Design Does

The University of the Arts was facing quite a daunting challenge. They were attempting to bridge the atypical rift between all of the design disciplines within the school. While technically all geo-located in the same building, designers rarely cross-collaborated on much of anything. GD students kept to their own. ID kids would rarely leave the shop, and pretty much no one heard from the multimedia kids or the Master’s students. There was one time of year though when you did finally get to see that these people existed, during each respective groups end of the year shows.

A large problem was, however, that at a school with so many disciplines between art, music and theater, you had to pick and choose which shows to attend, not to mention getting your own completed in time. As an undergrad I recalled it being one of the most stressful times of my life, returning to it as a graduate student, well, it was just flat out entertaining. So, new format, new rules. Add in the mix of politics and young egos, not to mention the pressure of being the first all encompassing design show for the largest art school in Philadelphia, rich with historical ties to the art museum, as well as being the first industrial design program in the country, and what you have is a perfect storm.

But that’s not what happened. Thanks to stellar preplanning and very structured task oriented groups, the students truly came together. Sure there were bumps, but as with typical project work, it all came together in the 11th hour. My contribution? A little bit of branding work, and a slight elbow to the back in helping the ID kids try to figure out how to build the exhibition’s “wall”. I also showcased my semesters work with large format touchscreens. Along with my partner Josh Chadwick, we were able to make an extremely responsive multitouch screen with nothing more than a shower curtain. I still enjoy the tactile feedback from the curtain as opposed to the hard surface formats.

Launched: 2010
Designer: A large crew of Industrial, Graphic, Multimedia and Masters design students