Stanford Program in Design
annual review 2008
Stanford Program in Design 2008 Annual Review
introduction Stanford’s Graduate Program in Design is focused on exploring the intersection of technology, human needs, and wicked problems. This program is a collaborative offering of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Art and Art History. It provides students with a design experience at the Masters level that synthesizes engineering, art, need-finding, and creativity. The Program gives students the opportunity to create their own thesis topic, determine their own path of investigation, and deeply explore their interests while accessing the full spectrum of resources Stanford University has to offer. Students graduate from the Program with one of two degrees; a Masters of Science in Engineering - Product Design or a Masters of Fine Arts - Product Design. We are proud to present the work of the 2008 Masters students in this first inaugural edition of the Design Annual Review. The Design Faculty
Table of contents andrew taylor david ngo scott witthoft elysa fenenbock jesse silver thomas both andreas brÌndhaugen jean hsu edward Browka capra J’neva emilie fetscher francisco franco ge jiang carissa carter peter gleason simon weiss
andrew taylor palm SPRINGS, Ca BA PSYCHOLOGY / BS MECH ENGINEERING, uc berkeley
For me, design begins as a very selfish act. I can find no better enjoyment than making something, anything. However, once design moves outside the scope of the creator, I think it must be considered the property of the public rather than the designer. In any field, a person who presents something to the world bears the resposibility of a good-faith effort that their offering will make the world better. If I can contribute utility, contentment, or beauty, then I am what I desire to be.
1 1 - LIGHT This telescoping sconce tansforms from a tranditional light to a singular art piece.
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1 - DESK CLOCK A timepiece made of cast aluminum. 2 - SCULPTURE Turned walnut. 3 - BICYCLE LIGHT Powered by the motion of the wheel, this simple, inexpensive light flashes whenever the bicycle is in motion. 4 - LOUNGE A simple design in sheet aluminum that combines a clean aesthetic with a unique seating experience.
5 - WALKING DEVICES Springy elements allow one to experience basic locomotion in an entirely new way. 6 - ELEVATION CUTTING BOARD (with Andreas Braendhaugen) A cutting surface that transforms into a receptacle for presentation.
David ngo bS aerospace, mit mS aerospace, stanford university www.ngocrump.com
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1 - extra-ordinary My 2nd-year personal statement . Its purpose was to recapure the wonder we found as children in the most ordinary of objects. A mysteriously simple suitcase was placed in front of the audience and revealed a delightful surprise inside..
Surround yourself with positive & creative people. You have the power to make the world better. Embrace change for the exciting teacher it is. Follow the emotion. You’ll find the meaning. Good ideas come during the quiet times. Edit. Edit again. Then edit some more. Never settle. Always improve yourself. This feels like the morning of my life. Don’t judge. Just make lots of crap. I am the happiest I’ve ever been. Keep in touch with your loftees. Always follow your instincts. I was born to be a designer. Luck favors the prepared. Helping others, helps me. Normal isn’t healthy. Be honest. Always. Take more risks. Get more sleep. Life is good.
Play is as important to our physical and mental health as exercise or a healthy diet. As children it is an integral part of our learning, development, and happiness. I wanted to bring that back into people’s everyday lives and give people permission to express themselves emotionally through the objects around them. And when someone is depressed or over-stressed, they often feel a lack of control. It is in this way that the status quo kills us little by little. One thing that play allows is someone to break a set of rules and thus feel more empowered. Thus, my goal was to design objects which give people the permission to break the rules, and to interrupt the droning rhythm of everday life with a jolt of playful delight.
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1 - CLOC-CLOC This alarm clock made of wooden blocks can be rearranged, knocked- over for an extra snooze, and built back up to reset. 2 - FLIP TABLE A dining table that gives you permission to express your anger & frustration. 3 - JACKPOT ROLLS Perfect for any casino bathroom. Jackpot prize still to be determined. 4 - SCOOT By far the biggest return on investment, this concept took me about 25 minutes to
develop, and earned me $25,000 and the title of University Category Winner in the Ruckus Nation Toy Contest. It is essentially the combination of a dance party and musical chairs. The customized playlist will randomly stop and a series of colored dots will be projected around the room. Whoever does not tag the right colored dot in time, loses that round. The game is played until there is one winner left. 5 - MY LOFT SPACE The delightfully chaotic place where I spent many late nights bringing my ideas into reality.
6 - STENCIL GRAFFITI Left my mark on the overbearing black loft door in the hopes of creating more child-like wonder as to what goes on inside.
9 - FROG LIGHT A children’s pillow with reading lights and sleeping blanket built in. Great for late-night reading and slumber parties.
7 - TOUMEI Toumei, meaning “clear” in japanese, is a modern take on the traditional sake carafe, providing clear view into the vessel and a pressure-sensitive light signaling how much sake is left.
10 - A LA FLOOR Now you can eat off the floor, literally.
