#whyidesign

Konisa Studio participated this fall season at Museum of Vancouver who kick-started their 3rd Annual “Why I Design” event, featuring local designers and companies such as Chop Value, Yew Woodshop, Native Shoes, Knolly & Velo Metro Bikes and Henderson Dry Goods just to name a few!    

It is incredibly exciting to hear Vancouver in full support of the local design industry, given that  students and alumni’s all over the city (SFU, UBC, BCIT and Emily Carr University) are pouring innovation, passion and creativity into the community through their work and lifelong dedication. We also enjoyed seeing new projects ranging from large wood installations, interactive ceramic objects, bio-degradable mushroom building blocks, 3-d printed organs and walking assistant devices. Filled with food and lively chatter, the event broke new ground as many guests, artists, designers and entrepreneurs came out from their busy and hectic schedule to talk about design and why they love what they do.

A cloudy evening met with bright lights and optimism, thank you to everyone including Shauna Jean and Gregory Drecier for putting together this amazing event. Why I Design will definitely bring fond memories for months to come!

   MOV Presenters of 2016 (Why I Design)

ldooz Pooyanfar, Electronics Engineer / Simon Fraser University sfu.ca/~opooyanf/ Sensors for monitoring bee colonies Oldooz Pooyanfar received her BASc in electronics engineering from SFU in 2014. She is currently doing her MSc in the Mechatronics Department. Her work is aimed at helping agriculture and apiculture industries by observing the health of bee colonies.  

Felix Böck, Wood Technology and Industrial Engineer / ChopValue Manufacturing chopvalue.ca Repurposed bamboo for furniture/decor Wood technology and industrial engineer Felix Böck is working towards his PhD at UBC. His firm is a product development and design start-up that innovates with recycled chopsticks as its raw material.  

Joe Dahmen, Co-Director / AFJD afjdstudio.net Sustainable masonry Joe Dahmen, of design and research firm AFJD, is Assistant Professor at the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. He is an expert on sustainable building technology and a 2016-17 scholar at the Peter Wall Institute of Advanced Studies.  

Riley McFerrin, Founder / Hinterland Design hinterlanddesign.com Pillowy Bench: A wood and upholstered bench Riley McFerrin is a visual artist, designer, and builder at Hinterland, whose woodworkers and craftspeople build by hand with natural materials, including salvaged, local, and eco products.  

Patrick Christie, Wood Product Designer + Danielle Gilday and Logan Gilday, Co-Founders / Yew WoodShop ewwoodshop.com Wood Design Patrick Christie operates design studio Daly Co. out of Yew WoodShop, a small-scale production workshop. Logan Gilday, an industrial designer who runs Yew WoodShop with his partner Danielle Gilday, upcylces wood in order to produce functional furniture.  

Barbara Alink, Inventor / The Alinker thealinker.com High-tech walker / walking aid Barbara Alink travelled the world for 10 years managing reconstruction and restoration projects. She brings the diversity of her experiences to connect people through design, in order to help build a more inclusive global community.  

Alex Henderson, Founder / Henderson Dry Goods hendersondrygoods.com Laser cut wood worksAlex Henderson studied fine arts at Langara College and earned a degree in industrial design from Emily Carr University in 2006. She worked for John Fluevog as a designer and manufacturing liaison before founding Henderson Dry Goods.  

Pierce Jordan, Industrial and Graphic Designer / Pierce Jordan Designs piercejordan.com Wax beam light fixturePierce Jordan designs experience-based installations with an emphasis on sound-and-movement-reactive lighting. His work melds historical reference with minimal modern design.  

Shannon Mortimer, Industrial Designer / Objects with Personality shannonmortimer.com Ceramics / 3DShannon Mortimer is a designer-ceramicist and recent grad from Emily Carr University’s Industrial Design Program. Her work explores the intersection of digital manufacturing technologies and traditional craft practices.  

Radu Postole, Entrepreneur and Engineer, and Jeremy Takada Balden, Consultant / TetraGear Inc. tetragear.com Innovative safety devices for people with disabilitiesTetraGear co-founder Radu Postole, who studied integrated engineering at UBC, began with Tetra as a volunteer student, designing and building innovative devices for people with disabilities. Jeremy Balden coordinates tasks required to bring TetraGear's lights to the market; he has a building engineering background.  

Kody Baker, Co-Founder / VeloMetro Mobility velometro.com Electrically-assisted, fully covered bikes Kody Baker, who holds a BASc in Mechanical Engineering from UBC and a Management of Technology MBA from SFU, is a technology manager and entrepreneur. He has brought to market products such as electric vehicles, biomass energy systems, and process control systems.  

