Student Work

For my upcycle project, I created a cardboard model of the Toyota AE86 from the show Initial D. I wanted this project to capture the realism aesthetic, as well as the Japanese drift aesthetic. My vision for this project was to create a realistic model of the car that looked as similar to the original…

Intro to Viking Aesthetics Viking art is estimated to have started at the end of the 8th century. It was first developed by the Viking tribes of Scandinavia in territories that we now know as Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. Vikings decorated almost everything with elaborate carvings and contrasting super-positioned materials. Currently, Viking art is mostly…

For my upcycle project I wanted to bring plants inside in a minimal clean style that can be multifunctional. I decided to make small air plant holders that also act as refrigerator magnets because I never seem to have enough magnets on the fridge. Since I am still working on decorating my house, I did…

For this project I decided to focus on the aesthetic of sailing. Sailing is a part of my family and has been passed down through generations. Every year my family travels to Michigan to sail and partake in our favorite hobby! For those of you who do not know what a Hobie cat is, it…

For my project, I decided to upcycle cardboard boxes that I already owned and the racing bibs I have received over the last three and a half years into a work of art embodying the old school athletics aesthetic. The inspiration behind this came from running my last indoor track meet at the University of…

The aesthetic I chose to incorporate into my upcycle project is the tropical aesthetic. I chose this because the topical aesthetics is one of my favorites. I think the tropical aesthetic captures a fun lifestyle that is missing during quarantine. Along with this I think the tropical aesthetic is one that can be well captured…

  Following the comments from the previous post, I decided to incorporate gaming as a theme for the mainstage similar to how festivals have nature or a themed festival. For this, I took apart an old controller and added it as a DJ controller which is basically where the producers and DJs mix their music…

In the wake of a Netflix original TV series and rising popularity on platforms like Twitch and YouTube, chess has been making a recent resurgence. The story starts with an all in one platform called Chess.com. The Site is an free internet chess server, with aspects of forums, and a social media site. Games are…

Since my previous post, I’ve finalized my design to be a bicycle wheel clock. The materials I will need for the design will compose of a bicycle wheel rim, cardboard(for numbers or clock hands), an old clock(for the mechanism), some spray paint, old RGB lights with a battery, and velcro. Initially, I started by taking…

Hi All, In this blog post, I’ll be going over some of the progress I’ve made thus far on designing my Lichtenberg vinyl frame. Although I have not physically started constructing my vinyl frame, I’ve made some preliminary designs for the dimensions. The vinyl album itself is 12 and 7/16″ squared. To size the frame,…

The upcycling aesthetic that I chose was one of triumph and adventure. I decided to create a statue with a heroic pose made primarily out of a plastic bag, at least from the outside. The materials I gathered for the piece were pipe-cleaners, tinfoil, a small paper cup, and a plastic bag. Following the basic…

Example waterfall As an update I am close to my final assembly and I am so satisfied with the way the waterfall came out. I will outline the crafting process in the final post, but the changes I would like to make are the spout in which the incense is held. Without really thinking I…

The Lamp is coming along very well! Following the initial sketches I made, I went ahead and took measurements of the board and my lamp frame to get a better sense of how the slats would be made. From here I made a template of one of the slats with a slight curve. I feel…

Progress for my upcycle project has been moving along at a good pace. I spent the majority of the previous week planning the finalized design for my build as well as acquiring all the materials that will be necessary.  My plan is to cut out multiple faces of the Saturn V rocket out of cardboard,…

I have been seeing some good progress in my upcycle project to repurpose my rock climbing crash pad into a couch. So far, I have fully fleshed out the design, planned on my materials, and now just need to fabricate the frame. In order to minimize cost and materials, I spent some time working out…

Since the last post, I have come up with a set design for my upcycle spatula. I have also finalized my plan for actually building and finishing the spatula. I have not gotten to the building process yet, but I plan to get started in the coming week. For now, I will just describe my…

The first step of creating a cardboard rocket ship is to obtain flat cardboard pieces. So I have disassembled one of my cardboard boxes into several moderately sized pieces. The first part I decided to make is the body of the ship. The body will be a hexagon prism, so I would need 6 identical…

  I feel like I am doing this project a little backwards. In my last post I mostly discussed materials and current status. I have spent most of the last week working on design refinement. I took a detour to explore another style because of a piece of wood that I really liked, but ultimately…

