K i d s I I t e a m
Above: SCAD students
get a feel for products
at the Kids II design
studio, preparing to
develop their own toy
concepts as part of an
industrial design course.
t h e t e a m d y n a m i c , ” L i n d s a y s .
“ W e e n c o u r a g e p e o p l e t o p u s h
f o r t h e i r i d e a s . B u t w e a l s o
e n c o u r a g e t h e m t o f i n d a w a y
t o f i n d t h e i r s w e e t s p o t , w h e r e
a ll o f t h e i r i d e a s a r e c o m i n g
t o g e t h e r . ”
S u c h f le x i b i l i t y m a t t e r s in a
j o b m a r k e t w h e r e o p p o r t u n i t i e s
a r e n ’t a s o b v i o u s a s t h e y u s e d t o
b e . T h e g o o d n e w s is t h e y ’r e o u t
t h e r e . W h e n D e l l C o m p u t e r s
w a s lo o k i n g f o r a d e s ig n i n t e r n ,
t h e y c h o s e a S C A D f ib e r s s t u -
d e n t f o r h e r k n o w l e d g e o f c o l o r ,
t e x t u r e , a n d s u r f a c e . T h e i n t e r n -
s h ip “ c h a n g e d h e r w a y o f t h i n k -
in g , a n d t h e i r s , ” s a y s C a y e w a h
E a s l e y , h e a d o f t h e f ib e r s d e p a r t -
m e n t . “ W e h e l p o u r s t u d e n t s t o
s e e t h o s e p o s s i b i l i t i e s , t o s p e a k
t o p r o f e s s i o n a l s in o t h e r i n d u s -
t r i e s a b o u t w h a t t h e y c a n b r i n g
t o t h e t a b l e . ”
A n d f o r t r e n d - c o n s c i o u s
c o m p a n i e s , S C A D c o l l a b o r a -
t i o n s o f f e r u n i q u e a c c e s s t o t h e
c r e a t i v e e n e r g y o f t h a t d e s i r -
a b l e d e m o g r a p h i c , t h e m i lle n n i-
a ls - t h o s e b o r n in t h e e a r l y ’8 0 s
a n d l a t e r .
“ T h e y ’r e a g e n e r a t i o n
t h a t u n d e r s t a n d s t e c h n o l o g y
a n d s o c ia l m e d i a , a n d a l o t o f
p e o p l e a r e l o o k i n g t o t a p i n t o
t h o s e m i n d s , ” L i n d o b s e r v e s .
“ W h a t a r e t h e y l o o k i n g f o r ?
W h e r e d o t h e y s e e t h e f u t u r e
g o i n g ? N o t o n l y c a n t h e y s p e a k
d i r e c t l y t o t h a t , b u t t h e y c a n
a l s o
d e s i g n
d i r e c t l y t o t h a t , u s e
t h e i r p e r s p e c t i v e s t o d e v e l o p
s o m e t h i n g t h a t m i g h t n e v e r
h a v e b e e n i m a g i n e d . ”
V T e c h t e a m
Left: The students
who collaborated
with VTech prepare
to spend two weeks
presenting their ideas
to executives at the
company’s headquarters
in Hong Kong.
J C B t e a m
Above: Students from
SCAD ’s service design
class worked with
executives at JCB’s
North American plant
in Savannah and
played an important
role in the redesign of
the JCB 3CX backhoe
(model, right).
dec/jani2 american craft 045
