Research Proposal
Running head: What to look for in a Computer System
What to look for in a Computer System
that’s best for Graphic Design?
Jeffrey Hauser
RESID 0600
Nova Southeastern University
Abstract
Deciding what computer one would like to use for graphic design could be complicated. There are a lot of options one would choose for graphic design, what is the best option? The purpose of this study is to determine what computer build is better at handling superior graphic designs. Using certain features like rendering, touchup’s, and quality of finished design. Using a design based model should help to determine what a beginner or veteran graphic designer would want to use.
Keywords: Graphic Design; Computer Builds
What to look for in a Computer System that’s best for Graphic Design
For the Casual and professional that are intrested in graphic design have many choices for the computer they want to use. Casual users might want to design a personal blog while professionals design corporate logos and advertisements, but also can encompass animations. All of them have the same goal of creating impactful visuals. Graphic designers want to achieve optimal results in terms of graphic imagery creation. Leading to a demand for the best hardware in a computer that they can get. The demand for high quality designs remain so the designer can get an optimal result.
From Alien ware to IBM, a graphic designer has many computer configurations either found complete on the market or one that can be custom built. That would give them the capacity to create a plethora of graphic imagery. Below are some of the key specifications about what an ideal graphic designing and animating PC should include.
Discussion
Graphic Design had a host of different features a graphic designer wants to use advanced Software that is needed for a graphic design. Some of the software includes but not limited to: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, 3D animation software, and VFX works. The first choice the designer would want to make starts with the Processor. Looking for a processor that is capable of multithreading or hyperthreading. Using a dual or quad cores will be much more beneficial rather than going for higher clock speed. Over the past decade, two technology trends have made the challenge of reliable parallelism even more urgent: The first is the rise of multicore hardware; the speed of a single processor core is limited by fundamental physical constraints, forcing processors into multicore designs and developers resorting to parallel code for best performance on multicore processors. (Yang, J., Ciu, H., Wu, J., Tang, Y., & Hu, G. 2014.)
The second choice for a graphic designer encompasses the GPU. The GPU is the processor that specially handles graphics and usually outputs to the monitor. Graphic designers and animators typically require hardcore editing power and this is provided by the GPU, Microcontrollers are a major bottleneck in operations that involve graphic handling. They are slow and do not contain sufficient memory to effectively provide high quality graphics for embedded applications. The GPU provides pixel writing, line drawing, rectangle fill and text writing capabilities. The VGA interface of the FPGA board is used to show the frame buffer on a monitor. (Zafar , S., Kataria, S., & Sharma, A. 2014.)
Third Choice would be RAM or memory: When graphic designing and animation multitasking is necessary. When a task τ1 preempts another task τ2, some of the cache blocks in use by τ2 may be replaced by task τ1. In this case, τ2 will be forced to reload those blocks. The time required to do this is known as CRPD. CRPD is highly relevant in hard real-time systems with shared caches because it increases the running time of preempted tasks, and is a potential cause of deadline misses. (Whitham, J, Audsley, N. C., & Davis, R. I. 2014.) Ram is broken down in two areas. First is amount of ram 4gb,8gb and 16gb the other is megahertz DDR3 Is much slower than DDR5with the same GB of RAM. The better the memory the quicker a designer can work.
Fourth and final choice would be your storage device, there are many options. There is the HDD or Hard Disk drive, this works by using spinning disks to hold files. A SDD or solid state drive contains a memory bank and with no spinning disks it is a quick and stable way to hold files. The downside is that it could be expensive. Then you have a Hybrid drive The Operating System (OS) and software can be installed in the hybrid drive. Economically, Hybrid drive will the best buy. Photographers can install the OS and photoshop software in the SSD and all other pictures in spacious HDD. (8 Best Desktop Computers for Photo Editing and Photoshop. 2017, February 4.)
Ideally there are many ways to acquire the necessary computer for define graphic design. What the designer is needing a computer with good specifications. However, depending on what the designer is creating my also influence the decision. For example; if a graphic designer is just needing to manipulate photographs and not very often, compared to a designer that needs to work with animations. The designer that needs to work with animations need more powerful
A designer needs can signify the necessity of the hardware needs. For example; a moderate designer might not need to spend as much money on their computer while a heavy designer. Mainly you want to look for the ideal need. The chart below shows that the more a designer needs the cost will increase.
Designer needs
Cost of computer
References
Yang, J., Ciu, H., Wu, J., Tang, Y., & Hu, G. (2014). Making parallel programs reliable with stable multithreading. Communications of the ACM, 57(3), 58-69. doi: http://dl.acm.org.ezproxylocal.library.nova.edu/citation.cfm?id=2500875
Zafar , S., Kataria, S., & Sharma, A. (2014). Digital design of a dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU) architecture for microcontrollers . IEEE Xplore. doi:http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.ezproxylocal.library.nova.edu/xpl/mostRecentIssue.jsp?punumber=6881541
Whitham, J, Audsley, N. C., & Davis, R. I. (2014). Explicit reservation of cache memory in a predictable, preemptive multitasking real-time system. ACM Transactions on Embedded Computing Systems , 13(4). http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2523070
8 Best Desktop Computers for Photo Editing and Photoshop. (2017, February 4). Retrieved March 13, 2017, from https://www.triobest.com/best-desktop-computers-for-photo-editing-and-photoshop/
qa systematic but flexible methodology aimed to improve educational practices through iterative analysis, design, development, and implementation, based on collaboration among researchers and practitioners in real-world settings, and leading to contextually-sensitive design principles and theories (p. 6)
Main characteristics of design-based research
Drawing on the literature, Wang and Hannafin (2005) proposed five basic characteristics of design-based research: “Pragmatic, Grounded, Interactive, iterative and flexible, Integrative, and Contextual” (p. 7).
