Study films · Grant Pedersen

Cancerliteracy

Product design & development · Senior capstone
Duke Kunshan University · 2025

I designed and built Cancerliteracy.com for my senior capstone. It brings cancer information and a literacy assessment into one website, in English, Chinese, and Vietnamese.

The project grew out of my earlier research on cancer knowledge in Ho Chi Minh City. I wanted people to identify gaps in their knowledge and learn from the answers they missed.

From assessment to feedback

I implemented the Cancer Health Literacy Test-30 (CHLT-30) as a web quiz. Dumenci and colleagues developed the 30-question instrument to measure cancer literacy.

I presented one question per screen, with a progress bar for the full assessment. After completion, the results return to incorrect answers with the correct response and an explanation. This gives people specific information to review after the test.

The score measures cancer literacy. It does not measure a person's cancer risk.

Quiz in Vietnamese with one question, three answer choices, and a progress bar. — Quiz in Vietnamese.

Results page in English with a cancer-literacy category and information about the result. — Score interpretation in English.

What feedback changed

Feedback from peers and advisors led me to replace the original brown and green palette with higher-contrast colors.

Feedback also showed that translated medical terms and examples needed more context. This became the main issue for the next round of work.

I worked with Shuxian Li on Chinese and Hang Phuoc Luong on Vietnamese. Further testing would focus on medical terms and answer explanations in all three languages.

Cancerliteracy homepage in English with deep purple text on a white background. — Final homepage in English.

Building the website

I built the site in WordPress and Elementor, with custom plugins for the quiz and cancer news. The project delivered a working multilingual website. It did not measure a change in cancer literacy.

Weather Lines

Generative art · MEDIARTS 206
With Masha Nikishina

Masha Nikishina and I made a generative artwork that changes with a city’s temperature and wind. We used p5.js to turn those readings into color and layered motion.

We treated weather as material for an artwork. Temperature sets its palette, while wind changes the speed of one particle layer.

Purple particle trails generated from Moscow weather data. — Moscow.

Magenta particle trails generated from Atlanta weather data. — Atlanta.

Choosing what the data changes

We mapped temperature from blue to red and used wind speed to vary one of the three particle layers. The other layers keep a constant speed. The sketch reads the city’s weather from OpenWeather at startup and keeps those values throughout the animation.

The temperature-to-color mapping used in the sketch.

Weather inputs and their visual effects
Input	Visual change
Temperature	Changes the color between blue and red.
Temperature	Changes a multiplier that the sketch uses to calculate particle direction.
Wind speed	Changes the speed setting of one particle group. The other two groups keep constant speed settings.

Building continuous trails

Perlin noise gives nearby particles related directions, so their trails form continuous curves. Temperature also changes the direction calculation.

A faint black layer fades older positions on each frame. This leaves trails, so movement remains visible after a particle has passed.

The curves are generated from noise values. They do not represent measured wind direction.

DKU Academic Quad

Design proposal · INFOSCI 302
Spring 2025

The academic quad at Duke Kunshan University had limited paths, shade, and seating. I proposed more direct walking routes, with trees and places to sit along them.

I focused on the routes people naturally take across the space, while keeping the central lawn available for activities and large events.

Proposed academic quad with diagonal paths, shade trees, and an open central lawn. — Proposed design.

Plan showing proposed diagonal paths, trees, chairs, and umbrella tables around the retained central lawn. — Paths, trees, and seating around the central lawn.

Following the routes people take

I used desire lines, the routes people naturally take, to guide new paths between academic buildings and dormitories. The plan proposes permeable stone paving.

Trees along the paths add shade without filling the central lawn. Camphor is one of the proposed species.

I included movable chairs so people could choose their seating arrangement, with picnic tables in shaded areas.

Prioritizing summer afternoons

I used Kunshan weather data from 2022 to 2025 to inform the shade plan. The analysis focused the proposal on summer afternoons, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Average hourly temperature by season in Kunshan, using weather data from 2022 to 2025. — Seasonal temperature chart from the project poster.

A phased proposal

Trees need time to grow. I proposed umbrella tables along the eastern edge as the first phase, with planting providing more shade over time. The total budget estimate was RMB 400,000.

Proposed budget · RMB 400,000
Item	Cost estimate
Trees	RMB 200,000
Paths	RMB 120,000
Furniture	RMB 36,000
Contingency	RMB 44,000

S’Cazzo

Illustration, typography,
layout, and translation

Illustration and bilingual print design for a five-night restaurant tour through Bangkok, Shanghai, and Chengdu.

I created the illustrations, typography, layouts, and translations. A friend reviewed the Chinese copy.

Building on the pig logo

I extended the logo’s loose linework into a pig sitting with a glass of wine. I chose FF Providence Sans to sit alongside the illustrations, with black ink and a cream background connecting the posters and menus.

The pig logo.

A seated pig holding a wine glass, with a tipped glass and wine spill on the floor. — The linework extended into a character.

Different events, a consistent layout

Each stop had its own venue logos, dates, addresses, and reservation details. I kept a shared layout for that information and changed the illustration for the event: a pig with wine for dinner, a sandwich and beer for the sandwich event.

I wrote the translations and arranged the English and Chinese together. A friend reviewed the Chinese copy.

S’Cazzo tour poster listing five nights across Bangkok, Shanghai, and Chengdu. — Tour overview.

Dinner-event poster with a pig illustration and event details in English and Chinese. — Dinner poster. English and Chinese.

Adapting the identity for menus

The posters could lead with an illustration; the menus needed more space for dishes and descriptions. I kept the same typeface and linework, then used course headings to break up the food list.

I grouped wines by category and kept each English and Chinese description together. Bottle and glass prices have separate positions, so the denser menu retains a clear reading order.

S’Cazzo food menu with dishes and descriptions grouped by course. — Food menu.

Bilingual S’Cazzo wine list with wine categories and bottle and glass prices. — Wine list. English and Chinese.