YEAR 3

This year marked the crossing of the halfway point in my University of Cincinnati student career. I got my first product design tooled for production on the market, built up an active professional online presence for my work, took a 2,000 mile road trip across the east side of the USA, formed deeper relationships with my peers in- and outside of my major, and learned to make big plans and stick to them.

I started off with a fall semester internship position at BISSELL Homecare Inc. in my desired field of consumer home goods design. While I was there, I was given the opportunity to hone my skills in Photoshop sketching on a Cintiq tablet, learn to identify and adhere to a corporate brand language through form factors and material selection, and experience a new level of self-guided work flow. I got to experience industrial design professionals meeting every week to critique designs and decide on the future of the company in terms of target audience and advanced technological development. My time at BISSELL was capped off by a successful presentation of my design work at the Global Category Lead Team meeting and an offer to return to my position for the summer internship semester.

Upon my return to Cincinnati in the spring, I dove into a semester jam-packed with collaboration and team-oriented college work. My main focus course was a Product Design studio in which my classmates and I researched and built our own design brand, cleverly named Section 001, in order to present a cohesive display of Midwest modern furnishings at the New York International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF). Such an undertaking required tremendous amounts of group decision-making, peer critique and discussion, organization both in the classroom and online, and responsibility as each student was accountable for various tasks to establish a functional brand identity. Our exhibit proved to be a grand success as we took home an Editors Choice Award and earned national acclaim for the university as the best student design booth.

In addition, I challenged myself this semester by enrolling in a Materials Engineering elective course, fully outside of the realm of my major. My goal for my learning in this class was to emerge with a better understanding of how material choice can drive the form of a design, and which material choices are logical and efficient for various design applications. While I was able to keep up with the assignments and team collaboration with engineering students for the first couple months of the semester, I found myself overwhelmed by physics and chemistry lessons for which I did not have the educational foundation. After talking with my professor, I reached the conclusion that this course was suited best for students interested in learning the science behind the selection of chemical compounds, not an industrial designer looking for conceptual knowledge of ready-made materials. When I finally dropped the course mid-semester, I felt as if I had failed.

Fortunately, my learning this semester also focused on being open with emotions and having the humility to ask for help! I was able to be honest with my friends and my professor about how the course had been impacting my performance, and I was encouraged by them when they helped me to understand that having a willingness to try new things and learn (and even be unsuccessful) is an important characteristic of anyone seeking to excel in Industrial Design. I had emerged from the materials engineering course with a better understanding of types of materials and selection methods as well as collaboration with engineers.

Currently, I am applying some of this knowledge at my second round of employment back at BISSELL. This time, I am more confident to contribute during design critiques, am able to receive even more pointed feedback on my designs and presentations, and am tasked with more responsibilities with less supervision. I have learned to assert my creative decisions and justify every aesthetic choice with a sound design principle. My portfolio exhibits a better sense of professional maturity, and my interactions with professors and coworkers are more frequent and collaborative. In terms of my personal growth, I am significantly more confident about making big life decisions and plans – especially for my upcoming study abroad trip to South Korea – because of the moving and traveling I have done throughout the year. I have also established new physical and emotional fitness habits, many of which involve me being vulnerable with my close friends and not being afraid of being honest with the emotions that I am processing. I am more grateful than ever for the professors, advisors, mentors, family members, and friends who continue to gather around me as my college career continues into my fourth year!

#UC