2012 Galleries

The Spark Gallery pages are one of our most popular design destinations, with thousands of visitors each year. Check out some of the latest Spark entries, in the galleries below.

Visibleco

Winner - Gold

Competition: Spark:Communication
Designer: Mr. Kyuha Shim
Design Type: GRAPHIC DESIGN : Print
Website: http://kyuhashim.com

ABSTRACT The purpose of this project is to raise awareness about air quality and make people feel responsible for how they affect their surroundings. I want to improve the condition of our air by changing public perception of air pollution, using interactive objects as part of people’s daily experience. For this purpose, I designed several D.I.Y. products, a mobile application and an interactive sculpture, conveying information related to our surroundings air quality. I believe that my work enhances our understanding of our environment and develops a new way of integrating digital media with physical products through the use of computational processes. Most of my previous works at RISD focused on data visualizations. Before this project, I was exploring and experimenting with data-driven forms, and generating geometric shapes from typefaces. Even though I learned a lot from those experiences, my projects did not engage with users. With my thesis, I wish to create more participatory and interactive design. Studying with students from many different disciplines has enabled me to learn about the power of performance and participation. In my role as activist media designer, I hope to make people not only engage with my projects, but also feel more connected to their immediate environment. INTRODUCTION In my thesis, I started to think about air pollution and global warming through hands-on experiences like folding paper, and drawing abstract images to visualize and write down my feelings. I brainstormed words related to these topics and turned them into projects. Meeting with environmental studies experts helped me find a focus. I treated all my research as live data reflecting my experience. Data becomes information and information becomes narrative when it is well delivered. In the end, my experiences became a story of learning about the environment. I began with self-initiated learning of the air quality problem, proceeding to research visual language in which to express it, and finally worked to create interactive objects and installations that would inform people of this problem in an interactive manner. My projects showcase my personal journey in which I learn about my surroundings and began to think about our environment and its chain reactions. Raising awareness of nature through visualized data is the basic idea of my thesis.