Part of my New Years Resolution was to rectify my relationship with my creativity. While reflecting on 2019, I realized I’d been taking ~designing~ too seriously. Don’t get me wrong; I care about my designs with all my heart. But I was so obsessed with retrofitting the story of my mockups into the rubric for the perfect UX process. I was sucking the authenticity and the fun out of design for me. So in 2020, I’m taking my creativity out of its cage and giving it a Four Loko, designing a bit more haphazardly and always with a smile.

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I’m a MARTA fanatic. The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) has not only been my primary transportation choice while living in Atlanta, but has also connected me to this city in a deeper way than an Uber could ever provide. There’s something thoroughly satisfying about mastering the timing of the rail schedule or huddling with friends in the back of the bus that leaves me doe-eyed, bubbly, and seduced by this city. However, the language, both visual and verbal, surrounding transportation in Atlanta has long been about cars. …

When Apple first announced cellular connectivity on its watches, my visions for the future excited me. The death of the smartphone was in sight! But when I activated cellular on my watch a couple of weeks ago, I quickly realized my predictions were further away than I thought. Last week, I decided to spend the entire week phoneless. I wanted to test if the watch’s little 44-millimeter display could fill the shoes of my phone’s 5.8-inch screen. In an age where digital minimalism and in-distractible environments are becoming increasingly necessary, I could cut back on my phone dependency by replacing…

I had just graduated from Georgia Tech’s Industrial Design program before joining the startup accelerator program — Create-X. I didn’t know much about startup culture and was only vaguely familiar with terms like MVP (minimum viable product) and PMF (product-market fit). But through the program, it became impossible to miss the similarities that the foundation of a startup shares with the design process. It didn’t take long for me to realize that my studies in Industrial Design, which formed my design process, perfectly aligned with my team’s startup: swatchcandy.

I am defined by my obsessions. Every couple of months, a new person, product, company, or idea pops into my head and can’t escape. Slowly it begins to consume every ounce of my free time. I think about it during my runs, my YouTube suggestions shift, and I let it become part of my identity. My fascinations have ranged from Oprah to Apple to reality television to brunch. When people think of me, however, the one passion that defines me is public transit. I love surrounding myself with people and relish the feeling when the city permeates me. Even when…

Nearly four years ago, I walked into Georgia Tech’s College of Design bubbling with excitement but also completely petrified. I had no idea what the next four years were going to look like. Sure I had seen sample projects, toured the school, and read the curriculum, but that didn’t help me quantify a Bachelors Degree in Industrial Design from Georgia Tech. I’ve learned and grown so much through the program and I wouldn’t be the designer, nor person, I am today without my experience. …