IDM students win big at the DesignRush Global Student Design Competition 2021

For design students at the Integrated Design & Media program, getting a degree at an engineering school offers a unique opportunity to explore the technology behind great art and design. That approach helped put these students over the top in DesignRush’s Global Student Design Competition 2021.

DesignRush is a B2B marketplace that connects brands to marketing and design agencies. In March, they held the contest for design students across three categories — logo design, graphic design, and UI design. The goal was to highlight up-and-coming designers and artists who bring their unique sensibilities to the field.

Judged by a panel of professionals, four students from NYU Tandon’s IDM program were recognized for their work. Their projects, all created at the intersection of art and engineering, are a glimpse into the amazing work produced by the students at IDM and the unique way the department approaches design as a discipline.

Sally Min Lee

M.S. IDM ‘21
Project: StreaMed UI Design, #4 in UI Design
Project link: sallyminleework.com/work/streamed

What drew you to design, and the IDM program specifically?

My interest in design started in high school, trying to build my portfolio for college applications. Back then, I really focused on sculpture and 3D design, but after I went to get my undergrad I discovered my love for user experience design. I was very much intrigued by the interaction between my artwork that I create and my viewers, which really helped me to hone the skills of interaction design.

I was attracted to Tandon’s IDM program because I could be really flexible with what kind of path I could choose. In the program there are so many different kinds of people who come from different backgrounds. Because it’s a smaller program, you really have the chance to get to know each other and become a strong cohort.

What was your project?

This was actually a project that my teammates and I did for the Tandon design challenge during the summer of 2020. Our goal was to make a mobile application that tracks users physical and mental health utilizing a 5g medical kit. We wanted the system to be easy to access for anyone who were students of NYU and who needed access to medical information — especially during the pandemic, when you’re not able to see doctors as regularly. Right now it’s just a prototype, but I expanded upon it for this competition. 

The idea came from the surprise my teammates and I experienced about the focus Americans put on mental health. I’m from Korea, and my teammates were from around the world, and we felt that there was more emphasis on mental health here compared to some other countries. It really inspired me to learn more about wellness and techniques relating to this, and we wanted to bring something easy to use that would actually make a difference for our users.

What are you working on now?

I’ve started my pre-thesis course. I want to create a system or a device that would eventually help children or adolescents express their mental emotions and create a system for them to train their storytelling and advocate for themselves. I want to utilize AI in some way to help ask the right questions and help draw out how they're feeling. If kids aren’t comfortable expressing their feelings to friends or family members, this would help train them how to express themselves in healthy ways while also keeping parents appraised of how their child is doing. It’s a bit like therapy, but it’s more about building healthy emotional habits early.

Cassandra Liau

B.S. IDM ‘21
Project: Sunset in Brooklyn, #1 in UI Design
Project link: cassandraliau.com/sunset-in-brooklyn 

What drew you to design, and the IDM program specifically?

I’ve always been interested in design, going back to high school and putting together a Tumblr blog. I would do a lot of experimentation, especially for things like social media and poster designs. And when I was exploring a future in graphic design, I discovered the field of UI and UX, which I wanted to pursue. I came to Tandon because I knew a previous IDM graduate, and I obviously was really drawn to New York City.

What was your project?

My project was a menu and website design for a fictional restaurant. It was actually a project I began working on during our visual foundation class, one of the required courses for design students. It was a great way to break into UI, and to get a feel of how people actually use the things we design.

All of the photographs were taken by myself. That image of a sunset over Manhattan, taken from across the East River, was my major inspiration. I expanded on that concept of a sunset, taking color choices from the photograph and infusing them into the design itself.

What are you working on now?

A bunch of friends and I have launched a new app called Remee. It’s an anonymous microblogging platform for college students that we started developing early in the pandemic. Right now it’s only available to NYU and Columbia students because we’re all New York-based, but hopefully we can expand it. After graduation, I’m hoping to break into UX and product design full time.

Thao Minh Nguyen

B.S. IDM ‘22
Project: In Self, #4 in Graphic Design
Project link: behance.net/gallery/113213259/In-Self 

What drew you to design, and the IDM program specifically?

Art has always been a passion of mine, ever since I was young. And I wanted to pursue that at the college level. When I was choosing between programs, I liked that Tandon offered this program that was similar to an art program, but also had this STEM focus. It’s a unique department with a totally different approach to this kind of work.

What was your project?

This project was a self portrait made in Photoshop. It really started as just a personal project, something I did to improve my skills with the software. Self portraits are a great way to think about yourself, how you present yourself to the world and how you perceive who you are.

The piece is about my Vietnamese heritage. I grew up in suburban America where my neighbors were mostly white. And in America, the associations many people have with Vietnam are the Vietnam War and jungles, things like that. So in the piece, those words are carved into me, an unwanted association. But it also reveals layers where the beautiful parts of my ethnic identity reveal themselves - the flowers, the wildlife, the art of Vietnam.

What are you working on now?

Beyond classes, I’m working on a bunch of personal projects. Like this one, they're both a way of expressing myself and a way to experiment with different software and different design principles. I’m getting into brand designs right now, how to build guidelines in order to have consistent product designs. I’m also minoring in Business of Entertainment, Media, and Technology at Steinhardt, so I’d like to pursue a career in the entertainment field as a designer. I’m interning at an entertainment company right now, and it’s been a lot of fun designing promotions and materials for different artists.

Claudia Shao

B.S. IDM ‘22, M.S. CS '22
Project: Chinese American Film Fest Digital Advertisement Design, #3 in Graphic Design
Project link: claudiashao.wixsite.com/dino-nuggets/film-fest 

What drew you to design, and the IDM program specifically?

I was always drawn to art and technology. I moved to America from China when I was 14. At first, I had trouble articulating my thought using English, so I used art as an language to express myself. Design is like art with purpose, and I loved how the IDM program brought those two aspects  — art and technology — together in a unique way. 

What was your project?

This was actually a project I started working on at Steinhardt, where I’m also doing a minor in their design program. The prompt was to create advertising for an imaginary event. My first thought was a Chinese American film festival. I grew up in China, where I obviously watched a lot of films produced in the Chinese film industry — much more so than American films — so I wanted to bring a little bit of my own culture to the assignment.

In the design, I used a few different motifs to bring it together. The colors are the same colors often used in Peking opera, for example. I also used Chinese characters less to communicate information, and more to bring an interesting visual flourish without impeding the message.

What are you working on now?

I’m pursuing a Master’s degree in computer engineering here at Tandon, because I’m really interested in pursuing UX design as well. I’m really interested in branding — whether for businesses or even personal branding — and how design work fits into that. I’m hoping to pursue a career in fashion or cosmetics, right where branding, art and technology interact.