A truly up to date and thoughtful approach to an introduction to graphic design! The design industry has evolved rapidly over the past decade. Effective and successful designers no longer need to just "make things," they need to be curious thinkers who understand how to solve problems that have a true impact on the world we live in and how to show the power of designing for social good. Now more than ever, the graphic design industry needs a book that teaches the foundations and theories of design while simultaneously speaking to the topics of history, ethics, and accessibility in order to make designs that are the most effective for all people. In Powered by Design, educator, designer, and public speaker Renee Stevens brings a truly up to date and thoughtful approach to an introduction to graphic design. As Assistant Professor at the S.I. Newhouse School of Communication at Syracuse University, Stevens created this book to be at home equally in academia and outside of the school setting. With a conversational and approachable tone, Stevens' book is for anyone who wants to gain a more practical understanding of what graphic design is today, and the power and potential it has: from students to novice graphic designers to anyone who wants to build a solid foundation of design skills so that they can work more effectively with professional designers. Stevens covers topics such as: - Choosing the right typeface - Hierarchy and visual weight - Creating design systems - Balancing tension - Visualizing data - Understanding color and mood - Defining a story structure - User testing and critique - Immersive design (designing for all the senses) - Determining when a design is finished - How to make a living with design Woven throughout is the crucial idea that you must embrace empathy in everything you design in order to create work that is the most inclusive. Design has the power and potential to make real impact in our everyday lives, and this book will show you how to do that starting with your first design experience.

A Designer's Guide to Creating Realistic 3D Experiences For Extended Reality Designing Immersive 3D Experiences helps visual designers move into the fast-growing fields of 3D and extended reality (XR) design. Author Renee Stevens (Powered by Design) introduces a proven approach and an effective design-thinking process you can use to create successful immersive user experiences. The book is grounded in familiar design principles and explores how you can build on these foundations, adapting them for virtual and augmented reality environments. Designing Immersive 3D Experiences prepares visual designers to succeed with 3D and XR design in multiple environments, from mobile, to web, to wearables. This book begins by exploring the basics of XR and 3D immersive design, how they are evolving, and how you may already be using them. It then moves into core concepts and technologies, from computer-human interaction, to spatial computing, to projection mapping and head-mounted displays. Learn how to: Adapt ideation strategies for new XR and 3D projects while incorporating design-thinking strategies, balancing innovation with practicality, and keeping it all human Build seamless, multi-modal, and accessible user experiences and interfaces in three dimensions Harness the power of visual perception and ways to activate the senses using XR technology Augment typography and create hierarchy in physical spaces that are dynamic and uncontrollable Enhance the user experience using spatial audio and voice Explore next steps in the industry and consider the ethical implications that come with advancement

With their ability to cross traditional boundaries and achieve a level of functionality greater than their component elements, mega-systems have helped corporations and government organizations around the world resolve complex challenges that they otherwise couldn?t address with stand-alone systems. Engineering Mega-Systems: The Challenge of Systems Engineering in the Information Age provides a clear understanding of the engineering of this class of systems?a process that demands consideration of increasing program scale and the rapid change of underlying technologies.

Written by Renee Stevens, a Senior Principal Engineer at The MITRE Corporation with decades of experience analyzing, engineering, and acquiring large-scale systems for the U.S. Department of Defense and other government agencies, this book explains how the engineering of mega-systems is inherently different from that of large-scale monolithic systems. It supplies the vocabulary and framework needed to explore the issues relevant to mega-systems. This framework then evolves into the Profiler diagnostic tool that helps?you understand the nature and context of the system at hand and, on that basis, select the most appropriate processes, tools, and techniques.

Stevens examines commercial and government applications of mega-systems to provide insight into the contemporary challenges of engineering these systems in three critical dimensions: engineering processes, management processes, and the larger context in which these systems are developed and deployed. Complete with two case studies in engineering mega-systems that illustrate valuable lessons learned and highlight emerging practices, this book supplies the understanding and the tools needed to begin engineering, characterizing, and acquiring mega-systems across multiple dimensions.