The Wiser System

During the Spring term in the Langara College CS Communication and Ideation Design Program, I had the privilege of teaching a new course called - Independent Project. A class similar to that of Emily Carr's Senior Core Studio in which students were given the opportunity to choose their own topic/problem. They were to research its respective narrative and re-invent it for the better. As always, the students rose to the challenge and produced some promising results. I wanted to take the opportunity to share a certain project produced by Eugene Huh for its relevancy in our everyday lives.

From day one, Eugene wanted to help citizens make more rational, sustainable, decisions when buying products. His project was called "The Wiser System" and his goal was to influence consumers right at their particular point-of-purchase. Inspired by the Nutritional Facts labels on food products, he created a system that highlights a product's impact in three key areas: Environment, Social Welfare (community) and Personal Health.

To help convey his concept, he created a simply charming video reel using stop-motion animation and paper cutouts. Quite the fitting execution.



He also created 2 more reels in order to contextualize the real world application of the system on an iPhone (note: they're still in early stages - but his human sound effects are great).





A special thanks goes to Selma Zafar, Lisa Hemingway, Dean Ponto and Cindy Sheldan for their expert advice and encouragement to Eugene over the course of the term.

If you'd like to learn more from Eugene, feel free to contact him at eugene_huh@yahoo.com

~tyukawa

Tak helps with the RETHINK Scholarship

A sound teaching relationship with the Communication and Ideation Program at Langara College has given Tak Yukawa the privilege to be a judge for the Rethink Scholarship.

The judging panel:
- Dr Shelley Gruendler, head of CID at Langara College
- Ian Grais, founding partner and co-creative director of RETHINK
- Rob Tarry, group creative director of RETHINK
- Tak Yukawa, partner and co-creative director of Free Agency Creative

The initiative is a joint effort between Rethink and Langara College to nurture and develop promising young talent into future Art Directors and Designers. The PRIZE: an $18,000 scholarship to Langara's two-year Communication and Ideation Design Program and a 3-month internship with Rethink (wow!).

Applicants were asked to submit an 8.5 x 11 sketchbook filled with their ideas, inspiration and process.

Judging took place in the creative boardroom of Rethink with judges spending time with each book - all the while smiling and conversing about what caught their attention. In the end, a winner was chosen who best represented the ideals of the prize.

A special thank you goes to Cameron Walker (pictured in black shirt above) at Rethink for coordinating a fun afternoon.

To learn more about the scholarship details and to watch a great promo video by Rethink - visit http://rethinkscholarship.com/


~tyukawa