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Hector Silva Tells the Story of How Advanced Design Sketching and SQ1CON Came to Be

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Advanced Design Sketching (ADS) is getting ready to host their second SQ1CON in Chicago this July 13 and 14 after a successful inaugural event last year. What began as industrial designer Hector Silva's pipe dream in grad school, ADS has now evolved into a multifaceted non-profit that puts on sketching conferences and workshops and offers a free video library on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, featuring sketching videos from some of the most notable industrial designers of our time.

At its core, ADS is a small team of passionate and talented ID'ers, hand-selected by Silva, that makes bigger and bolder moves each year—like the Avengers of student design, which is a fitting reference, considering Silva's initial idea was inspired by Jony Ive's badass ID team over at Apple. However, ADS isn't focused on designing tangible products, they're focused on exactly what their name lends—making sure ID students understand the fundamentals of design sketching and have the opportunity to hone in on their skills before entering the real world.

We sat down with Silva to learn more about how he started Advanced Design Sketching, the struggles and triumphs along the way and what's still in store for the evolving platform:

Core77: What drove you to put on the first workshop?

Hector Silva: A lot of my first and second year students wanted to continue building their skillsets over the summer. Around 20 or 30 students came to me and asked if I knew of any in-person or online workshops they could take. I didn't. That's when I realized there was enough demand and that it would benefit the school.  It was pro bono, and the students did not get credit—it was more about commitment. The students promised me that they would show up, and in return, I would show up and teach them everything that I could. If I couldn't teach them something, I would then connect them with the best. 

The first summer workshop happened in 2016, and about 15 students showed up. We met once a week for about 7 hours at the university's Student Innovation Center. When you take your foundation year, the sketching classes are called "Design Sketching" or "Design Drawing", and this class was an advanced version of that, which is probably how the name Advanced Design Sketching came to be.

What was the result of that first workshop?

The students absolutely tripled their skill set over summer. They went back to school, and at the same time, I started to reach out to my network of industrial designers around the country and ask if they could put together a video of what design sketching meant to them and how they use it—either on an individual or personal level or at work. It was a very good opportunity for them to stroke their ego and to self promote.

I initially asked ten people, but it blew up, and all of a sudden I was asking about 400 people. The videos spanned out to footwear design, toy design, furniture design and even architecture because I think students should be exposed to all kinds of thinkers and designers. I started hitting up everyone from students doing amazing things to the big dogs, the CEOs, the managers. I wanted everyone to see how different people use design sketching at different levels of their profession. 

I started putting the videos on Facebook and Instagram, and my team and I started to offer free events where we would invite local hotshot designers with a pretty big influence on Instagram to Chicago for a workshop. We started to draw about two to three hundred people coming to these events. We put on about 4 or 5 workshops in the spring of 2017, and at that point, we began recruiting more people because we had so much work that we wanted to do. Our team is currently 12 people and 3 advisors—Nicholas Baker who was just featured on Core77, Spencer Nugent of Sketch-A-Day and the Coreskills series, and Jeff Smith of AutoDesk. They make suggestions and advise us on next steps. They've done amazing things for us.

What brought about the idea to start the SQ1CON conference?

At the time we had a one-of-a-kind video library and workshops once a month, but long term we needed to figure out what we could do that would really validate us and put us on the map. That's when we decided to put together a conference where the most influential designers that are really hot right now on Instagram would come together in one space. We were so hyped. We started putting the conference together, and we coined it SQ1CON as in if you fail, you go back to square 1 and start again. Our keynote happened at Motorola's amazing headquarters, and it was by Michael DiTullo, who is another big Core77 contributor. Michael DiTullo is awesome because he is all about helping and giving back. 

Michael DiTullo

Did you run into any challenges along the way?

Yeah, the craziest part is no matter how much you prepare for something, you're never prepared. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. In order for us to really be valid, we needed to be nonprofit. I had no idea of any of the business logistics but had a very good friend who helped me apply for nonprofit status. That made me confident that anyone who would collaborate with us or give us money would know that we were authentic. AutoDesk became our really big investor for the first conference—it was AutoDesk presents SQ1CON. We held the first conference at the University of Illinois in Chicago because the layout of the design theater is awesome. Since I was on faculty there and because all of the students are from the university, they let us borrow the venue. We were very thankful for that.

