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Pratt Institute
Nourishment & Social Change
In this capstone studio, student work looked at the ways in which we can keep our communities nourished and what it means to create social change through design.
Thanks to: Amanda Huynh
Participating Students
- Claire Seonjae Choi
- Griffin Uhlir
- Hansol Jung
- India Pearlman
- Jae Wendell
- Kai Chuang
- Kai Chuang
- Kai Wen Chuang
- Zoe Herring
Claire Seonjae Choi
Maeum is an educational kit for raising mental health awareness in South Korea, targeted for 5, 6th grade elementary school students. The kit is designed to be implemented in schools by Government and used periodically in class as a part of existing school curriculum. The objective of this kit is to provide children better opportunity to learn especially about protective factors for mental health, which will become useful skillsets for them to manage their emotions, thoughts, and minds as they grow up.
The overall concept of the kit is "Journey". This mental health education is one's journey to find true-self and to guide how they should treat not only others but also themselves. With the activities from the kit, students will be able to explore their emotions.
Considering the conservative attitude towards mental health issues that is already settled in Korean society,the kit will let students learn about mental health without aversion and make the experience with the educational objects more exciting.
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Claire Seonjae Choi
Maeum is an educational kit for raising mental health awareness in South Korea, targeted for 5, 6th grade elementary school students. The kit is designed to be implemented in schools by Government and used periodically in class as a part of existing school curriculum. The objective of this kit is to provide children better opportunity to learn especially about protective factors for mental health, which will become useful skillsets for them to manage their emotions, thoughts, and minds as they grow up.
The overall concept of the kit is "Journey". This mental health education is one's journey to find true-self and to guide how they should treat not only others but also themselves. With the activities from the kit, students will be able to explore their emotions.
Considering the conservative attitude towards mental health issues that is already settled in Korean society,the kit will let students learn about mental health without aversion and make the experience with the educational objects more exciting.
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Griffin Uhlir
Democracy During Pandemic: Providing a safe and rewarding voting experience during crisis.
As the coronavirus hits heavy in the United States amidst the primary election, according to the Associated Press as of April 7th, 24 states have not yet had primary elections. This project proposes three concepts, each specifically solves a different set of problems regarding voting in an uncertain future.
Concept 1: Improve Vote By Mail
The existing vote by mail system follows a strict request process with rigid deadlines for request and return of the absentee ballot. Additionally, the ballot is much like an exam scantron and generally tailored for those with higher education. Concept 01 aims to simplify the physical ballot, the request process, and the steps to cast and return the ballot.
Concept 2: Online Voting Platform
Due to a massive percentage of the population voting by mail during the pandemic, there are potential logistical concerns. The existing United States mail system in place is not designed to handle the number of ballots in the time frame for an exclusive vote by mail election. Concept 02 provides an alternative remote voting solution using online voting to reduce the ballots being transferred in the mail system.
Concept 3: Voting Booth Distancing
With increasing fear of cybersecurity after the 2016 Presidential Election, an online voting platform could potentially be at risk of internet attack. While voting by mail provides ballot security, the mail system may be overloaded during the pandemic. Concept 03 provides another voting solution to collect physical ballots in designated booths dispersed within a polling area.
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Griffin Uhlir
Democracy During Pandemic: Providing a safe and rewarding voting experience during crisis.
As the coronavirus hits heavy in the United States amidst the primary election, according to the Associated Press as of April 7th, 24 states have not yet had primary elections. This project proposes three concepts, each specifically solves a different set of problems regarding voting in an uncertain future.
Concept 1: Improve Vote By Mail
The existing vote by mail system follows a strict request process with rigid deadlines for request and return of the absentee ballot. Additionally, the ballot is much like an exam scantron and generally tailored for those with higher education. Concept 01 aims to simplify the physical ballot, the request process, and the steps to cast and return the ballot.
Concept 2: Online Voting Platform
Due to a massive percentage of the population voting by mail during the pandemic, there are potential logistical concerns. The existing United States mail system in place is not designed to handle the number of ballots in the time frame for an exclusive vote by mail election. Concept 02 provides an alternative remote voting solution using online voting to reduce the ballots being transferred in the mail system.
Concept 3: Voting Booth Distancing
With increasing fear of cybersecurity after the 2016 Presidential Election, an online voting platform could potentially be at risk of internet attack. While voting by mail provides ballot security, the mail system may be overloaded during the pandemic. Concept 03 provides another voting solution to collect physical ballots in designated booths dispersed within a polling area.
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Hansol Jung
I'm a designer based in NYC, who recently graduated from Pratt Institute with a major in industrial design and minor in sustainability. I have experience working as a member of a footwear design team in the past, and currently open to building experience in fields that push me to gain practical skills and explore creative ideas for design. I strongly believe in the power of design to positively change the way we live, and I strive to become a designer who create beautiful objects that also provide smart solutions.
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LULL
LULL is a family of sensory objects for desk-bound workers in office of work from home settings to be reminded to take a break. Each objects stimulate other senses (hearing, taste, smell) for sedentary workers, and functions as timers for work or break term to build healthy work habits.