8 - ZIPPER LIGHT A wall hanging that capitalizes on the inherent capabilities of ordinary zippers to provide varying levels of brightness and a gratifying user interaction.
scott witthoft B. Tucson, Arizona, 1976. L. Arizona, Missouri, Texas, California P. guitar, banjo, mandolin, ukulele
1 1 - ZEFIR Zefir is a collaborative design from Thomas Both and Scott Witthoft; it is a handlebar insert for carrying flowers, creating a tangible experience for cyclists with little effort of installation.
design to me is the balance between a perfectlysized chicken salad sandwich at a fair price and a basket of two delicious chicken tacos with fries. the latter is somewhat close to a blissful relationship, to the point that the desert(ed)-island scenario pitting tacos against Guinness makes for more than casual contemplation. the point, though, is that there are only two tacos in the basket and at the completion of each meal, there is always (always) a consideration of ordering another basket accompanied by the quasicomplaint that the basket initially should contain not two but three tacos. aha! but why are there only two tacos? it turns out that each order uses a single
chicken breast; it is a shockingly plaintive fact. so now it begins: design larger chicken breasts. nope. the chicken has already done its part in providing the right size. maybe the kitchen could use 1.5 breasts per order. maybe that would cause a backed-up pile of 0.5 breasts all over the kitchen--breasts that get cold and/or warm and/or in so doing somehow signal to health inspectors that something amiss is afoot and/ or abreast. hmm... there is still the sandwich. nice choice. it is pretty mayonnaisey, though, and the tacos are cheaper. cry havoc! eat the sandwich sometimes, and for the rest, substitute the tortilla chips with the more substantial promise of fries. done. next.
this design education has afforded a gradual realization that products offer weight. i describe weight both in the sense of foundation--gravity--and also as burden. frequently the lure of the ethereal has been so strong within the cognitive gymanstics of design that perhaps no product, however shiny, innovative, or clever, could offer the benefit or function of tethering the process to... anything. simutaneously, there have been burdens of product that could not be saved by any attempt to harness any buoying philosophy. the history of design, for which i have only the slightest--albeit precious-understanding, is punctuated by the effects of this duality: paradigm shifts everywhere marked by fortunes, insanity, harsh criticism, as well as both truly horrific and splendid furniture. the design environment that i know is inseperable from the people with whom i found this place. there is a remarkable power in the serendipity of which we have both been recipients and progenitors. mentioning THE LOFT feels at once like a stunted reference to high school, but also appropriate unequivocably among discussions of truth and identity. i wonder if it is only within the context of this staggeringly beautiful duality that people who are so impossibly talented and capable can converge; can live and breathe the hope of design; can suffer doubt and confusion amdist tepid coffee and abortions of tuesday evenings; can PLAY so seriously and freely as the world they are designing continues with them. the design environment, that is, the entirety of entities i understand to be affilitied with any exploration or manifestion of intentional creation is directly connected with people. these are the people who eat tacos, make tacos, loudly complain, and beautifully sing.
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1 - CHOKERS silver + leather; men’s, left; women’s, right. 2 - i tavolini silverware design collaboration with Elysa Fenenbock; this piece shown in bronze prior to finishing; the series was shortlisted in international competition. 3 - TOGGLE RING silver; ring for my hands: provides entertainment while providing a bridge whence inverted for arthritic fingers.
4 - BRAILLE TEXT MESSAGES suite of four digital text messages printed in Braille on used 1/2” audio tape. corked with leather; created for thesis work on the topic of Traditionovation. 5 - UKES paper cut poster featuring themes of war, peace, ukueles, and resonator guitar stencil art. also featured is a clean Loft space. 6 - CAM NECKTIES silver + leather; forms are based on cam hardware used by climbers. the pieces visually represent the wear and patina ofactual climbing gear while introducing different materials that remain
consistent with the original designs of hardware and ropes. 7 - OMEGA ENVELOPES paper; each envelope responds to the distancingof human interaction with innovation and efficiency within the processing of mail. each piece fulfills the physical USPS requirements for first-class letters but is intended to necessitate hand processing based on the envelope form. created for thesis work on the topic of Traditionovation.
8 - OBLITERATION SCARVES various fabrics; based on postmarks carved by Japanese postal workers in China in the late 1800s. designed as thesis work. 9 - BOBA FETT bronze; cast Pez dispenser. wildly popular. 10 - BANDELIER TOILETRY KIT this piece started it all.
elysa fenenbock El Paso, TX BA Studio Art, Stanford University Jewelry Designer
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1 - ROSE LOVESEAT This loveseat is a contemporary look at an antique object infused by history and memory. A bed of tactile roses enhances the experience of snuggling up on an object imbued with personal meaning.
Design is the artform that makes people lives better. Design possesses the ability to change the world at both a global scale as well as a personal scale by making impact one memory at a time. I use design for emotional impact and healing. It means touching the senses through objects and experiences. It is dancing through form. My work attempts to provide an oasis in design through sensual tactile experiences. My design thesis has been an exploration in Warmth, Wit, and Welcome. Using the “home� as inspiration, thesis has been an journey through objects that create happy memories, engagement, and comfort. Warmth, Wit and Welcome engages sensually infused experiences to connect with nostalgia and childhood. The essence of thesis has been to simply make people smile.
