Design Journals

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• Inspirational models • Ways of thinking • Processes Students explored case studies to enhance their understanding of the broad spectrum of opportunities with a degree in creative disciplines, refined their creative process and outline possible career path.

Contributors: • Hugo Arias • Grace Baker • Anna Cichorz • Alexis Dimaguila • William Fairnington • Daniel Heilbron • Olivia Holt • Michaela Mancini • Andrew Schwesinger • Vidit Singh • Aaron Snyder • John Stack • Jason Wang • Alexander Weber • Eva Zaharakos

HUGO ARIAS

Streng is a design firm with bases in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. They focus on product design as well as brand development for companies.

They value human-centered design and focus on how people have relationships with their products and environment. Streng was founded in 2003 by Chris Streng, who studied product design and architecture at Domus Academy in Milan, Italy.

Streng has many projects that focus on product design as well as interior design. They also focus on implementing sustainable practices in their designs which is something I always try to incorporate into my projects. I really like Streng’s values as a design firm as well as how diverse their projects are. They have designed food containers, perfume bottles, and brand packaging. Something I am personally interested in is how companies brand themselves, which is the basis of my current studio project, and it is also something Streng does within their firm. I am also very interested in cosmetic design and I love to sketch fragrance bottle concepts which is something Streng has multiple times in their company portfolio.

Design firms are something I am more curious about as they have a diverse range of projects. Streng is a perfect example of this and I would love to work for a consultancy like them or similar.

GRACE BAKER

STRENG

Design Journal by Grace Baker

ANNA CICHORZ

Cotopaxi Cotopaxi is a Salt Lake City based company that strives to make sustainable outdoor gear.

They are a fairly new company, which was founded in 2014. However, that didn’t stop them from being a recognizable brand in the outdoor sporting goods community. They grew popular because the founder bought two llamas off of craigslist and brought it to a college campus. The student generated 30,000 social media posts and the company blew up. As innovative as that idea was they also make backpacks out of scrap materials to create their one of a kind patterned backpacks.

Sustainability is a big part of the design teams process. They research materials before getting started on their designs because that’s their main goal. They also believe in not relying on trends when designing their products, since a timeless piece can be reused in the world longer. On top of that they are transparent about manufacturing, so consumers know how their products are being made. The focus on the customer experience is also a big part of their design process since when it comes to outdoor gear it's important to have hassle-free gear.

This company is so appealing to me because the idea of making simple functional designs is very important in today's day and age. I love trendy fashion as much as the next person, but realistically it’s much more economical to create designs that can be timeless. I also love their use of color in their backpacks, it makes the gear original as well as still remaining playful. It's inspiring to see a company that not only cares about their environmental impact but also keeps in mind that it has to thoughtfully designed too. Not to mention they put a very big emphasis on making their work environment an enjoyable place. They encourage work time being used for outdoor activities and they do still have their two llamas at the offices.

ALEXIS DIMAGUILA

L AYER

ST R ATE GI C DES I G N AGENCY L AY E R i s a s t u d i o l o c a t e d i n t h e h e a r t o f e a s t L o n d o n f o u n d e d b y t h e c r e a t i v e director, and award winning British design entrepreneur, Benjamin Hubert.

L AY E R d e s i g n s t u d i o i s a c l o s e k n i t t e a m o f a w i d e r a n g i n g c r e a t i v e b o d i e s s u c h a s i n dustrial designers, engineers, artists, experience experts, researchers, and branding s p e c i a l i s t s . D u e t o t h e t e a m ’s v a s t i n c l u s i v i t y o f d i f f e r e n t c r e a t o r t y p e s , t h e c o m p a n y has flourished in culture and diversity within the workplace. Their way of working in close relation with each other transforms their personal human-centered insights intodesign stories channeled through their work in order to resonate with their consumers and their lifestyles. The studio encompasses 10 different cultural backgrounds, which allows the studio to be diverse not only in their teamwork but also in their design app r o a c h a n d d e s i g n i n t e n t i o n s . L AY E R s t u d i o h a s c r e a t e d a r a n g e o f d i f f e r e n t p r o d u c t s as well as partnering with various iconic brands for market defining products such as Google, Nike, Braun, Samsung, DELL and so much more.