Timer Speaker
Timer Mint
Timer Mint
Timer Incense
Timer Incense
Comes in a single packaging consisting all components inside. Incense comes in different lengths for different times
Hansol Jung
I'm a designer based in NYC, who recently graduated from Pratt Institute with a major in industrial design and minor in sustainability. I have experience working as a member of a footwear design team in the past, and currently open to building experience in fields that push me to gain practical skills and explore creative ideas for design. I strongly believe in the power of design to positively change the way we live, and I strive to become a designer who create beautiful objects that also provide smart solutions.
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India Pearlman
India Pearlman is a New Jersey based designer with an interest in design for play. Give a Scoby, Grow a Scoby is a tea towel (accompanied by a scoby) designed to teach the user how to make kombucha at home. The tea towel is made out of a natural linen that will get stained through the kombucha making process. Therefore leaving a memory of the process on the cloth itself. By having an object that is used with every batch the user is able to hold onto an imprint of every time they have made kombucha; furthering their connection to this living beverage.
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India Pearlman
India Pearlman is a New Jersey based designer with an interest in design for play. Give a Scoby, Grow a Scoby is a tea towel (accompanied by a scoby) designed to teach the user how to make kombucha at home. The tea towel is made out of a natural linen that will get stained through the kombucha making process. Therefore leaving a memory of the process on the cloth itself. By having an object that is used with every batch the user is able to hold onto an imprint of every time they have made kombucha; furthering their connection to this living beverage.
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Jae Wendell
In/Edible is a project focused on confronting food waste and bringing joy to the kitchen in the time of social distancing. I was inspired by mutual aid work happening in Bed-Stuy and in response, created a system of refillable pockets for use in the kitchen.
The pockets are an advent-calendar-esque system that gameifies and gifitifies different objects and actions. I was inspired by the positive outcomes I had when using similar joyful prompts in my probe kit during the research phase. Examples of pocket contents include a bag of mixed mystery spices that you can try to guess, a string to turn old tin cans into a socially distant telephone, or a prompt to go on a "scavenger hunt" to find the oldest food item in your kitchen.
My goal is to create multiples of these and give them to people in the neighborhood who are interested, creating new networks of connection. The pockets are refilled each week with a contactless dropoff of a "booster pack" of items, allowing the new connections to be maintained. In response, people provide me with documentation of how they are using the contents of the pockets. This creates connection over multiple platforms - physical, contactless, and digital - and hopefully these new connections last through the pandemic and beyond.
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Pocket Prototype in Context
The pocket system is meant to hang in the kitchen and create a daily ritual. It includes seven pockets, allowing participants to mark the days in a time where we are often disconnected from time and feel increasingly unmoored.
Pocket Prototype
Made from fabric I had on hand during the pandemic (one of my dad's old shirts).
@in_edible Instagram Page
Documenting my attempts to confront food waste and bring joy to my cooking as well as any documentation I will get from pocket participants.
Overview of the System
Participants are people in the neighborhood who respond to my post in the Bedstuy Strong Mutual Aid group. I hope that the pocket creates a form of mutual aid by helping to provide joy for both participants and myself.
Jae Wendell
In/Edible is a project focused on confronting food waste and bringing joy to the kitchen in the time of social distancing. I was inspired by mutual aid work happening in Bed-Stuy and in response, created a system of refillable pockets for use in the kitchen.
The pockets are an advent-calendar-esque system that gameifies and gifitifies different objects and actions. I was inspired by the positive outcomes I had when using similar joyful prompts in my probe kit during the research phase. Examples of pocket contents include a bag of mixed mystery spices that you can try to guess, a string to turn old tin cans into a socially distant telephone, or a prompt to go on a "scavenger hunt" to find the oldest food item in your kitchen.
My goal is to create multiples of these and give them to people in the neighborhood who are interested, creating new networks of connection. The pockets are refilled each week with a contactless dropoff of a "booster pack" of items, allowing the new connections to be maintained. In response, people provide me with documentation of how they are using the contents of the pockets. This creates connection over multiple platforms - physical, contactless, and digital - and hopefully these new connections last through the pandemic and beyond.
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Kai Chuang
Kai Chuang is a Taiwanese designer whose passion for food stems beyond taste alone. Before becoming a designer, he dreamed and still dreams of becoming an influential chef and has worked in several restaurants honing his culinary skills. Growing up in an international school, Kai has been exposed to people from a multitude of cultural backgrounds. This fostered the development of concepts that are both inclusive and honest. In his Senior Capstone project SanTsan, Kai uses food as the connector of people and cultures through sharing, compassion, and empathy. The project manifests itself as an accessible, versatile, and mobile food cart that can either function as a device of education regarding cultural appropriation or a mobile give and take pantry that nourishes communities during difficult times. The aim is to use sharing and genuine care to create stronger communities and also educate people on the cultural aspect of food.