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1 - Chair Rose textiles grow from a wooden chair to provide an interesting seating experience. 2 - Gear Umbrellas Designing an opportunity for play. Collaboration with Ge Jiang. 3 - Textural Flooring Wood endgrain and textiles come together to create floor maps throughout a home. 4 - Inner Tidal Textiles grow from the floor to create a new environment. 5 - Talit A traditionally male religious garment updated for a woman.
6 - i tavolini i tavolini playfully juxtapose the tradition of tools and silverware with the textures and movement of flowing water.
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Textiles and luminescence combine to remind of underwater creatures. 8 - Machine Nut Ring A commentary on the Joint Program in Design. The relationship between engineering and art.
jesse silver san francisco, ca bs engineering, human factors, tufts university
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1 - Late-Night Success A happy moment outside the design loft, lit by the glow of my fire/water vortex prototype. 2, 3 - Beverage Carafe This aluminum beverage carafe was an exercise in machining. The screwoff top is adorned with a recessed rosewood accent plate, held in by inset screws, and the tapered midsection gives the carafe a solid but elegant look.
4, 5 - Cube Corn Each popcorn kernel is popped individually into a predetermined shape. The experience of seeing and eating popcorn in designed shapes is a true delight! 6 - Night Light For Adults Made of layers of rosewood and frosted acrylic, this 3� cube emits a soft, warm glow, and is at home in an adult’s bedroom.
Design is about optimization, efficiency, and simplicity. Getting the most positive effect, whether it be pleasure, surprise or delight, from the most subtle of details or the fewest parts as well as imbuing the mundane with intrigue is what interests me. Although this has implications for preserving our natural resources, what I am specifically after is reinvigorating the user/product interaction, even (or especially) where the product seems to be so basic and mundane. There, where expectation is the lowest, the most opportunity exists for creating joy and delight. Much of the work I have created in the past two years has aligned with this point of view. Among other projects, I created an ice cube tray that facilitates removal of a few cubes without all of them falling out. I spent weeks working with popping corn and created shaped popcorn as well as a popcorn popper that shoots popcorn in the air, much like a firework. Another simple object I explored was the standard electrical outlet, creating one that comes to life and illuminates in a color corresponding to power draw. I also built several art projects involving fire. I have enjoyed creating these objects as much for the process of learning how to make them as for actually creating them. Many of them involved techniques and skills with which I was previously unfamiliar but I considered these challenges to be a key part of my design education. Although many of these projects were technically complex on the inside, they deal with basic elements or items you encounter every day and think little of... and then turn them on their heads. This, to me, is the heart of design.
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1, 2 - Fire/Water Vortex A flame is held suspended inside a spinning whirlpool of water. The carefully built base contains fittings that keep the whirlpool spinning as well as fill the air pocket with propane. As a result, the flame is suspended in this void and burns indefinitely. An entirely different experience awaits those who peer down into the whirlpool. 3, 4 - “No Way Out” A fourteen inch cube rests atop a stand, the faces of which have been carved with a maze and then covered with acrylic. Every few seconds a blue flame enters the maze and frantically travels it, sometimes reaching the end, sometimes not.
Inside the stand a circuit controls the timing and mixing of propane and air, breather valves to control maze speed, and an electronic spark. Due to the rich sounds of this orchestration, the project has an audible, rhythmic breathing. 5 - Single Kernel Popcorn Popper A commentary on expectation and disappointment, this “executive” popcorn popper only pops one kernel at a time. Roughly the size of a pencil sharpener, this popper sits on your desk waiting for you to place a single kernel into the recess in the aluminum top. In a minute or so, your kernel pops and delivers an expected but largely disappointing bounty.
6 - Color-changing Wall Outlet A standard wall outlet comes to life when a power-consuming device is plugged into it. Illuminated from within, this outlet lets you know how much power you are pulling from it by pulsing to warmer hues as you draw more power. A standard charger plugged into it elicits a blue glow, a medium power draw such as a blender a green glow, and a power tool, a red glow. The colors are not displayed instantly, however, and as the power draw changes, the outlet displays a spectrum of colors on the way to the correct color indication, giving this outlet a personality.
thomas both seattle, WA Bs engineering, harvey mudd college
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1 - Exploded SelfPortrait One of a series in which an image is cut into pieces and those pieces are regularly spaced from one another. As such, no visual data is eliminated except the spatial relations between the parts. I varied the amount of spacing to find the point at which the dispersion is maximized but recognition is still retained. 2 - Night Sky A piece made of nylon string, plastic pearls, and silver beads.
Thomas Both is a designer, engineer, and artist interested in human-centered design, beautiful objects, experiences in space and through time, flipping expectations, simplicity, elements in repetition, defining the design problem, needfinding, and considered details. He earned a BS in engineering from Harvey Mudd College in 2003, and produced the work shown here during the two year master’s program at Stanford in Product Design. A focus of his design work is creating objects that facilitate experiences for people, contrary to their expectations of the situation or the object. Expectations, both from people’s past experiences and those set up by the objects themselves, become highly integrated into how the objects are experienced when people engage with them. A note on my process and my classmates: As a broad overview, my process includes thinking with a notebook, sketching, needfinding, synthesis of findings and insights, a lot of prototyping, and always sharing ideas with fellow designers. These days I rarely proceed from the seed of my project idea without talking to a friend about it. With the amount of talent and intelligence in this program, a group of us always produces better results than I could on my own. I appreciate the wide talents that this design group brings, and the help they have provided to me through these past two years. I can only hope to continue to be surrounded by wonderful people like these as I continue my life as a designer.