We anticipated a few hundred people because we counted every seat available, but I don't know what happened. On the day of, we had 600 people registered for the conference. We didn't know if we should be pissed off or if we should be happy that 600 people somehow were able to register. I wonder if Eventbrite broke. We only had enough resources for 200 people, including food, giveaways and door prizes, but in the end it all worked out. Everyone was super happy and was like "Wow! I can't wait until the next one." And we're just like "Shit." 

And now you're gearing up for the second edition of SQ1CON.

Yeah, this past January, we started to meet to get ready for this year's SQ1CON. This year's conference is going to happen in July at the IIT, Illinois Institute of Design, which is the downtown loop area of Chicago. We invited a couple of repeat designers, but we also want to give the platform to other designers who are doing great things. This year's keynote will be the Creative Session Brothers

Are there any major changes besides the venue?

My team right now is not only diverse in gender, but also diverse in race and ethnicity. That is very important to me because I want a team where people come from all walks of life and different backgrounds so that we can then have a conversation and discuss, even argue about ideas. One major thing that we want to change is that at our first conference we only had about three women designers speak. 

It was really hard for us to find women designers. We asked around. We asked for references. I think we had eight speakers, and we wanted half to be male and half to be female. The math did not add up like that, and we were disappointed. Every year, we need to get better at this and evolve and give everyone a voice. This year, the number doubled. It's still not half, but half is our goal. We are a team of diverse people, and we want that to reflect on everything we do.

It sounds like if you keep getting your name out there, more and more people will come forward.

Absolutely. Last year's conference was very niche. It was all design sketching. This year's theme is about how sketching can be a catalyst in other parts of the design process and how it should always be evolving through your work, whether it's research or CAD or prototypes. Some people use it analog, some people use iPad on the Wacom or even VR sketching. We're gonna open things up so that we're able to reach as many people as we can. 

What's next for Advanced Design Sketching?

We're going to start offering scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students, and we're also going to start doing a podcast. And all of our content will remain free. 

Secure your ticket to SQ1CON before they're gone.


Reader Submitted: Dear System: Imagining an Intelligent Future for the Toaster

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Dear System is my final graduation project for Product Design BA at Edinburgh College of Art. It is a study into our increasingly amorphous relationships with appliances within the home, envisioning the object as service, and the user as product. In the connected home, objects are market-driven to cannibalize attention and work in increasingly complex ways to keep it. A phone buzzes, and a microwave dings, but what if our mundane objects became imbued with this technological power as a means of competing for our attention and encouraging use every day?

View the full project here

Design Job: Standard Issue Is Seeking a Graphic Designer to Help Them Market Textiles in NYC

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Seeking in-house graphic production designer with a strong background in corporate systems. This position provides support for the marketing department of a Manhattan textile manufacturing company in the Architecture and Design realm. Typical activities include the development of presentations and marketing support documents, preparation of print

View the full design job here

Tradition vs Progress: The Art of the American Fire Helmet

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There is an old adage in the firefighting community that the profession is 150 years of tradition unimpeded by progress. The original fire helmet, then called a fire cap, was designed in 1731 by Jacobus Turk for the Fire Department of New York in order to distinguish the department from competitors. (Scarily enough, firefighting was once privatized—just like in the movie 'Gangs of New York.')

View the full content here

Musical Instruments, Transformed

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Musical instruments are undergoing a renaissance. Waves of techno-cultural innovation are melding arts and sciences, and steadily raising the tide on traditional crafts, turning them on their heads. The transformation of the musical instrument—through networks, sensors, data and computation—is not only a story about the craft of making musical tools, but the incredible ways by which we express our human musicality through them.

Wintergatan's Marble Machine, designed by Martin Molin

The earliest known musical instrument predates the oldest known European cave art by about 5,000 years [1][2]. To put that in perspective consider the pyramids in Egypt. The Great Pyramid of Giza is about 5,000 years old. This seems ancient to us alive today. That is how much time stands between the first known European cave art and the nearly forty-five-thousand-year-old flute discovered in southwest Germany. While it is likely true that the first musical instrument was the human voice, this fossilized finding underscores two key points: humans have been musical for a long time; and humans can produce tools that express their musicality.

Oldest known musical instrument. Flute discovered in western Ulm, Germany

Are you musical? Today scientists are using noninvasive brain imaging, such as MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), to observe the brain at work. This has led to a new field called cognitive neuroscience. In this field, powerful insights are being uncovered for how each of us contain vast mental faculties that highlight our unique ability to create and appreciate music[3]. You may not be musical, but you do possess a high degree of musicality.

