This Saturday, PCA hosted a talk called “The New Wave of Designers,” presented by Chris Ference, a designer and experimenter studying Speculative Design at the Rochester Institute of Technology. We had the opportunity to hear about his personal endeavors in speculative design, careers related to the field, and tips for networking.
Ference has designed and created many innovations to help individuals in their day-to-day lives and other designers in their work. He showed his previous physical inventions and how he used certain color palettes to create digital graphics. Ference discussed his design process of technical work, along with finding meaning in a creation. He also explained important traits to be a successful designer, like curiosity, open mindedness, and environmental consciousness.
The process of designing includes brainstorming, research, art design, experimenting, and production. One can experiment with both physical and virtual products for a rewarding end result. This brings to the design table different fields, such as technology, art, and marketing. Ference introduced many careers that are interconnected in the STEAM areas, going further by giving example career paths and summer opportunities. Personally, I found this very informative and helpful for my future, being interested in these topics myself.
Overall, Chris Ference’s presentation was instructive, visually clear, enjoyable, and especially helpful to those searching for their future career path. If you would like to watch a recording of his talk for yourself, click here! You can also go to Ference’s website to learn more about his work.