Project Details

Client

Deborah Littlejohn, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Graphic Design, College of Design

Team

Rich Gurnsey, Project Lead, UI/UX Designer, Motion Graphics Designer
Stephen Waddell, Immersive Media Developer, Technical Artist
Matthew Castro, 3D Artist and Animator
Daniel Davis, Instructional Designer
Laurie Gyalog, Project Manager

Technologies

Augmented Reality
3D Models and Animation
Unity
Maya
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe After Effects
Vuforia

Timeline

August 2018 - August 2019

Enhancing the Standard Textbook in GD 303 with Augmented Reality App

For this Exploratory Grant, the team designed and developed an augmented reality app that enhances the textbook, Graphic Design Theory — Graphic Design in Context by Meredith Davis. The app was created to improve students’ learning experiences, increase engagement, and help users better understand core concepts from the textbook. Varied and captivating AR experiences cover topics ranging from Gestalt principles to perspective.

Instructional Challenges

Some students struggle with difficult theoretical subjects presented in a traditional textbook format.
One-third of students enrolled in this course are not design majors, and tend to be less engaged.

Solutions and Highlights

A virtual docent takes users on a guided tour of concepts behind some of the milestones in graphic design work.
Students can take control of an AR magnifying glass for a closer look at intricate magazine spreads and other image details.
An interactive pop-up pop quiz tests students’ graphic design theory knowledge.
Users can peer down the corridors of an Italian Renaissance streetscape and admire the architecture of Martini’s Ideal City.
Eadweard Muybridge’s 19th-century time-lapse still photos come to life as a horse gallops on the page.
Audio of a Futurist “sound poem” plays as typography animates off the page.