Concepts to Live By

More Prints

2011-12-24T11:03:00.001-08:00

The top print is from an edition of 15 and is titled "Green Eggs n Ham". The print below is from an edition of 13 and is titled "Splat".

Printmaking

2011-12-24T10:59:00.000-08:00

I took a relief printmaking class this semester and thought I should show some of the work. These prints were my first edition and were printed from a two-ply sheet of cardboard. Sorry for the low quality photos.

Rear Lights

2011-11-19T11:41:00.000-08:00

Lighting Clusters

2011-11-19T11:37:00.001-08:00

Here are some really quick sketches I did a few weeks back. I was focusing on the general layout of the lights as well as the character they would give the vehicle.

Studio to Summit

2011-11-18T21:15:00.000-08:00

Please check out my planned design project for second semester: Studio to Summit. Along with 6 other students I will be traveling to Ecuador to backpack in the Andes and summit Cotopaxi. During second semester we will be designing a family of outdoor products based upon the product testing and field research done in Ecuador.

Model Update

2011-11-18T20:46:00.000-08:00

Clay Modeling

2011-11-15T09:47:00.001-08:00

Here are a couple photos of my 1/5th scale clay model in progress. The modeling process is incredibly time intensive because the clay has to be heated in an oven before it can be applied to the model, then it has to cool before you can form it with tools. The first photo reveals the blue-foam buck under the 3/4 in. layer of clay. Using a buck keeps the model from getting too heavy and saved me from buying a large quantity of the modeling clay, which is quite expensive. Check in soon for more updates.

Interior Sketching

2011-11-05T14:01:00.001-07:00

Front 3/4 Views

2011-10-20T08:53:00.001-07:00

Here are some quick sketches that 'marry' my current body design with some of the designs I sketched in front profile. I feel these drawings could be stronger, but they are still effective tools for making decisions on what features to pursue and what concepts should be left behind.

For reference I've also added some photos of the competition. Land Rover just released their newest concept vehicle, the DC100 Sport, a hip little topless SUV.

Rear Views

2011-10-20T08:47:00.000-07:00

Down The Road Graphics

2011-10-12T18:50:00.001-07:00

Here are some thumbnail sketches that I've been doing in order to explore the front end possibilites for my Jeep Compass Concept. In the auto industry they refer to this view as the 'down the road graphic' meaning it's the image you get of the vehicle in your rear-view mirror or as it drives toward you down the road. This view is extremely important because it can make a car either very recognizable...or completely unnoticeable. I intended these sketches to be iconic and original, yet still true to the nature of the vehicles brand. Enjoy!

Previous Jeep Concepts

2011-10-07T08:10:00.001-07:00

I thought it would be nice to post some of Jeep's past concept vehicles in order to give viewers an idea of their styling direction as well as illustrate how high the bar has been set...clearly I need to exaggerate my forms and push my concepts farther from the current production model and closer to a true 'concept vehicle'.

Package Concepts

2011-10-07T07:55:00.000-07:00

A huge aspect of any vehicle design process is creating an intriguing yet functional package concept. This refers to things such as door layout, seat orientation, seating adjustment/configuration, ride height and drive-train. These quick sketches allowed me to consider a number of different configurations and although some of them may not be all-together feasible, they still led me to a strong final package concept.

Jeep Sketches

2011-10-07T07:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some sketches from my fall transportation studio. The goal of the class is to design a concept car for release in 2016 under a current model name. My appointed vehicle is the Jeep Compass, a compact SUV that's been in production since 2007 and takes a number of styling cues from Jeep's Grand Cherokee. These sketches hint at the direction I'm hoping to take with my design, however my intention is to exaggerate features and forms in order to push my vehicle to appear as a true concept car.

Senior Year

2011-09-10T15:47:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's been a while since I updated the blog. I am currently back in Brooklyn after a Seattle summer filled with bicycling, house painting and interning with the guys and gals of Gray Pants, a Seattle based design firm who specialize in sustainable plywood chairs and laser-cut cardboard lamp shades.

I hope to get back in the groove of updating the blog a little more regularly with local happenings and current school work. Continue to check the blog in the next few weeks for some of my first car sketches for my new transportation design class. For now enjoy these updated portfolio photos of my motorcycle model and wire-frame model from last semester:

Motorcycle Final Model

2011-05-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

These are not the final portfolio photos, but I thought I should get some up as quick as possible:

Justin Amorratanasuchad

2011-04-25T18:12:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine, Justin Amorratanasuchad passed away on April 17th in Boston while filming one of his movies. He was an incredibly creative guy, with a talent for skateboarding and film-making.

