Design 166 Portfolio
4:22 PM
Photography
The first project
was to take photographs with balanced composition, clear focal point and a
strong theme. Our quiz section's theme was Opposites.
Happy and Sad
Finding opposites in
the urban setting is difficult because everything is a cliché. Red light, green
light. Leisure, business. Sitting, standing. After an hour of duds I was about
ready to throw in the towel.
I was walking past
Molly Moons Ice Cream and saw text painted on their windows Ice Cream Makes Everyone Happy. There was a
woman inside on the phone who looked frustrated and tired - not happy. I lined
up the shot and she gave me a 'what are you doing?' glare. The eye contact
ended up really activating the shot, so whoever you are, thank you!
Nature and Industry
This mural is near
my dad's office on the Seattle waterfront. I've driven past it since I was
little but only after returning as a design student did I realize its thematic
potential. The metallic industrial piping creates a clear juxtaposition against
the vivid blues of the painting. There is one flaw in the photo
Technology and Biology
On one of my days
shooting, I decided to go to the Olympic Sculpture Park. It's become a common
destination for the Design 166 photo project so I wasn't expecting to find
anything unique. Luckily, my wandering eyes
noticed a group of people looking down on the sculptures. There was an
interesting composure between the broad, smooth grays, and the small black
shapes that really stood out in black and white.
When I realized the
facial expressions I knew this was a keeper.
2D Composition
For our second
project, the class was tasked with creating original book covers for the
bestselling, Quiet by Susan Cain. The
work of nonfiction deals with the perception of introversion in society and the
pedestal extraversion stands on. Cain argues that introverts are the most
innovative, critical, cautious, reflective intellectuals humanity produces. I
strongly agree.
I brainstormed until
my head hurt. Early design concepts played with closed doors -- the idea that
introverts are reading and pondering away in their study while the world
blabbers on. I toyed around with this idea of greatness in isolation but it
only took off when I started utilizing type in a more expressive manner. On a
piece of paper I drew a general shape I found interesting and wrote all the
bullshit that came to my head. The scribbled text is intended to be the
everyday, unfocused blabber that assaults our eardrums. I then scanned that and
placed a gradient over it that conveyed energy, hostility, and noise. I used
the title and author type as a stoic sanctum of perfection -- and after a few
adjustments, the cover looked ready for a Barnes and Noble window display.
This project
received a full 20/20. I was one of two with full marks in a class of roughly
150. I am very proud of this project.
3D Composition
From the time I
applied to UW I knew I'd have to work in cardboard to get into the design
school. This terrified me. I heard this project was the cause of many all
nighters, self-inflicted X-Acto knife wounds and broken dreams. I dedicated all
of my time to this project.
In the first week I
focused on sketching, brainstorming, and learning cardboard packaging. My first
three concepts were taped - no one in the class knew how to tab yet. One opened
like a pizza box but was in a sandwich shape. Another was held by two handles
and had a compartment for a sandwich and a salad. The third was inspired by my
life in elementary and middle school -- always having a stuffed backpack and no
room for lunch was a nuisance. I fashioned it around the outer straps of
backpacks so that it could be comfortably placed outside a full pack. The
Monday after we shared our first concepts Professor Matthews shared this design
during lecture. I knew I had something good.
Weeks eight and nine
at UW are defined by late nights and Adderall. As a person with chronic
migraines constantly knocking at my door I couldn't be staying up until four
every night or experimenting with a soft-core amphetamine -- so, I considered
my priorities:
1. I came to UW to study design.
2. My other classes were Living With Volcanoes
and Astronomy 101 and I didn't give a shit about them.
3. I couldn't let my migraines ruin my shot at
being an IxD major.
So I did what any
reasonable college student would do and stopped going to class.
I'd wake up,
caffeinate, then hit the home studio. I'd work eight or more hours a day and go
to sleep only when my new models were complete. I took breaks to read Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem (now
my favorite book) and to say hi to friends. The room was littered with graph
paper, models, cardboard, tools, and always blasting hip hop.
As the
outer-backpack "Lunchpod" became more and more polished I began
thinking of a name. In the required documentation (a foldout net, a short
description and these photos cleanly mounted) my plan was to pitch the box like
a real product. That Saturday I had breakfast with my family and told them
about the design. My dad figured its function was similar to the aquatic snail
that sticks itself to rocks, the Limpet. It was perfect.
I nervously turned
in my box with its documents the following Thursday and was officially on
spring break. I anxiously awaited a grade. That Tuesday morning I got an email
from Prof. Matthews. I felt like throwing up until I read it. After that it was
all running around the house, jumping up and down and letting the euphoric
intoxication of hard-fought achievement sink in.
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