Senior Thesis 2019 Mile-High History in Kansas
Fall 2019 marked the beginning of my senior year in graphic design. Over the course of the semester, our focus was on one main goal, our thesis project. The umbrella topic was Kansas:In the Midst of America, and, being an aviation enthusiast, I chose to focus on the history of aviation in Kansas.
Research Paper
The project begins with a Precis, a summary of what I wished to cover in my research paper. Kansas has quite an impressive history, one filled with great stories. I chose to focus on Wichita, often referred as the "Air Capital of the World", the B-29 known as. 'Doc', one of two flyable B-29s in the world, Cessna Aircraft Company, which has a footprint in dozens of aviation fields, and Salina, the home of the Kansas State Polytechnic Campus, which is one of the most prestigious flight schools in the country.
After the initial presentation, we shifted to having a one page design that best describes our topic. I chose the B-29 'Doc' as a design, because it's story I think best shows how much Kansas' foothold in aviation history means to the aviation community.
At this point, we had many studio hours dedicated to working on our project, whether it was for the research paper, going around to take photos, interviews, what have you. At the middle of the semester, we presented once more on our topic. This one is more in depth and I was eager to show my classmates what I was writing in my paper.
The Visual Diaries
One of my favorite parts of the project were the visual diaries. Every two weeks we would upload photos that relate to our chosen topics. And with being aviation, what is an aviation enthusiast to do?? Fortunate for me, I work at an airport, and planes are fairly easy to come by :)
Video Narration
The last project of the 2019 Fall semester was to create a project that links 2 other thesis projects from other classmates into my own. I chose one that dealt with Animal Conservation in Kansas, and one about the history of beer in Kansas. Ultimately, the video was titled, Airplanes, Animals, and Alcohol, stories of Kansas.
