When Don Carr was looking for inspiration for his most recent exhibit, he looked to the outdoors.   

Carr, a professor in the School of Design at Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, has organized an exhibit entitled “Destination Outdoors” in the School of Design to present innovative products and creative design work for outdoor usage, he said.  

“As we go way back in time, we spend almost all of our time outdoors. Over time, we spend 93% of our time indoors each year,” said Carr. “That small amount of time we are outside and the activities we are engaged in are the times we really cherish.”   

Carr wanted to attract alumni that were part of the design program. The exhibit features the work of seven industrial and interaction design alumni. 

He said this exhibit would be interesting for alumni to interpret, whether they’re looking at camping gear or footgear or just something that people use outdoors.  

For the past 90 years, the program has created a strong alumni network, Carr added. He said that he sent a mass email inviting alumni to openly interpret the topic of products involving the outdoors.  

One of those innovations Carr received was the CampStove 2. Designed by Talia Horner, the stove is able to transform fire into electricity that can be used for many sources, like charging phones. Horner contributed this product to BioLite, a company that uses advanced technologies for people who lack modern electronic access and people who like to be outdoors.    

Horner echoed Carr’s statement on the effect the outdoor products can bring. “This sort of innovation will help people get outdoors,” Horner said. “I had to look at the perspective of people that were hopefully going to get outdoors and use this technology.”  

Karleigh Meritt-Henry | Digital Design Editor

The exhibit also involved a lot of planning regarding the construction of the product, package and design aesthetic. The designers began thinking about the project a year prior. Along with other planning components, the project included a phase to figure out how the product would be launched. 

Another designer involved with the exhibit, Yun Pei Hsiung, said it’s important for designers to allow their product to evolve, and that it isn’t about getting a final design, but instead a “better” design.  

 “We as designers can’t provide a design without acknowledging that we are only giving a ‘better’ version of the design for the time and circumstances that we lived in,” Hsiung said.  

His product is the One-Megaphone — the more people who are connected through Bluetooth to the device, the louder the volume for the voice becomes. Hsiung said it’s to be used for outdoor protests.  

Horner stated that the SU Design program helped her develop her career with the lesson of being able to think about design in a broad way.    

“The way SU taught me was extremely helpful because one can use that in any project,” Horner said. “We have to know a little bit of everything just in case something comes up, such as the illustration for a recent idea,” she said and added that having that base in knowledge is helpful.  

Hsiung also said that he wouldn’t be the same if he hadn’t gone through the program and met mentors and fellows along the way.

Published on September 18, 2019 at 1:08 am