Scholarly Works, School of Visual Arts
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Browsing Scholarly Works, School of Visual Arts by Author "Dee, Meaghan A."
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- FL3TCH3R ExhibitDee, Meaghan A. (2020)
- Fostering Creativity in an Educational EnvironmentDee, Meaghan A. (2016-05-31)Many believe creativity is something you’re born with, rather than a skill you can learn. But, being a professor of graphic design, I believe teachers can and should foster creative thinking, regardless of the subject matter. Every child is naturally imaginative, but as they grow up they’re taught to conform. One way to encourage students to uncover their originality is to build an environment that is free of judgment. To be creative is to be abnormal, in that it requires thinking in unique ways. In order to be comfortable with artistic expression, students must feel free to make “mistakes” — they must even be encouraged to do so. We’ve all heard the mantra “fail faster.” There’s no way to know if an idea will be successful until you try it out, so the more you can explore, the better. But this might be easier said than done, as fear of failure can be paralyzing. Twyla Tharp, in The Creative Habit, combats her fears by writing them down and physically destroying them. For any creative person trying to get “unstuck,” this sort of ritual can be a first step in getting moving on a project. Under this line of thinking, helping creativity flourish should be integrated into every graphic design course. I focus on creativity in my curriculum by implementing mini exercises, discussions, and by approaching each project with a unique methodology – so students have a chance to learn and make in diverse ways.
- I Am So SorryDee, Meaghan A. (University of Michigan Library, 2022-11-08)
- A Message of HopeDee, Meaghan A.; Pederson, Martin (2021)
- Ongoing Matter: Design, Democracy, and the Mueller ReportBerry, Anne; Edmands Martin, Sarah; Dee, Meaghan A. (2021)
- Prioritizing Our Values: A Case-Study Report that Examines the Efforts of a Group of University-Level, Communication Design Educators to Collectively Construct Inclusive and Equitable Design Teaching Practices in a (Post-) Pandemic EraBerry, Anne H.; Dee, Meaghan A.; Laker, Penina; Tegtmeyer, Rebecca L. (University of Michigan Library, 2023-12-13)The Value Design Education Pledge was co-developed by the co-authors of this article: Associate Professor Anne H. Berry, Associate Professor Meaghan A. Dee, Assistant Professor Penina Laker, and Associate Professor Rebecca Tegtmeyer, with contributions by Kelly Walters (Assistant Professor, Communication Design, Parsons, The New School, New York City, N.Y., U.S.A.), to develop and promote long-term, inclusive, and equitable teaching practices that could positively affect design education. The pledge was initiated in the wake of events that transpired during the spring and summer of 2020—namely, the COVID-19 global pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests, both of which evolved across the United States during that time. It was also undertaken in recognition of 1) the changes and challenges that evolved as a result of remote and online learning having to be implemented across most U.S.-based, university-level and K-12 design education programs, and 2) the need for pedagogic accountability when decisions have been taken by faculty and administrators to commit to inclusive and equitable teaching practices. This case study provides an overview of the timeline of events and the decision-making that preceded the development of the pledge, including the first AIGA (the professional association for design, and the primary funder of this journal) Design Educators Community (DEC) virtual roundtable in May 2020 that spawned a draft of actionable items and outcomes from educators (working at K-12, non-traditional, undergraduate, and post-graduate levels) who participated in the pledge initiative. As a key point of planning and emphasis, the Value Design Education Pledge was developed to meet two key goals. The first was to facilitate manageable and sustainable commitments to students and communities for design educators already overburdened by the strain of adapting curricula and the course materials that support them. The second was to encourage remote and online learning in ways that could effectively provide emotional and academic support to design students throughout the progression of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the social, political, and cultural upheavals that accompanied it. The authors research fueled the generation of ideas for further exploration of initiatives that could effectively support these goals, including:developing mechanisms for measuring students’ learning before and after they leave particular classes and programs identifying ways to emphasize that the outcomes of design processes can provide humanistic, tangible, and positively transformative products, services, and systems; and building better mentor models that could be facilitated inside and outside of a variety of types of design classrooms. While the disciplinary focus of the pledge as it was initially developed was centered on design education, the authors believe that several items and ideas that emerged from operating it can be adapted to benefit education across a broader array of disciplines.
- Processing the PandemicDee, Meaghan A. (2021)
- Protective Body Panels for the ESCHER Humanoid Emergency Response RobotDee, Meaghan A.; Blanchard, Samuel Paul (2016-09-23)ICAT (Institute for Creativity, Arts & Technology) Playdate, Blacksburg, VA. Co-presented the research on the “Protective Body Panels for the ESCHER Humanoid Emergency Response Robot,” in the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech. September 23.
- re[visualizing] soundDee, Meaghan A. (2016-08-27)In the words of Robert Bringhurst: “writing is the solid form of language.” In addition to capturing the human language, designers and typographers also face the challenge of documenting other sounds, such as music and the language of animals. How do designers visually capture these other heard experiences in a meaningful way? In this presentation, I would explore various examples of codified systems that visually display sound with the use of typographic forms and symbols. One example is a design that I created for Oceans Initiative, where the visuals were created by playing a whale song into a cymatic visualizer – and while at first glance the poster appears to be abstract, in reality each form corresponds to a different musical note. Throughout history humans have found many ways of visually documenting sound. While this is primarily done through the use of letterforms, many other visualizations are common. One example is the musical score, which is a very accurate portrayal of sound, as it takes into consideration the loudness, length, and tone of sound. And yet in the realm of design there is often there is a disconnect between the sounds we hear and the designs we see. Warren Lehrer was among a handful of artists and designers to break ground in this area. Lehrer, in his piece “French Fries,” experimented with how to convey multiple voices in a book design by assigning each character their own typeface. More recently, many artists and designers use data collection systems to record accurate data and produce beautiful works of data visualization.