Interdisciplinary Design Research
My research spans four key areas: immersive experiences, digital product innovation, professional practice, and pedagogical process. In immersive experiences, I explore the integration of real-time data and interactive media, exemplified by projects like Random Actor, which push the boundaries of how technology enhances creativity and audience engagement. Digital product innovation, particularly through my work at BU's Spark! Innovation Fellowship, focuses on interdisciplinary collaboration at the intersection of design and technology, driving innovative solutions to complex problems.In professional practice, my work at Design Axl translates this exploratory research into client-focused, brand-aligned design solutions. By leveraging cutting-edge design techniques, I deliver impactful results that resonate with audiences. Lastly, my pedagogical process, informed by my RISD MFA thesis, shapes my approach to design education. This framework encourages creativity and innovation, helping students develop their own design methodologies while pushing the boundaries of conventional approaches. These four areas collectively represent the breadth of my work, driving innovation across both professional and academic contexts.
📺 TALK (24:08): FAU — Interdisciplinary Design Research ↗︎
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1. Immersive Experiences: Random Actor
Random Actor, an innovative software tool co-initiated by me and Clay Hopper at Boston University, is designed to revolutionize interactive media design. This groundbreaking solution empowers users, including theatrical designers, artists, and others, to create dynamic, immersive media environments without requiring extensive coding expertise. By integrating computational vision, projection mapping, MIDI control, and machine learning into a user-friendly interface, Random Actor democratizes interactive design, making it accessible to industries such as museums, architectural spaces, public art installations, education, and beyond. Recently, Random Actor was awarded the 2024 American Digital Design Award by GD USA, recognizing its impact on digital innovation.
VISIT: random-actor.com ↗︎
📺 TALK (8:01): Design + Performance ↗︎
2. Digital Product Innovation: BU Spark!
At BU’s Spark! Innovation Fellowship, I guide students through a dynamic learning experience that bridges design, technology, and entrepreneurship. My work focuses on fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, where students are challenged to think creatively and develop innovative solutions to real-world problems. By mentoring them through the process of prototyping, iteration, and applying cutting-edge technologies, I help them navigate the complex intersection of digital innovation and product design. This hands-on approach not only equips students with practical skills but also prepares them to become future leaders in an ever-evolving design and technology landscape.🤖 VISIT: BU Spark! ↗︎
3. Professional Practice: Design Axl
At Design Axl, I partner with clients across diverse industries—technology, education, and innovation—to craft design solutions that are strategically aligned with their brand and goals. My work spans digital platforms, web experiences, and brand identities, as well as immersive and interactive projects. A standout example is my project PolyPlexus, which was recognized for its innovative approach and earned the Fast Company World Changing Ideas Award for North America in 2021. My commitment to pushing the boundaries of design ensures the delivery of impactful, tailored solutions that meet each client’s unique needs.
🧰 VISIT: axl.design ↗︎
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4. Pedagogical Process: MFA Thesis
My MFA thesis, Shift, completed at the Rhode Island School of Design, established a pedagogical design philosophy that continues to shape my teaching today. This philosophy emphasizes exploration, innovation, and critical thinking, providing a foundation for generating project prompts that challenge students to think beyond conventional design approaches. By fostering creativity and encouraging fresh perspectives, I aim to engage students deeply in the design process, helping them develop both their conceptual and practical skills. This approach not only drives student engagement but also cultivates an environment where new ways of thinking in design can flourish.
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0.0 | Abstract
Shift, in concept and method, is a view on empirically based graphic design. Inviting constant shifts of perspective-from one place, position...
Shift, in concept and method, is a view on empirically based graphic design. Inviting constant shifts of perspective-from one place, position...
0.1 – 0.2 | Point of View
When I was fourteen, my family went on a trip to Kona, Hawaii, and I brought my first video camera with me, a Sony HI8 HandyCam; I was rarely...
0.3 – 0.5 | MethodologyBefore coming to graduate school, I spent eleven years working at a graphic design/brand strategy firm. We used qualitative and quantitative process models...
0.6 | Full CircleOn August 3, 2011, my daughter Joy was born. Seeing her develop an awareness of her environment, while I am simultaneously developing my thesis...
0.7 | Interview with Vaughan OliverVaughan Oliver is an award-winning, legendary graphic designer, artist and author of several books, including...