His memory lives on in hundreds of friends who loved him for his jokes, kindness and fun-loving attitude.

rest in peace

SolidWorks Model

2011-04-05T14:58:00.000-07:00

These are some recent renderings I did of a New Balance running shoe I built in my SolidWorks 2 class. For those more familiar with the program, the model was built using only surfacing tools. Enjoy

2011 Portfolio

2011-04-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

Design Portfolio 2011

Transportation Update

2011-04-03T20:25:00.001-07:00

Here are some photos of more recent motorcycle design work. I am continuing to fine-tune my concept and adjust design specifics, but have settled on a name: The Mutt, due to it's shared dirt and sport bike qualities. The final image is of the small scale wire model I recently completed.

Earth Techling

2011-03-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

My Pure Melt concept was recently featured on the green-design website Earth Techling, feel free to check out the article here: "Solar Bag Purifies Snow for Drinking".

2-Wheeled Vehicle

2011-03-08T17:55:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of a model I built for my motorcycle class a few weeks ago that show the 2nd generation of my concept. It is clearly more abstract than some of my more recent drawings but still represents some of the same elements, colors and emotion I want to capture in further generations of my motorcycle design.

Motorcycle Drawings

2011-03-04T18:19:00.001-08:00

Motorcycle Sketches

2011-03-04T18:01:00.000-08:00

More Trans

2011-02-06T13:20:00.001-08:00

Each of the 2nd generation models had to be painted with a five-color paint scheme meant to enhance their visual appearance. The Pratt compressor was broken so rather than spraying the models I had to hand-paint each. I've decided to continue evolving the final model with the lime green and tan color-way and will have more photos soon of recent changes and the addition of wheels!

Trans

2011-02-06T13:15:00.001-08:00

These models were adapted from the three chosen concepts below by adding additional forms or details and enlarging the overall size. They are constructed of scored bristol board, blue foam, and wooden dowels.

Motorcycle Studio

2011-02-06T12:49:00.000-08:00

I'm taking a transportation design class as my core studio this semester and thought I'd share some of my initial work. The class is specifically focused on two and three-wheeled vehicles but we began by simply experimenting with abstract sculptures constructed of planes, lines, and volumes. After making 10 studies, we chose three of the most successful models to evolve. Here are some photos of my chosen three models:

Break

2010-12-21T14:35:00.001-08:00

Well I'm finally finished with first semester of my Junior year at Pratt and have already arrived home in Seattle. The semester ended with quite a lot of work and I'm still working on documenting and sorting everything out before I can begin to share it. My final critique for ID View went great, here's a little peak of my setup:

1000 Page Views

2010-12-08T07:44:00.000-08:00

A big thank you to my friends, family and fellow students for their continued interest in my work and for 1000 page views as of today.

Finals week is in full swing here in Brooklyn, but check back soon for post ID View updates of my latest projects and final work.

Pure Melt Drawings

2010-12-03T09:31:00.001-08:00

These are some recent drawings of the Pure Melt snow melting bag. Although the design has changed slightly since I drew them, they still give a good general idea of function, material and styling.

If you are interested in some of my earlier work on this same project check out these old posts that explain the idea as well as some of my process:

Product Design Update

Product Design

More Models

2010-12-03T09:25:00.001-08:00

Here are the rest of the Pure Melt photos, 4th sketch model below:

5th (Semi-Final) sketch model:

Finals

2010-12-03T09:12:00.000-08:00

Everything is beginning to get a bit crazy in Brooklyn for finals week. I thought I'd post some photos of the various Pure Melt sketch models I've been working on all semester for my design course before I get completely bogged down.

I'm starting the final model this weekend, but these photos help illustrate some of my process in designing the snow melting bag:

2nd sketch model:

3rd sketch model:

Table Top

2010-11-17T13:40:00.000-08:00

Here are some finalized renderings of the table I built in Solid works that I posted from earlier in the semester with the addition of some dishes for scale. Rendered in Photo View 360:

Pratt Radio Light Box

2010-11-16T19:57:00.001-08:00

As many of you know I've been an employee and show host for Pratt Radio for the past couple years. This year the station manager Nick Childers decided we needed some sort of device that promoted the station while also informing the student body of show times, host names and more. I was asked to build a window mounted light box to solve the problem, by drawing the attention of students walking by the station and projecting show times. The photos below are only a selection of the shots I took throughout the entire process- the rest can be found on my Photobucket.

