Stephanie Hoff

A child\'s bedroom is one of the first places they are left alone, but it should always be where they feel safe. A bedroom should always be a place of comfort and a place to come to where you never feel scared. As I took inspiration from the 1960s acidic colors and designers like Alexander Girard and House Industries, I created bold patterns that take type and create a fun and playful set of items that not only bring joy and comfort but provide a different view to decorating a child\'s bedroom. If a child fears the dark, a night light gives them the security that no monsters are under the bed. A soft and comfortable pillowcase provides a safe place to rest their head but also serves the functional purpose of carrying items when going on an overnight sleepover. And finally, a friendly teddy to bring joy and support when they feel they need something to hug or tell them it will be okay. Through these three items, a sense of comfort, joy, and security combines playfulness and fun design that stands out from the crowd of current-day childhood necessities.

In collaboration with Lacks Enterprises, I created 3+ patterns for multiple applications. Beginning with audience research and choosing a persona to develop, I went with a millennial influencer who loves vintage fashion. Through the process, I created mood boards, and material research boards and finally moved on to creating. Lacks created the main Luminelle lighting component, and I assembled the shirt, handbag, and mirror elements. It was the first time I got to produce a technological element; it was interesting to see how the new technology that Lacks was developing would incorporate itself with textile design.

The 1920s in Russia was a time of change - The designer Varvara Stepanova grew as a designer/artist during this time. The objective was to design something that educates people about a chosen designer. Preliminary research was extensive and included finding a lot of information to contextualize the designer. A newspaper was created to encompass Stepanova’s life as an artist, explain how she fits into the Avant-Grade movement, and what life was like in Russia during the early 1900s. A newspaper was something physical that spread information during her time and felt like the proper option to display her life. With a general audience interested in past design or textile design, the newspaper takes on a square grid form that is supposed to mimic a textile square that creates different patterns as the newspaper goes through. Takeaways from this project include doing as much research as possible because oftentimes, connections will be made between things that aren’t surface level but can be found through exploration.

Filter Focus was created in collaboration with Courtney Shinaberry to respond to the \"new normal\" that COVID had us living in. Zoom life has made everyone less likely to interact or realize any nonverbal cues you would typically see in everyday life. Small conversations were also lost because of Zoom and wanting to hop on and \"leave meeting\". By creating a phone featuring an Instagram filter attached to a mirror, it begins to tell a metaphor of how people will focus only on the screen and almost ignore the surrounding messages being shown to them in physical/real life.