L AY E R s t u d i o c r e a t e s p r o g r e s s i v e p r o d u c t s t h a t d e f i n e t h e w a y w e w o r k , l i v e , t r a v e l , a n d communicate in our day to day lives. Products such as smart wearables, to innovative f u r n i t u r e d e s i g n s y s t e m s , t o s m a r t a p p a r e l , L AY E R s t u d i o i s c o n s t a n t l y d e s i g n i n g t o f i t any narrative thrown at them. Striving to deliver technically demanding solutions that respond to current behavioral trends makes their studio successful in being not only relevant with current trends but progressive with the future of design solving. The studio also challenges themselves by designing concepts that involve a line or collection of products that go hand in hand together for enhanced user experience. The importance of solving for well being integrated in the home is visualized in their work with projects like “Wave” that consists of a collection of 6 near future products combining emerging technologies to execute beautiful and functional design.

ALEXIS DIMAGUILA

FELIX GODARD

CREATIVE DESIGNER

Felix Godard is a pioneer of design from his generation.

Scrolling through Pinterest, or Tumblr, it is

likely you will find Godard and his beautiful renderings of character, architecture, product, or transportation design. Godard developed his craft by studying at Strate Design School and Tokyo Communication Arts before venturing out to influence the world of design with his work. Although Godard’s artwork and designs are very recognizable, he remains very mysterious with his physical and personal characteristics.

Gathering seemingly simple biographical information of the artist is difficult but one thing is for certain.

His revolution of work in the design world has shaped not only his generation but generations to come.

Something to admire about Godard is that he sees the big picture in his conceptual work. He consistently creates designs that are accompanied by characters and environments that naturally fit together. After observing many of his works, I notice that he is strong in creating renders that communicate his iconic art style. All of his works have this dulled and rich color palette with the careful composition of architecture, products, and people existing at once. Many young designers have used Godard’s work as a high standard and inspiration for their works. The designer has quite an impressive repertoire of experiences such as Designing for Tesla, Porsche, Lucid motors, and Hopium. He has created patents for his recent works such as Tesla Model 3; Steering Wheel Interface, Porsche Mission E; Dashboard Holographic Display, and many more.

Currently, Felix is forming an industrial and conceptual design agency in Paris. The public will soon be exposed to his up-and-coming plans with his agency. As young designers, I think that it is important to strive to be a little bit like Felix Godard for his charming work and his ability to move designers into the future with hardly a footprint of his self-interests.

By Alexis Dimaguila

WILLIAM FAIRNINGTON

WILLIAM FAIRNINGTON

DANIEL HEILBRON

Founded by Vincent De Smedt in Antwerp, Belgium, Edmire is an equitable and transparent design consultancy that focuses on accelerating sustainable problem solving and innovation. Their values revolve around Passion, Consciousness, and Transparency to ensure their team is learning and improving everyday. As a company, they strive to reduce their environmental and social impact to a minimum, and add value to their community in every possible way. As individuals, they constantly grow their expertise in all environmental impact related fields and inspire each other to do better.

Their Design Method consists of three major components: Lifecycle Thinking, the Double Diamond Design Process, and the Ecodesign Compass. The first, focuses on analyzing the lifecycle of a product, packaging, or service, and defining the impact it has on the business and the environment. This process takes into consideration the material extraction, manufacturing, distribution, use, and end of life of the product to optimize the business to impact ratio.

The second, presents the four steps that should be followed in their design process: Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver. The Ecodesign Compass allows them to define which strategy is feasible and applicable to solve a certain challenge. From eco-efficient to eco-effective, operational to technical, the circular design strategy enables them to more holistically solve their client’s issues, not only benefiting their business, but also the community and environment around them.