This project was very low-budget: we spent about $50 on materials... If I was to do it again I would definitely minimize the depth of the frame because the current setup is extremely large and quite heavy.

Solid Works Bicycle

2010-11-12T17:42:00.000-08:00

Here are some recent renderings I did of a bicycle assembly I've been building in Solid Works. The rendering was done with Photo View 360. The bicycle was an assignment for my Solid Works class that I took special interest in due to my own passion for cycling. Hope you enjoy the images, they are my first renderings.

Great Blue Heron

2010-11-08T15:28:00.001-08:00

I've continued work on my wooden 3D pieces and adapted the Blue Heron two more times. Here are some photos of the most recent models, I have one more to complete for wednesday and will be finalizing the size, elements, and materials for a final piece. The top 2 photos were the second adaptation and the bottom 3 are the most recent:

Whisk Sketching

2010-11-02T21:55:00.000-07:00

Here are some sketches I did for short group project in my design class at Pratt. I had to do 30 hand mixer sketches total, 10 that would be used in a professional kitchen, 10 marketed to home cooks and 10 that fell into the "goofy" category. I tried to develop some quick whisk sketching techniques for these sketches to speed them up, so all in all each drawing took a little less than 5 minutes. We developed these specific groups based on market research of currently available whisks and the general categories they fell into. The sketches were done with prismacolors and a fineliner:

Wooden Animals

2010-10-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

Here are the photos of the wooden animal abstractions. Since finishing these pieces I decided to continue evolving the Blue Heron and will post pictures of the newer ideation shortly.

3D

2010-10-30T13:40:00.000-07:00

My 3D class is taking a break from the bristol board animal studies and are now focusing on wood construction. I began the project with three abstract models constructed with scavenged wood. The original forms, joints and materials I used for these sculptures were then applied back to more animal abstraction. Here are the first three sculptures (I clearly need to get in the habit of using a nice camera for these photos):

Halloween

2010-10-30T13:24:00.001-07:00

Halloween couldn't have come quicker, this year seems to be flying by at an almost alarming rate, as I was finishing a number of midterms and deadlines these past couple of weeks. I hope to upload some of my more recent work this weekend as well as some photos of the costume I put together for this year's festivities.

Seeing as October is the month of honoring the dead, I'd like to honor the lives of two amazing musicians who died this past October:

The reggae legend Gregory Isaacs died on October 25, 2010 at age 59, after battling lung cancer for a number of years. Although his discography contains a number of classic reggae hits, my all time favorite song is Night Nurse (click for the YouTube link).

The much younger and lesser known Micheal Larson, known as Eyedea of the underground Hip Hop duo Eyedea and Abilities died on October 16, 2010 at age 28. The cause of his death is still unknown, but comes as a great loss in a time when creative and original Hip Hop is getting harder and harder to find. Here is a link to the groups song Act Right.

Product Design Update

2010-10-02T16:14:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my most recent sketches for the Hot/Cold design problem. As you can see these drawings were highly influenced by some of the concepts I sketched earlier when I was more focused on winter shelters.

SolidWorks Practice

2010-10-02T15:59:00.000-07:00

One of my classes this year is all about learning how to use the 3D CAD program SolidWorks, one of the essential tools of the modern-day designer. Here are a couple screenshots from a recent homework assignment that had me building tables and using of of SolidWorks more unique features that allows for multiple "configurations" of one model. The two tables are actually the same file, simply configured so one is a dinner table and one a bed-side.

Product Design

2010-09-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

My four-credit class for the fall semester is Product Design and I chose to enroll in a Biomimicry specific course. Our first project has been very research intensive so far, but I've done a little sketching that I can share. The project we were assigned is about either heat or cold conservation and I was originally planning to apply it to winter survival shelters. In an effort to scale down my project I'm beginning to design some sort of fresh water storage system that melts and filters snow.

"Biomimicry is an emerging discipline that studies nature's best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems" - Biomimicry Guild. I've already done quite a bit of research on some of Earth's best cold weather species and am currently in the process of studying Caribou fur as well as the petal patterns of certain tundra flowers. Here are some of the early sketches I did when I was still focused on the shelter problem:

Animal Update

2010-09-29T11:37:00.001-07:00

I've continued work on the bristol board animal studies and have centered my attention on the swordfish for further adaptation. The next step of the project will be focused on finding a new material that allows for mass production to build the final model out of. Sorry for the low quality phone photos:

Back to School

2010-09-16T20:58:00.000-07:00

I thought it might be about time for a blog update... I'm just getting back into the Pratt routine after a long summer and already enjoying Junior year. I've had trouble in the past keeping the blog up to date, but I hope to upload my school and personal work more frequently this year.

