Culminating Statements

Living in the world full of so many changes being made so quickly, we are busy moving forward with no time to look back. Overwhelmed with handling the present and preparing for the future, we tend to ignore the past and live today as if there was no yesterday.
　
I was actually one of them; I had no interest in learning about history of any subject just because I thought they were useless and unimportant. I was also one of those who have a strong prejudice about any history-related-classes that they are always stuck in the traditional frame of ‘how things used to be’ and ‘how things should be done accordingly’. However, this “History of ID” class has incredibly changed my negative posture into a positive one, by its unique and open-ended approach towards the subject matter.

Towards the field of Industrial Design, I have not only developed the interest and respect for what came before us (as a new generation of young designers), but moreover, was able to discover my own point of view and identity.

This honorable opportunity of recalling the historical facts in ID has also led to a personal reflection of my experiences in ID. Living and learning restlessly as a student in RISD, I was so busy to move on that I forgot about the most meaningful moments in my life: the time in high school when I used to work on my portfolio for days and nights only dreaming of getting into RISD, the days in first year foundational studies where I drew and drew until there was no more room for my finger nails to be filled with charcoal dust, the first day when I claimed Industrial Design as my major, and so on.

Just because they seemed so distant by now, I treated them as if they were not important or not even part of me anymore. But now I do realize that I would not be here at this moment without every single step that I took in the past, and that the vast field of Industrial Design would not exist without the path that it came along within the history.

Volunteering at "Worri-Dorri Camp 2008"

for Handicapped Children

　

As a remembrance for my most personal and foundational experience that led me to this path of industrial design, I would like to share a very humble, but most precious story.
　
The very first time I decided to become a designer goes back to when I was a sophomore in high school. It was also my first time to directly interact with the handicapped children, as I volunteered to perform a community service in a welfare facility.

　

Honestly, I was very shocked by the violent behavior of a child and the unfriendly reaction that most of them took as I entered the house they lived in. Although I tried my best to get to know each one of them by asking names with the brightest smile on my face, I could not get any closer until almost the end of the day. But the youngest little girl, who was yet so pure in soul that she did not stay away from strangers, liked me so much that she followed me everywhere.

　

After all the chores of dishwashing, floor wiping, and hand-laundry, finally the break-time came. All the handicapped children and the volunteers sat down in a big room where snacks were provided. The little girl sat beside me and started drawing on a cracker box with her color pencils. I started drawing as well. She was startled to see how good I drew, and asked me to draw her favorite characters. As I kept drawing, I felt a gaze behind my back. As I turned around, I saw all the handicapped children surrounding me trying to get a closer look at what I drew. Suddenly, they started shouting out their favorite characters as well. At this magical moment, my heart felt so deeply impressed by the fact that my ability to draw was able to open the hearts of handicapped children, which seemed so firmly closed before.
　
I would like to pay back to the ones who inspired my dream of becoming an industrial designer by providing them with the suitable environment to freely dream in. As I mentioned in the earlier post, “I [will] become a designer who can make people’s lives better” by designing products for those in need of help or change. As long as this blog exists, I will continuously remind myself of the purest intention embedded within the very first step I took as an industrial designer.