Kristofer D. Layon

The creative project for my MFA thesis is a web site about my research interest in Finnish design history; specifically, the interpretation of Modernism that has been unique to Finnish architects and designers since the early twentieth century. The finished protoype demonstrates how video and photography could be integrated into a seamless and elegant Flash interface design. Most of the web site's visual content was collected during a research trip to Finland in May 2002.

As a disclaimer, I will note one major shortcoming of this working protoype: because I had initially planned on using the interviews that I had recorded for source material rather than web content, I recorded the audio with a laptop (but without an external microphone). This resulted in relatively poor audio quality, especially after file compression for web delivery.

Visit the Human Modernism web site, and have your speakers on to hear the audio (video section only).

A requirement of my MFA degree in design communication is to produce a public exhibit about my thesis project. I used a large exhibit window at the Goldstein Museum of Design to show items from their collection that were by Alvar Aalto, Kai Franck, Marimekko; in a second window, I also exhibited poster designs by Erik Bruun from my own collection. I took some photographs to document the exhibit (click to enlarge):