Throughout the process of constructing my upcycling project, I have overcome many challenges that I didn’t expect. I have found that even though you have a good idea of what you want to do, it usually won’t be as easy as you imagine. As you may or may not know from my blog post last…

I have gathered all of the supplies for my project and have created the layout that I want my racing bibs to be in. The two images below show my racing bibs in the layout of the CU logo and the other materials I have to fill in the blanks. One is a newspaper article…

  For my upcycling project, I decided to upgrade a nerf gun and give it an Outrun aesthetic. If you do not know what Outrun is and would like a better idea, take a look at my previous 2 posts but it’s basically the Miami Vice and Synthwave look. I bought this nerf gun at…

At this point in the upcycling project, I was have disassembled my Casio calculators and taken out the solar panels. In order to test if the panels are in a working condition, I hooked them up on a Breadboard and connected them with standard red LED (1.7 to 2V) and blue LED(3 to 3.3V). Under…

Utilizing the feedback I received from the original Upcycling Aesthetics post I have decided to alter my original thoughts for my final artifact. I will still be making a polaroid picture frame utilizing old wooden hockey sticks and chicken wire. However, it was made evident to me that I should add more of a modern…

This project has been pretty challenging in getting the body of the car to a place where I am happy with it and the main materials I have used so far is cardboard and glue. The way I have been making the car is to use regular cardboard to get the general shape and then…

Alright, Ill be honest I finished this product very quickly and did not take many photos in the process, so what I will be doing is showing my setup and the steps that I took to make this final product, going based off materials and dimensions as well as the one video I used to…

The progress for my artifact with the M. C. Escher aesthetic is that I am almost out of the planning phase. I have all of my materials that I am planning to use and I have a very general idea of what I want this project to look like. I made a rough CAD model…

Upcycle Progress: Modern with Magnets The first step of this project was actually looking through all the material I currently have and to decide from there which ones and how I would like to use them in the project. I grabbed all the air plants I currently have and looked at how I would like…

I began the construction of my upcycled materials to make something that forms to the Aesthetic of sailing. A couple weeks ago I ran into this real old bottle of Seagrams Canadian Whisky and the name Seagrams made me think of the Sea and I decided to make the bottle the base of my aesthetic…

For my upscaling project, I am going to be making a mobile out of climbing gear.  When I say mobile, I mean like the ones hanging above a babies crib.  In my aesthetic post, I mostly talked about the design of climbing gear and how its changed (or not) over the years.  This gave me…

For my upcycle project I am repurposing three wine bottles into sustainable modern indoor planters. Two of the planters are self watering herb planters and one is a succulent boat planter. For the past few weeks I have been hard at work learning to cut and finish glass bottles to use them for my planters…

Upcycle Progress: Japanese Gi Inspired Patchwork Jacket The first step in this project was planning. I had all the scrap material laying around but needed to know exactly how I was going to cut and sew it together. To figure this out I took a crew neck long sleeved shirt that I liked the fit…

One minute I have a nice, clean, clutter-free dining area. The next I have a makeshift woodshop, complete with wood shavings and saw dust. Over the past week I have made some major strides in gathering the necessary equipment and kicking off the creation of my modern style accent table. In my last post, A…

I decided to do a lighting study on ways to diffuse the light. Diffusion is absolutely key in achieving the intended aesthetic. Without proper diffusion, the lighting is too harsh and stands out so much to the point that the lights are more of an eyesore than anything. This is where adding LED strips usually…

For my upcycling project, I have planned to construct a Christmas tree out of used beer cans. I explored a few different ideas on how to construct the tree and ways to arrange the beer cans to resemble a Christmas tree. After narrowing down my ideas, the first step was to find a used cardboard…

For my upcycling project, I have planned to make a wire sculpture from upcycled copper wire. I explored several different ideas, including wire-wrap jewelry, or other wire-wrap decorations. For example, the two photos below represent the exploration phase of the project for me. I had no clear ideas in mind, and instead was just using…

I have begun the process of creating my tropical upcycle project. The first step in the process was to select the glass I was going to use. I chose to use a selection of old bottles that I collected that I had in three different colors. These colors were green, blue, and brown. I plan…

