profile / sweet-summer-stories / product-design / students
August 04, 2020
BY: JAMIE WETHERBE

About the Series

Sweet Summer Stories spotlight ArtCenter students' summertime achievements, big and small.

Wanted Design 2020 Conscious Design Award Winner Jordyn Aamot

Meet Product Design student Jordyn Aamot who won the Wanted Design 2020 Conscious Design Award for her Enliven furniture collection.

Tell us a sweet story about your background and your journey to ArtCenter.

Growing up as an artistic kid in the Pasadena area, I always knew I wanted to attend ArtCenter. I consistently drew and painted from a young age all the way up until my senior year of high school. I was around thirteen when I shifted from fine art to design and design thinking. I started to make, build, prototype and find physical solutions to the problems that surfaced around me. It was then that I realized I was headed on a different path. I decided to take the ArtCenter for Teens product design course to test it out and was automatically hooked. I feel extremely lucky to have found my passion at such a young age.

Tell us the sweet story behind your Enliven design and it’s recent recognition by Wanted Design.

Through a collaboration between ArtCenter and Neuni Labs (Shanghai), I had the amazing opportunity to spend three weeks touring over 30 factories, design studios, exhibitions and material manufacturers across China. With each visit, the manufacturers would discuss their efforts to create more sustainable methods of production by 2030. I took this opportunity to develop a new line of sustainable furniture that utilizes current technology and methods of production, while still featuring a unique and attractive design for the greater marketplace. This resulted in the Enliven furniture collection, which makes use of two resourceful and regenerative materials – compressed bamboo and rPET felt. The validation from award I received from Wanted Design gave me a boost of confidence in myself and my work. It’s that extra bit of recognition that makes me even more proud and encouraged to keep doing what I do best!

Where do you hope this award and the design itself will take you?

I am extremely honored to be given this award and to be recognized for this sustainable furniture project. Furniture and lifestyle goods are the focus of my design practice: and I am hoping this recognition will assist me within this field as I apply for future jobs and opportunities.