I'm a little confused as to the role that する is playing in phrases like
はっきりとした and はっきりしている I know this is classed as a する verb, but it still doesn't
make sense in the same way that nouns used with する do. How exactly do you
translate these instances? Any answers appreciated, thanks.
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question
grammar
Confusion on use of する with adverbs
The best translation of this usage of する would depend on the preceding adverb
and the context.

With はっきり, it would be either "become" or "turn". The same goes for other
adverbs such as しっとり、くっきり, etc. that, as はっきり, describe a state of a non-
animate thing.

With adverbs like すっきり、どきどき、すかっと that describe a human sensation, "feel" would
be the verb choice for translation.

BTW, you probably have a good book and/or teacher because you are using the
word "adverb" correctly in discussing Japanese grammar. I say this because I
have met so many Japanese learners who call words like はやく and たかく "adverbs"
when those are merely conjugated adjectives.
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answer
Such words are not really adverbs, but mimetic words (`擬態語` / gitaigo) or
onomatopoeia (`擬音語` / giongo, for those that correspond to actual sounds).
They may be used as adjectives, adverbs, or even verbs. For example:

  * `はっきりと話す` (speak plainly) - adverb
  * `はっきりとした赤と青` (clear red and blue) - adjective
  * `記憶をはっきりさせる` (refresh one's memory) - verb

Some gitaigo may be used like nouns:

  * `びしょびしょになる` (become wet)

* * *

The topic of gitaigo words is generally kind of glanced over in many books but
it is very important and can improve your understanding of the language quite
a lot. There is a very nice post [over at Nihon
Shock](http://nihonshock.com/2013/04/japanese-onomatopoeia/) describing it in
more detail but I'll just mention that gitaigo words can take one of three
forms:

1) doubling: `いらいら`, `くすくす`, `どきどき`, `にこにこ` etc.  
2) と ending: `にこっと`, `そっと`, `ちゃんと`, `ちょっと`, `ぼーっと` etc.  
3) り ending: `がっかり`, `しっかり`, `ゆっくり`, `はっきり`.

They may be often written in katakana, especially for actual onomatopoeia
(representing sound).

There's a nice gitaigo dictionary [at
NihongoResources](http://www.nihongoresources.com/dictionaries/onomatopoeia.html).
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