"The Seed Phone" student concept
Reality Check
by Jayne A. Close
How Design Magazine
May, 2001 Working with big-business partners through the Center for New Design, Parsons School of Design students aren't just studying the future of design, they're shaping it. Imagine graduating from one of the largest degree-granting colleges of art and design in the U.S. with both a padded portfolio and the ability to say you logged some serious project-time with, oh, financial behemoth Merrill Lynch. For many design students, it's a résumé dream. For many Parsons School of Design students, it's simply another college semester. In July 1999, Parsons School of Design, a division of New School University, opened the Center for New Design, a project-based laboratory dedicated to challenging the creativity of advanced students and faculty. Located in the heart of New York City's Silicon Alley, the Center aims to shape the future of design by bridging it with technology and business through projects, exhibitions and lectures. "Parsons has always embraced innovation," says Mimi Chan, project coordinator for the Center. While any design student can read about the masters and the new trends in the field, the Center goes one step further and provides an interdisciplinary environment with businesses on real-life projects that emphasize four target areas: technology, materials, process and teamwork.
The Seed Phone
In collaboration with the University of Michigan Engineering Department, Center students redesigned a wireless phone with a focus on using recyclable materials while at the same time improving the phone's interface and styling. This design by Christopher Koser uses a soy-based resin implanted with seeds inviting the user to "plant your phone" when she's ready to replace it.
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Disciplines
Design Education
Wireless
Technology
Wearable Technology
Fashion & Technology
Conceptual
Design
Green Design
Fashion Illustration
Organization
Parsons School of Design
2 W 13th Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10011
About the School
Parsons focuses on creating engaged citizens and outstanding artists, designers, scholars and business leaders through a design-based professional and liberal education.
Parsons students learn to rise to the challenges of living, working and creative decision making in a world where human experience is increasingly designed. The school embraces curricular innovation, pioneering uses of technology, collaborative methods and global perspectives on the future of design.
Parsons The New School for Design is the place for design innovation and entrepreneurship. From our faculty comprised of New York City's most successful artists and designers to a roster of design exhibitions and events, Parsons is a creative community that puts the learning experience first. Dept. of Design & Technology
Innovation, exploration, collaboration and anti-traditionalism drive the BFA in Design and Technology. Students use new and emerging technologies and collaborate on real-world projects that take them to the next level. Graduates pursue careers in Game Design, Digital Filmmaking, Information Architecture, Interaction Design, Broadcast Design, Animation, Web Design, and Technology-Enabled Environmental and Architectural Design, to name just a few. In the freshman curriculum, students receive an intense introduction to the web, audio and video, interface design, and computer programming skills. |
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VICTOR CHU
Design Instructor
Spring, 2001 & Fall, 2001 Wearable Technologies Instructor
Co-instructor for Professor Richard Yelle's Wearable Technologies cell phone design course, spring 2001 at the Center for New Design at Parsons. An interdisciplinary class instructing students on the process of electronics design- from market research to concept, hardware design, interface design, accessory design to engineering. The course challenged students to think and create conceptually yet realistically. Students worked via teleconference with engineering students at Michigan State University on engineering issues and constraints.
Conceptual direction given to students by Victor: "My ideal phone would be a 100% biodegradable device that I could flush down the toilet when I'm ready to buy the newest and latest." At the end of the semester students presented innovative phone concepts such as The Mood Phone and The Seed Phone. The Mood Phone, changes color according to conversational topic and tone and has an astrological interface. The Seed Phone uses a soy-based resin implanted with seeds inviting the user to "plant your phone" when ready to replace it. The concepts generate media attention and further inspires Motorola to fund biodegradable casing materials.
Digital Illustration Instructor
Instructor for Digital Fashion Illustration at the department of Fashion Design. Photoshop techniques for textile and fashion design, fall semester 2001.
Related Links & Articles
Department of Design & Technology parsons.edu
Communication Design & Technology parsons.edu
Department of Fashion Design parsons.edu
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