For my upcycle project, I am planning on using a damaged bicycle wheel. This Idea originates from a few months back when I damaged the front wheel of my bicycle to a point where it was no longer functional. I’ve already installed a new wheel on my bike, so this damaged wheel has been sitting…

For my Upcycling Project I decided to go with the Viking Aesthetic. I described the origins of this aesthetic and the types included within it in my last post. For the project, I decided to make my own version of Orlog, the game featured within the videogame Assassins Creed Valhalla. The game’s components include 12…

For my upcycling project, I decided to use something that is plentiful and abundant that is usually thrown away as waste: paper. Paper Mache is an art and craft form that involves using all types of paper, mostly newspapers, in order to recreate something. Most of the time, Paper Mache creations are fragile and usually…

For my upcycle project I decided to incorporate both of my passions into it. I want to build a Rave/festival mainstage while incorporating a gaming aesthetic to it. With the previous year being super isolated my inspirations came from my wants and my daily hobbies. Before COVID-19 was in the US, I had several tickets…

For my upcycling project, I want to take a look a visual idea that I find to be very captivating. It’s of a figure that stands upright or leaned forward, representing individual liberty and triumph. Something that can capture the strength and heroic nature of the human spirit. I also would like to work in…

For my upcycle project, I want to explore the aesthetic of realism. As the name implies, Realism is the attempt at making a piece of art look real. and true to its subject matter, with no speculation or deviation. While the Realism movement began in France in the 1840’s, specifically around the 1848 Revolution, it…

For my upcycle project I hope to stick to the aesthetic described in my first post and possibly incorporate lighting inspired by Braden’s Futuristic aesthetic. Solar-powered lighting has been around for quite a while now, mostly in the form of street lighting and garden lighting. They are many times incorporated in the decorative aspect of…

The aesthetic that I have chosen to base my upcycle project on is spaceflight. I already explored the spaceflight aesthetic in my first blog post, so I’ll talk about my plans for my upcycle project as well as why I decided to choose this specific aesthetic. My plan for the upcycle project is to recreate…

The old school athlete aesthetic is epitomized by black and white photos of famed athletes from the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s with “USA” or “GIANTS” written across their chest in the classic varsity font. This was the era of the toughest of athletes. Athletics equipment was nowhere near as advanced as it is today, so…

Inspiration For my upcycling project, my artifact design was inspired by my grandfather’s artwork. As a young adult, my grandfather served in the military as a pilot, and then later retired as a commercial airline pilot, but after his retirement, he was able to dedicate his time to his true passion. I of course only…

As I look around my apartment for recyclable objects and materials, I noticed that I had an excessive amount of cardboard boxes just laying around waiting to be thrown away. So I thought to myself, “why not use the cardboards that I already have and make something cool out of them, that way I can…

My Climbing Crash Pad (To be used as cushion) For my upcycle project, I will be repurposing a rock climbing crash pad that I don’t use very much anymore into a couch. I will be using the crash pad as the main cushion for the couch and I’ll be building a frame out of wood…

My plan for my upcycle project is to take some glass remnant from bottles or other trash to create a structure that takes inspiration from incense waterfalls. The general aesthetic of incense waterfalls is peaceful and serene especially when considered with the aromatherapy an incense may provide. Smoke tends to dance from pedals and collects…

Continuing off of my initial aesthetic exploration of the futuristic style, I hope to incorporate this style into my upcycle project. One of the key aspects of the futuristic aesthetic is light and its seamless incorporation. To exemplify this incorporation, here are a few examples from a house designed by Geometrix Design. Notice how the…

The famous painting “Great Wave off Kanagawa” w/ an outrun twist   I already explored this aesthetic more in-depth for my “Explore and Aesthetic” post and that gave me a lot of inspiration regarding my upcycling project. To give a brief summary, outrun, or Miami Vice as I termed it based on my experience, utilizes…

With online classes, I’ve noticed that the background in my zoom lectures has been less than exciting, minus the vinyl albums on the wall behind me – this sparked an idea in my head to add an artistic feature for my backdrop. Since the most recognizable album is the Dark Side of the Moon by…

Making art from trash is an interesting experience, it incorporates creativity and recycling to generate something amazing. For my upcycle project, I used a combination of the minimalist aesthetic, but instead of leaving it devoid of emotion, as minimalism usually is, I tried to introduce some connection to my life to it. I chose to…

