Design + Makes showcase highlights Emily Carr University of Art + Design student designs

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      Offer emerging local designers the chance to exhibit their work in a trendy storefront display among some of Mount Pleasant’s most popular furniture and design shops, and most will jump at the chance.

      Vancouver Special (3612 Main Street) has given just that opportunity to students in Emily Carr University of Art + Design’s industrial-design program through the second annual Design + Make showcase. It’s a unique exhibition of everything from clean-lined desk organizers to vinyl-display racks hosted by shop owner and former architect Anne Pearson and ECUAD associate professor and Innovations in Wood Design program coordinator Christian Blyt.

      “Last year, he [Blyt] approached me and wanted to know if I’d be interested in collaborating on a series of projects over the course of a semester,” said Pearson in a telephone interview. “This project focuses on giving students real-world business experience and design skills, so it’s not just a regular class where you produce prototypes. They had to take the projects and bring them to the level where they could be sold in a real store.”

      Blyt’s course, a three-credit elective, was built around the idea of giving his pupils a chance to act as entrepreneurs. In groups of three, students were tasked with creating a home accessory, using wood as the primary material.

      “I’m big into the idea of entrepreneurship,” Blyt said in a separate phone interview. “That’s what I wanted to exemplify: this idea of getting students to think in those kinds of terms, because there are very few design consulting agencies in this city, so if you’re going to stick around here when you’re done [finished school], you’ll have to figure out how to forge your own way.”

      Aside from simply designing the product, students had to come up with a marketing plan and set of production procedures. Pearson says her goal is to only sell items in her store that are accessible, affordable, and of high quality, and that bring pleasure to daily life, and the accessories were subject to her approval. Not all were guaranteed a spot in the showcase.

      Once it had met her standards for storefront display, each product also needed to ring in at a retail price of less than $50.

      “Anne and I developed the criteria, and, like in the real world, we started with the price point,” explained Blyt. “It sets a condition of the way they then have to design and develop their product.”

      Pearson met with students at three stages of the course, and offered advice on different aspects of the process.

      “It’s exciting because I get to work with students over the course of the semester, and to tell them what works and what doesn’t—not just design criticism, but also some business criticism,” she said. “To be able to take a project from conception to completion, with packaging, in three to four months is pretty amazing.”

      Blyt agreed that the execution and product development exhibited by his students run the gamut of items already available in Pearson’s shop: “They fit perfectly in there. It’s good for Anne, and it’s good for us. She loves being part of the process, so I certainly hope we’ll do it again next year.”

      The veteran in wood design also said that he and Pearson are looking into showcasing the featured pieces at this year’s Interior Design Show West in September.

      Here are the four products that Pearson has chosen to include in the 2015 Design + Make showcase:

      Peaks

      Amanda Siebert

      Available in white birch or dark walnut, Peaks ($30) is a desk organizer inspired by the Lions, the most distinctive peaks of the North Shore Mountains. Created by Karlo Coronel, Nathania Candra, and Stephanie Tong, it’s elegantly crafted and smooth to the touch—the perfect accessory for any messy office.

      Audiofile

      Amanda Siebert

      Created with Vancouver’s massive population of vinyl-loving hipsters in mind, Audiofile ($50), built by Genevieve Poirier, Russel McBride, and Andrew Tarukciyan, is a display system built to hold five records at a time. The reason for five? To create an analogue playlist for that laid-back dinner party or quiet Friday night in. Sleek and light in colour, Audiofile would make an excellent gift for anyone who favours the snap-crackle-pop of a record player over the advertisements of a YouTube playlist.

      Vancouver Special Hooks

      Amanda Siebert

      Sold in a variety of colours and in packs of three, these multipurpose hooks ($50), resembling the design of many homes built in Vancouver between 1965 and 1985, can be used in a number of ways, but Pearson suggests using them to display prints or records, or to hold important documents. Looking for something for that friend with a strange penchant for retro residential architecture? Look no further. You can thank designers Melissa Rossi, Dylan Moffat, and Rene Odermatt for this clever accessory.

      Clip+

      Amanda Siebert

      Not quite a paper clip and not quite a money clip, Amy Jiang’s sturdy Clip+ ($16) comes in different colours and can be used to keep those items that you just can’t seem to keep track of in the same place: headphones, money, credit and business cards, and papers are just a few options. Built out of walnut, this strong accessory keeps clutter at bay so effortlessly that even the most disorganized individual can get onboard. 

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