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1 - ooma The defined roles of the “kitchen”, “living room”, “dining room”, and “office” have been increasingly blurred in recent years. Specifically, many of us eat in our homes in locations other than at the dining table. People eat on the couch, in front of the computer, and standing up – all while relaxing, socializing, and working. The ooma responds to the needs which rise from this practice. It is a bowl that is in balance when held, is ergonomically
comfortable because it keeps the wrist in a neutral position, and allows the separation of two types of food in the same container. 2 - Inverting Shadow A piece that invites human interaction with the spotlight to reveal a reversal of our preconceived notion of how a spotlit object should appear. The shadow becomes the light when the surrounding light falls to shadow. The piece leverages the limitation of human sensory ability: we can distinguish relative contrast but not an absolute measure of brightness. 3 - Gift Boxes
Gift boxes designed for packaging and giving t-shirts and other textiles. One of the corners on the box shows a small sample of the gift enclosed inside. This project alters the convention of wrapping to hide a gift. Instead, these boxes give a hint of the gift and integrate the present, itself, into the outside appearance of the package. 4 - Cardboard Box A cardboard box that glows from within. The initial view, as one discovers the object, is box with something shining within it. When one approaches the box and is able to look down and into it, one realizes the box is in fact empty
and light only seeps in through the bottom four edges. 5 - Furry Cube The Furry Cube started out as a project about masks, but as the planning and building went on, it developed into an object for play and performance. A collaboration with Andreas Brændhaugen. 6 - Paralight The Paralight is an elegant and bold lamp that functions within the convention of illuminating a work surface or studio space, but creates lighting options by way of a range of motion and light source positioning not achieved with conventional lamps. The
lamp can be pivoted to the desired position, and a friction interface keeps the arc in the chosen position after the user releases it. When brought behind the user, it can provide light from behind the user and can also give an enclosing feeling, creating an enveloped bubble of space. 7 - Zefir Zefir creates a vessel for flowers from existing infrastructure: the
handlebars of a road bike. Each Zefir insert consists of only two components: a tubular water reservoir suitable for supporting a blooming flower and an end cap similar to the common bar end plug. The design adds no physical volume to the bicycle and almost zero mass, yet facilitates an opportunity for beauty and surprise. A collaboration with Scott Witthoft.
andreas brændhaugen Gjøvik, Norway BA University of Oslo www.ambwork.com
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1 - Sandwich box First Year manufacturing project. If Arne Jacobsen had made lunchbox, it would have looked something like this. 2 - Square Light This decorative light consists of three squares that revolve freely, creating continuous variation in lighting constellations.
I find design to be a method for deliberation more than a method for the creation of things. It is a balancing act of knowing the difference between relevant and irrelevant uncertainty in any given project. Design is knowing when to stop being analytical and when to start being intuitive, knowing when there is enough data to move ahead. It’s pragmatism and idealism, objectivity and subjectivity, peanut butter and jelly. Design is speaking and writing in parable-like abstractions. It is finding yourself asking “what the hell am I doing?” Looking ahead, I believe designers will increasingly take on the role as manufacturers of clarity and shared understanding. It is the craft of externalizing thoughts. My thesis, “Surface Interactions”, is a body of work describing and commenting on the emergence of new forms of displays and visualization tools. It is also a map of the breadth of actions that take place on surfaces, and what surfaces are used for. I am responding to an expanding influence of digital information on real world activities. This trend, bringing the fragmentation of traditional media with it, has created more fine-grained forms of sociality, but it also changes how objects are created, and how people understand the world. The rapid prototyping of new media experiences has thus been a primary concern in my design work, leading to a number of experiments with an emphasis on the visual and on representation and interfaces. As any resident of our studio can attest to, academic development and
personal development are hard to separate as two distinct processes. This creates a boiling cauldron of heterodoxy, creative energy, risk-taking, and just plain confusion, in which ideas become intensely malleable. The stage where this happens, the design loft, acts as a catalyst for chance encounters - encounters with people, ideas, concepts, materials, cold beer, and good conversations. A similarly inspiring place will be difficult to find or recreate again.
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1 - AUTOMATIC dRAwing mAchine Made out of parts from a broken Epson printer, this mechanism makes jagged circles as it travels slowly across the drawing surface. 2 - SAN FRANCISCO inteRnAtionAl AiRpoRt Poster of the view from the people mover to show the entire terminal on one page. 3 - SYMPOSIUM ON technology And cultuRe Poster for an event arranged by the Stanford International Initiative.
