IDSA Merit Award

Two Wednesdays ago, seven UC ID students, including myself, presented our best work in front of a board of IDSA Southern Ohio Chapter members to compete for the IDSA UC Merit Award. Everyone did stellar jobs and differentiated themselves as designers. Looking back at how we prepared ourselves for this, we wanted to identify why we are designers and how we grew professionally through the school and co-op.

I am happy to say that I was awarded the Merit Award for the class of 2010. I will be attending the IDSA Mideast Conference to represent UC. It means a lot to represent the class, because it is chock-a-block with talent!

After talking with the members of the judging panel for a bit after the event, I learned that a big reason in their decision was the timing and straightforwardness of my presentation, as well as versatility of work. When competing with people who you know have a similar skill set, itís important to be natural/show your personality and customize your work to the intent of the competition. Because public speaking is not one of my strong suits, I put a lot of focus on my verbal presentation and practiced so I could speak in a natural way. It helped to show a ninja stealth-jacket design that is almost completely responsible in showing my personality, and because it was fun to talk about, it was easier to relax and be myself (aka, it's good to enjoy the work that you are presenting!).

You can check out my updated work here. The other candidates were Sam Amis, Kristen Beck, Jeff Engelhardt, Sylvia Spencer, Cody Stonerock, and transportation major David Heyne. Also check out our professor Mike Roller's blog to see other UC work.

Power of the Pig

There’s something beautiful in using almost all of your resources and wasting as little as possible. Butchering pigs is one thing that can fall into this category. Lately I have been doing a lot of research on food and everything that goes with it; one, because I love food, and two, because my thesis is on the topic of eating. One thing I have learned is that Americans tend to not know where their food comes from. As a first generation (half) Chinese American, I have grown up knowing exactly what I am eating. For example, ducks hanging in the window in restaurants in Chinatown? Makes me salivate. Looking at the fresh meat at Findlay Market is also, by far, my favorite thing to paruse over there. I like to think that fresh meat can be compared to exploring the inner workings of a computer and knowing the possibilities that can be done with it.

I came across this video of Vadim Akimenko who butchers a 211 pound pig and has only one pound of waste in the end. It’s a really beautiful video. After reading a little on butchering, I can see that a lot of butchers try to use the utmost respect when doing their job. You can see in the second video, Jeffrey Ruhalter butchers half a hog at Jeffrey’s Meat Market in New York City. He shows what cuts come out of the hog, and how they can be used.


The Pig & The Butcher from Quarter Productions on Vimeo.




Another great resource is PIG 05049. It is a journey tracing the various parts of a pig called 05049 and seeing what is made out of them. Designer Christien Meindertsma published this project as a way to document the amazing array of products this pig’s parts are used for. I have only had the chance to look at the book, but it is really inspiring stuff!

I’ve always been a beef person, but after learning the phenomenon of the pig, pork sounds a little better, doesn’t it?

Just one guy...

Showing the behind the scenes of Mario's life, just goes to show his many talents, personalities, and how busy this guy is! 


Illustration by Glen Brogan.


Happy Friday!

It's Friday!

Happy Friday!



Sweetest Thing by Camera Obscura

Lessons from Pixar

Last year I had the opportunity of seeing three inspiring exhibits: Pixar 20 Years of Animation at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Tim Burton at the MoMA, and Harry Potter the Exhibit at the Boston Science Museum. It was amazing to see their creative processes, the detail and humor they put into their work, and their focus and trust in the story they tell.

This summer, Ali Rowghani, the CFO of Pixar Inc. came to UC to speak.  He told us about the way Pixar approached their work and how they worked together.  There are about 200-300 people working on a film, and they spend most of their time on the initial story.  So...

“Story is the foundation of our work at Pixar.  Most build and rebuild film’s foundation before any other part of the house can be touched.  If the foundation is weak, the house will fall, now matter how beautiful it’s designed. It can be adventuresome and original, but it must be solid and strong so others can build upon it.” was written on one of the displays at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. This message relates to design and how important it is to focus on the purpose of the design.  If it strays from the intended message, it will not make a holistic and emotional impact on the user. 

Aside from storytelling, there are two things Pixar puts importance on that make Pixar a successful company. 

Color Script: telling the story through color

Pixar realizes the importance of color and music and its emotional role in a film. One of Pixar’s methods of keeping the story cohesive is to evaluate storyboards of the film through color blocks.    

Team: It’s not the idea that matters, it’s the creative group that works well together that matters.

The Pixar team reviews their work everyday, rough or finished.  This way they can be comfortable and proud of what they are showing and work together on refining the story.

To end this, Rowghani emphasized the importance of trusting your instincts. As a creative, it’s important to keep the essence of your idea and not rely too much on public opinions. 

Are you happy?

Time to get back into the blogging habit! My goal with this blog for the next six months is to develop my design vocabulary, communication, and evaluation skills.  I also want to keep up with sharing my own work and what I have learned.

I found this poster today here. Looks like it is by H/34 in association with Meiklejohn Labs. It is super simple, but I think sometimes happiness can be that simple! If you make the conscious decision that you want to be happy, I believe it will happen.

reNEW solar battery charger

Good news! After working for four months, Donn Koh, Herlinda, and I have won the Gold Award for the LiteOn Awards 2009.

Check out our hard work here!