Austin to San Francisco

It has been 2 years since our journey to San Francisco! Here’s where we’ve end up since then:

Ashley Lincoln is currently a Masters of Industrial Design candidate at the University of Houston’s Industrial Design Program. She graduates in 2017. 

Ray Delgadillo is a designer at FODA in Austin, Texas. 

Visiting Everywhere Else

During our trip, we made sure to set aside plenty of time to see the city. Some of the more notable places we visited include; Golden Gate Park, the Ferry Building Farmer's Market, the Piers, Lombard Street, Chinatown, Japantown, The Museum of Craft & Design, and Baker Beach. These "mini-trips" required the most walking, but were easily the most relaxing part of our trip simply because we took time to observe our surroundings. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that our favorite tourist attraction was, without a doubt, Japantown. In addition to being one of the least crowded, we enjoyed Japantown because we all found areas to "get lost" in. Eden found a few toy stores and introduced Ray and I to Kinokuniya Bookstore, while I took the two of them to a Japanese hardware store. We easily spent two hours in the area without even realizing it!

-A

San Francisco is like Austin but more compressed! It has a great laid back, casual vibe. The weather is great. Food is amazing. Transportation is so convenient! And the beaches are fantastic. Walking around the city and being in the local areas rather than the touristy spots made me appreciate the local gems and hidden treasures of the city. I was amazed that there were so many Cantonese speakers in San Francisco! I felt like I was back in Hong Kong sometimes. 

eden

Today we visited Dodocase, a company focused on hand-made cases for mobile devices. It was very impressive to see that all of their employees had a background in the arts (book binding specifically) and were not in a sweatshop set up. 

This has been the largest factory we visited to date, and it was exciting to see the combination of technology (CNC Milling) with hand-work. 

Before our visit to Dodocase, we stopped at the California College of the Arts and explored their graduate design programs. We met with 4 graduate students there, who toured us around the labs and workspaces. 

It was interesting to see that their graduate program was looking at very similar issues as our undergrad program. They focused on problem solving of self-initiated issues.

Their labs were phenomenal! TWO wood working labs, One Arduino labs fully staffed with computer scientists, and One fabrication lab. They also had twenty "multipurpose" rooms that students could check out for installations and projections.

Fuseproject has been an inspiration to me as a student designer since I found Yves Behar on TED. I didn't know how to express what I wanted to accomplish in design until I heard Yves relating design to storytelling. I was inspired by the work Fuseproject has accomplished, like the XO laptops and tablets, and I hold these projects as a standard to strive towards in my own work.

When our team applied for the Travel Grant, I thought this could be a once in a lifetime chance to actually visit the studio. To my surprise, we got a response! The team was so welcoming and answered the many questions we had about the goals of the company and how they approach design consultancy projects. I love the way Fuseproject combines branding, strategy, and industrial design into every project, recognizing that all these parts of design come together to create the entire consumer experience. Graphic design, packaging design, marketing, the digital space and industrial design can't work separately in projects like these.

Through my undergraduate experience, I felt like I was learning a little bit of everything, but not soaking myself into one main category of design. Visiting Fuseproject showed me that there are firms out here bringing all the bits and pieces of design together, and that's exciting.

We talked with Jared and learned about being an independent woodworker. Because I've been interested in woodworking, I wanted to meet Jared.

In the summer of 2012, I completed a Public Interest Design Build with UT's School of Architecture. During my program, I learned about the firm Public Architecture and their 1% program. The 1% program is a small step towards employing design to those who can't afford the think tanks and creative resources. Design school likes to stress the importance of designing for the public interest and putting creative talents to use in areas in need. However, the majority of designers graduate from design school to help companies make money. Public Architecture is unique in that designers are being facilitators in the community and empowering other designers to participate in meaningful projects. 

We visited Modern Industry and spoke with three of the five "dudes" (as they call themselves), Lorris, Mike, and Taylor, about how their company began and what their design process is like. We enjoyed seeing how each member of the Modern Industry team is skilled in multiple areas of production, an arrangement that enables them to rapidly meet the needs of their ever-growing customer base. At Modern Industry, we were able to see what it means to start your own product line and turn it into a full-fledged business. After we left, we all agreed that this interview was one of our most valuable, as we could easily see ourselves working to create our own product lines in the future.