Product Design Jackie Hon

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If you: are observant about things want to make changes about things spend a ton of money on materials are used to working with your hands like making a mess don’t mind noise dare to stand out are prepared to get your ass kicked are a people person and a lone worker, and are prepared to have (many) sleepless nights, Then, you’re almost good to go...

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These are from Public Realm. It’s the “user scenario.” The project was to make vending kiosks for the town of Margaretville, NY

WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN CLASS RIGHT NOW? I have 4 classes - 3 related to thesis and one liberal arts class. Thesis is the senior studio class. You also have to take Information Design with thesis in the fall and spring. You can pick ANYTHING in the world for your thesis project. Pick something you!re truly interested in or you!ll hate the entire year. That!s my tip on that!

WHAT WOULD YOU TELL SOMEBODY INTENDING TO MAJOR IN PRODUCT DESIGN?

Never take anything personally. Your projects will get beaten to death by your studio teacher. I suppose they!re NOT actually evil, but when you spend so much time working on something and then someone rips on you about it, it sucks. But, always see critiques as a way to learn about what to do in the future. Oh, and don!t pull all nighters. Ever. ESPECIALLY in product design becuase you!re likely to injure yourself chiseling at your project at 4am.

Cara Leonard A Senior year Student

WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT PRODUCT DESIGN AT PARSONS?

Product Design is awesome because you get these crazy skills that you can brag about. Can your friends weld? Probably not. My friends and family always call on me to fix things becuase I know how to work with so many types of materials and have a working knowledge of what needs to be done and how to do it. It!s pretty great, actually.

WHAT ARE CLASSES LIKE? ARE THEY TEAMED BASED OR INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS?

Most of the studio projects are team based. Most of the "elective! class projects are individual. Soph year!s studio is Design Research and Development. It!s a lot of quick 3 week projects. It!s hard, it!s intense, but you!ll get a lot out of it and learn what you can do. I really do stress this. I was told so many times by my teachers that my project “can!t be done,” but I always figured out a way to do it. I KNEW it could be done and it really gave me faith in my abilities. The first few months of DRD are individual then it goes on to groups of 3 for the end of the semester and the end of the following semester.

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Do you really think

No. Seriously. Do you? It’s not entirely about the hands on things, like making useful everyday objects. It’s also about the design of those objects, the things that you touch and use every day. The idea is to make a product for a certain group of people for a certain task. This means that you’ll have to know everything about this group of people. When you start a project, first you must research, find out everything you can about the relevant audience, and then you move on to designing. This can be done sketching by hand as well as on the computer using programs. If the research is not helping with the design, then you must go back and do some more research. You then build or make your product. Finally, you prepare to present your design, basically selling your idea and product to classmates and your studio teachers. How you arrive at the final product is up to you. But you will be taught the process and you will master your very own design process. Everyone does it differently, and you will eventually find your own way of arriving at the final product.

you know what Product Design is?

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WHEN ARE YOU GRADUATING? 2009

WHAT CAN’T YOU LIVE WITHOUT FOR CLASS? Measuring tape and sketchbook.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE CLASS? Prototypes, you actually get to build stuff.

WHAT’S YOUR LEAST FAVOURITE CLASS? Solidworks. I hate working on the computer. So it!s horrible because you need to make a digital model of most of your designs.

THE WORST THING ABOUT PRODUCT DESIGN? Everything takes so much time and there aren!t enough machines and tools for everyone. It!s really hard to procrastinate and you can!t do anything last minute because you have to wait hours for finishing to dry.

Leah Waldman junior year student

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ON THE

3rd

There you will find the main office, main classrooms and the model shop. (Where you will spend many hours.)

Sophomores and Juniors get their own boxes in the model shop to store their model projects. There are also lockers on the 3rd floor, but they’re reserved for Juniors and Seniors!

FLOOR

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Richard Yeh

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A junior year student

Herng Fuu

Richard Yeh

617 - 407 1582 [email protected]

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

WHAT’S THE ONE THING YOU WILL HAVE TO DO OVER AND OVER AGAIN IN PD?

Originally from Taiwan, but I moved to Boston 7 years ago

Research, design, and final presentation (the final product). It!s a lot of going back and forth between research and the design process.

WHEN ARE YOU GRADUATING? 2009

WHAT ELSE IS IMPORTANT TO PRODUCT DESIGN BESIDES CRAFT AND IDEAS?

DID YOU KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT WITH PRODUCT DESIGN? Think so. Heard it was going to be intense. It!s getting more intense now, I didn’t really expect it

Go out and visit sites, like shops and fairs.

ANY LAST WORDS OF ADVICE?

Be aware of what!s available out there,

Keep your mind fresh. If you hate it (product design), then there’s no point. You!ll be miserable and unhappy.

and then think about how you can improve the design.

