Sponsored Go Kart Studio Yields Good Results
COMMENCEMENT
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Commencement Address by Tony Brock NC State University College of Design December 15, 2004
his fall, Vialink Corp. sponsored a design competition in Bong-Il Jin’s Industrial Design 400 Studio. The idea came to Professor Jin and Charles Kim, VP of Design and Marketing for Vialink, while Kim was co-teaching the studio. Winning designs by (l-r) Chadley Jaziri, Derick Harris, and Hong-youl Choi Kim, who holds a Masters of Industrial Design from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, welcomed and teams were rewarded based on teamwork, quality of research, the opportunity. “We felt it was a requirement to provide an experience organization, analysis, and how well they could both communicate that would push students to draw upon the individual talents as well and validate their findings. as technical and problem-solving skills they’ve acquired to date, but The final studio presentation was held December 3, 2004, with key more importantly push the students to realize the skill sets they did Vialink staff in attendance, including President Steve Shankin, and not yet possess, and discover the challenge of uncovering resources Hardy Lim, who graduated from NC State College of Design and is needed to bridge that gap. Forcing them to apply their skills outside of continuing to pursue a master’s degree in design. the school environment gave them a great snapshot of what to expect The winners of the individual portion of the competition were as professionals while allowing them to discover their own particular Chadley Jaziri, Derick Harris, and Hong-youl Choi, and each won a areas that needed improvement” said Kim. mountain bike (valued at $700). The winning group, Group ‘C’ (Chadley “We [Kim and Jin] thought a go-cart design project would be great Jaziri, Hong-youl Choi, and Anthony Lee), won $600 in materials. given the current market consists only of crudely designed vehicles. A “We are very pleased with the student’s body of work. They all good analogy would be to think about the mini bike of years ago and worked very hard at gathering their reference data, analyzing, and motorcycles today with all the beautifully styled models on the market. organizing it into cohesive and compelling conclusions for what was The go-cart industry has fallen behind this wave of technical innovation required in a new design. The students all attacked the problem and and creative expression, showing no design progression in the same period. came up with creative solutions while honing their presentation We felt young creative minds applying sound design processes would skills. We enjoy the opportunity to get involved with the school and to yield some interesting results. We weren’t disappointed,” Kim added. provide the help, input, and resources we can to assist in enriching the The competition had two parts. One part judged individual educational experience,” Kim stated. designs, and the second judged teamwork. Three teams consisting “Many students have vision and don’t apply the necessary process. of three students each collectively conducted research for reference In order to be progressive, using the correct processes will dictate and and to stimulate ideas. Each group received $500 for materials. Then ensure an emotionally compelling validated design. It is critical for each student independently generated design concepts, drawings, and designers to be able to explain and validate their designs in a clear, concept models. Winning designs were chosen on an individual basis concise, and professional manner,” Kim added.
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DESIGN INFLUENCE / SPRING 2005
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raduates, Family, Dean Malecha, Faculty and Staff of the College of Design, Friends, it is truly and an honor and a pleasure to be with you today. Commencement has always been a favorite time of year for me. Graduates, congratulations on a job well done. I wish you many years of good health and prosperity in your life of design. I graduated from NC State with a graduate degree in Graphic Design just a few years ago and I enjoy graduation much more now than the day I walked. I was exhausted and ready for a long summer of doing nothing. I remember little more than the incredible heat and humidity that day and the fact that my bike got stolen. If I prove to be so dry and uninvolving that you completely zone out and come back thinking you missed something of importance, I will be posting my speech on the web for you all to reference (repeatedly). You are welcome to go ahead and zone out, sleep, whatever—you’ve earned this day of celebration and relief. I think it is tradition to now say that I will be brief in my remarks even though I may not. To speed things along I have put together my personal ‘to-do’ list. A commencement address is a complicated list. Make it memorable, speak from the heart, don’t use a lot of statistics. Not witty enough, not serious—you’ve blown your ethos. This string of words cannot help but be cliché to some, lacking to others, and far too deconstructionist, introspective, and self-conscious. For all the effort, I can’t get away from critique. I have always enjoyed the process more than the end result. There always has to be a list. Lists are the rule for such occasions. Numbered metaphors, parables, illustrations—The Art of Worldly Wisdom, The Art of Living, The I Ching and host of others—they all outline the good life in a digestible list. One of my favorites is the not-so-well-known
Tony Brock, left, pictured with students during graphic design critique.
Tact, Push and Principle from 1880: What is success? It is not the mere gratification of personal ambition. To accumulate wealth, to win the highest office, to become famous for learning, eloquence, or statesmanship, may not be success. One or all of these objects may be gained, and still life be substantially a failure. Wealth acquired at the expense of principle, honors won by chicanery, learning and political distinction used for personal emolument instead of usefulness, do not constitute success. The highest success is achieved by making the most of one’s powers and opportunities. Calvino’s Six Memos for the Next Millennium is as fine a list as one can hope for. Calvino describes the virtues of Lightness, Quickness, Exactitude, Visibility, and Multiplicity in such a way that the admonitions move beyond the act of writing to design. He suggests gradients—descriptions of extreme that transfer to one’s breadth and depth of exploration and understanding. The descriptions and details of Calvino’s list bring a level of reflection that elevates and encourages a meaningful creative life—$9.00 on Amazon. Now for my list. This is how I saw things as of 3:00pm yesterday. I don’t COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS
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