Visuals
Project Statement
This project was super involved with the concept of user experience. Since we were designing for someone specific, it was imperative that it revolved around their personality, requests, or hobbies. My gift ended up being related to my mentor’s love of travel. She expressed how often she went to new places and how it was her favorite thing to do so I leaned into this concept. I created a cosmetic or organizational bag using fabric I upcycled from the thrift store in her favorite color. I sewed several of these fabrics together to get a patchwork effect and used a grey canvas material for the inner lining. To incorporate her interest in visual communication, I designed two decals on Adobe Illustrator using her own portfolio as well as Pinterest as inspiration for the bold graphic style. I used transfer paper to iron these designs onto the bag. Instead of wrapping or containing it, to present it to her I attached a gift tag that looks like a luggage tag and wrote her name on it.
Process
View detailed project process at Gifting: Process
Reflection
I had so much fun with the gifting project because I got to get to know someone new and create something with her in mind. Beyond learning about her likes and interests, she was also getting me extremely excited for what’s coming up in my next few years in the program which was super inspiring. When I decided on the cosmetic bag idea, I knew I would have to re-familiarize myself with using a machine to sew. I considered other options such as hand sewing but I knew it would be most efficient and the cleanest to use a machine. I had so much fun with it even through my struggles and was reminded of how much I love to sew and want to get back into it which is always a great discovery to come across. I also enjoyed creating the small logos transferred to either side of the bag as simplistic as they may be. Seeing my recipient’s face light up when I gave it to her was the most thrilling part of this process and I feel lucky that I got to experience giving my creation to her in person.