My 3D class this semester focuses on abstracting the form and persona of animals, so the first few weeks have been fun while we familiarize ourselves with different animals in a number of planar construction studies. Here's a selection of the least abstracted models made of Bristol board

Sketching...

2010-07-28T13:25:00.001-07:00

Here are some quick sketches from today, I'm working on developing form through contour in order to give my sketches more depth. Used Prismacolor 30%, Fineliner, and Sharpie.

Wacom Practice

2010-07-27T18:43:00.000-07:00

For those who don't know, I've spent the last week in Portland, Oregon visiting Ziba, a design consultancy that invited me to come down for two weeks at the end of my summer to shadow some of it's designers and gain some field experience.

The visit has renewed my interest in refining my sketching skills as well as my digital drawing techniques, so I spent some time today on one of Ziba's wacom tablets. Heres the sketch of one of my recycled mp3 player designs:

Sophomore Portfolio

2010-05-26T20:26:00.000-07:00

Here is my final portfolio of work from Sophomore year at Pratt in the Industrial Design Department.

Clicking the title link will redirect you to my photobucket, where you can find photos of all my work from this year in school that aren't included in my portfolio.

Final Critique

2010-05-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

The school year just ended in a hurry in early May, but I was able to get all my work done on time for the ID View and thought that I should post some photos before I got the chance to forget. I arrived home in Seattle yesterday and am beginning to be quite excited to see what summer in the northwest has in store for me.

I hope to be uploading work from this year shortly, but until then here are the photos of my setup for the review:

Digital Drawing

2010-03-26T13:57:00.001-07:00

Recently I've been taking advantage of some of Pratt's technological resources including their computer lab full of state of the art digital tablet monitors. You can check out the actual tablet at: http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/cintiq-21ux.php

I'm becoming more and more adept at using the program Sketchbook Pro and plan to fine-tune my own digital style and increase my speed on the tablet in the weeks to come.

Across State Lines 2010

2010-02-07T09:03:00.000-08:00

Join me and Nick Madonia for the premier of our Across State Lines online radio show only on WPIR Pratt Radio. The broadcast starts at 4PM every Sunday and can be heard at www.pratt.edu/radio.

You can expect previous ASL co-host Dave Morse as a special guest on air today, as well as an eclectic mix of tunes including some soul, reggae, rap, punk, rock, and more...

...and don't forget to support other shows by tuning in whenever you're by your computer with nothing to do.

Prototypes and 3D Sculpture Fall 09 (Click for Link)

2010-01-29T12:46:00.001-08:00

Design Projects Fall 09

2010-01-29T12:25:00.000-08:00

Design Clock Booklet

Client Project Booklet

Industrial Design Drawing Fall 2009 (Click for Link)

2010-01-29T11:49:00.001-08:00

Bauhaus (Click for Article)

2010-01-20T22:25:00.000-08:00

Marcel Breuer: Wassily Chair, 1927

For those interested in a little reading, check out this article in the New Yorker about the Bauhaus exhibit at the MOMA. It acts as a great introduction to the school while also questioning some of it's ideals and concepts: a perspective I'm yet to come across among my professors at Pratt.

Happy New Years

2010-01-20T22:13:00.000-08:00

Hey all, Im only a few days into second semester Sophomore year at Pratt and already getting swamped with work. This fall was my first semester in the Industrial Design department and marks the beginning of my work as a designer...as I'm sure you can guess it was quite a grueling fall filled with little sleep, but more than a little fun.

Im hoping to update the blog with all my work from Fall 09 in the near future, but until then here are photos from my Final Critique.

2009-05-21T01:00:00.001-07:00

WOW

2008-09-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I know it's been a while since I've updated the blog but as I'm sure you can all guess, I've been quite busy. First off New York is incredible and Pratt is everything I could have wished for in an art school. Classes are great and I have the most diverse group of friends possible. I'm still working out the kinks of living on my own and gluten-free dining on the cheap but so far all is well. I hope to post some pictures soon but I'll have to take more first! Bicycling in Brooklyn is a scary adrenaline-inducing nightmare...I love it. Im just taking it all in and enjoying every moment- thanks for checking in.

