Undergraduate · Studio · 4 credits
Graphic Design Capstone I: Design Research
Find the question before you find the answer
PREREQUISITES
Instructor approval. Generally restricted to Graphic Design seniors; students from other programs may enroll with permission.
OFFERED
every semester
LEVEL
300-level
The first semester of a two-part capstone sequence for Graphic Design seniors focuses on students choosing a passion subject—rather than a medium, skill, or material—and conducting in-depth primary and secondary research. This research includes surveys, interviews, field observation, and literature review, tailored to each student's chosen topic. The design process only starts once adequate research has been completed, rather than on a predetermined deadline.
Syllabus
Key information — full syllabus available as PDF
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Identify a subject of genuine personal significance and articulate why it matters — to them, to a community, to a broader public
Conduct original research using primary methods (surveys, interviews, field observation) and secondary methods (literature review, data analysis), selecting methods based on what the subject requires
Synthesize quantitative and qualitative research findings into a coherent problem statement and design brief
Begin translating research findings into an initial design direction, supported by evidence from the research process
Develop and sustain a reflective practice — maintaining research documentation, process notes, and written reflection throughout the semester
Engage critically and generously with peers' research and emerging design directions in ongoing critique and check-ins
Present research findings and initial design decisions to the cohort in a clear, argued, and visually supported form
STRUCTURE
Students begin by identifying and proposing a passion subject — instructor approval required
Research phase is primary: surveys, interviews, field observation, secondary literature, and any additional methods the subject requires
No fixed timeline for moving from research to design — the transition happens when the research is sufficiently developed
Most students begin the design phase in the latter weeks of the semester; some carry research into the beginning of semester 2
Ongoing critique and check-ins throughout — no formal mid-semester review
Cohort moves through together; all work is individual
Process documentation maintained throughout: research notes, interview transcripts or summaries, survey data, annotated sources, sketches, and written reflections
ASSESSMENT
Ungraded — completion-based with ongoing feedback
Feedback structure: ongoing critique and check-ins with instructor; peer engagement in cohort discussions
Complete / incomplete evaluation for process milestones
Deadlines apply — professional practice
TEEXTBOOKS
No fixed required texts. Reading and research materials are driven by each student's subject.
Students are expected to locate, evaluate, and document their own sources as part of the research process.
Instructor may assign shared readings on research methodology, design ethics, or relevant design precedents as the cohort's needs emerge.
Projects
Major projects per semester:
Course Overview
- Capstone: Design Research constitutes the first half of the two-semester senior capstone sequence. Its fundamental idea, which is often new to most students, is straightforward: before designing anything, you need to understand something—not about design itself, but about the subject your design will tackle. The course starts not with a brief, but with a question: what matters enough to you to dedicate a year to it?
The subject students select isn’t merely a skill or a medium. It’s not just "I want to improve at branding" or "I want to learn motion graphics." Instead, it’s a topic in the world — such as a community, system, problem, phenomenon, or idea — that the student finds truly compelling and that can sustain a year of deep exploration. Examples include issues like how accessibility in digital communication fails Deaf communities, inspiring a web app that interprets written English into ASL; the psychology of trauma and coping, leading to an interactive video where viewers’ choices influence the story; how cultural and personal notions of luck and misfortune work, resulting in an interactive installation; the dynamics of power and its movement between people, explored through a board game; and what avid readers need from a digital tool, resulting in a reading app. What these subjects share isn’t a specific topic but a level of personal investment—each student feels this subject matters and wants to understand why and how. Importantly, the design approach wasn’t predetermined but uncovered through research.
The research phase, which is the semester itself, involves students carrying out surveys, interviews, and field observations. They review existing literature, collect data, and pursue leads wherever they lead. Initially, they do not know whether their project will be a publication, a brand system, an environmental installation, a campaign, a typeface, or a set of objects. The final form is only decided once the research has developed sufficiently to support that choice. Ultimately, the subject determines the form, not vice versa.
I've been teaching a version of this course at Pacific University since I arrived, and previously at another institution in a different form. From these experiences, I've learned that the research phase is crucial in shaping the final work. Students who rush through research to reach the design stage — treating the first semester as a waiting period — tend to produce work in the second semester that is technically competent but lacking depth in idea. They've created something but haven't communicated anything meaningful. Conversely, students who engage deeply with research — conducting interviews, exploring unexpected findings, and allowing their subject to challenge and refine initial assumptions — arrive in semester 2 with something meaningful to express. Then, the design becomes a matter of form: how to communicate this clearly, powerfully, and honestly. This is a far richer design challenge than simply deciding what to make.
Course Reflection
- The capstone sequence concludes the Graphic Design program and poses a question that earlier courses — with their structured projects, clear briefs, and instructor-imposed constraints — haven't directly addressed: what do you want to do with your skills? After three years of learning to observe, create, argue, and think through design, the capstone challenges students to pinpoint something meaningful to them and respond through design. This makes it, in some ways, the most straightforward brief in the curriculum. Yet, it remains the most challenging.
Most students arrive at the capstone having been assigned their subjects for three years. They are skilled at working within constraints they did not choose. However, they often struggle more with creating their own constraints—identifying what truly matters to them and framing it as a design challenge. Therefore, the subject selection at the start of semester 1 is not just a formality; it is the first and most crucial design decision of the year. Choosing a subject because it seems manageable, appears to yield attractive work, or is close to a previous project reflects a different intention than selecting one because it continuously occupies their thoughts. The research phase quickly reveals these underlying motivations.
Requiring research prior to design and not fixing a transition date between the two reflects a core belief I hold after many iterations of this course: that design is a form of knowledge, and gaining knowledge takes time and a systematic approach. Students who find the capstone most challenging are often not the weakest designers, but those who struggle with impatience toward unknowns—they want to start creating without fully understanding their goals. The research phase encourages them to accept this uncertainty and work through it, which is a professional skill as well as an academic one. Designers who can't spend enough time understanding a problem tend to produce solutions for the wrong issues. This course aims, in part, to teach students how to identify the right problem before jumping to a solution.
The cohort structure is vital to the course, even though all tasks are individual. Students with very different topics—such as a student studying how Deaf communities navigate written English online and another examining how luck and misfortune influence human behavior—find that their research issues are structurally similar. Both aim to understand their subjects from an internal perspective, address questions of representation and ethics, and develop arguments for why their topics deserve a thoughtful response. The cohort fosters a common vocabulary for these shared structural elements, despite the differences in subject matter. Critique becomes a collaborative effort where students support each other in clarifying their questions, rather than merely evaluating answers.
Selected Student Self-Reflections