Industrial design sophomores participated Friday in Discarded to Precious, a competition challenging design students to collect discarded items and transform them into something “precious.” Competition results will be announced Monday afternoon.
The competition, hosted by the Technology Entrepreneur Center, allows student designers to “look at everyday objects through a new lens,” said Deana McDonagh, a coordinator of the competition and associate professor of industrial design.
“They are looking at something that’s been thrown away, discarded and has no value, and they…transforming it into something precious,” McDonagh said.
The students had three weeks to create their final product. Kevin Reeder, a coordinator of the competition and associate professor of art, said he was eager to see how well the students thought “outside of the box.”
“The thing I want to see most is how well did they use the founding material and construct something out of it,” he said.
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Many student competitors were eager for their creations to be presented to the public.
Competitor Kelly Lin’s project, “Lutos,” is a candle holder made from pieces of discarded Christmas ornaments. Lin, a sophomore in FAA, said she first decided on the specific type of material she wanted to use before deciding on her final product, saying she “just wanted to keep the integrity of the material.”
Lin said the competition taught her to keep her mind open to using out of the ordinary materials.
“This project really made us (designers) go beyond our comfort zone.” Lin said. “As a sophomore, I’m just experimenting with a lot of different areas, but I’m really interested in consumer products and furniture design.”
While some students presented projects based on furniture, others, such as Hannah Hwang and Minjoo Lee, sophomores in FAA, created fashion pieces instead. Hwang created a camera bag, originally planned to be a camera, out of license plates and paper clips, and Lee created a formal dress from Urban Outfitters bags.
The competition was judged by two faculty members who will announce the winner Monday.
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