ABOUT
CONTACT
CHANCE
NAME POSTERS
VINCE. NETFLIX SHOW CONCEPTUAL ROLLOUT
BON. COLLECTION
BLOCKBUSTER REBRANDING
11.22 SUNRISE PHOTOSHOOT
ERGONOMIC JEWELERY SAW 3D MODEL
‘STANFORD’ ANIMATED 3D MODEL
2024 STANFORD FASHIONX RUNWAY
Vince Staples is one of my favorite artists in music, and not just because we share the same last name. I think many times when making and consuming art, it’s easy to become lost in the noise. There’s noise within our own clouded judgment and self-critique, coupled with the fear of vulnerability and originality. To me, Vince is the antithesis of this noise, an embodiment of what it means to unapologetically create without a speck of remorse.
Vince is such a creative force, I liken his abilities to that of Donald Glover or Kanye West - there is no one medium that fully encapsulates his talent. For years, Vince and his team have teased the possibility of a show and even began a short Youtube mini-series called “The Vince Staples Show.” While the mini-series only ended up being a few episodes that ran a few minutes each, it showed me that a full-length show made available on streaming services is most definitely possible.
I eventually began working on poster concept ideas, modeling the visual aesthetic after the dystopian vibe that many of his music videos contain. I wanted to stick with the red, white, and blue colors for a few reasons. Those who know Vince’s work and his background can undoubtedly attest to the political commentary that seamlessly weaves its way into his art. And beyond that, these also happen to be the colors most associated with gang violence, a part of Vince Staples’ upbringing in Long Beach that is crucial to understanding his community and identity.
I hope that one day I get the opportunity to work with Vince, as well as other artists who have given me the confidence to feel comfortable in who I am and what I create. His story is the story of millions of Black youth all around the country. And just like he’s done for me, I hope to create work in the future that inspires youth to unabashedly be themselves and see beyond their current circumstances.
The BON. Collection was a visual poster project that constantly evolved as I continued to work with it. My vision for the collection initially began as a series of food-related posters, with a minimalistic aesthetic. The word ‘bon’ initially was a short way of communicating the French phrase ‘bon appetite’. As I began to work with the idea a bit more, I started to really think more about what the word ‘bon’ truly means. I learned that the word translates to ‘good’ or ‘right’ in English, and after realizing this is when the project began to take a life of its own.
My love for history initially led me to center the project around historical figures who have been a part of bringing good to the world, even with the odds stacked against them. As I started to have more fun with it, I began playing around with the concept even more. The more I experimented, the more absurd, yet refined I felt the posters became. I began to focus less on making the posters look ‘professional’ and became lost in the story I was telling. In the back of my head, I kept thinking about the Biblical story of our Earth’s creation; after each day of creation, God looked back on what was made and felt that ‘it was good.’ The idea behind this story is what propelled the project further as I fought through my own unhealthy standards of perfectionism. I figured if God didn’t struggle with perfectionism in the creation of Earth, why should I?
The BON. Collection ended up being a series of visual posters that communicate a few different messages. In the midst of hate and fear, good has to be sought out in order to make meaningful change. Good can be found in both the mundane and the absurd. And when perfectionism cripples our ability to create, our imperfect nature as humans in a world that was perfectly designed for us is a natural quality that should oftentimes be embraced.
As a kid, some of my core memories are going into Blockbuster and renting movies to watch with my family. With advent of streaming services and the decline of brick and mortar movie stores, I feel that the role that Blockbuster played in culture has been somewhat undermined. With this project, I envisioned what it would look like if Blockbuster attempted to make a comeback. I mainly focused on providing an idea of what an initial campaign re-launch would look like, with a more modern logo and a catchy re-lauch slogan.
As a part of a group final project for Design 141: Product Design Methods, my team and I were asked to redesign a physical tool using an ergonomic approach. After brainstorming a variety of different tools, we decided to create an ergonomic jewelry saw handle. The main issue we wanted to tackle in this redesign was the amount of force and tension that was applied to the wrist. This redesign process took hours of going through sketches, user testing, feedback, and iterating on concepts. After coming to our final design, we then each individually went into Autodesk and created 3D CAD models of the final product. Playing with different materials, I decided on making my jewelry saw primarily out of aluminum, with finishing touches in chrome metal. I chose to make it primarily out of aluminum because it’s lightweight, inexpensive, durable, and environmentally sustainable. And, I felt that adding chrome metal at the location of the finger grips would add physical security and safety when handling the saw. My main takeaway from this project was the importance of teamwork, iteration, intentionality, and persistence when it comes to designing a product, especially a product that is supposed to make life easier.
After so much time wondering what it would be like to design and create my own fashion garment, I decided to finally create a fashion piece for the first time. Not only that, but for some reason I decided to create my first ever piece for the Stanford FashionX Runway held in Memorial Church. I was so afraid to create something that would be on display for thousands of people, but I felt that this was the sort of leap of faith that I needed to take in order to test my love for fashion. And further, I wanted to show my family how serious I was about my passion for creative endeavors. I learned from one of my favorite artists Mac Miller that oftentimes great things exist on the other side of fear, so fear is something that should be embraced rather than rejected. With a million ideas in my head of how I wanted to go about my first piece, I gradually began crafting the story I wanted to tell through the fabric.
I ultimately ended up creating a dress that was made of thick, heavy denim from upcycled denim vests and a pair of overalls. This material ended up representing strength, with denim being one of the strongest materials that there is. For the mask, I was able to get my hands on a mask that had spiked metal studs all over it. The metal studs felt perfect for communicating the defense aspect of identity that we as humans tend to do. I feel that whenever our identity feels threatened, we try to find ways to defend it so as to protect our own egos. In the end, the medium of fabric and textiles were crucial to the message that I wanted to communicate.
Started with two denim vests
Layered them so that their gaps complimented each other
Me trying geting a feel for the vibe I was going for with the skirt piece
Me and Kenny before showtime.
After sewing the vests together, I wore it on top of the overalls to again get a vibe for how it’d look with top of the overalls attached to it.
My model, Kenny, trying on the metal-studded mask.
Because I was learning how to sew as I was creating this piece, I let my mistakes guide my process. Whenever there was an idea that I couldn’t get to work, I would use those limitations to guide me creatively. Clinging onto the fickle idea of perfection did nothing but slow down my creative process. So after some time, I began viewing this being my first sewing experience as being a point of strength rather than a point of weakness. Not that this served as an excuse in the event that my outfit didn’t go as planned, but it gave me the freedom to fail. The exploration through mistakes and limitations was crucial to creating my garment as a first time sewer.