I’m most drawn to Edmire since it literally embodies all the concepts I learned last semester in the newly added Sustainable Design Strategies class. I specifically came into the design field to encourage and help the world transition from our current linear economy towards a more inclusive and sustainable circular model, yet even while taking the course I struggled thinking who I would potentially work for, what I would be doing, and where I would be needed most. Now I know that more and more companies, design studios, and consultancies are emerging or transitioning to focus on sustainability. I have even contacted Edmire to explore the possibility of working with them in a near future where traveling to Europe is safer and more attainable. For now I continue my search for organizations that stand for what is right and do not let profit get in the way of truly solving society’s most pressing challenges.

DANIEL HEILBRON

Neri Oxman Biology meets Design.

American-Israeli Designer, Neri Oxman, is known for art and architecture that combines design, biology, computing, and materials engineering. Oxman pioneered the field of Material Ecology which considers computation, fabrication, and the material itself as inseparable dimensions of design. In this approach, products and buildings are biologically inspired, informed and engineered by, for and with Nature.

Oxman creates designs that inspire the next building revolution by constructing products that transcend parts and assemblies. As head of the Mediated Matter research group at the MIT Media Lab, she leads the search for ways in which digital fabrication technologies interact with natural environments and the biological world. Her team conducts research at the intersection of computational design, materials science, and synthetic biology, applying their knowledge to design across multiple disciplines, media and scales; including architectural design, product design, fashion design, as well as the design of new technologies for digital fabrication and construction.

Aguahoja, 2014.

From the micro scale to the building scale, Oxman’s goal is to amplify the relationship between built, natural, and biological environments by using design principles that aim to cease the incompatibility between manufacturing and the natural world. Moving beyond mass-production and “a world made of parts” to "holistic products, characterized by property gradients and multi-functionality.” Ultimately, pursuing "a shift from consuming nature as a geological resource to editing it as a biological one."

MIT Media Lab.

The Silk Pavilion is made of three interrelated layers. Its innermost primary structure is composed of braided steel-wire ropes. The secondary structure is a fabric on which silkworms are positioned. Its tertiary structure is biologically spun with the output of 17,532 silkworms. The final piece resulted in a combination of silk threads longer than the diameter of the Earth.

Aguahoja is a biocompatible architectural skin-and-shell structure derived from shrimp shells and fallen leaves. The composite is 3D printed, shaped by water, and augmented with synthetically engineered organisms. The project aims to create systems that incentivize the protection and strengthening of ecosystems while providing humans with a new frontier of design and production.

The Silk Pavilion II, 2020.

Mushtari, 2014.

oxman.com

MICHAELA MANCINI

MICHAELA MANCINI

AARON SNYDER

JOHN STACK

Ammunition is an award winning San Francisco based design studio.

Founded in 2007, a team led by partners Robert Brunner and Matt Rolandson have worked to put entrepreneurs in contact with a team of designers. Ammunitions team has expertise in physical and digital product design, service design, brand identity, user experience, graphic design and packaging. Through the use of all these mediums ammunition is able to “transform great ideas into satisfying, personal experiences that contribute to the business success of our clients.”

As a student at CCS I have learned that there are many types of product which I have interests in designing. Because of this I would like to work at a consulting firm to get experience designing a wide variety of products.

Ammunition works with some of the largest and most notable brands in the world, such as Beats, Polaroid, and Square. They design a wide variety of products from consumer electronics to kitchen ware. This wide variety is what interests me. While some consultancies focus on one area of design Ammunition does not. Another way in which Ammunition is unique is that they not only do traditional product design, but they also do graphic, service, packaging design and more. This is something that allows then to design the whole experience of a products life, not just the way it looks and functions. This is also advantageous for Ammunition as they are a “one stop shop” for brands.

