Design & Crafts
Design is where science and art break even.
Here are some of my design class projects. Art, especially music, is an integral part of my life. Therefore, I always strive to incorporate my feelings and understanding of art into my design works.
In this course, we are tasked with creating a piece that embodies the concept of "flat to three-dimensional", utilizing the materials at hand. The objective is to articulate and express our own artistic ideas through the creation of this artwork. In my project Shape of Music, a group of three handmade artworks are gathered to express the my feelings towards music.
Shape of Music
-- Coursework of Design Fundamentals
In this course, we are tasked with creating a piece that embodies the concept of "flat to three-dimensional", utilizing the materials at hand. The objective is to articulate and express our own artistic ideas through the creation of this artwork. In my project Shape of Music, a group of three handmade artworks are gathered to express the my feelings towards music.
Chapter 1
Music: On the Mountain Top by Zoltán Kodály
Wood pieces form soft, gentle music lines, while foam represents the undulating background chords, like the fog on the top of the mountain. The metal wires symbolize the singing of the shepherds in the mountains. What a dreamy scene.
Chapter 2
Music: Chile Song
Chile Song a melodious Chinese folk song of ancient nomads, one of my favorite choral works. Thin wooden sticks of different lengths stick together to form wavy surfaces, picturizing the lines of the natural, beautiful melody. It showcases that music is not a one-dimensional, monotonous line but rather a dynamic, soaring plane, even possessing three-dimensional emotions and personalities. In choral music, chords unveil the harmonies add complexity of music, colliding to create more enchanting sparks.
Chapter 3
Music: Polka Italiene by Rachmaninoff
Metal wires are bent into springs of different structures, giving them various vibration frequencies. These diversified frequencies correspond to the song's rhythm, which perfectly reflects the cheerful, lively musicality of the choral piece.
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Intelligent Vase
We designed an intelligent vase for enhanced plant nurturing experience. The vase reflects the growth state and needs of plants in real time with human-like voice and changing patterns. Thus, users can better understand the growth needs of plants, and get more interactive companionship.
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We redesigned a roadster for Colonel Frank Slade in the movie Scent of a Woman, a modern car that combines stark contrast of strength and grace, aggressiveness and elegance.
Movie Roadster Redesign
-- Coursework of Design Thinking
Our group redesigned a roadster for Colonel Frank Slade in the movie Scent of a Woman.
Regarding Col. Slade's stark characteristics such as stubbornness, arrogance, wealth and elegance, and a physiological defect -- blindness, we want to design a modern car that combines strength and graceful curves, aggressiveness and elegance. In particular, we also hope to incorporate modern automatic driving technology into the design of the car to assist the blind colonel realize his dream of driving a Ferrari.
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In this project, we redesigned the signage system in our dorm building. Our group aimed to create a system that is distinctive yet harmonizes with the existing style of the architecture. After thorugh investigation, we chose to use a single line to connect the entire system, achieving a coherent, aesthetically pleasing, and innovative unity.
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Waterford Website Design
In this project, we made a website for the research department of Waterford, a non-profit organization that makes educational software for pre-k students. It's the first time I dealt with a Non-Profit Organization calledclient requirements. I learned and practiced a lot about the whole process of web development for real world customers.
Signage System Redesign
We aimed to create a system that harmonizes with the style of student dormitories, is distinctive, and exudes elegance and aesthetics. Through investigation and analysis of the dormitories, we chose to use lines to connect the entire wayfinding system, achieving a coherent, aesthetically pleasing, and innovative unity.
In this project, we redesigned the guidance system within the Xinya College dormitory building. Under an initial survey, we found taht the interior space design had such characteristics as inconsistent design styles, predominantly straight lines, and quite a few white walls. Consequently, we decided to employ a minimalist wall mural style for implementing this signage system.
Ultimately, the chosen design approach involves the integration of a single line that runs throughout the entire structure, ensuring unity, coherence, and fluidity in the lines. This design simultaneously embraces creativity and artistic elements. We have incorporated minimalist icons, emphasizing the use of continuous lines wherever possible. The color scheme revolves around a simple black and white monochrome palette to avoid introducing a sense of clutter to the building.
It's worth mentioning that all our designs are based on the actual situation of the dormitory, ensuring practical application. We considered the specific placement of signs on walls, the optimal placement locations, and the real needs of students. We also created realistic proportioned renderings to showcase the final presentation effect.We also created an AutoCAD model of the entire dormitory building
closeIn the project, we're required to redesign the website for Ithaca's local festival - Apple Harvest Festival. I coded the website from scratch, from user interview, content planning, style design to final implementation in HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
The website is available at Apple Harvest Festival Website Redesigned by Siqi Zhang