Student’s Work

Franklin Guttman's project addresses urban transportation challenges through innovative design solutions that enhance commuter experiences, reduce environmental impact, and reimagine transit infrastructure for evolving urban systems and changing passenger needs.

An analog intervention addressing digital overwhelm through card-based contemplative prompts. This low-tech approach creates technology-free spaces for mindfulness, offering tools for cultivating awareness in fast-paced digital environments.

A community ritual transforming waste perception through "scrap-sculpting" exchanges. Participants create mementos from personal waste, establishing meaningful household fixtures that foster intergenerational appreciation and address environmental concerns.

A subversive board game placing players as honeybees navigating environmental challenges like habitat loss and industrial production. The game fosters empathy for pollinators while delivering sobering messages about ecological stewardship.

Combines physical playing cards with IoT technology enabling asynchronous bonding between parents and children during formative years, transforming bedtime routines into flexible, creative interactions that preserve connection despite separation.

Caitlyn Baensch, Hayoon Choi, Neely Lee, and Rachel Legg created "Refresh," a speculative wellness brand addressing the sleep deficiency epidemic among students who prioritize academics and social life over self-care. Recognizing sleep's essential role in wellbeing, success, and mood regulation, the team designed semester-based health kits to inspire healthy sleep habits. Their approach educates students about sleep's impacts on both body and mind while providing practical tools to encourage sustainable behavioral changes. Refresh envisions a transformed student experience where prioritizing rest becomes normalized, ultimately serving as a catalyst for a healthier, more empowered student population that reaches its fullest potential through improved sleep hygiene.

Quinten Staples and Max Shim developed "Assemble," addressing the unsustainable cycle of electronic production and disposal. With over one billion mobile phones produced annually and rapidly growing e-waste streams depleting scarce metals, the project challenges current consumption patterns. The team creates an empathetic connection between consumers and production workers by designing a customer experience that highlights global mining realities and environmental consequences. Their approach emphasizes transparency about resource origins and material sourcing. "Assemble" prompts critical reflection on electronic waste while proposing an alternative reality where responsibility is shared between producers and consumers, ultimately reimagining the relationship between people, products, and the planet.

Challenges America's car-centric infrastructure through an immersive digital experience guiding users through unwalkable cities. The campaign disrupts established mental models, helping audiences envision pedestrian-friendly alternatives that reduce social disparities and environmental impact.

A comprehensive campaign empowering young girls experiencing their first menstrual cycles through educational booklets, product kits, and accessible public dispensers. The project demystifies menstruation by providing clear, inclusive information and practical tools, helping adolescents navigate their early experiences with confidence. It works to destigmatize natural bodily functions through informed support and early intervention.

Transforms vacuuming from laborious task to aesthetic experience by reimagining the appliance as sculptural furniture with shape-change capabilities and integrated lighting. Challenges conventional home appliance design by elevating utilitarian objects to decorative centerpieces.

A pop-up vending machine campaign juxtaposing processed and healthy foods with nutrition facts at purchase point. Creates disruptive awareness moments to subvert thoughtless consumption patterns and redirect college students toward healthier snack choices.

A visual intervention highlighting the escalating problem of abandoned rental scooters cluttering public spaces. Through hyperbolic imagery and bold design cues, the project prompts viewers to consider the social and environmental impact of unchecked scooter behaviors. It challenges audiences to recognize how small individual actions can collectively transform shared environments.

Janet and CeCe developed "Sledu," an innovative furniture company creating products that transform traditional human-centered design into animal-centered living spaces. The project anticipates a paradigm shift where pets evolve from passive household members to "spirit animals" who actively guide family lifestyles and decisions. Using framing and subversion tactics, Sledu's furniture collection challenges conventional domestic hierarchies, persuading users to embrace a new relationship dynamic with their animal companions. The design approach radically reimagines household objects to facilitate harmonious coexistence between species. This forward-thinking project invites viewers to consider how design can reshape interspecies relationships and domestic environments.

Langston Wells and Emily Spooner created "Surfaces," a project translating 2D digital images into interactive 3D reliefs. The work addresses increasing digitization by enhancing tactile engagement with visual media through desktop and wall-mounted models. The team designed with comprehensive accessibility in mind, utilizing distinct textures (foam hand rests, brushed aluminum buttons) and ergonomic scaling to create comfortable interaction patterns. Rather than targeting only visually impaired users, they framed the product commercially to promote widespread appreciation of tangible experiences. Their thoughtful design includes dual-use configurations, braille-embossed instructions, and accessible packaging with high-contrast graphics. This forward-thinking project demonstrates how intentional design can enhance digital experiences while improving accessibility and encouraging meaningful social interaction around technology.

A conceptual system reframing smartphones as shared public resources accessed through secure ID authentication. By challenging planned obsolescence and promoting communal device use, the project encourages mindful digital consumption and reduces electronic waste. Origin’s distinctive cases serve as visible reminders of sustainable, community-centered technology practices.

A delivery app offering eco-friendly packaging to restaurants through monthly subscriptions. Features strategic design elements like dedicated "eco" categories and promotional benefits to encourage environmentally conscious dining choices during increased pandemic delivery demand.

A wearable device tracking phone usage during meals, providing reminders to put devices away. Addresses screen time infiltrating social dining experiences, helping users maintain technology awareness while enhancing quality time with friends and family.

Patricia, Sarah, and Julia developed "Humanize Us," a speculative society campaigning against the over-personification of technology. Their project envisions a future where humans form intimate relationships with personified objects, triggering a resistance movement advocating for technological de-humanization. Grounded in present research showing 77% believe society is over-reliant on technology and 66% experience nomophobia, the campaign uses provocative visual persuasion through digital posters featuring contradictory imagery like "bleeding" robotic arms and objectified robotic women. These juxtapositions aim to stimulate critical reflection on human-technology relationships, encouraging viewers to question what "humanizing" technology means and offering a movement to combat technological codependency.

A dining service offering discounted meals with strangers to combat social media's isolating algorithms. Uses warm branding, authentic testimonials, and social proof tactics to encourage diverse in-person interactions and break down social isolation barriers.

Caroline Song, Jamie Park, and Jina Lee created "Museum of Childhood Things," a visual campaign for a proposed 2025 pop-up museum showcasing childhood artifacts across generations. The project addresses pandemic-related family disconnection by creating a space for multi-generational engagement with childhood memories. Using emotional engagement tactics, the team developed a comprehensive visual identity with soft colors and rounded shapes across both print and digital platforms. Campaign materials include posters, an Instagram feed leveraging nostalgia, museum maps, exhibit signage, and interactive brochures encouraging personal reflection. The museum serves as a conversation starter, helping families develop empathy through shared exploration of how childhood experiences shaped individual identities.