First, design-based research is pragmatic because its goals are solving current real-world problems by designing and enacting interventions as well as extending theories and refining design principles (Design-Based Research Collective, 2003; Van den Akker & et al., in press). 
In traditional educational research, existing theories are usually tested through artificial treatments in controlled contexts. People engaged in these experimental approaches hope to be able to design instruction based on the principles that the theory and associated experimental results support (Edelson, 2002). In design-based research, however, the goal is not testing whether or not the theory works (van den Akker, 1999). Rather, both design and theory are mutually developed through the research process. Therefore, researchers use design to enact and refine theories continuously (Edelson, 2002) so that the theories “do real work” in practice (Cobb, Confrey, diSessa, Lehrer, and Shauble, 2003, p. 10) and eventually lead to substantial change in educational practice (van den Akker, 1999).
Second, design based research is grounded in both theory and the real-world context (Wang & Hannafin, 2005).
Theory is both the foundation and the outcome of design-based research; design-based research has a “theory-driven nature” (p. 9) and theory is continuously developed and elaborated throughout the research process acting as a framework for the enacted innovations (Van den Akker & et al., in press). In addition, design-based research is conducted in real-world contexts replete with the complexities, dynamics and limitations of authentic practice. The way design-based research is conducted is fundamentally different from laboratory experiments that deal with a single variable, control all other factors and isolate subjects and situation from the real world (Collins, 1999; Collins, Joseph & Bielaczyc, 2004; Van den Akker & et al., in press; Wang & Hannafin, 2005). The theories of traditional research are metaphorically tossed over the walls of schools and other contexts with little resultant improvement. Design-based research, by virtue of being conducted in real world context in collaboration with practitioners, is much more likely to lead to effective application.
Third, in terms of research process, design-based research is interactive, iterative and flexible.
Design-based research requires interactive collaboration among researchers and practitioners. Without such collaboration, interventions are unlikely to effect changes in the real world context (DBRC, 2003; Reeves, Herrington, & Oliver, 2005; Wang & Hannafin, 2005). Also, design-based research usually takes a long period of time because theories and interventions tend to be continuously developed and refined through an iterative design process from analysis to design to evaluation and redesign (Bannan-Ritland, 2003; Design-Based Research Collective, 2003; Van den Akker & et al., in press; Wang & Hannafin, 2005). This ongoing recursive nature of the design process also allows greater flexibility than do traditional experimental approaches.
Fourth, design-based research is integrative because researchers need to integrate a variety of research methods and approaches from both qualitative and quantitative research paradigms, depending on the needs of the research.
The integrative use of multiple methods in the research process results in data from multiple sources, which serves to confirm and enhance the “credibility” of findings (Wang & Hannafin, 2005, p. 8). So called “gold standard” experiments such as those used in medical research cannot be used in most educational contexts. Instead, design-based researchers utilize multiple mixed methods over time to build up a body of evidence that supports the theoretical principles underlying a specific innovation as well as refines the innovation itself in situ.
Fifth, design research is contextualized because research results are “connected with both the design process through which results are generated and the setting where the research is conducted” (Wang & Hannafin, 2005, p. 11).
It is imperative that design-based researchers keep detailed records during the design research process concerning how the design outcomes (e.g., principles) have worked or have not worked, how the innovation has been improved, and what kind of changes have been made. Through this documentation, other researchers and designers who are interested in those findings can examine them in relation to their own context and needs. To increase the “adaptability” of the findings in the new settings, guidance on how to apply those findings is also required (Wang & Hannafin, 2005, p.12).
Outcomes
As explained above, design - based research produces both theories and practical educational interventions as its outcomes. Edelson (2002) proposed three kinds of theories that can be generated from the design:
Domain Theories
Domain theories describe learning situations involving students, teachers, learning environments and their interactions. Edelson (2002) argued that theories about context and outcomes are some of the theories that design research generates.
Design Framework
A design framework is a “design solution” that provides a set of “design guidelines for a particular class of design challenge” (p. 114).
Design Methodologies
Design methodologies are prescriptive in nature, serving as guidelines for how to implement a set of designs, what kind of expertise is required and who should provide the expertise. As a result of the iterative design process, researchers also continuously refine design interventions to make them more applicable to practice. The forms of interventions vary from concrete artifacts (e.g., tools) to learning activities and curricula (CDBR, 2003). These interventions are more usable and applicable because they are developed and enacted based upon theories that are elaborated and revised during the design process.
