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‘Avante’ Celebrates the New 2024 Batch of Industrial Designers
Avante: Industrial Design Thesis Exhibit 2024 showcased design projects of the University of the Philippine’s graduating industrial designer class of 2024. The exhibit, open to the public at the UP Fine Arts Gallery until July 29, offers a perspective on the philosophies of some of the future industrial designers in the country.
Avante’s core concept comes from the humble ant and anthill, with the eighteen graduates seeing themselves as building their small ideas into bigger opportunities for the future.
“Just like the ant, we start with small ideas and small designs. But there is strength in numbers. We come in groups and are moved by one goal. Remember, the ant never moves backward,” the exhibit write-up said.
Cheers and Thanks
Its opening was graced by students of the university, its faculty, and the families and friends of the graduating class.
Before the official opening of the exhibition, many well-wishers from the faculty came on stage to greet and congratulate the graduating class. Amongst them are Marc San Valentin, the Dean of Fine Arts, and the program’s coordinator Ninel Constantino.
During her speech, Constantino presented the 2024 batch as the first to be affected by the pandemic. Many of them had their first two years online, seeing each other and their professors through a screen instead of the face-to-face interactions everyone has been used to. She congratulated them for their hard work and perseverance despite the unique circumstances they found themselves in.
Louise Beron, the representative of the graduating class, gave a speech on behalf of their classmates. It went beyond congratulations to impart the philosophy of the class to the audience at hand: their collective belief at the continued importance of designing for the betterment of humanity and society as a whole.
“Because design is everywhere. If you look closely, every design decision has a reason,” they said. Beron returned to the example of the ant in the belief of working together to ensure a better future for everyone. “[No matter what happens], we move forward regardless. And what I love about my batch is that we move as a group.”
Design Innovations and Ideas
After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, visitors and guests were able to tour the exhibit. There, the students showcased and explained some of their design ideas, including working prototypes, schematics, mock-ups, and proofs of the work.
The batch and student body asked everyone to sign a non-disclosure agreement to protect their ideas and prevent proliferation of the works to outsiders.
Still, many of the ideas stood at the core tenet of being small and human-centric. The problems they attempted to solve ranged from minimizing waste products on food to easing or monitoring the pain points of different disabilities.
The students were rightfully excited in preseting their ideas. They specified what problems they wished to address and how their designs could work to solve them. While none of the works might be considered groundbreaking, they significantly enhance the convenience and comfort of the end-user through their thoughtful designs.
Envisioning Human-Centric Solutions
Some students employed newer technologies and apps to ease the source of the problems. However, many of the projects were shockingly low-tech, borrowing from traditional or indigenous ideas to craft the seemingly-simple solutions. One notices the portability of the designs. These inventions can easily exist in a household context with minimal help from professionals in the area.
Altogether, the projects envision a more accessible world that accommodates disabilities and creates convenience for the end-user. Many of the designs ensure no waste to the end-product at large. It also reassures us that this batch of industrial designers, wherever they may end up in the future, look for forge a legacy of betterment to society.
Avante portrays a future for industrial design that is not only human-centric, but needs-based as society works towards the individual and collective good. As Beron said during their speech to encourage their classmates for the future, “Keep on designing the world you want to live in.”
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