4 - RADIAL BANANA And decision mAking bAnAnA Laser engraved fruit. 5 - POST-IT WALL pAtteRn 6 - PARALELLOGRAM Mimicking the interaction of harp playing, this bench lets the user scan bar codes with a custom-made glove that triggers sounds that form layers depending on how fast the glove is dragged across the surface.
jean hsu BS Electrical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University MS Electrical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin
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1 - PLAYTING This group eating experience invites the guests to partake in food with not just their senses, but also their imagination. Plates were food dye stenciled with a few simple graphics. Guests were then asked to use the photobooth at the end of the buffet table to photograph their plate of food. 2 - INSPIRED PLATES The photos were wirelessly transferred live and projected onto
the wall above the buffet table. A rotating exhibit of six guests’ plates were on display for the entire reception to view. Here is a sample of the hundreds of aesthetically inspired platesw. Rather than mindlessly load up plates with food, as most people would, guests found themselves making more thoughtful decisions around eating based on their own sense of aesthetics.
Altering the natural environment to enable another human being is design at its core. Infinite possibilities exist for how one might choose to make an alteration. I aspire to do things some good, to make what is needed for you, your family, your neighborhood, your world. Happy memories in the form of photographs are one of the first non-living items saved from a burning house. My imperative is to design the first thing saved by enabling happy memory making. You choose the memories. You choose to be happy. You decide. We design. Humans were built to eat to survive in a natural world, where split-second decisions are required. Today food no longer comes directly from the earth, but from innumerable manmade sources. Our choices are informed not only by our ancestors and environment, but also our spouses, our doctors, our local restaurants, our grocery stores, our beloved advertisers, our corporate giants, our educators, and our government. Each entity brings to the table their tool of choice: evolved behavior, nagging, prescriptions, coupons, pricing, slogans, research, and packaging. The body of my thesis work is a set of intuitive tools for individuals to navigate this complex world of manmade eating decisions. The designs were created with an unbiased objective to bring awareness and highlight the diner’s own conscious desires. They
take into consideration our urges and allow a person to eat with true clarity of purpose.
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1 - SHIVA PAN Cookware with a hinged handle gives hobby chefs an extra hand in the kitchen.
6 - EATOGRAPHY Web-based photo food journaling that promotes eating and sharing photoworthy meals.
2 - BUNDLE TRUND A luggage solution that holds it all together and remains accessible to parents. In collaboration with Ed Browka.
7 - A LINEAR MEAL One linear “belly” unit is equivalent to the volume of your empty stomach. This dish is two “Jeff belly” units long.
3 - TURNOVER TABLE A sofa table that converts into a sleep cushion for your favorite overnight guest.
8 - LAST BITE CARD GAME An eating game where the utensils are the playing cards. Take a bite to draw a card.
4 - AMERICAN FOOD SUSHI-FIED Pacing the eating experience with bitesized portions. CW from top: lasagna, beet salad, chicken pot pie. 5 - MEAL OF DESSERTS First course of a four course meal where every savory dish looks like dessert. Vegetable mousse: layers of artichoke, carrot, and spinach with avacado “icing.”
Edward Browka Verona, NY BS Mechanical Engineering, Rensselaer
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1. In the foundry Bringing design to life. 2.Visceral light beams, Using a mix of hydraulic engineering, vision and mashed potatoes I created an engaging experince. The magic happens when they are touched.
I care about you; I want to make your day a pleasure and help you experince the wonder that is life. For me design is about creating magic moments for people. I draw on many different sources to create that magic. In my thesis work, I focused on travel, and I’ve distilled days of user needfinding into cool inisghts and products that delight and entetain. This type of magic comes from knowing a user better than they know themselves, and creating something they always had the need for but never knew could exist. An example of this is the luggage Jean and I created, through observing how people pack, unpack and travel with their belongings. We called it Bundle Trund, a rolling piece of luggage that has shelves that allow for random access of belongs at any point in the journey. My lighting projects are at the intersection of art and technology. One of the most magical effects I have created are surfaces that change color and intensity based on touch. Although this could be accoumplished with an array of sensors and processors, I choice to create this magic with lights wrapped in layers of colored fluid trapped in flexible reservoirs. This concept draws its inspiration from my hundreds of hours in the lab creating my first patented medical device, a wearible infusion pump, that uses layers of fluid and flexible reservoirs. Playing freely with art, user needs and technology allows me to bring these paradoxically different yet similar forms of magical design to existence.
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1,2 - Orbit Toddler Car seat While working with OrbitBaby I designed several elements of their new car seat, my adventure spanned prototyping the upholstery design in China to demonstrating the product at a Vegas trade show.
3 - Shadow Cube A messy ball of wire, casts a 2D shadow that looks like a 3D cube. 4 - Swash A premium dish cleaning device that allows users to clean and grip simutaineously, and it never wears out like a sponge. 5,6,7 - Bundle Trund Jean Hsu and I went into the homes of new parents, and camped out in airports to create
this new paradigm in luggage, active luggage with movable shelves that allow for nonlinear packing and on-the-go access. 8 - Microinfuser A patented medical device I codesigned early in my career. 9 - Designed Rock Each rock glows with a surpising intensity when picked up.