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ARE YOU A TRANSFER STUDENT? I transferred from Wentworth Institute of Technology, an architecture school in Boston.

ANY PARTICULAR REASON YOU CHOSE PARSONS? I heard that they had a good reputation for design and their furniture design seemed promising.

WHAT IS THE WORK SPACE LIKE? The shops are really nice. They just renovated the whole basement. There!s no studio space for us which is annoying. They give you lockers down in the basement, which is nice for small things, then once you become a junior/senior, you have the opportunity to get a locker up on the 3rd floor.

IS THERE ANYTHING A PARSONS STUDENT SHOULD KNOW ABOUT PD? Its pretty tough, there!s a lot of work, and you need to push yourself to really make yourself stand out.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO SAY? Be prepared to work. You!re going to feel like a mad scientist coming up with ways to make your ideas work, and it!s going to be tough. But, once you get it all together, it!s a great feeling seeing your idea come to fruition.

Carl Frisk

A sophomore year student

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SO YOU THINK YOU CAN SURVIVE PRODUCT DESIGN WITH JUST HARD WORK AND GREAT IDEAS?

Nice try! The school projects that you will spend $250 per class per semester, but if you already go to Parsons, you probably know that the budget goes far and beyond what the school suggests. You can easily spend up to $1000 for furniture projects, buying wood, paint and glue! One alternatve is picking up cardboard and materials found on the street. p.s always buy extra because you never know when

you might need more.

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You do spend a ton of money on materials. I’m not going to lie about that. It’s probably the most expensive department to be in. Sophomore year, you’re really dumping all your money into supplies. Junior year was a lot less expensive. I think the only thing I had to buy was metal for metal fab(rication). That was around $100. This (senior) year, I really haven’t purchased anything other than some books for research and felt, which may have been like $50 for the whole semester. So really it gets less expensive as you go on. There’s also a stock of tools in the woodshop that you can use, but you won’t figure that out until the Spring (of sophomore year, unless someone tells you early!)

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- Cara Leonard Senior ‘08

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Douglas Best A junior year student

WHEN DID YOU COME TO PARSONS? I transfered from pratt in my sophomore year.

WHY DID YOU TRANSFER? I wanted, to have more of a business aspect of product design, I didn!t want it to be all about art art art.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF IT SO FAR? It!s been interesting. Everything is about innovation here. The people that teach here are great. You need to suck every bit of knowledge out of them.

ARE THERE ANY UNWRITTEN RULES ABOUT THIS DEPARTMENT? ...Follow your own rules, according to your own design sensibilities.

WHAT’S THE ONE THING THAT YOU HAVE TO DO OVER AND OVER AGAIN IN PD? Presentations. You really need to learn to plan ahead, you won!t get to bullshit your way through as much as you think. You sketch a lot too, and you know plenty of research.

CAN YOU GIVE ANY ADVICE TO THOSE COMING IN TO PRODUCT DESIGN? Get good at making shitty models. I made the mistake last year of focusing on making perfect models and wasted a lot of time. The project deadlines are intense so you really need to get your priorities right. What else, make friends! You’ll get new experiences. Learn to be extraordinary.

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THE

Basement If you’ve ever wondered about what goes on down there... Here are a few tips. Be ready to get lost once or twice when you first explore it. Be nice to the shop technicians and student monitors. Be ready to tackle machines bigger, faster, and stronger than you. Be humble before the machines but also, Be confident. Be prepared to get down and dirty. Get ready to SAND. (everything) Don’t hesitate to ask for help. Remember to BE SAFE. And HAVE FUN!

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So you’ve made it this far in to this book. I’ve let you in on the uglier and messier sides of Product Design.

Believe or not, there are amazing rewards for putting yourself through all the trouble and nightmares.

Still Interested?

From all the student interviews. The most gratifying thing about Product Design, is being able to see your ‘baby’ from sketch to production to final product, and then furthermore to actually bring your product home and use it!

Good.

As Carl says,

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It’s the difference of being able to sit in a chair you designed and being able to only look at a scale model of a space you designed. You get to experience every aspect of design in product.

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Don’t fret about not having a social life. I know you’re thinking about it. If you haven’t turned in to a vampire after spending most of the three years underground in the basement in the shops, and have come out of the product design department sane and in one piece after three years, you are well on your way on becoming a designer in the professional world. And since the skills you learn in product are completely transferable, you will find jobs almost anywhere. From architecture firms, to consulting agencies, to starting your own company and even being an apprentice building furniture.

Although you will be spending most of your weekends at school. You’re with all your classmates and get to goof around, so even though it’s work, it’s still social and fun. Remember to make friends!! There are a lot of “characters” and everyone is always willing to help you. There’s always a sort of community effort that goes into getting projects done.

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I would like to say a big thank you to Cara, Carl, Douglas, Leah and Richard for answering so many of my obnoxious questions! All photographs in this book were taken by Jacqueline Hon.

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