Print Design, Web Design, & Information Design
Targeted Marketing = Loss of Privacy
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About the Project
My capstone project was completed at Stevenson University, with my major of visual communication design. The project was a semester-long class in the spring of 2018.
We are in a digital age where our data is collected, mined, and shared by companies trying to target and control our behaviors. Most individuals with a digital device are misinformed about the use of their data. On any application or website, there is a “Terms & Agreements” section that must be agreed to in order to proceed. Many college students and other digital users overlook this information and do not realize they are consenting to the collection and distribution of their information.
To inform people about targeted advertisements, step-by-step instructions are listed on mirrors and in a printed book to show the personalization and impact of targeted ads. This project informs digital users of how companies collect and share their information and how people can protect their personal privacy.
The printed book/informative ebook on data collection was long-listed in the Information is Beautiful Awards.
Interactions at the Exhibit
The exhibition show was very successful! The mirrors helped to gain the attention of many of the individuals that were walking by. By choosing to use white vinyl (similar to Apple Advertisements), people were attracted to the white color and the reflections in the mirrors. The aesthetics of the mirrors and the colors themselves truly helped to make people motivated to participate with the piece.
At first, I did not think many people would actually use the interaction piece on the fourth set of mirrors. The individuals that came to the exhibition proved me wrong! I received over 100 sticky dots on the mirrors! I was most surprised that there were actually 7 people under the age of 28 that picked the option of deleting a profile account.
Many individuals and students also evoked interest in the case study books as well. They were intrigued by the amount of information and the interesting infographics that caught their eye. By creating an e-book version, people were motivated to download the PDF directly to their devices.
Overall, the pieces of the project all together were very rewarding since many people took great interest in my project. The goal of this project was to inform people about data collection—I for sure completed my goal!
Printed Book/Informative Ebook
Want to know how to protect your personal data or how much information companies can access? By creating a digital download, I was able to create an online campaign that gave anyone access to the content that I created about data collection. Download my free e-book today on data collection and our personal privacy.
Data Collection Website
Since it was too costly to get the case study books printed for each individual at the exhibition show, I decided to create a website where people could get more information and download the free PDF. I also took advantage of the webpage to also have a section for resources so that individuals could easily link to different pages to delete cookies, how to turn location off, and other things that are helpful for those with digital devices.
Screen recording of website
Process Book
The process and the work you see on this page are just a fraction of the work that went into my senior capstone project. To show my extensive process, I created a 66-page digital process book. The process book includes the abstract, inspiration, research, sketches, prototypes, design & mock-ups, and the final deliverables. This process book is also an interactive PDF. The research links, table of contents, and all other links are clickable for your easy viewing. I encourage you to read my process book, it's an amazing and awesome process. Check out the process book here.
Note: Since this was completed in 2018, the resources may be outdated and there may be new data privacy laws.
Thank You!
Thank you to the professors of my capstone class; Inna Alesina and Chris Metzger and professors in the Visual Communication Design department; Meghan Marx, George Moore, Lori Rubeling, and Kathryn Mychailyszyn.
Thank you to my interviewees for the research part of my project; Jennifer Jericho, Alan Carswell, Jody Costa, Thomas Byrd, Melina McLean, Noah Rubeling-Kain, and Razvan Miutescu.
Also, a big thank you to all of my classmates for feedback, shout-out to Sammy Smith and Michaela Sonntag for all your wonderful support. Thank you to Aden Weisel, Beaver Bedwell, and Aika San Diego who also helped with the installation of my project.
“Krystal is a talented, motivated designer and displays qualities of effective leadership. Her creative talents range from letterpress and print design to web, animation, and information design. I’m proud to count her as a successful Stevenson alum and appreciate her visits to give back to the current students.”