CAPRA J’NEVA Portland, Or | San Francisco, ca www.sonicinema.com WWW.VERANDAstudios.COM
1 2 1 - SOLAR PETALS Power for apartment dwellers expressing their individuality, In collaboration with Emilie Fetscher. 2 - SOLAR STATUS WATCH & JEWELRY Bringing panels off the roof and into daily life. In collaboration with Emilie Fetscher.
21st century America. The time of miracles. We can send our images instantly to the moon, and daily dissolve time and space. We are face to face with our humanity, what it means to be a diverse people on a globe that must be increasingly treated as a single whole. I am fascinated by humankind’s poignant quest to be elsewhere, and to send artifacts of human existance elsewhere. Faced with increasing uncertainty, our global population prepares for a mobile future in which we all may at some point be refugees. Our response? Joy and creativity. Witness The Burning Man Project, an intentional refugee camp, an experiment in mobile, temporary existence under the harshest of desert conditions, in which the cultural status-quo is radical participation and creativity. Given the urgency that we do something quickly to prevent massive species loss and ecosystem collapse, the only choice that will give us the energy and hope to continue to design for the circumstances is to theme all our designs for celebration and to bring ourselves together in community. It is through community and celebration that humans achieve the deeper fulfillment that we are never content without. And if we would hope to assuage our endless thirst for more, it will only be through rising to the top of Mazlo’s heirarchy and experiencing that ecstatic spiritual fulfillment.
Without this, we will continue to overproduce and over consume, numbing ourselves to oblivion to lessen the shock of being in such close quarters, both physically and mentally, with the added neural network of the internet, and yet being so distant spiritually and personally. This year, I have designed mobile sustainable infrastructure devices that allow people to generate energy and collect water while celebrating their connection to their community. I worked in close collaboration with Emilie Fetscher to create a new design language for sustainable products and to embue practical applications with resonant human meaning.
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1 - CUPRIGHT Bicycle drink holder. 2 - DREAMDIVE Travel sleeping gear. With Swiss team. Patented in Europe. 3 - JELLY LAMP A pendant lamp customizable with removable colored silicon gels that reveal the shape of the bulbs beneath. 4 - THE SECRETS OF CARGO EXCHANGE An ongoing, multidimensional exploration of global shipping.
5 - THE EMPTY CONTINENT OF HOPE, AN ATLAS FOR STRANDED SOULS Still from animation. 6 - A PERMANENT PARADE Benthopelagic fish come up for air in a street circus procession. 7 - DROPLET Collapsible quart bottle.
emilie fetscher Missoula, Mt to a mountain lake in Alaksa AB engineering & studio art, Dartmouth College BE mechanical engineering, Dartmouth College
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1 - Equilibrium Seat Laminated bent Italian Polpar. One form splits to become two and affords a comfortable seat.
Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a lot of passion for life. This is a passion I have thrown at skiing, dancing, cooking, creating, curiosity, and most important to me: people and relationships. It is no surprise that I came to study design and that my passion for design lies in graceful forms, inspiration from the natural world, bringing little known knowledge to a greater audience, and understanding the emotions and relationships people are capable of in any given situation. Having lived and breathed the Loft as a way of life, I am now looking forward to living design in all of my passions; and having the time to head out into the wilderness and explore a bit. I know it will inspire something beautiful and fascinating. I have always been one to find my way through spontaneity and through spontaneity I found my Thesis partner and life-long friend, Capra. It was a whirlwind journey through exploring stories & meaning in objects, the solar industry, and celebration of identity. It was all about people, the meaning was more important than the gadget and for me the process was more important and fulfilling than the outcome. Days of prototyping like mad led to endless opportunities. We created a sweet of products inspired by solar for renters; small scale solar does make sense if you have a personal relationship with it. We discovered that solar doesn’t have to be just about efficiency, it can be beautiful & joyful too.
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1,2 - Musical Landscape of Philip Glass’ Violin Concerto A single piece of music is manifest in a number of lines that, when transformed into a physical object become the landscape of the music. Individual layers represent a slice
of frequency over the entire piece of music (time) as one looks from left to right, while the pitch increases from near to far.. 3 - Settle Cherry & Rosewood bowl turned off-center to explore balance in a form that yearns to be held and hold other objects. 4 - Outdoor Conniosseur Cast in bonze, this
fanciful combination of a utilitarian tripod and fine stemless wine glass allow a steady seat for a mountain top toast 5,6 - A Table to Ponder BY with Capra J’neva This laminated reclaimed wood table has a mug seat worn into the surface. The drawer to clean out the crumbs also houses the heart of the table, a secret inner nook.
7 - SOLAR PETALS with Capra J’neva Photovoltaic panels hung out the window, a mobile and more personal take on solar power.
Francisco L. Franco Chihuahua, Mexico Mechanical Engineering, ITESM Monterrey www.ficofranco.com
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1 - BOWL Joining three stainless steel bands, I created a space to hold fruits, objects or simply nothing. 3 - Salt & pepper BUGGIES Don’t play with your food but play with your utensils! Transparency in the design also highlights the contents.
I have come to understand design as the language of ideas. It helps create bridges of understanding between everyone’s imaginations. To facilitate a conversation with others and with ourselves regardless of time and place; to create a materialized dialog made of collaboratively shaped thoughts, visions and experiences. I came here to learn to speak the language of ideas and to become fearless of speaking it boldly. To become fluent regardless of the medium; either graphic, product, interactions or experiences.