1.0–1.1 | Input: Accumulate InspirationComing back to school after eleven years in the professional field was daunting and uncomfortable...
1.2–1.3 | Ephemera Collection
Any one of the ninety-five previous objects could be a piece of trash or a spark of inspiration. Each object has the ability to be examined, studied...
Any one of the ninety-five previous objects could be a piece of trash or a spark of inspiration. Each object has the ability to be examined, studied...
1.4–1.5 | Form + Content = Graphic DesignEphemera Collection is just a small sampling of everyday objects that inspire me; initially, they inspire me in a...
1.6–1.7 | Wabi-Sabi
Wabi-Sabi can be called a comprehensive aesthetic system. The more systematic and clearly defined the components of an aesthetic system are, the...
Wabi-Sabi can be called a comprehensive aesthetic system. The more systematic and clearly defined the components of an aesthetic system are, the...
1.8 | Tools of CaptureBeyond accumulating physical objects and written words in my database, I am also passionately accumulating still and moving images. I use a range of...
1.9 | Interview with Daniel Paluska
Dan Paluska is an artist, engineer and educator who works with kinetic, robotic, and cultural systems…
Dan Paluska is an artist, engineer and educator who works with kinetic, robotic, and cultural systems…
2.0–2.2 | Output: Transform AwarenessThere is a gap that drives awareness in my work. It’s the phase in my process where I transform my awareness…
2.3 | Commute
Spark Sometimes the most obvious spark of inspiration is in front of our eyes. Commute was the first studio project I worked on in the Fall, 2010...
Spark Sometimes the most obvious spark of inspiration is in front of our eyes. Commute was the first studio project I worked on in the Fall, 2010...
2.4 | Color-aid Cut-upIndeterminacy Color-aid Cut-up, is a stop-motion video that uses Color-aid paper, an excerpt of Gertrude Stein’s avant-garde poem, Tender Buttons and....
2.5 | fail sail
Uncovering an Archive fail sail begins with an investigation in the Lownes Science Collection within the John Hay Library at Brown…
Uncovering an Archive fail sail begins with an investigation in the Lownes Science Collection within the John Hay Library at Brown…
2.6 | Twenty-Four Hour TouristHeterotopia In an essay by novelist Alan Lightman, he describes one of Einstein’s dreams as “a place where time stands still: the place where...
2.7 | Everyday Observations: Light
Embrace Limitations With access to the camera on my iPhone in my pocket at all times, I’m able to collect a visual archive of my…
Embrace Limitations With access to the camera on my iPhone in my pocket at all times, I’m able to collect a visual archive of my…
2.8 | 13/13You don’t have to have the final solution, and that shouldn’t stop you from accumulating inspiration or ways of seeing. — Vaughan Oliver Liminality 13/13 is an...
2.10 | Blink
There can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis. — Malcolm Gladwell Subconscious Intuition Every year during the first…
There can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis. — Malcolm Gladwell Subconscious Intuition Every year during the first…
2.11 | Incarceration VacationEnjoying the Ride Michel de Certeau’s The Practice of Everyday Life explores the everyday operating in society. He describes strategies an...
2.12 | Burroughs Time-Lapse
Process of Observation In my interview with Daniel Paluska, he said, “…time-lapse makes me think about the pace of life and how I interact with the…
Process of Observation In my interview with Daniel Paluska, he said, “…time-lapse makes me think about the pace of life and how I interact with the…
2.13 | Vertov Time-LapseDziga Vertov’s 1929 film, Man With a Movie Camera, is a brave attempt at visual epistemology, to reinterpret the often banal and seemingly insignificant...
2.14 | HITE ScreenMake something which cannot ‘perform’ without the assistance of its environment. Make something which the ‘spectator’ handles, with which he…
2.15 | Panopticon of JoyFalse Security In Discipline and Punish, philosopher Michel Foucault builds on philosopher Jeremy Bentham’s conceptualization of...
2.16 | Interview (excerpt)
with Ben Fry
Ben Fry is principal of Fathom Information Design, a design and software consultancy located in Boston. He received his…
with Ben Fry
Ben Fry is principal of Fathom Information Design, a design and software consultancy located in Boston. He received his…
3.0 | Next StopFor two years, I’ve commuted to Grad school from Boston to Providence by rail. The initially redundant trip has become a peaceful…