Parsons School of Design
BFA Communication Design
Thesis 2017

Parsons School of Design
BFA Communication Design
Thesis 2017

UTO — Unidentified Typographic Object
Dorothy Cruz

Poetry is a piece of writing that challenges and pushes the limits of language by using metaphors to represent and symbolize abstractions. A “poetic” piece is full of secrets and hidden messages that offer the viewer the chance to form their own interpretation. Cryptography, on the contrary, conceals a message into code. It is meant to be translated by someone that is capable of doing so. Nonetheless, there is a fairly close relationship between cryptography and poetry. In the same way that poetry aims to express an idea, cryptography tries to communicate a message. Both are delivered either written or spoken and both also leave the reader with a sense of bewilderment. However, if the crypto-poetic message were interesting enough, one would engage them in the process of deciphering and interpretation.

My design is an attempt to create a balance between the two by making an abstract exploration of typography that challenges the traditional notions of letterform and shows how we can learn by associated connections. I designed a poetic and personal representation of typography that can be used for both encryptions and visual poems with three levels of understanding: the first has complete readability and legibility, the second is reduced to the most basic elements of design, points, and the third is an abstraction.

Andy Agus

Ameer Akbar

Sherifa El Alfi

Orhan S Awatramani

Evan Badr

Mrinal Bhatia

Yaël Bienenstock

Olivia Brodtman

Adomas Bruzga

Holly Burt

Kiana Caesar

Elizabeth Capreol

Christian Caraballo

Alyson Cardenas

Gabriela Carnabuci

Marjorie Chamberlain

Vanna Chan

Sachi Chandiramani

Leslie Chavez

Katherine Cheng

Emily Cho

Soomin Choi

Hyeree Choi

Talia Cotton

Dorothy Cruz

Katie DeAngelis

Nicole Jane Debler

Dominique DeVito

Megan Dias

Theresa Duemler

Juan Francisco Morales Egas

Michelle Eguia

Audrey Farnsworth

Peter Fowler

Myesha Evon Gardner

Alijah Gilbert

John Hammond

Jin Ju Han

Aimee Hedman

Perla Herrera

Lauren Horsman

Zhiyan Huang

Ji Hea Jang

Urvita Jhaveri

Myles Jones

Cheryl Kao

Phoebe Kennedy

Alice Yeji Kim

Jung Yeon Kim

Thomas Sang Gul Kim

Chewon Kim

Sanggyun Kim

Hansung Kim

Likando Kumoyo

Jang Kyungjun

Josh LaCalamito

Yunjoo Lee

Kyung Sun Lee

SooJi Lee

Meijun Li

Alice Lim

Junya Lin

Yuchen Liu

Kimberly Lombardi

Natalia Malik

Roisin McNulty

Simen L. Meyer

Nikoletta Mitsopoulou

Chloë Murray

Cyrus Nathaniel

David Dahao Ni

Mariana Del Nogal

Sofia Olarra

Kamila Ortiz

Ji Hyun Park

Sara Pena

Melissa S. Peralta

Camille Petricola

Sander Phoenix

Urvi Raghbeer

Andrew Ramirez

Brianna Saba

Stephen Salomon

Julianna Amelia Santolucito

Raida Saveree Sarwar

Ritika Shah

Shui Shan

Jisoo Sim

Lauren Stein

Pei Yu Sun

Shivalika Tandon

Nia Thomas

Laura Tien

Karina Tristandy

Paula Volchok

Djiun Wang

Kyra Wang

Taylor Wasikonis

Junlu Xie

Marie Yamamoto

Jasmine Zhang