branding
&concept
information
The first hard-goods product I am taking on for the ad&c | SS25 collection is a incense holder. So what better way for me to tell you about my design process and how I approach something like this than a blog post with no photos(lol).
First, consider the constraints. In this case, it has to match the concept of “Sliver” as well as being a one step process to manufacture. Easy, it’s going to be a molded product with some sort of physical sliver.
wow, this is going fast.
02 - 15 - 2025: JUST BOUGHT A SONY A6000
First off, I am 22 and just now realizing that my job and career I am interested in requires me to have a camera. How did I not realize that till now? No idea. But, you could say I’ve been on my grind and it’s about time that I had a camera for myself.
Don’t get me wrong, I have multiple cameras already. What I’m talking about is a digital DSLR/Mirrorless camera. I usually shoot my travel photos on a half-frame film camera which works amazing. Every photo you see on my homepage was a shot from that camera. I also have an amazing hardcore film camera that I love shooting with, but it’s time to get real (and digital).
02 - 04 - 2025: ATTEMPTING AN ART GALLERY
Why do I keep undertaking such daunting projects? I have no idea. But, I do feel like this experience is going to give me more insight into what art means to me, mostly because product design has taught me that art isn’t as useful as function.
This art gallery will be for my personal capstone project that I am running with my two co-founders of the brand ad&c and will be a great experience for me to try something new.
01 - 28 - 2025: WHY IS MANUFACTURING SO DIFFICULT
This is getting ridiculous and out of hand. My senior capstone project relies on manufacturing goods for our brand ad&c. What me and the guys I run the brand with have realized is that manufacturingn and finding a manufactuerer is super difficult... like reallllly difficult.
Step one seems like it’s finding what we will manufacture. Step two, negotiating with manufactuerers and finding one that can work in low MOQ’s and send samples for cheap. Step three, being able to afford a production order of these garments. That’s so insane and hard.
Hoping I can circle back to this at some point to see if I figured any of this out.
01 - 27 - 2025: STICKERS
So, there I was... at Bottos BBQ, trying to get a smashburger (best smashburger in Portland btw), when I saw the coolest sticker. The owner just decided to make a few stickers of some low quality photos of his dog. So sick. You don’t understand how funny it is for me now to just be working and someone will tell me my dog is really cute and how cool it is that I made stickers of them but I just tell them it’s not my dog. People go from excited, to confused, to weirdly disgusted lol. Just a weird thing that I’ve noticed lately.
01 - 19 - 2025: NEW SCHEDULE
Sat down and figured out a new schedule I would be working under for this term. Might seem like a small step for some, but this is huge for me. Getting to have order and fact into my life has given me the freedom to use my free time effectively. Hopefully this continues. . .
01 - 07 - 2025: CLASS BEGINS. . . SO DOES AD&C
Wow. . . my thesis project with my business partners is getting exciting.
Let’s start with the scary. Making a work schedule: terrifying. Sticking to the work schedule: difficult. Coming up with concepts: confusing.
Now the exciting bits. I now know what my days will look like: refereshing. Working closely with people I love: relaxing. Making a brand with
friends: so much fun.
Overall, these next few weeks will be an exciting adventure where I continue to grow into the designer I want to be and get to work on a project that’s been on the backburner for far too long.
01 - 02 - 2025: ANOTHER YEAR LOL
Made it to another year! kinda weird to think about all the projects I did this year but I am pretty excited to see the progress and to see the light at the end of the tunnel (thesis project for final year of university).
Being able to reflect on this year and all the stuff I did has been really helpful and I enjoy the positive aspects of reflection. A lot has changed for me and I feel myself finally figuring out what I want to do post-graduation.
11 - 25 - 2024: NEW WEBSITE
Wow... I realized how much I hate making websites. CSS code is annoying, Cargo is annoying, everything I do is getting annoying to the point where I’ve resorted to havingChat GPT write my code for me. Hope it’s worth it...