For CCA ID, the week was intense. While simultaneously finishing our final models, our ID classes were immersed in a Dutch design scrap-heap competition, hosted by designer Joost Van Bleiswijk.

Joost is a self promoted designer from Delft, Netherlands. Doing what he loves, he started his own studio with his design partner and girlfriend, Kiki van Eijk (http://www.kikiworld.nl/) . One of their most expanded concepts is the no-screw/no-glue construction technique that the couple uses for their designs. They take flat pack pieces to construct a series of furniture that slide into place. The best part is , there’s really no limit to what can be made. Their studio has designed objects from gigantic cabinets to miniature chess pieces.

CCA received a great opportunity to view Joost and Kiki’s work, and also receive guidance with our own projects. The scrapheap competition guidelines were simple: Grab trash and create something for yourself in one day.

This is one of the few times that the ID department had a chance to leap into designing a beautiful object without weeks of added research and user testing. We were creating aesthetically pleasing and flat out cool stuff. Here’s a peek and some of the stuff we made.

The final competition was judged by a panel of three judges: Mara Skov Holt (ID) , David Meckel (Director of Research and Planning), and Brian Wasson (ID)

Congratulations to winners Ken Chen (3rd), Charlie Weber (2nd), and Duff Ryan 1st)

Our group asked the designer about his experience during his time at CCA. Cronan experienced just as many late studio nights as the rest of us, which lead to making a few long lasting friendships. After CCA, him and five of these close friends worked day jobs (Cronan specifically leading footwear design at Fuse Project), and met at night to work at their own design collective, Lift. Overtime, the group gained recognition for their impressive work and unique concepts.

A lot of us are wondering about our futures after CCA. Our talk with Cronan gave us an opportunity to voice our questions and get some feedback on life after college:

Have you always wanted to be a designer?
My parents were both designers, so I grew up in a design/architecture world. I didn't actually know what industrial design was until I came here. I knew cars, graphic design, and architecture. I'm not sure how my parents sheltered me from it, but I still give them a hard time for it. My first year here I was an architecture major, and I got sick of the solo individual culture. I saw ID students throwing models off buildings and I thought, 'That is awesome.'

What do you consider as Industrial Design?
^{The term ID is too limiting. Your grandparents, if they're architects, think you do small bolts and fixtures. Which is true, but there's branding, packaging, form, interaction. It's bad to get fixed on one aspect of a design}

You said you did footwear design, did you already know how to sew?
^{I'm not the best at sewing, but it was enough to prototype. In footwear design, sewing wasn't the only option really, since the layouts are flat. The best thing to do is just make it, so we'd take foot forms and draw around them. Or we would vacuum form a structure or use duct tape to mask a foot. What you're prototyping for soft goods, the best thing is to draw directly into the human form and just make it.}

What's the story behind LIFT?
^{Some studios are luck of the draw, and we happened to be a good group of guys. That group had good friendship and while we cared about each other, we were fiercely competitive. We were six designers with no construction. We started getting press and did a show at ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair) and started turning into a company. We realized that if we started taking money we'd have to create some sort of structure, but after four years it got a bit crazy. We're all over the place now but we still talk to each other and get feedback on our products.}

What would you suggest we do to put an edge on our portfolios?
^{I did portfolio admission for Fuse, and an edge that a lot of non-US applicants had was a thorough understanding of the history of ID, not just knowing designers, but really knowing the impact of design throughout culture.}

^{Also, you can learn a lot from graphic designers. Befriend a graphic designer, because you'll use that everywhere to communicate your idea.}

^{Lastly, know your goal. If you want to do something, do a lot of it and show that work.}

There’s an intense vibe floating around the CCA ID studios. After spring break, all of a sudden we are closing in on our projects and pushing through the home stretch. Five weeks remain and each level has an interesting project focus: the Seniors are working on games, the Juniors are exploring wearable audio and mobile safety, and the sophomores are designing  emergency radios. We’re tweaking models, powering through late nights and sketching till our wrists fall off. If you don’t believe me, check out these dedicated workers from Spring Break.

While most of us took advantage of a well-needed break, we still cut our vacations short to get a head start on our projects. Sophomores and Juniors crowded the model shops to create unique forms for their established directions. Seniors are also working hard on their final thesis show, with hundreds of variations on their games and toys.

The idea of working through break seems crazy, but it’s just another example of the dedication you’ll find in CCA students. Students frequently work in their studios, with caffeinated drinks and stockpiles of life-saving snacks. Our desks are overflowing with the best kinds of mess: beautiful pieces of material, piles of sketches, and every tool you can possibly imagine. Sometimes we blast music, sometimes we work in complete solitude, but we all know that some of our most amusing moments at CCA happen at 2 AM on a studio night.

_{Photos : Cindy Chiu}

_{Text: Abha Dasgupta}