

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Central Idea/Plan

For my capstone project, I would like to design a website focused on the growth of Esports in games like League of Legends, CS:GO, and Overwatch. The site would explore the rich histories of the games and the turning points that allowed them to draw so many eyes with their professional competitive play. I also would like to go through what it is like being a professional who works for companies who compete in the leagues that these games offer.

Front Page

As far as design goes, I want to use stack parallax effects to elongate my front page to allow maximize the image to information ratio. This page will include the introduction of the three games I am discussing. As far as color choices go, I’m thinking of using colors from the games that I am discussing. The color orange from CS:GO, brighter colors from Overwatch, and darker colors from League of Legends. Images I would pull from the live tournaments from all three games would be used as my backgrounds and I would trace their logos and implement those into the general design of the tabs where the links to the other pages are as well as down the page.

Second Page

My second page will include a nice infographic with main statistics about the games and their viewers. Design would morph along the page to, again, match the themes of the games.

Last Page

My third page can include a video about the lifestyle of esports players and how life is playing for an esports team as well as topics about where esports came from, where it is now, and where it is expected to go in the coming years.

Capstone Project Proposal- Waste Management

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Waste Management

Bryan Kipp

Capstone Project Proposal

In this Capstone project, I’m going to be discussing the importance of protecting our environment such as forests, rivers, and oceans, from environmental waste. This issue is important to me because I have taken multiple environmental classes and am dedicated to reducing my carbon footprint by learning and understanding these issues in our everyday society that create a huge threat to wildlife environments. Everyday pesticides and toxic chemicals leach into our environment from landfills and improper use of everyday home chemical products which create environmental problems. Other environmental waste includes improper disposal of electronics like cellphones and tv’s that end up in landfills or incinerators that take a massive amount of energy for disposal. Another environmental issue is factory farms that store animal waste in big lagoons that can stretch as far as multiple football fields that leak into waterways killing plants and animals. I am going to create an infographic file (at least 1400 x 800 – height x width pixels) and an animation file (1 min. – 1:45 mins. long) discussing major issues with environmental waste and want to focus on everyday solutions that would help reduce these problems and help clean up our environment. These two media objects will relate to one another by focusing on major issues related with environmental waste and will help provide possible solutions. The infographic will highlight problems and solutions while the animated file will visually show how these problems go into effect and how an understanding of possible solution would help reduce these issues.

Works Cited

  • No author. Manufacturing and Industrial. WM.COM. Waste Management. No publication date.

  • No author. Factory Farming and the Environment. farmsanctuary.org. No published date.

    • Capstone Project Proposal – Student Loan Debt

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    For my capstone project I would like to focus on the issue of student loan debt in America. Student debt is a massive number that keeps rising in America and the shift in the price of college tuition has grown tremendously in the last 30 years. This topic is relevant to me and many people in school or who want to go to school. Also this personally affects many people I know.

    For my first piece of media I want to create an infographic that nicely presents the facts about student debt. Facts like the total student debt in America, the average debt per student, the cost of tuition, things that contribute to student debt, etc.

    For my second media I would like to create an animation. Since in my infographic I’m already presenting the facts about student debt, I want to use my animation to talk about ways to minimize student debt with scholarships, FAFSA, and other programs. Along with talking about the programs, I would include how to apply to the programs and emphasize the importance of signing up before the deadlines. These projects relate together because they are on the same line of subject matter. They both address that student debt is a problem. The infographic presents facts in an easy nice to read way. Instead of using the animation to present the same facts again, I would use it to present different facts which would be instead to help student debt, instead of only telling you about student debt.

    Capstone Project Proposal – Urban Gardening

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    For my capstone project, I plan to focus on how urban gardening can help create a healthier planet. With the increasing ramifications of global climate issues and our countries current wasteful habits, it is critical for Americans to look at ways to live more of a sustainable lifestyle. Urban gardening is an excellent way to reduce one’s impact on the environment.

    Learning how to grow organic foods, compost, and raise urban livestock at home or as part of a community garden can provide a self-sufficient food supply as well as bringing greater biodiversity back into our local environments. There are many ways to sustainably and affordably do this. Some of which are using rain barrels to collect water, using worm bins for composting food and paper scraps, collecting seeds from organic plants, reusing newspapers to make pots to grow seedlings, and using items from your kitchen to help with pest management.

    I will be creating a video remix with animated elements throughout to showcase areas on the following:
    1) Why? Environmental and health issues examples.
    2) What are the benefits? For you: fresh produce, reduced waste, beautiful yard. For the environment: reduced carbon footprint, biodiversity, helping bees.
    3) How to in tight spaces? Community gardens are a great way for renters or those with no yard to have the opportunity to grow their food. Container and vertical gardens are an excellent way for renters and those with small spaces to maximize their growing area.
    4) Tips and ideas for affordable and sustainable practices. Like, recycle items to make useful gardening items. How to composting to create soil, fertilizer and reduce waste. Ways to collect seeds for next seasons crops. Plus, ways to help save on water.

    Since many people have a hard time knowing when to plant what, I’m going to create an infographic that shows the different growing times of fruit and vegetables in the Pacific Northwest.

     

    Capstone Project Proposal – The History of Photography

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    For my Capstone Project, I would like to focus on the history of photography. I will detail not only detail some of the history of photography, but also showcase some important moments in photography and video. For this project, I plan to create an Infographic and a remixed video.

    My infographic will show a timeline of sorts that shows the history of photography, and most importantly, the evolution of the camera. I will show imagery of the first camera moving up through selected models until we reach the smartphone, which is now most often used to take photos.

    My remixed video will focus on video and important moments in photography throughout history, showing when photo and video have united people. I will include videos such as the moon landing and other highly-viewed videos to show how important these forms of media are to the world. The remixed video will be accompanied by supporting text and music that changes with the imagery. More research must be done to fully decide what information will be included in both forms of media.

    The video and infographic will be tied together by color profiles and shared theme, but the remix will focus on video more than still imagery. The decision to use both an infographic and a video remix will show two different representations of the topic, one a more formal presentation of facts and the other a visual representation of the ideas to sum up the issue, appealing to different types of viewers. In my website design, the infographic will be presented before the video so as to state the facts that will be presented in the video. The design of the website will support the themes and colors used in both forms of media.