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Kai Chuang
Kai Chuang is a Taiwanese designer whose passion for food stems beyond taste alone. Before becoming a designer, he dreamed and still dreams of becoming an influential chef and has worked in several restaurants honing his culinary skills. Growing up in an international school, Kai has been exposed to people from a multitude of cultural backgrounds. This fostered the development of concepts that are both inclusive and honest. In his Senior Capstone project SanTsan, Kai uses food as the connector of people and cultures through sharing, compassion, and empathy. The project manifests itself as an accessible, versatile, and mobile food cart that can either function as a device of education regarding cultural appropriation or a mobile give and take pantry that nourishes communities during difficult times. The aim is to use sharing and genuine care to create stronger communities and also educate people on the cultural aspect of food.
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Kai Chuang
Kai Chuang is a Taiwanese designer whose passion for food stems beyond taste alone. Before becoming a designer, he dreamed and still dreams of becoming an influential chef and has worked in several restaurants honing his culinary skills. Growing up in an international school, Kai has been exposed to people from a multitude of cultural backgrounds. This fostered the development of concepts that are both inclusive and honest. In his Senior Capstone project SanTsan, Kai uses food as the connector of people and cultures through sharing, compassion, and empathy. The project manifests itself as an accessible, versatile, and mobile food cart that can either function as a device of education regarding cultural appropriation or a mobile give and take pantry that nourishes communities during difficult times. The aim is to use sharing and genuine care to create stronger communities and also educate people on the cultural aspect of food.
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Kai Chuang
Kai Chuang is a Taiwanese designer whose passion for food stems beyond taste alone. Before becoming a designer, he dreamed and still dreams of becoming an influential chef and has worked in several restaurants honing his culinary skills. Growing up in an international school, Kai has been exposed to people from a multitude of cultural backgrounds. This fostered the development of concepts that are both inclusive and honest. In his Senior Capstone project SanTsan, Kai uses food as the connector of people and cultures through sharing, compassion, and empathy. The project manifests itself as an accessible, versatile, and mobile food cart that can either function as a device of education regarding cultural appropriation or a mobile give and take pantry that nourishes communities during difficult times. The aim is to use sharing and genuine care to create stronger communities and also educate people on the cultural aspect of food.
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Kai Wen Chuang
Kai Chuang is a Taiwanese designer whose passion for food stems beyond taste alone. Before becoming a designer, he dreamed and still dreams of becoming an influential chef and has worked in several restaurants honing his culinary skills. Growing up in an international school, Kai has been exposed to people from a multitude of cultural backgrounds. This fostered the development of concepts that are both inclusive and honest. In his Senior Capstone project SanTsan, Kai uses food as the connector of people and cultures through sharing, compassion, and empathy. The project manifests itself as an accessible, versatile, and mobile food cart that can either function as a device of education regarding cultural appropriation or a mobile give and take pantry that nourishes communities during difficult times. The aim is to use sharing and genuine care to create stronger communities and also educate people on the cultural aspect of food.
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Kai Wen Chuang
Kai Chuang is a Taiwanese designer whose passion for food stems beyond taste alone. Before becoming a designer, he dreamed and still dreams of becoming an influential chef and has worked in several restaurants honing his culinary skills. Growing up in an international school, Kai has been exposed to people from a multitude of cultural backgrounds. This fostered the development of concepts that are both inclusive and honest. In his Senior Capstone project SanTsan, Kai uses food as the connector of people and cultures through sharing, compassion, and empathy. The project manifests itself as an accessible, versatile, and mobile food cart that can either function as a device of education regarding cultural appropriation or a mobile give and take pantry that nourishes communities during difficult times. The aim is to use sharing and genuine care to create stronger communities and also educate people on the cultural aspect of food.
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Zoe Herring
Zoe Herring is an Industrial Design Grad from Pratt Institute with a minor in Sustainability. You can see more of her work at zoeherring.com or on her Instagram @zoe.herring.
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LINT MATERIAL STUDIES
When I began my research, I started applying the lint to different materials. Adventuring into sheet material, clay, and stuffing I explored a range of Lint applications.
LINT MADE SYSTEM
This system supports the Community, the Laundromat, and the Earth. Not only does it promote economic agency among laundromat users, incentivizes routine dryer lint removal from dryers, but also diverts billions of lint sheets from landfills.
LINT AND THE LAUNDROMAT
This project explores the exciting possibilities of dryer lint as a material. Linking back to the Lint's origin, I designed a proposal for a circular economy within the community of the Laundromat, allowing patrons to sell their lint made goods.
LINT MADE STAND
I created "How To" Cards to show others how to make with Lint. They cover a variety of Final Materials I explored in my research. These cards would be located in the laundromat or distributed online. The cards aim to inspire and guide lint making. This project gives Laundromat goers agency to sell products they make with lint, by providing a space to do so. This "store display" will be set up to allow people to see the products from the street, melding the Laundromat with the community.
PRODUCT POSSIBILITIES
The larger question of this project is what was possible with Lint. With these Lint made samples, I am demonstrating that not only can you make products with lint, but that they are marketable.
Zoe Herring
Zoe Herring is an Industrial Design Grad from Pratt Institute with a minor in Sustainability. You can see more of her work at zoeherring.com or on her Instagram @zoe.herring.
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