The Aesthetic that I would like to use for my Upcycle project is the M. C. Escher aesthetic. Escher was a Dutch artist who lived from 1989-1972, and he’s most famous for his graphic art that twisted perspective in a revolutionary way. Escher started out like most artists at his time, painting realistic snapshots of…

Imagine this; you just finished getting your turns in on the mountain and are planning on walking back to your ski in chalet-which wasn’t as ski in as you anticipated. Loosening your boots and throwing your skis over your shoulder you decide to stop buy the resorts outdoor bar and grill before making the long…

I unknowingly started this upcycle project last summer. I was at work, cleaning up, when my coworker Bo said to me, “Take those pallet toppers out to the trash. We don’t need them any more.” Being the broke college student that I am, I instantly saw them as an opportunity to get some free wood…

For my Upcycle project I will be using primarily cardboard. The aesthetic that I will be going for is a modern car look. I am going to use the cardboard and cut out pieces and try to mimic the look of a body supercar. In the following pictures you can see some examples of some…

I was inspired by the aesthetic chosen by Maya Rudd involving climbing.  As a frequent climber myself, I though it would be easy to incorporate climbing gear that I already have into my upscaling project.  I decided to make my aesthetic for my project climbing, but focusing on the art of balance.  Balance is a…

For my upcycling project I was having some difficulty trying to figure out what I wanted to do for the project. My inspiration for the upcycling project came from the famous picture of Bobby Orr celebrating a goal in the Stanley Cup Finals (featured image) that I have hanging up in my apartment right now.…

Japanese Gi Inspired Patchwork as an Upcycle Aesthetic I have chosen to use the same aesthetic in my upcycle project that I wrote about during the aesthetic exploration blog post on, that being the Patchwork Aesthetic. However as to not restate what I have already covered in my earlier post I want to discuss the…

For my upcycle project, I wanted to explore a neutral earthy aesthetic. This aesthetic often includes light, neutral colors, organic or naturally occurring materials, and a mix of bohemian and minimalist styles. I often see this aesthetic in interior design and home décor, usually expressed through light walls, wooden furniture, mirrors, plants, decorative organic materials…

The aesthetic I will be exploring for my upcycle project is the one of modern home décor and plants. Modern home décor very frequently includes plants and greenery that bring a fresh natural aura to rooms.  Many people also keep small herb gardens in or near their kitchens. One common thread in most of modern…

For my upcycle project I want to bring plants inside in a minimal clean style that can be multifunctional. So, I have decided to make small air plant holders that also act as refrigerator magnets because I never seem to have enough of those. Since I am still working on decorating my house, I did…

Hello,I am looking at doing an upcycle of sailing. Sailing is already an environmentally friendly activity as it uses the wind as propulsion, so to me it seems fitting to upcycle some useless metal i have laying around into a lamp. I would like to be able to turn a sheet of metal into a…

For my upcycle project, I will be making a metal spatula with a wooden handle. The materials that I will be using are a scrap piece of steel and a block of oak wood. The primary aesthetic of the spatula will minimalism. The minimalist aesthetic will mostly apply to the design of the spatula’s form.…

The modern aesthetic showcases simple, but cutting geometries; a variety of coordinated, well-balanced colors; a mixture of modestly used textures; and a conglomerate of natural materials. I am drawn to the minimalist, dynamic aesthetic that is modern design. While this aesthetic has a very “less is more” and “function over beauty” backbone, the dynamic accent…

My materials I am looking to upcycle are my old skateboard, and a lamp frame. This was the first skateboard I ever got (from 2007) and it definitely shows its character. Aside from the graffiti-like design, it features scratches, dirt, and weathering which all contribute to its grunge street skate aesthetic. The lamp frame was…

For my Upcycle project, I had to search for quite some time. At the beginning of the semester when we discussed our comfort levels with design I rated myself at the very bottom of the list. Therefore, it was easier for me to think about my favorite seasons and holidays as inspiration for my project.…

The aesthetic I have chosen to incorporate into my upcycle project is the tropical aesthetic. I chose this because the topical aesthetics is one of my favorites. I think the tropical aesthetic captures a fun lifestyle that is missing during quarantine. I talk more about the things I like about the tropical aesthetic in my…