The Future of Air Travel
The fifties and sixties are often described as "The Golden Age of Flying" - a peculiar phenomenon, given how non-technologically advanced those two decades were compared to our modern times. So why are so many of today's news articles reporting on the complaints of economy class fliers, on the struggles of airlines to fulfill consumer demands? What wider cultural codes can carriers extrapolate innovative strategies from? What can economy class fliers expect to see, to experience, on future planes? In this visualization, I explore the possibilities by analyzing how three airline products have transformed over time. The products; (1) chairs; (2) screens; and (3) food. The overarching important themes predicted: (1) "Everything a la carte." (2) Class is superfluous." (3) "Tech goes invisible."
INDUSTRY
Communication Design Travel |
SKILLS
Trend Forecasting Consumer Analysis Strategy Execution Adobe Illustrator |
The Simple Life: Culturalmimicry
What Americans Can Learn From the Surma People
Every year, the United States releases over 8 million tons of CO2 emissions, and the average American generates approximately 4.4 pounds of waste on a daily basis. Compare this to the numbers from Ethiopia (6,494 tons/year, 1.06 pounds/day), and you can't help but wonder: "Why are we so wasteful?" This data visualization combines stats with a deep cultural investigation of the humble lifestyle of the Surma people, a small tribe who resides in Ethiopia, in order to bring research to life. Readers are moved through a narrative infographic that ends in a powerful message.
INDUSTRY
Communication Design Consumer Goods / Lifestyle |
SKILLS
Information Visualization Adobe Creative Suite |
Fashion Tech Start-Ups
What Affects How Much Funding They Receive?
"Fashion tech think tank" Third Wave Fashion wanted to investigate what start-up characteristics (i.e. founder gender / number, geographic origins, etc.) strongly affect how much funding it receives. This is the main deliverable from a project my Information Visualization team worked on with them: an interactive Tableau Dashboard that translates the firm's huge database of fashion tech start-up information into insights we hoped TWF could take action upon.
INDUSTRY
Communication Design Fashion / Retail Technology |
SKILLS
Information Visualization Tableau Software Powerpoint |
A presentation was also shared with our client - it showed our design process and also proposed a new strategy based on our visualization's main insights.
DIY NYC Cat Fort
Hands-On Guide to Building Your Own All Natural Feral Cat Shelter
Since 2010, Architects for Animals hosts a "Giving Shelter" event, an awareness-meets-fundraising initiative that helps animals in need by pitting top design firms against each other in some friendly competition. Invited to participate in 2012, Pilot Projects LLC was asked to develop a creative solution that would address the lack of shelter, warmth, and care faced by NYC's feral cat communities. Rather than take the traditional route and design a completed construction ourselves, we opted to hand-sketch a DIY tutorial which empowers anyone to join the effort and build a shelter.
INDUSTRY
Non-profit Architecture / Urban Planning |
SKILLS
Research Sketching |
A Hero's Gastronomy
A Recipe Book Mapping the Culinary Journey of a Novice Chef
Combining story-telling with recipe book design, this project explores how communicating a culinary how-to can be enlightening and entertaining. As both designer and raconteur, I made sure that each recipe was accompanied by a short narrative snippet that follows our "hero", Joe, as he’s guided by his mentor, Gourmand Gordon, in a culinary mentorship towards a healthier, happier lifestyle.
INDUSTRY
Book Design Food |
SKILLS
Storytelling Adobe Illustrator |
PicLit App
Promotional Poster
PICLIT. Classic novels condensed into visual tableaux.
Bored on the subway? Class lecture putting you to sleep? Today's busy consumers have short attention spans, are inseparable from their phones, and crave quick entertainment in the few minutes that they do have to spare. Now classic novels, though timeless, often are just too lengthy to go through - they're too difficult to understand, too dense to read. With PicLit, you can finally experience verbose titles like A Tale of Two Cities in an easy and engaging way. We host a vast library of famous stories, interpreted and summarized by creatives from all fields: graphic design, illustration, painting, etc. Readers, surf through our collection, follow your favorite artists, even find links to purchase original books. Designers, create your own profiles, showcase your work, comment on the projects of others. Visually stimulating and mentally refreshing, PicLit is a storytelling community at its best.