Foray into Digital Photography

2008-07-19T14:56:00.000-07:00

It's so easy and simple and...and digital! Like I said- I've been having a whole lotta fun, check em out at the same old place. I hope to continue doing a lot of photography next year, and Im sure it'll be a little easier as I just found out that my roommate is a photography major. Cool stuff...and I promise to stop it with the alliteration titles for now

Creative Crash

2008-07-19T14:36:00.000-07:00

For the first time in a while I've finally found the time to just sit down every day and create something. What makes these pieces different is that I'm pulling random ideas, images, and thoughts from my head and throwing them on the paper in ways I generally don't. It's an uplifting feeling to find yourself wondering how the piece will finish while at the same time not caring about the final result. I hope you enjoy them as much as I've enjoyed making them- more can be found in my same photobucket account: album

I've had countless inspirations lately but nature, thought, and faces have especially been found infiltrating my mind- wonder why

Summer Slowdown

2008-07-19T12:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've got a few updates for this one- first off, my dad and I drove down to portland yesterday to check out a design firm by the name of Ziba, where we have a family friend who graciously showed us around the firm, from their extensive shops to laid back creative work stations, as well as introducing us to the firm's strong ideology of simplifying and strengthening consumer's overall experiences and interactions with products and services.

I just recently bought myself a new digital slr camera (canon rebel eos xti- definitely recommended) and have been having some fun exploring the options of shooting manual but having the capabilities to save hundreds of photos in digital. Anyway, I'll post a few sometime soon.

On a different note- I've been having a rough couple of weeks, but fortunately for you thats supercharged my creative side, so I'll see if I can post some of my newest creations, sketches, and odd mental images. Until then, enjoy whatever summer you've got.

My Eagle Project

2008-07-03T16:22:00.001-07:00

Photobucket Album

E.D.D. Engineering Half Year Design Project

2008-07-03T16:16:00.001-07:00

Photobucket Album

Wow..Full-Time really means FULLTIME

2008-07-03T15:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, for anyone who's been occasionally checking in to see if there have been any updates- I apologize. As I finished up the school year dealing with Graduation, my Eagle Scout Court, and more, I also started my full-time summer work schedule at Gorgeous George's were I've been working for over a year.

I've been asked to be a correspondent for the PNA Blog- which although not yet set up or anything, really excites me as I feel that the Center has been a big part of my life. On a related note I was interviewed in Rex Dulay's short documentary about Community and the PNA, and although I haven't had a chance to see it yet, I hear it's great and urge anyone interested to contact Rex at rex@phinneycenter.org.

Thanks for checking in- and again I have some albums I hope to post soon!

Eagle Finally...

2008-05-22T22:33:00.001-07:00

So I had my Eagle Scout Board of Review tonight and it went great! I'm proud to say that I'm finally an Eagle Scout and hope to post photos of my Eagle Project Mural up at the Phinney Neighborhood Center as soon as I get a chance.

INK Cover

2008-05-22T18:14:00.000-07:00

I recently designed the cover for the Spring 2008 edition of INK, Ballard High School's Art and Literature Magazine. I was honored to be asked to come up with the artwork and had a lot of fun with it. Although I preferred the original, it had to be slightly edited by the INK staff. I believe they printed around 2,000 copies which sold for $2 a piece.

College Portfolio

2008-05-02T23:25:00.001-07:00

Photobucket Album

Senior Project Slides

2008-05-01T18:52:00.001-07:00

Photobucket Album

Wow a blog?

2008-05-01T17:33:00.000-07:00

Yes, I've finally found the time to create my own blog to keep all who may be interested up to date on some of my recent endeavors, achievements, artwork, and whatever else I may find fit.

Just for a quick update I've been working hard to keep the Senioritis at bay while I try to hold my grades steady and focus on all of my extra-curriculars. I'll be graduating on June 13 (yes, it is friday the 13th) and my Eagle Scout Court is on the 11th.

I've decided that I will be attending Pratt next year to study Industrial Design. For those of you interested here is the link to the Pratt website, and here is a link to the IDSA website which has some pretty interesting information as well as designs that can explain what Industrial Design is really all about. I'm quite excited about exploring life in the artistic and cultural capitol of the country but obviously am having some worries as well.

In other news I was recently awarded a scholarship from the A.C.E. mentorship program I've been involved in for the past two years, which is especially helpful as I am beginning to figure exactly how I'll be paying for school.

Thanks for checking the blog out!