The work I present here shows my progression from concepts heavily influenced by aesthetics and function, to a more deliberate exercise in “idea” design. My thesis projects revolved around the topic of mindfulness, pace of life and the opportunities to apply these concepts to areas from information design to disposable products. I am very grateful to my fellow students and faculty. There wasn’t a better moment for me to be here than this. I will never forget this time. Viva el loft!
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1 - THREE PERSON HAMMER An object to create a collective experience where normally there is not one. This originated as part of my interest in shared mind states. 2 - BREMEN MUSICIANS Based on the children’s classical folk tale, I created a toy puzzle in
hardwood. 3 - PATRON FIRE PIT A modern view on patio fire pits. Enhance the visual quality of fire with the rotation of the outer cylinder. Fabricated in stainless steel and aluminum. 4,5 - COLOR JOURNALS The idea is based on my intention to create compositions based on the color spectrum that someone collects during a day.
6 - INTO LIGHT Exploration and discovery, two of my deepest passions, inspired an interactive installation where venturing inside a dark space rewarded people with a flock of touch responsive lights. 7 - WORK SPHERE A concept to create an extended work surface when using portable computing devices.
GE JIANG Shenyang, CHINA BS Theoretical Mechanics, Peking University
Form itself sould speak for its functon. Anything more than necessary might be diluting. Simplicity can also be touching and beautiful. In a group like the product design program, we have a great variety of people, artists, engineers, scientists, American, European and Asian. But still in many ways I found myself quite unique in the community. I have a unique cultural background, unique educational background, both content and method-wise. These gave me a unique way of seeing the world. And maybe as you could tell, this is reflected in my work.
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1 - Halo Umbrella Rainy backstreet in London. It is cold and dark. Angelic protection comes in handy. 2 - The Kite For a day of kite flying on the beach and for signalling home across the Pacific Ocean.
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1 - THE SMILE SWING A swing who’s always willing to play. Collaboration with Elysa Fenebock. 2 - CHURCH A Church - made out of a single piece of paper
3 - EXERCISE NO. X A CNC machine styling exercise. 4 - PERSONAL STATEMENT A counterbalanced water- driven kinetic sculpture, highlighting
the spirit of running water. 5 - Laser mist fogger Respects to the aerodynamics lab.
6 - THE MIELE RANGE HOOD A hoodless hood for the kitchen stove using a quiet fan to collect smoke.
Carissa Carter Lexington, MA BA Geosciences, Williams College MS Earth Sciences, UC Santa Cruz
1 3 2 1 - FLASHBACK In my high school yearbook I quoted Gene Kranz from Apollo 13 mission control. As nerdy as it still is, I feel it is once again appropriate with regards to the future of design: “With all due respect sir, I believe this will be our finest hour.� Know l ed ge
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2 - KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER The connection scheme I used to create an interactive map of 67 spinning tops. This and other mapping patterns can be used to develop and understand problem spaces while simultaneously allowing for and charting mass user prototyping. 3 - SPINNING MAGNET WALL Each spinning top and its properties and inspirations are placed on a magnetic tile. The tiles are constantly remapped to highlight new groupings, patterns, and trains of thought.
I love maps. The sheer number of varieties, styles, and formats of maps is awesome. I use maps to organize my design work, and I employ mapping techniques to explore the boundaries between problem spaces and solution spaces. Increasingly, I have become more and more interested in the self-maps that every person in the world operates within. Whether we actively map them or not, we all have multiple dimensions of our lives that can be mapped: location, knowledge, emotion, place...the possibilities are many. Imagine if we could intersect the self-maps of the people of the world with one another. What would we find? What would the relevant themes be? We could slice the information on any number of axes. What could we use this for? I call this emergent design. In my thesis work I have become increasingly interested in using design to address complex world problems. These long-term challenges traverse continents, cultures, demographics, and time. I am creating a toolset for designers to use as they design for these complex world problems and I am using it to collect, organize, congeal, and visualize the self-maps of thousands of people around the world. By creating tools used to design for grand world challenges, we put design at the forefront at this critical time in earth and human history. Emergent design is an exciting and necessary next step for our discipline. These pages contain snippets of a range of my work. I include some images from emergent design, and include earlier work as well. I show my personal statement, an ode to my geologic roots and love for footwear, and SteamĂŠ, one of my favorite, more traditional product design pieces, and an excellent way to steam your vegetables.
My thesis began as an exploration of the intersection of the self, others, and public spaces. Through a series of physical and interaction designs in that realm, I became increasingly interested in harnessing knowledge from a range of people. This led the creation of 67 spinning tops, each one a direct response to the nuances of the one preceding it. Back and forth mapping and building between the design problem space and solution space in the tops project inspired me to explore grander problem spaces, and led me to emergent design.