Songbirds are the most musical creatures we know. Yet, birds cannot even recognize the same tune when transposed to a different key[4]. This is a relatively simple task for humans. Not only can we detect a tunes in other keys, but in other timbres—meaning different instrument sounds. For example, if someone were to play you the tune Happy Birthday in key of C, you could immediately pick it out when played again at a lower key. This holds true if it were played on violin, bass guitar or piano. In every case, you would still recognize the song as Happy Birthday. Humans are the only species that we know can do this [4].

Eunoia, Brainwave Instrument by Lisa Park

Humans are toolmakers. By fashioning and using tools, our species has adapted to harsh environments and thrived. Step back, and it becomes apparent that the sum of human civilization is a testament to the power of innovative technology accrued over time. Not only have tools allowed us to overcome the basic natural barriers threatening survival, but they have amplified our means of creative expression, and given rise to a vast spectrum of cultural artifacts [5].

"Mens et Manus"—"Mind and Hand"—is the motto on the seal of Massachusetts Institute of Technology [6]. The saying was originally intended to capture a new-science-sentiment for Enlightenment-era thinking that questioned the role of nature and technology. Today, it is an excellent maxim for our embodied co-evolution with expressive tools. Musical instruments are undergoing a renaissance due largely to computation and a convergence of other technologies enabled by computation. Yet in order to fully appreciate where this is going in the future, we need to first drive home that our Mens et Manus goes way beyond technology. The human experience is embodied, and our cognitive capacity to bind with the physical environment is key. We have an integral relationship with technological tools as it allows us to act in concert with their affordances, and thus serve more as a symphony of instrumentation. The musical instrument of the future is thereby not an instrument at all, but a tightly integrated system of musical expression.

First known instrument "system" (circa 850 AD), hydro powered organ with interchangeable cylinders, Banu Musa

Pauline Oliveros was a pioneering American composer and accordionist. She dedicated her life to expanding awareness of music and life. The Expanded Instrument System (EIS) evolved from Oliveros' solo performances and composition work with tape and digital delays beginning in the late 1950s [7]. This system entailed an evolving array of electronic, sound-processing components that allowed players to perform in the past, present and future simultaneously [7]. The hallmark of EIS is the concept of system-based performance. Today we take for granted that instruments can interconnect through MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) to automate playback. And while EIS was certainly not the first systems-based instrumentation, it represented a key nascent concept. Human players can become powerfully augmented through an expressive system.

Pauline Oliveros with Ellen Fullman performing with an "Expanded" accordion (EIS)

Today a convergence of media and technologies like networks, sensors, data, learning algorithms and embedded computation are transforming the musical instrument in new ways. Advanced design applications, combined with a 21st Century Medici-like trend toward reintegrating arts and sciences, is dramatically expanding the field, and are leading to a new wave of creative instrumentation.

The first wave of modern innovation can be linked to the Industrial Revolution, when the mass production of fabricated parts led to better construction, affordability and popularization of instruments in the home. Falling costs and wide distribution meant that more people could attend live musical performances, and even own a variety of instruments that were previously reserved for the affluent[10]. For example, supply chains, standardization of specialized parts, and the industrial-era innovation of the iron frame made the piano an affordable and widely popular home instrument during the end of the 19th century[8][9].

The second wave was spawned by the advent of electronics and analog circuitry. Electrification not only transformed traditional instruments, it led to the invention of entirely new ones. In the 1930s, guitars were transformed from quiet background rhythm-keepers to iconic lead instruments through magnetic transduction and amplification[11]. Around this time a host of new musical inventions started emerging, including the Theremin, a strange device controlled by using your hands to disrupt electromagnetic fields. Analog circuits also meant that instruments could generate audible tones and use synthesis techniques to create entirely new sounds through oscillators, filters and envelope controllers[12].

The third wave was fueled by the Digital Revolution. Digital circuits were eventually able to model their analog counterparts, and then go way beyond their capabilities – from digital synthesis, to sampling and looping, to having a multi-track recorder studio in your pocket. The ubiquity of computing transformed instruments into systems, and dramatically expanded the field through digital networks.

