Thesis presentations will be held Friday, December 7, 2007 at 9:15 am, in the Design Center, in PS 43

Pratt's main campus is located at 200 Willoughby Ave., Brooklyn. (Map)

Thesis student work will also be on display in the gallery on the second floor of the Design Center.


Schedule:

9:15-9:40 coffee

9:40-10:00 Angelica B. Danaher

10:00-10:20 Martin Konrad Gloeckle

10:20-10:40 Sinclair Smith

10:40-11:00 break

11:00-11:20 Li-Ling Chen

11:20-11:40 Roy Lorieo

11:40-12:00 Ling Hsu

12:00- 1:20 lunch break

1:20- 1:40 Eun Jeong Kim

1:40-2:00 Min Kang

2:00-2:20 Daniel Stillman & Gary Palladino

2:20-2:40 break

2:40-3:00 Andrew Steever

3:00-3:20 Seon Lyu

3:20-3:40 Siddarth Kambe

reception to follow in the Design Center Gallery.

--

Angelica B. Danaher - "Out of the Box, Into the Kitchen"

When kids are allowed in the kitchen, they learn to have good relationships with food, it builds their self esteem and self reliance, and teaches them life skills. Most importantly, it tells them that they are an important part of the family, and their decisions and actions have a direct impact on those around them. It’s important to make time to cook at home, and to include children in that very important aspect of life. This project aims to identify the problems and concerns keeping children from helping out in the kitchen and to solve some of the issues.

Angelica Danaher did her undergraduate degree in psychology at Boston University. She moved to New York to take a temporary job as a nanny ‘for a year’, and five and a half years later they kicked her out and she started graduate school at Pratt. In her spare time, she is working on her real project: her wedding. When she leaves in December, she will be moving to Ireland where she and her fiancé often dance with the leprechauns.

Angelica Danaher - danaher356@yahoo.com

Martin Konrad Gloeckle - Un-Readymades: From Object To Experience

The 21st century consumer is increasingly looking for experiences, involvement, and personal expression. The continuing growth of ‘user-generated content’ is just one example of this. Yet, only few physical products are available that react to this trend.

This thesis is an exploration of product design within this context. Partly lighthearted, it provokes a rethinking of how we interact with products, and proposes a framework that engages the user and allows for deeper expression and involvement.

German-born Martin is attracted to design in all its aspects, from conceptual to highly functional. Before concentration full-time on his design passion, he enjoyed a successful career in interactive advertising. Martin’s work has been featured in exhibitions, design blogs and magazines including New York Magazine, his award-winning Bendino lamp is currently produced and distributed in Europe.

Martin Konrad Gloeckle - martin@martin-konrad.com

Sinclair Smith - Conspicuous Conservation; The Rise of the Sustainable Class

This thesis explores how product design is used as a currency for demonstrating social power (conspicuous consumption). It looks at ways of reducing the amount of waste created as a consequence of this phenomenon; and it looks at rising environmental consciousness in consumer trends. It proposes "transparency" of the entire production chain as a model for sustainable design and manufacturing. It further proposes that transparent sustainability will become a new form of social ostentation that helps drive the sustainability movement (conspicuous conservation).

Sinclair Smith has been a musician, photographer, filmmaker, builder; now he wants to be a designer. He insists that all of these endeavors "share a cognitive structuralism, i.e. they look the same inside when you close your eyes and think about them really hard." He thinks that's enough.

Sinclair Smith - sinclairss@gmail.com

Abstract (PDF)

Li-Ling Chen - West meets East: Cultural Experience through Dining

The social differences between East and West today resemble those of ancient times. Food plays an important role, not only in meeting human needs, but also in binding people together among different cultural groups. Frequent cultural exchanges provide people opportunities to try different cuisines from other countries. Restaurants provide customers with cultural experiences through traditional cuisines as well as ethnic interiors. My thesis aims to propose ways to encourage cultural interaction between Eastern and Western people, which combines the concept of social interaction with cultural aspects through the dining experience.

Li-Ling received a B.A. in Industrial Design from Tatung University in Taiwan. Previously, she worked as an industrial designer in the consumer products and high-tech industries for several years. The goal of her life is to find different design perspectives.

Li-Ling Chen - innovationsusan@gmail.com

Abstract (PDF)

Roy Lorieo - Would You Like to Swing on a Star? Design for the Commercial Space Industry

In the next few years, the vacuous expanse just past Earth's atmosphere is going to get a little more crowded as the commercial space industry innovates to open up outer space to private concerns. The goal of this thesis is to create products that take advantage of the curious environment of outer space. These products are for regular people (not professional astronaut-scientists) that want to enjoy their short time in space and will add to this experience in a simple, wonderful way.

Roy came to Pratt ID as a recovering architect. In the last 2-1/2 years, he has been beguiled and frustrated by Pratt's charms. In one of the most dithering experiences of his life, Roy recently got engaged to the best woman ever.

Roy Lorieo - rlorieo@hotmail.com

Abstract






Ling Hsu - Bookplay

A tree grows in a delicate equilibrium with the environment. If the book publishing industry were a tree, the "booktree" can only thrive in the overlap of economic, environmental, and social sustainability. With this in mind, how can industrial design influence the publishing industry and our reading experiences in the future? Starting from an understanding of book culture, a stage is set up for the study of books by exploring reading habits, the life cycle and circulation of books, and devices along with a business model for Ebooks, concluding with a scenario for the future of books.