Bored on the subway? Class lecture putting you to sleep? Today's busy consumers have short attention spans, are inseparable from their phones, and crave quick entertainment in the few minutes that they do have to spare. Now classic novels, though timeless, often are just too lengthy to go through - they're too difficult to understand, too dense to read. With PicLit, you can finally experience verbose titles like A Tale of Two Cities in an easy and engaging way. We host a vast library of famous stories, interpreted and summarized by creatives from all fields: graphic design, illustration, painting, etc. Readers, surf through our collection, follow your favorite artists, even find links to purchase original books. Designers, create your own profiles, showcase your work, comment on the projects of others. Visually stimulating and mentally refreshing, PicLit is a storytelling community at its best.
The final deliverable for a four-stage design project: (1) Brainstorm: Develop a concept for a new App and explain its value to your target market; (2) Wireframe: Use UI kits provided by the professor to design multiple screens for your App; (3) Prototype: Bring your screens to swipeable life through INVISION; and (4) Sell: Create a promotional poster which markets your product to the world.
INDUSTRY
Technology |
SKILLS
App Design Photoshop |
The Handbag Reimagined
The Process Behind the Project
Clutch. Tote. Satchel. Cross-body. Today’s handbags come in all shapes and sizes. And whether it’s to complete an outfit or to simply hold one’s things, what they provide to wearers by combining functionality and aesthetics is value. But what if, Pilot Projects founder Scott Francisco wondered, we could add to the handbag's value set by giving it another ability: alterable sizing? A wearer's problem of needing to constantly switch between bags would thus be solved. As the firm’s R&D intern, I was asked to bring his idea to life. Hands-on and challenging, it became one of my favorite projects, and thus was easily my choice for a Portfolio Strategies assignment. To kick off a semester of learning how to present ourselves and our talent to future employers, students were asked to create a short portfolio which shows both our work and the process behind it.
INDUSTRY
Product Development Fashion / Retail |
SKILLS
Consumer Analysis Prototyping Sketching Water Color Research & Development Photography Adobe Creative Suite |
So You Want to Be a Green Market Vendor...
An infographic capturing three characteristics of Union Square's Green Market vendors: (1) day(s) of the week they're present; (2) what state they hail from; and (3) the types of produce they sell. "Certified Organic" also noted. Colored such that viewers can quickly determine categories which have the heaviest concentration of vendors. Useful for both customers (when to shop, what's available) and sellers (who they're competing with).
INDUSTRY
Communication Design Food |
SKILLS
Information Visualization Adobe Illustrator |
20th Century Fashion Designers
One is known for her use of lavish fabrics, hand-printed silks, pleating skills, macramé inserts, and beautiful evening gowns that resemble those of Fortuny. The other has been crowned fashion's "l'enfant terriblé", but there certainly is nothing "terrible" about his gender-bending designs, legendary costumes for Madonna, and success as a perfumer. In this two part assignment, we were asked to pick two fashion designers and create a Powerpoint on each. Presentations must tell their story - their biography, design aesthetic, achievements, etc. - in a way that reflects the subject's character as an individual, philosophy as a couturier. My designers: Mary McFadden and Jean Paul Gaultier.
INDUSTRY
Communication Design Fashion / Retail Arts / Culture |
SKILLS
Historical Research Powerpoint |
Mary McFadden from Anne Chen |
Classmate Infographics
A common early assignment in my design-related classes was to create an engaging diagram that summarizes some interesting facts about my new classmates. Professors would explain that their intentions were two-fold: to give them a taste of our design skills, and to help us get to know each other a little better.
INDUSTRY
Communication Design |
SKILLS
Information Visualization Adobe Creative Suite |
Fundamentals of Graphic Design
Early projects which helped introduce me to the basics of graphic design and theory - i.e. Gestalt principles, typography, logo design, etc.
INDUSTRY
Communication Design |
SKILLS
Visual Theory Logo Design Typography Adobe Creative Suite |