Andrius Šarapovas, Kinetic Generative Music Installation

Network performance can be traced back as early as 1951, when the experimental composer John Cage used radio transistors to perform the piece Imaginary Landscape No. 4 for Twelve Radios [13]. In this performance, radios were interconnected in a way that would cause them to influence each other. Cage's early cybernetic experiment pointed to a future, where digitally networked instruments could talk and control one another. Beginning in the 80s, MIDI, and other music related network protocols enabled musicians—from a single keyboard—to control a host of other digitally-enabled instruments across a network. By the turn of the century the World Wide Web was disrupting how music was distributed and shared. The uncharted information space of the web further expanded the field of network performance tools by extending them to a global audience.

During a 2012 exhibition at the London Science Museum, visitors were invited to collaborate with millions of online guests to make music together in real-time over the internet. Tellart collaborated with Google Creative Lab, and worked alongside partners Universal Design Studio, MAP, B-Reel, Karsten Schmidt, and Fraser Randall to develop the Universal Orchestra experiment, a robotic instrument array that allowed for physical and virtual performance through the same system in real-time from anywhere in the world. This open source experiment pointed towards a future where digital and physical realities blend, and musical interaction between players happens in real-time connected through telepresence.

Universal Orchestra Experiment, Chrome Web Lab. Tellart in Collaboration with Google Creative Lab. Photograph, T by Andrew Meredith

A fourth wave of innovation is quickly washing in, as the Internet of Things evolves into smaller and more powerful networks of computational devices that exchange data in real-time, and then learn and adapt from those data through machine intelligence. Simultaneously digital and physical materials are amalgamating, and spawning a dizzying array of mutable forms, interfaces, and interactive possibilities for performing musically with systems.

Embedded computational instrument platforms—like Bela, developed by Dr. Andrew McPherson's team at the Center for Digital Music at Queen Mary University of London, and Satellite CCRMA, developed by Edgar Berdahl, Ph.D. and Wendy Ju, Ph.D. at Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics—are transforming how instruments sense the player, interconnect with surroundings, and augment acoustic properties of traditional instrumentation [14]. Fedde ten Berge applies sculptural techniques to design artifacts that challenge the notion of traditional instrument form while exploring the sonic qualities of materials. He leverages embedded computing to amplify vibrational character of his objects. Subhraag Singh's Infinitone, is a technologically-enhanced woodwind instrument, roughly the size of soprano saxophone that replaces traditional keys pads with slides controlled by motors, allowing the instrument to play nearly any musical interval in the harmonic spectrum [15].

Subhraag Singh, performing with the Inifniton at the Georgia Tech Guthman Competition

Embedded computation allows instrument designers to experiment with both the acoustic properties of material—amplifying, processing and augmenting tonality—as well as with formal properties— interfaces, media, shape and configuration [14].

Fedde ten Berge, Sonic Sculptures using Embedded Computation with Bela

As musical objects encompass more powerful onboard computers that can sense the world, and algorithmically learn to listen, move, and act musically, will these instruments then have the capacity to join with humans in a live improvisational performance?

Mason Bretan, working under Gil Weinberg, Ph.D. at Georgia Tech's Robotic Musicianship Lab has developed Shimon, a marimba-playing robot that uses deep learning and big data to perform live with musicians, as well as write and perform its own music. Shimon is able to listen, catch the beat, sync up and determine the themes of live human performance and respond with its own unique concepts [16]. By using choreographic gestures, the machine conveys similar musical body language of other human players.

Shimon, marimba-playing robot, performing live with human players

As the invisible landscape of artificial intelligence is made visible through better tools and interfaces we should expect to see massive transformation in musical instrumentation. This work is already underway. Researcher Dr. Rebecca Fiebrink at Goldsmiths University in London created Wekinator, an open source software for developing musical instruments and other real-time creative applications using machine learning. The Magenta project, led by Google Brain's principle researcher Douglas Eck, is helping to unlock Google's machine learning services for music and art. Both Fiebrink and Eck are advocates for experimenting with these technologies creatively and making them accessible to artist. The Magenta team started out by providing an experimental algorithm called NSynth, that used deep neural networks (a form of machine learning based on learning data representations) to generate sounds. To further their experiment, the NSynth researchers designed a musical hardware interface for working with the algorithm, called NSynth Super [17].