JASON WANG Jason Wang

S a m s u n g i s a S o u t h Ko re a n co m p a ny t h a t wa s e s t a b l i s h ed i n 1 93 8 by L e e By u n g - c h u l . I t s t a r t ed o u t a s a t ra d i n g co m p a ny w i t h C h i n a t ra d i n g n o o d l e s, t ex t i l e s, a n d re t a i l . L a t e r o n L e e Byu n g - c h u l d i p p e d h i s t o e i n t o t h e e l e c t ro n i c s i n d u s t r y. Wi t h t h e s u cce s s p i c ki n g u p t h ro u g h t h e ye a rs, Sa m s u n g b e ca m e o n e o f l e a d i n g co m p a n i e s fo r c o n s u m e r e l e c t ro n i cs. T h i s w i l l i n c l u d e ce l l p h o n e s, wa t c h e s, a n d a p p l i a n ce s.

S i n ce S a m s u n g i s o n e o f t h e t o p co n s u m e r e l e c t ro n i c co r p o ra t i o n , t h ey t r y t o a i m fo r n e w h e i g h t s i n t h e i r d e s i g n a n d t e c h n o l o g y. T h ey a re n o t a f ra i d t o t a ke b i g c h a l l e n g e s a n d p u s h b o u n d a r i e s i n d e s i g n a n d t e c h n o l o g y wh i c h I re a l ly l i ke . I l i ke t h e s e t y p e o f co m p a n i e s b e c a u s e , t h ey a lways wa n t t o m a ke t h e m s e lve s b e t t e r a n d p u s h t h e m s e lve s a n d I fe e l l i ke t h a t i s i m p o r t a n t o f b e i n g a d e s i g n e r. B e i n g o n t h e i r t e a m w i l l d e fi a n t ly i n flu e n c e yo u t o g e t b e t t e r a t yo u r c ra f t a n d b r i ng yo u r 10 0 % t o t h e wo r k p l a c e .

I re a l ly l i ke S a m s u n g ’s m o t t o : “ I n s p i re t h e wo r l d , cre a t e t h e f u t u re ” b e ca u s e S a m s u n g i s re a l ly t r yi n g t o p ro d u ce t h e b e s t p ro d u c t wh i c h ca n a l s o b e s e e n a s f u t u r i s t i c. Wi t h t h e fo l d a b l e p h o n e s, k i t c h e n a p p l i a n c e s, t o t h e s l i c k l o o k i n g A I d r ive n va c u u m , S a m s u n g i s t r yi n g t o i m p l e m e n t n e we r t e c h n o l o g y t o c re a t e a m o re t e c h n o l o g i c a l a d va n ce d f u t u re . W i t h t h i s, t h e p o s s i b i l i t i e s o f f u t u re p ro d u c t s d e s i g n by Sa m s u n g i s t h ro u g h t h e ro o f a s t h ey a re n o t a f ra i d t o t a ke t h o s e s t e p s.

S a m s u n g i s a we l l re s p e c t e d c o m p a ny a n d i t i s c l e a r why. Wi t h m u l t i p l e p ro d u c t s a n d awa rd s u n d er t h e i r b e l t , t h ey a re a co m p a ny t h a t wants to sur pass the c ur rent time and str ive to be better. With an increase o f yo u n g d e s i g n e rs j o i n i n g t h e i r fi e l d , I c a n s e e t h e m s t r ive w i t h t h e i r ne w p o i n t o f v i e w a n d u s e i t t o p u s h t h e co m p a ny fo r wa rd . To m e , I fe e l l i ke working at this company will give great insight and produce a great l e a r n i n g ex p e r i e n ce a s i t i s c o m p e t i t ive a n d m o t iva t i n g a s a d e s i g n e r.

Jason Wang

JASON WANG

Astro studios is a strong consultant agency located in San Francisco California. Having a location that is in the heart of the SoMa district and very close to Silicon Valley, there is a lot of artistry that is being contained there.

For more than twenty five years, Astro design has been trying to help clients and partners by raising their companies and transforming the market with their designs. I really like a quote Astro’s insights director, Andrew Casden, said: “We constantly explore the world, trying to find new and unexpected ways to improve the human experience.” I relate to this quote a lot due to the fact that I also want to use my designs and solution to help with current problems. I want to go beyond and be creative with the solutions so that I can improve human experience while gaining knowledge from others by exploring the world.

