Design X
EXHIBITION DESIGN
Design X was an exhibition put together by a team of designers in which we explored what design is. When we were tried to come up with a definition for design, we came to the realization that design is “X”: it can be anything and everything.
CONCEPT
Design is about more than making things look aesthetically pleasing. It’s also about solving problems and making information digestible for a specific audience, or for the general public. And it is about the process that gets us to those solutions. This process is one that often involves people of different talents and backgrounds coming together in search of these solutions, because design is more often than not a collaborative effort. Many people who enter the SJSU BFA program do so with the desire to better themselves and to become the best designers they can be. But what they find is that it’s not just the advanced design classes that make this program what it is; it is the people in it that really make it shine. The community that comes with this program is what really makes a difference. Collaboration allows us to work together to find solutions to problems we might have otherwise not been able to solve on our own. It allows us to inspire each other, and to draw inspiration from each other as well. Design X is the story of how being a part of this community allows us to, with the help of each other, bring forth our best selves.
WAYFINDING
A visitor’s first interaction with Design X began before they even entered the exhibition. We made posters and maps that were displayed around campus that helped guide visitors to the show. We displayed branding elements on the stairs leading up to the exhibition. A-frames with maps included the use of yarn, which was one of the defining characteristics of the exhibition’s branding. We used it to connect parts of the exhibition to each other. In the maps, helped guide visitors from wherever the A-frame was placed to the location of the exhibition.
Exhibition
Once a visitor made their way up the stairs, they were greeted by one more poster that welcomed them into the exhibition. Traditional exhibitions often place the emphasis on the work they display, but we wanted to go a bit further than that by making it interactive. Every piece displayed in the show had an AR component to it as well. Powered by the ROAR app, people could scan a poster and watch it come to life through motion, sound, or by including an extra sense of dimensionality that encouraged them to walk around the piece and truly take it in. In addition to this, the community wall encouraged visitors to reflect on what creative attributes they identify with, and they could use yarn to leave their mark on the show.
BOOK
For the documentation of the exhibition, we made a process book that preserved the overall look and feel of the exhibition in a more permanent way, while also providing a peek behind the scenes and into our process. Many of the same materials that graced the walls of the exhibition room found their way into the book, further enhancing the experience of the reader. The book was printed on 60 pound polar-matte Red River paper with a sandblasted acrylic cover bound by Chicago screws. Fold out flaps and pages bring back some of the interactivity of the show.
DESIGN X TEAM
Robert Castellanos
Miranda Chang
Allison Chen
Katherine Chen
Brandon Lai
David Le
Ngan Tran
Valerie Truong