NSynth Super, Making Sounds Generated by Machine Learning

In 1983, Pauline Oliveros began work on the Expanded Instrument System (EIS), evolving it with multiple collaborators until her death in 2016. Her vision was to create a performance environment where musicians could explore interactions with technology, thereby "expanding" their instruments. Oliveros' had a bold and spirited attitude towards technology and music. She embraced change, and throughout her life was able to incorporate new layers of technology into the EIS system [7]. If she were alive today, its easy to imagine that her curiosity would lead to explorations into virtual and augmented sound, sensor networks, embedded computation, artificial intelligence, and a range of other cutting edge transformations of musical instruments.

Musical instruments are undergoing a renaissance. They are transforming from singular sonic objects into intelligent systems for musical expression. Through a convergence of technologies and disciplines, fueled by computation, we are witnessing the full upheaval of traditional instrument-craft, leaving us to reimagine how music is produced, performed and disseminated to audiences around the world. Even while machines are learning to think, and can now write and perform music of their own, it does not outmode human musicianship. Musicality is an integral part of the human experience. As we have seen, our musical nature extends back to prehistoric times, and there is mounting evidence to illuminate our long evolution into complex musical creatures. Through mind and hand—"Mens et Manus"—humans are also sophisticated toolmakers. Our technology is deeply interwoven into our evolutionary nature. Therefore the musical system of the future should, and will, incorporate musicians, emboldening them to express their musicality to ever higher degrees.

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SOURCES

[1] Conard, N. J., M. Malina, and S. C. Münzel. 2009. New flutes document the earliest musical tradition in southwestern Germany. Nature 460: 737-740.

[2] Thomas Higham, Basell, Jacobi, Wood, Ramsey, Conard. Testing models for the beginning of the Aurignacian and advent of figurative art and music: The radiocarbon chronology of Geißenklösterle. Journal of Human Evolution, 2012.

[3] Michael A. Arbib (2013), Language, Music and the Brain, MIT Press

[4] Aniruddh D. Patel, Music (2010), Language, and the Brain, Oxford University Press

[5] Yuval Noah Harari (2015), Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Harper

[6] Mind and Hand: the Birth of MIT (2005), MIT Press

[7] Sounding the Margins: Collected Writings (1992-2009), Pauline Oliveros, Deep Listening Publications

[8] James Barron (2006), Piano: The Making of a Steinway Concert Grand, Times Books

[9] Alfred Dolge (1910) Pianos and Their Makers: A Comprehensive History of the Development of the Piano

[10] Olivia Groves (2017), The Evolution Of The Modern Piano

[11] Theodoros II, History of the Electric Guitar,, Gizmodo

[12] Trevor Pinch (2004), Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer, Harvard University Press

[13] Jon H. Appleton, Ronald C. Perera (1975), The Development and Practice of Electronic Music

[14] E. Berdahl and W. Ju. Satellite CCRMA: A musical interaction and sound synthesis platform. In Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

[15] Alex Marshall(2017), The status quo will be obliterated!' – the inventors making their own musical instruments, Guardian

[16] Mason Bretan, Gil Weinberg (2016), A survey of robotic musicianship, ACM Digital Library

[17] Jesse Engel, et al (2017), Neural Audio Synthesis of Musical Notes with WaveNet Autoencoders, Google Magenta

Design Job: Help Make What's Next as Native Design's Lead Industrial Designer in CA

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Native Design We invent category defining user experiences, products and services for the world’s most interesting brands. Established in 1997 by Morten Warren, we are a highly selective studio built on a singular commitment to excellence. We are independent and march to the beat of our own drum. At

View the full design job here

Reader Submitted: Simple Yet Beautiful Geometric Soaps Inspired by Urban Fragments of Seoul

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Urban Soap is a series of delightful multi-sensory soaps inspired by the urban fragments of Seoul. The soaps are multi-sensory objects with the intention to deliver urban fragments through sensibilities of sight, smell and touch.

Urban Soap is useful in the washroom, shower or kitchen. Made with a blend of essential oils, our soaps are effective tool for everyday needs.

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View the full project here

What Does a Bag Designed to Carry $1 Million in Cash Look Like?

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Traveling through Vietnam in the '90s, I purchased a flight from Da Nang to Saigon that cost me one million VND. That was the first and last time I ever handled a million of anything. For others, however, carrying a million bucks around—USD, no less—is apparently a regular occurrence. As high-end outdoor gear manufacturer SDR Traveller puts it,

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Avi Ben Shoshan's Ceramic Utensils Elegantly Question Our Natural Eating Habits

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Forks, spoons, knives and chopsticks are designed to move food into our pie holes as efficiently as possible. For the most part, we all know how to use them–sometimes to the point where we don't even consider their existence as we shovel a plate of pasta down our throats. But what if your utensils encouraged you to slow down and really consider each and every bite you take?