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1 - MAKING USE OF the mAsses This diagram highlights my thesis focus as related to the traditional design process. 2 - METHOD CARDS TO mAp the mAsses In order to build a rich, dynamic, problem space for complex world problems, designers need a toolset designed specifically for the task. I present nine methods in three categories: (1) populate and push the limits of problem spaces, (2) catalyze responses around specified topics, emotions, locations, reactions, and (3) filter content and highlight areas for design. I use the term ‘masses’ to refer to a ‘multitude of individuals.’ In each task, it is the point of view, knowledge, and feelings of the particular responder that is important. 3 - OUTCROP PERSonal StatEMEnt I sliced twenty-seven pairs of my shoes and set them in a resin-matrix stratigraphic section of a portion of my life. The x-axis is significance and the y-axis is time.
4 - OUTROP GEnERaliZED StRatiGRaPHiC SECtion In the spirit of beatifully over-annotated geologic sections, I created the key to my outcrop. The poster lists time periods, makes analogies to geologic processes, and highlights events of importance. 5 - STEAMÉ Fed up with traditional metal, petal-type vegetable steamers, I created Steamé out of silicone and stainless steel. It stays cool to the touch in a boiling pot of water, and is easy to handle.
Design is complicated. It is full of difficult decisions, amazing experiences, challenging problems, complex emotions, and rich rewards. And more. The vertical world has much to offer the designer. As you journey on, keep in mind some beta:
Peter Gleason washington d.c. mech. engineering / environmental studies, tufts university
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It doesn’t have to be fun to be fun Taking risks is important, especially in a safe environment Ditto with failure Research is helpful, but can lead to tunnel vision Set goals Success is highly mental Beware of sprayers Know the tools available, and understand their limitations There is always more than one way to reach a goal, and The best way can be different for everyone Stay in shape, both mentally and physically There are pros and cons to going solo; know the difference You will recieve unsolicited beta, ignore at will Sleep affects performance You make the decisions in the end You gotta want it Use goals as secure anchor points, then venture out You must leave your anchors if you want to get anywhere Learn from others Committing is important So is the ability to turn back Trusting others and having faith in yourself is mandatory Be prepared, but be flexible Visualizing is key Achieving grace helps you achieve success Finding your balance usually leads to grace Take care of yourself If you are in a rut, question your technique If you are gripped...breathe Thanks to my parents for supporting me in my dreams. Thanks to Poofy for enduring this journey with me. Thanks to the loftees for all the good times.
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9 1 - Trees at night (photo) 2 - Silverware 3 - Lazy Susan 4 - Climbing with glowbracelets (photo) 5 - One Touch kitchen timer
6 - Colored Rings 7 - Adjustable stool 8 - Farewell shot 9 - Welded CubE
Simon Weiss Washington, D.C. ScB Mech. Engineering, Brown University
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1 - MOMENTS BEFORE Just a few minutes before tying the knot. 2 - MORPHOLOGY CHANDELIER This lamp is composed of 20 petals that open when a person is near. The idea came from the desire to create that respond to human presence, and adjust by modulating the shape of the shading elements.
3 - EXPLODED VIEW This installation uses a bicycle arranged in a 3D version of an engineer’s exploded view drawing. Each of the 30 components were hung with monofilament to align with their respective mounting axes.
Design has more to do with asking the right questions than finding the right answers. In my experience, problem definition is the most critical part of the design process, as it is the foundation for all future work. By defining the problem space, a designer must choose which values to incorporate into his/her search for the solution. People are at the heart of all good design, whether the result is a cure, a restaurant concept, or a cell phone. My work spans two primary areas. I enjoy creating beautiful, mechanical and technical objects, and finding elegant solutions to ‘problems’ that may or may not exist. This work is typically exploratory, like the ‘rear view’ wearable concept, or sculptural like the morphology chandelier. The other side of my work centers on people and the interesting problem spaces that come out of trying to adapt our world to work for us. Mapping communication to and between people on the passive-active spectrum, as well as working with the deaf community provided rich inspiration for a variety of product concepts, where the solutions are not always high tech yet still high impact.
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2 1 - REAR VIEW This wearable device converts ultrasonic distance sensors’ input into vibration pulses that the wearer learns to interpret. 2 - PULSE PATCH A heart rate monitor worn on the outside that changes color and blinks with the speed of the heart. We infer people’s excitement from what they appear to be doing - now in an instant, we can see excitement flow through groups of people.
3 - JACENT A web based system for relationship building through passive, context cue-based communication. 4 - INVISIBLE pAnnieR’s To get more peole cycling, we need to remove obstacles and make it more practicle. These reusable shopping bags, designed with Capra J’neva, gives the convenience of panniers without the physical or visible weight when not in use.
ON THE CLAM3POP SHELL AND ROTATE. LOOP ONTO 2 THE RACK
ON THE 1SLIP LOWER POCKET
Jacent is the result of my design research in the area of passive and active communication, and represents a way to enable relationship building among people who work near each other but may not know each other. Jacent works by pulling content automatically from employee’s photo-sites, blogs, or uploaded content, and by displaying just single images of people’s work, lives, etc. provides a simple, context cue to spark conversation among coworkers. Jacent is a work in progress. Right now it works as a company intranet homepage, but the intention is to enhance Jacent’s context presence within an organization.
Stanford Program in deSign
annual review 2008