Penn State University - School of Visual Arts
Spring 2016
A&A 411 Capstone II
Professor: Eduardo Navas (ean13@psu.edu)

Mondays & Wednesdays 2:30 - 5:30 PM

Office Hours: Mondays/Thursdays 9 - 11 AM, 209 Arts Cottage
Please contact at: ean13@psu.edu

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Guidelines for Thesis Project

Activities of Fall 2015:

1) Develop a thesis project that explores design through extensive and in-depth research on a subject of your choice.

2) Decide what shape or form your design project will take. Work with advisers and consultants to develop a solid project. Follow through with production.

Activities of Spring 2016:

2.1) Have documentation or reports of your meetings with your advisers, consultants, and collaborators (brief summaries and production of material should suffice).

3) Decide on the best way to present your project beyond it's inherent form, i.e. if it's a 3-D object, how can you present a video, installation, print, web; if it's a web based or screen project, find a way to present it to engage a viewer in real space, etc.

4) Consider point 3 above to make a final thesis presentation as an interactive art installation/display. Every aspect of your presentation must be considered carefully: from the typeface you may be using for your printed material and/or poster, the color of a table cloth and table/s you may be using to install your final thesis, to the type of device you may choose to present your work, if you happen to need a screen to show documentation.

5) Rework your research from Fall to be part of your final presentation. Design a PDF catalog that extends the overall experience you are trying to deliver in your design. The catalog must include:

  • First section: documentation of your research and creative process. Edit your writing and research from Fall 2013 into sections that clearly show your creative process. You can keep sections you developed for your research binder, but may need to rename some to make the publication more professional. Strongly encouraged to have images that show the process of research and production.
  • Second Part: show documentation of the final product. This section should include a decent amount of images that provide a clear idea of your project. The images must be acompanied with clear descriptions.
  • Your PDF publication must be well designed. You must consider every design aspect of the document, from the typeface you use to the color of the pages, and the overall palette of your images and illustrations. You must do a print version of your PDF, or present it on a tablet. In either case, the documentation must be of professional quality.

Instructions for Final submission of Thesis Project:

You need to follow up with any final adjustments as instructed after your final documentation is submitted on April 25. You will have until May 2 to make proper changes and submit them. Submit all large files to ean13@psu.edu

You must turn in a copy of your final project in the highest quality:

  • Video: provide a high resolution file for download (via Google Drive, Box, or a similar service)
  • 3D printing or object design: provide all documentation photos and other materials of the highest quality in a zip file for download (via Google+, Box, or a similar service)
  • Your final PDF publication must be turned in the highest resolution possible for print quality. Provide a proper link for download (via Google+, Biox, or a similar service)
  • Upload a copy of all your documentation to Angel. You may need to lower the quality of these specific documents to be able to upload properly. Please note that the uploading of your documents is not enough to meet the final requirements of class. You must also provide high quality files as explained above.
  • Provide any links to websites where your work is featured

You need to submit your thesis project files successfuly in order to receive your final grade.