All photos by Or Kaplan. Desserts by Michal Bouton. Hosted by Basta.

Tel Aviv-based designer Avi Ben Shoshan's collection of experimental ceramic eating utensils do just that. The recent Shenkar industrial design graduate's collection vaguely resembles the utensils we've been trained to use but subtly extend possibilities beyond our traditional cutting, scooping, stabbing and plucking motions.

In order to scoop out the contents from both pieces of this almond-shaped object, the two parts need to interact—one acting as the spoon and the other acting as the bowl. 

Once you've finished scooping, licking is encouraged. 

What looks like a simple sponge cake on a spoon becomes much more when the utensil is lifted to the user's mouth. Once the spoon reaches a certain angle, sauce pours from the hollow bulb at the back of the spoon, though the spoon and then pools in the small concave area where the cake rests. 

This version of a spoon unexpectedly fits perfectly in the palm of your hand and encourages natural motions that spoons often restrict. It's ideal for scooping and can be held a variety of different ways to fit each individual's needs. Unfortunately the twisted design of the spoon only works for right-handed people at the moment, but Shoshan (a lefty himself) is considering making the spoon in two orientations in the future. 

The variety of mugs in the collection all have handles that stem from a simple circle outline—some of which are completed while some are not. All of them rest in your hand a different way and challenge your fingers as they move to find the perfect spot.

Next, Shoshan plans to host a larger dinner, where he will refine the ceramics shown here as well as include new objects he conjures up along the way. You can watch a video of some other similar utensils Shoshan created here.

We visited Tel-Aviv in partnership with Vibe Israel, a non-profit organization that lead us on a tour called Vibe Design 2018.

Buying a Car, Part 1: Using the Design Process' Decision-Making Steps to Choose

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My impending move to the countryside demands car ownership, and I just signed the papers on a new vehicle. As a city-dweller unfamiliar with the car buying process, choosing a model seemed daunting--until I approached it the way I would any design problem. Here I'll recount the steps I took.

1. Establish Parameters

Design is about making decisions, and I needed a way to narrow down the options. As of last year there were 275 different automobile models for sale in the U.S. Ideally I wanted to get that number down to five contenders or less.

A. I started by ticking off my ideal car's general, desired qualities:

- Utility
- Safety
- Fun

B. Then I addressed my impending geographical situation:

- Remote, rural location
- Four seasons
- Possibility of unpaved roads

C. Next I considered what I'd use the car for:

- Carrying groceries and supplies
- Carrying lumber for DIY/shop projects
- Moving interstate
- Transporting two dogs

2. Determine the Ideal Outcome

By considering everthing above, I could then drill down into the first three categories listed:

Utility

- Four wheel drive (see: Remote location, Four seasons)
- Can carry lumber and bulky supplies
- Can carry two dogs

Safety

- Reliable, won't break down in a remote region in inclement weather
- Good crash test results
- High driving position in case of impact with SUV or truck (the dominant vehicle in the region I'm moving to)

Fun

- Stickshift
- Quick acceleration
- Low road position for cornering

3. Narrow Down Solutions Using Client Preferences and Environmental Factors

The bulk of the qualities point towards a new (i.e. reliable) SUV or truck. But there are, glaringly, two desired qualities on the list that are at odds with each other:

- High driving position vs. Low driving position

This decision was easy to reconcile, using both client preferences (ha) and an environmental factor:

1) I don't find trucks and SUVs fun to drive.
2) The farm I'm moving to already has an SUV on the property. I wouldn't necessarily have access to it, but it made sense to me for the farm itself to have a diversity of vehicles.

That knocks out SUV or truck. And I figured that rather than look into crossovers, which are really just baby SUVs that provide what I think of as the worst of both worlds, I'd go with a station wagon.

Station wagons have relatively low driving positions. That's great for fun driving and terrible if I get T-boned by a Suburban. In this case I looked at the odds of having an accident vs. not having an accident, and was willing to trade safety for fun.

4. Describe the Solution in One Sentence

Now the decision-making is greatly simplified. I'm looking for:

A new, fast, stickshift AWD station wagon.

