This winter, I joined Lane Arts Council as a design mentor for Lane County youth. I had the privilege to work with four amazing teens in the Eugene area, discussing design work, personal expression, and market design strategies. We were definitely not without challenges in this project; our group met entirely virtually and we had to compete with our own hectict school and work schedules to prioritize our collaborative process. Through the experience, I aimed to mentor the youth with experience-based guidance in creative collaboration work, as we focused on a final presentation that wrapped up last Friday at the Eugene First Friday Artwalk.
The students came up with the focus of our project while I supported with facilitation and helping them determine objectives and deadlines.
Their focus was to create a fashion line that helped wearers express personal identities. In this work, we talked about the different ways folks identify themselves– everything from “food consumer” to “go-with-the-flower” and (my personal favorite) “challenger”. This conversation turned out to be a great way for us to get to know each other and begin developing genuine connections.
We also talked about the reasons for design work: for functionality, aethetics and communication. Being entirely virtual, we had the benefit to look around our own spaces and discuss the design of objects we interact with daily, creating comparissons between the different focuses in the designs of objects including utilitarian (functionality) to pure expression (aesthetics) to message-making (communication).
As our project clarified, the student designers focused on how to design fashion and accessories to tap into identity niches, which we dived into, fully imagining who our target fashion wearers would be and what their lives would be like.
Students designed sketches and drafts based on aesthetics and functionality for the target markets. They then worked with each others’ designs to create accessories and characters that captured those aesthetics plus ways to communicate to target markets about the designs created (marketing communication).
For the final presentation, we printed boards and stickers and students talked about their work with art walkers at Spark Labs during Eugene’s First Friday Artwalk. The stickers were super popular and really showed off the students’ work in graphic design to communicate style and person expression through aesthetics.
Interested in the Lane Arts Council Design Arts Apprenticeship program? Learn more about it here on their website: lanearts.org/arts-apprenticeships/
Student Presentations and Artist Statements
Artist Statement: Amelia
What is your design? My design is the logo(s) for the fashion brand Lovebun. The logos shown are for the brand itself and three of its fashion lines.
Who is your design for? Lovebun’s clothing and accessories are meant for young teens to adults so they can express what they feel makes them unique, whether it’s their aesthetic or their gender/sexual identity. Lovebun is “for everyone and anyone.” The people who are most expected to purchase from Lovebun are ‘alt’ teens who spend their time on tiktok or other social media and enjoy the products of similar brands.
What was your experience like in this class? Stressful at times due to school and other activities getting in my way, but overall it was a fun and great learning opportunity for me. I’d recommend it to others who want to step foot into a possibly new experience or want to learn what it may be like to go into a professional arts career. 🙂
Artist Statement: Lizzie
Describe your design: I drew 4 models with clothes I designed myself based on Harujuku streetwear. I also drew multiple mascot characters depicting different styles I’ve seen at school and on the internet.
Who is your design for? I based my designs around people I’ve seen around school and on the internet. I tried to recreate styles directed toward girls around 14-17 years of age. These people want to express their style and personality through bold, cutesy fashion.
What was your experience like in this program? I had a good experience. I liked seeing everyone’s different art styles. It did get a little stressful when I tried to take on too much work, but I’m happy with my results.
Artist Statement: Joyce
My brand is called Esteem by Eve, and it is made for women who needs confidence. It is a formal attire, high fashioned one piece dress, perhaps worn with gold earrings and bag with gold chains. The clothing brand is targeting women 20-40 who needs to wear formal attire in work or events such as performances or exhibitions