Glenis Canete, Landscape Architect and Vivianne Harms, Landscape Designer / Hapa Collaborative hapacobo.com Models of the Jim Deva Plaza Megaphone and the Foot of Londsdale Plaza Megabench Glenis Canete has a design sensibility grounded in urban and landscape planning. Vivianne Harms brings professional experience in architecture and public art.  

Char Kennedy, Industrial Designer / Char Kennedy Design charkennedy.com Table mirrors Char Kennedy, who received a degree in industrial design from Emily Carr University, works in an East Van creative design studio. She focuses on objects that engage interaction and question the everyday.  

Melissa Higgs, Architect, Steve DiPasquale, Intern Architect, and Ali Kenyon, Designer / HCMA hcma.ca Design for Social Impact Architect Melissa Higgs is passionate about creating innovative public buildings where communities come together. At architecture and design firm HCMA, she focuses on recreation facilities and arts and culture projects. Steve DiPasquale is an intern architect. Ali Kenyon has a background in product and exhibition design.  

Brian Giesbrecht, Product Designer / Form3 and Noel Buckley, Owner / KNOLLY Bikes form3.com Mountain bike Brian Giesbrecht, a Bachelor of Design Emily Carr graduate, is an industrial design consultant who works at Form3. He has collaborated with clients ranging from start-ups to corporations. Form3 client Noel Buckley of KNOLLY bikes has a degree in physics, experience in manufacturing, and a career in engineering.  

Gabe Lam, Footwear Designer and Developer / Native Shoes nativeshoes.com Shoe Apparel A lifelong sneakerhead, Gabe Lam has had the privilege of combining his passion for shoes with his background in industrial design as a designer and developer at footwear company Native Shoes.  

Evan Roche, Designer and Hardware Engineer / Jimmi buildclass.org 3D bioprinterIn 2015, Evan Roche co-founded Jimmi, a firm that focuses on designing for applications of digital fabrication technology. He also launched the Buildclass workshop series, which educates participants about hardware development for 3D bioprinting.  

Rory McGuire, Game and Design Director, and Taylor Fales, Lead Designer / Blackbird Interactive blackbirdinteractive.com Video Games Rory McGuire has worked for 13 years on AAA hardcore games like Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, as well as titles such as Disney's Where's My Water? For 10 years, Taylor Fales has designed gameplay at Relic, Smoking Gun and Blackbird, an independent game studio.  

Clotilde Orozco and Alejandro Sanguino, Founders / Abubilla Design Studio abubilladesign.com Baby crib With a playful passion for wood, modernity, and recycling, architects Clotilde Orozco and Alejandro Sanguino founded their studio in 2012. Their first design collaboration was their daughter’s crib.  

Nancy Knaggs, Program Head / MAKE+, BCIT bcit.ca/appliedresearch/makeplus/ Instrumented hockey skate Nancy Knaggs works in applied research at BCIT, from which she received her diploma in robotics and automation in 2005. Nancy lends her skills in programming, designing, fabricating, and documenting to a wide range of applied research projects with companies, inventors, and entrepreneurs.  

Jeremy T. Lee, Industrial Designer and Founder / Konisa Studio konisastudio.com Stackable Kid's Chair + Ergonomic Adjustable Laptop & Book Riser Jeremy T. Lee, an industrial design graduate of Emily Carr University, runs Konisa Studio, a wood design innovation start-up centered around sustainability and lean production.  

Lexie Owen, Project Director and Curator / WNDW lexieowen.com Light installation Lexie Owen, artist-in-residence at Burrard View Fieldhouse 2015-2017, is an interdisciplinary designer of sculpture, craft, social practice initiatives, and curatorial projects. She is project director and curator of itinerant gallery space WNDW.  

Client: I need a website.

Designer: Why?

Client: To sell my junk.

Designer: Why?

Client: To make money.

Designer: Why?

Client: Because I need money to continue my business & live my life...

Designer: Why?

WHY?

Why I design ? It is difficult for me to give a specific answer why I design. There are too many reasons for it.  So I decided that I will simply list out the reasons why I design.  I design so I can help people. As a designer, we have the benefit of learning different tools and to use those skills express or build our ideals into the world. We look and thinks differently from others. Designer can thinks from outside of the box to tinny small little detail.  Design can be a service.  The design process, the creation of an ideal, what features it should have, how it should behave… It is a service, and I enjoy design for other’s problems. I design because I have a strong passion for it. Whenever I am working on a project, I am always excited and joyful no matter how tired I am.  There is no better feeling than to fill a white canvas with great design solutions to a challenge. 

UX designers are really lucky. Designs are essentially end-users' product/app/interface wish lists, whether they know it or not. 

"If I was a frequent user, it'd be awesome if I could do x from y."

"Based on what we know about these customers, I think they'd really like to be able to x their ys..."