This neatly narrowed my field from 275 vehicles down to just three or four--because practically no one makes a stickshift station wagon anymore. Volvo, Audi and BMW make manual transmission paddle-shift wagons, but I'd rather drive a goddamned three-on-the-tree than tap on stupid plastic flaps like I'm pretending to be Nico Rosberg.

Next we'll get into the incredibly lousy UX of car buying and the tricky area of aesthetics.


Here Are Your Visual Communication Honorees for the 2018 Core77 Design Awards

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Visual Communication Design: All visual and graphic design, branding and identity projects for print, digital or physical environments. Examples include: logos and identity systems, environmental graphics, signage, typefaces, infographics, motion graphics, print design, advertising, etc.

This year's Visual Communication Jury Team was led by Jennifer Kinon, Co-founder of OCD | The Original Champions of Design. Joining her on the panel were Louise Fili, Director of Louise Fili Ltd., Min Lew, Partner at Base Design, Osi Imeokparia, Director of Product at Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Without further ado, your 2018 Core77 Design Awards Visual Communication Honorees: 

A massive thank you from everyone at Core77 for the stellar efforts of our judges, and the incredible work submitted by our honorees!


Here Are Your Transportation Honorees for the 2018 Core77 Design Awards

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Transportation Design: Vehicles, systems or modes of transportation used to get people or objects from one place to another, for private, public, commercial or industrial purposes. Examples include: planes, trains, automobiles, buses, bikes, boats, mass transit systems, transportation infrastructure, etc.

This year's Transportation Jury Team was led by La Shirl Turner, Head of Exterior and Interior Color and Materials for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Joining her on the panel were Jun Ryu, Design Manager at FCA US, Kasia Lys, Lead Senior Designer at FCA US, Meredith Gannes, Design Manager at FCA US, and Shady Elias, Senior Designer at FCA US. 

Without further ado, your 2018 Core77 Design Awards Transportation Honorees:

A massive thank you from everyone at Core77 for the stellar efforts of our judges, and the incredible work submitted by our honorees!

Here Are Your Strategy & Research Honorees for the 2018 Core77 Design Awards

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Strategy & Research: Projects or products that predominantly utilize design research and strategy. Examples include: brand strategies, product and project strategies, research methodologies such as surveys, interviews, studies, observations, varied research throughout projects, etc. 

This year's Strategy & Research Jury Team was led by Tatyana Mamut, Former Product Exec at Amazon, Salesforce, and IDEO. Joining her on the panel were Lionel Mohri, VP of Design at Intuit Innovation Practices, Nalini Kotamraju, Vice President of User Research & Analytics at Salesforce, Susan O'Malley, Head of Strategy, Office of the CEO at IDEO.

Without further ado, your 2018 Core77 Design Awards Strategy & Research Honorees:

A massive thank you from everyone at Core77 for the stellar efforts of our judges, and the incredible work submitted by our honorees!

Here Are Your Packaging Honorees for the 2018 Core77 Design Awards

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Packaging Design: All graphic design, branding and structural designs related to the packaging of products. Examples include: primary or secondary packaging for Fast Moving Consumer Goods or premium brands, promotional packaging and gifting programs, limited editions, etc.

This year's Packaging Jury Team was led by Chi-An De Leo, Creative Director & Co-Founder of Rice Creative. Joining him on the panel were Chuong Pham, Creative Director & Co-founder of Kaarem and Gregory Jewett, Co-founder of ATIQ.

Without further ado, your 2018 Core77 Design Awards Packaging Honorees:

A massive thank you from everyone at Core77 for the stellar efforts of our judges, and the incredible work submitted by our honorees!

Here Are Your Service Design Honorees for the 2018 Core77 Design Awards

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Service Design: All projects entailing the organization of communication, transactions, end-users, infrastructure, institutions and organizational systems for greater efficiency and ease of use. Examples include: distribution or delivery systems, ways of connecting people or enabling transactions, funding platforms, web-based communities, etc.

This year's Service Design Jury Team was led by Lingjing Yin, Lead Service Designer for FutureGov. Joining her on the panel were George Sheldrake, Service Design Consultant, J. Paul Neeley, Director of Neeley Worldwide, and Lauren Currie, Head of Design at Good Lab.

Without further ado, here are your 2018 Core77 Design Awards Service Design Honoreess:

A massive thank you from everyone at Core77 for the stellar efforts of our judges, and the incredible work submitted by our honorees!