By being such a well known design consultancy, Astro design received multiple awards for their abilities. That all makes sense to why Astro gets the chance to design for some of America’s top companies like Nike, Apple, Bose, Shinola, etc... With the different criteria, Astro has a motive and direction for each one. Having sections go more towards cultural experience or plotting to release the new technology, I feel like being able to work on different point of views in one company is very compelling and entertaining. With the diversity, there will never be any dull moments because you wont know what experience you will get next and I really like that.

Looking at the works Astro design has done, you can see the refined craft in each product. Seeing the progress of the product to the final shots, it really inspires me as a designer to push myself forward. That is another reason why I want to work in this consultancy. Being surrounded by so many talented designers, there will be so much room for improvement and refinment on anything you do. Understanding the layers it takes to fully develop a glamorous project is very motivating.

Jason Wang

JASON WANG

I picked Nike as an inspirational company because, of their products and how they execute them. Since Nike is one of the most reliable sporting company in the world, they incorporate high quality design and materials in their sporting products like shoes, clothing, and accessories. They try to go above and beyond in their design and use in technology. One example of one of their new shoes is the Nike Go FlyEase released in early 2021. They designed a good looking shoe that solves for a long residing problem of a lace-less easy slip on shoe which is something I want to be a part of working for. I really like their design direction and work ethics, trying to the first or the best in their shoes and apparels.

Besides the fact that Nike is overall trying to be the most reliable sporting company, they also use that mindset for top athletes in the world. With Nike trying “to do everything they can do to expand human potential” with the collaboration with athletes, I feel like this would then be a great experience and a great company to work with. For me I want to help athletes and regular consumers to be excited and be comfortable using my product. Nike also has a diverse community in their company which allows multiple perspectives and mindsets to run free and work off each other which I really like and want to do. I want to share and see everyones perspective how we can interact and place our ideas together to further the design of the future. To be able to not just design for the moment but design for years ahead.

With the increase momentum to futuristic designs and products, Nike has also dipped their toes into being sustainable. By being sustainable, Nike is using a lot of recycled products in their cotton and air plastic padding. Nike also uses recycled nylon and fly print for their upper basically they can make every aspect of the shoe be from recycled products and later on make the shoe recyclable as well.

Understanding what process and motives come behind the designers and workers in Nike, I feel like I can be inspired to push myself forward as much as possible to achieve the higher degrees of knowledge. Being in an environment that allows me to also bounce ideas with others to make the product very esthetically pleasing while at the same time very adaptable to the user situation is somewhere where I want and to from.

WEBER ALEXANDER

Josiah Wedgwood The designer I am choosing to write about for my first journal is someone that inst really well known, his name is Josiah Wedgwood. I originally learned about him at CCS during my History of Modern design class and ever since then he always stuck with me. He made his work during mid-late the 1700s and I personally own some replicas that I have recently come across.

Born in 1730 to a family of potters, he set himself apart by really focusing on the exterior design of the pots rather than the process of making them. Something very important that was happening around this time was the rediscovery of Pompeii an the pottery they were excavating from the ruins. Wedgwood coupled this with his queens ware glaze to set himself apart from the others and got noticed for it. During his life he rose to become the potter for Queen Charlotte and was called “The Potter of Her Majesty”. Wedgwood pots became known as a status symbol amongst the wealthy as the waiting lost for one was very long.

Though his work isn't much related to modern product design I still find value in his work and look back at his pottery and continue to be enthralled in his perfection of detail. What I like most about his work is the attention to detail. Each pot has special, carefully crafted scenes that each have its own special detail and personality. The finishing of the glazes really pulls it all together with the white glaze highlighting each detail with the soft finish of a dark background. His color palette is striking really sets apart from other pottery I have seen.

EVA ZAHARAKOS

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Compiled by Vincenzo Iavicoli Fall 2020