Former scientist and current designer, Ling revels in challenges, passionate about helping people in need--tendinitus patients, minority groups, etc. in a Pratt-NYU joint team, she and two ergonomists won the first Applied Ergonomics Student Design Competition by engineering the craziest ideas to solve tough problems systematically in a year-long collaboration.

Ling Hsu - lingnews@gmail.com

Abstract (PDF)


Eun Jeong Kim - In Case of Emergency: The Family Communication Design for Children

This study explores a family communication plan for emergency. A number of parents of young children often find that they have difficulty both teaching their children about safety and involving the children in creating an emergency plan. My study focuses on how parents can help children navigate local areas and identify important places, such as a meeting place, a friend's house, the nearest pay-phone or a firehouse in case of emergency. I present a full process for developing design ideas about learning toys, which can help children to navigate local areas within the context of an emergency plan.

Eun Jeong Kim received bachelor's degrees in both Interior and Human-Environment Design, and an M.D. from Yonsei University, South Korea. She is currently pursuing her Master's Degree in Industrial Design from Pratt Institute. She has a few years experience as a researcher, and has also participated in international conferences.

Eun Jeong Kim - kim.eunjeong@gmail.com




Min Kang - Kimchi-Cheese-Smile!: Cross-Cultural Communication Through Product Design

As the world gets smaller with globalization, the needs for cross-cultural communication have risen. Globalization has also led to a situation where companies from one culture have to develop products for people in different cultures, and it has created the need for industrial designers to communicate with users in other cultural environments. Although the taste of design and users' needs all around the world are overlapped and universal design solutions have been developed in various design areas, the need for specific culture in design still occurs and will remain so for decades to come. Innovation through user-centered design is an important principle for product design and understanding people from different cultures is the key to develop appropriate product designs that can leverage successful cross-cultural communication between designers and users in different cultures.

Min Kang received his BFA in industrial design from Kyung-Hee University, South Korea, and has worked for several companies including Hyundai Heavy Industries, Fursys, Motorola, and LG Electronics as an industrial designer. Min has won several design awards including IDEA, Red-dot, and IDSA. He has a strong interest in designing products for many different kinds of cultures and communication through product design.

Min Kang - minkangdesign@gmail.com

Daniel Stillman, Gary Palladino - Oh, the Places You'll Go:
Alternative for Urban Congestion

Our thesis addresses urban congestion from an Industrial Design
perspective, asking: What solutions can be implemented to improve
life in congested cities? From addressing street planning to bicycle
parking, we found ourselves drawn to design an object, a new means
of transportation, to help people move through the city. This device
would interface easily with public transportation, be safe and easy
to use and store easily at home and anywhere you go. We studied
the history of human powered transportation and found that
altering the scale of devices offered a powerful tool for innovation.
Did we succeed?  Come and see.














Gary and Daniel have designed a lot of things together: Vaccuum-
formed coffee cup lids (first semester), Tree-inspired lamps (second
semester), Pizza Hut user studies (third semester) and Year-long
Urban Transportation romps.  After countless powerpoint
presentations, sketch models and working prototypes, they're ready
for a nap.

Daniel Stillman - dastillman@gmail.com

Gary Palladino - garypalladino@gmail.com

Andrew Steever - Trail Reach: Trail Structures and How
They Get There*

"Trail Reach" explores the efforts of volunteers who give up their
weekends and spare time to maintain trails on public lands. Working
with the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, a non-profit
organization dedicated to protecting hiking trails, my goal is to make
it easier for people from all walks of life and with diverse skills to
build structures like bridges, boardwalks, privies, and picnic tables
at remote trail sites. I seek to accomplish this in two ways: by
providing simple building instructions and by investigating
solutions for the challenge of moving materials in the backcountry.

Andrew Steever gave up a sailor's life as a
boat captain in Maine, then found himself
building sets for film and television before
coming to Pratt.  "For the longest time I
thought design was something that other
people did."  Not anymore.

Andrew Steever - agsteever@gmail.com









Seon Lyu – Controllable Privacy in Small Urban Parks 

To address the spatial invasion problem, which usually occurs in
small, overcrowded urban parks, especially during lunchtime or
weekends on sunny days, this thesis proposes the design of rotating
benches and movable chairs.  This concept of behavior-based
designs, based on social and psychological theories, would enhance
and facilitate social interaction.  Park users would have multiple
choices according to their respective needs. Some may want
privacy, while others to interact with other people.  My rotating
benches and movable chairs will allow park users to control their
privacy and be only as open as they choose.  It will also facilitate
human interaction in a more efficient and polite manner.

Korean-born Seon Lyu earned her
BFA in Silver Smithing. Through
design, Seon wants to pursue her
dream to enrich people's lives.

Seon Lyu - sunsurusun@hotmail.com











Siddharth Kambe – Skyros: Capturing Experiences
with a New Viewpoint

This is an exploration to change one's perspective of capturing
experiences and sharing them. It illuminates a unique viewpoint
from where one can understand the relationship with one's
environment in a refreshingly new light.

Siddharth wanted to play soccer for
a living 'til his hand overpowered his
leg and he was drawn towards Design.  
He has a Mechanical Engineering
degree and now wishes to focus on
designing consumer products.

Siddharth Kambe - www.skambe.com - skambe@gmail.com

Abstract (PDF)