Here Are Your Open Design Honorees for the 2018 Core77 Design Awards

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Open Design: Projects whose final form is 'open', liable to change (physically or digitally,) and whose underlying purpose is creation or recreation by the end-user, either through production (ex. 3D Printing), assembly (ex. DIY), or personal customization.

This year's Open Design Jury Team was led by Zach Kaplan, CEO of Inventables. Joining him on the panel were Carl Bass, self-unemployed robot builder and former CEO of Autodesk, Jason Busschaer, Director of Industrial Design at Stanley Black & Decker, and Porter Whitmire, Senior Director of Product Development & Innovation Management at Techtronic Industries.

Without further ado, your 2018 Core77 Design Awards Open Design Honorees:

A massive thank you from everyone at Core77 for the stellar efforts of our judges, and the incredible work submitted by our honorees!

Here Are Your Interaction Honorees for the 2018 Core77 Design Awards

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Interaction Design:  Interactive content and user interface design for websites, mobile devices and experiential installations. Examples include: software, mobile apps, interactive projections, products with embedded user interface, animations, simulations, robotics, etc.

This year's Interaction Jury Team was led by Joana Lehman, Executive Producer of Small Planet. Joining her on the panel were Brian Kelly, Director of Experience Design, Leslie Dann, Associate Partner of C&G Partners and Yumi Endo, Lead Designer at Humanitarian Data Exchange(HDX), United Nations OCHA.

Without further ado, your 2018 Core77 Design Awards Interaction Honorees:

A massive thank you from everyone at Core77 for the stellar efforts of our judges, and the incredible work submitted by our honorees!

Here Are Your Furniture & Lighting Honorees for the 2018 Core77 Design Awards

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Furniture & Lighting: Furniture and lighting products or systems for private, public, commercial or industrial use. Examples include: home or public seating, office systems, lighting, workstations, etc.

This year's Furniture & Lighting Jury Team was led by John Arndt and Wonhee Jeong Arndt, Co-founders of Studio Gorm. Joining them on the panel were Chris Liljenberg Halstrøm, Founder of Chris L. Halstrom, Christopher Specce, Professor of Furniture Design at RISD, Jamie Wolfond, Founder of Good Thing, and Thom Fougere, Founder of Thom Fougere Studio.

Without further ado, your 2018 Core77 Design Awards Furniture & Lighting Honorees:

A massive thank you from everyone at Core77 for the stellar efforts of our judges, and the incredible work submitted by our honorees!

Here Are Your Design for Social Impact Honorees for the 2018 Core77 Design Awards

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Design for Social Impact: Projects specifically designed to directly benefit social, humanitarian, community or environmental causes. Examples include: community or environmental impact initiatives, products for underrepresented communities, distribution systems, disaster relief, etc.

This year's Design for Social Impact Jury Team was led by Jennifer Rittner, Principal of Content Matters. Joining her on the panel were George Aye, Co-founder and Director of Innovation at Greater Good StudioMarc Dones, Associate Director of Equity Initiatives and Sabiha Basrai, Graphic Designer/Owner of Design Action Collective

Without further ado, your 2018 Core77 Design Awards Design for Social Impact Honorees: 

A massive thank you from everyone at Core77 for the stellar efforts of our judges, and the incredible work submitted by our honorees!

Here Are Your Design Education Initiative Honorees for the 2018 Core77 Design Awards

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Design Education Initiative : A for profit or nonprofit-education partnership initiative, or an initiative undertaken by an educational institution that utilizes the ideals of design thinking. Examples include, but are not limited to: workshops, class projects, institutional programs, print and/or digital campaigns, education-driven exhibitions, online learning initiatives, toolkits, strategy documents, etc. 

This year's Design Education Initiative Jury Team was led by Susie Wise, Strategic Advisor, Designer & Coach of School Retool. Joining her on the panel were Juliette LaMontagne, Founder & CEO, Breaker / Chief Learning Architect of Bionic SolutionsKareem Collie, Director of Design and Creativity for The Rick and Susan Sontag Center for Collaborative Creativity and Tom Maiorana, Assistant Professor in the Department of Design at UC Davis.

Without further ado, your 2018 Core77 Design Awards Design Education Initiative Honorees:

A massive thank you from everyone at Core77 for the stellar efforts of our judges, and the incredible work submitted by our honorees!

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