Peter Zweifel

Brief: Design a book, any size, about trash using original content. 

Concept: Walking around my neighbourhood Greenpoint in Brooklyn, I imagined the personalities of each tenant emulated through their garbage bins: tidy, messy, plain, extravagant, neglected, cared for... 

I wanted to capture this phenomenon in my book as a photographic documentary where Greenpoint’s trash bins became the lead characters. 

Brief: Design a smallish book around the theme “Secrets and Lies.” It should involve a lot of handwork; it could have doors, holes, reveals, folding parts, paint, etc. Consider what secrets can mean for different people, ages, groups. This project is not necessarily about your personal secrets.

Concept: Like images, the meaning of words can change with context. Under the guiding principle of revealing secrets and lies, this book works to reveal contextual dichotomies and duplicitous meanings within printed matter that question and confront cultural stigmas, beliefs, and preconceptions that exist within our society.

Brief: Design two short magazines completely different in aesthetics from each other about the iconic designer, Christopher Dresser. 

Concept 1: For a young, business and design savvy audience who might also read Wired or Fast Company.

Concept 2: For a funkier, intellectual crowd who might also read New York Times Magazine or IdN Magazine. 

Brief: Design a desktop item that is stackable or collapsible. It must fit within a cubic 12" and cost no more than $50. 

Design Statement: Focus Flips are the stackable and collapsible multi-purpose gadget stands designed so freelancing professionals in shared and public workspaces can quickly set up their digital desk space, while also providing customizable "Do Not Disturb" messages for those times when one needs to seriously focus and work interruption-free. 

Brief: Design a modular storage system that satisfies the particular needs of an assigned client, while also targeting a broader user group.

Design Statement: Grid Flow is the modular storage system designed with an adaptable framework and easily removable and reversible bins so urban designers, workers in shared office spaces, and design-savvy urbanites with a hankering for DIY projects can have functional storage within an interactive design and customizable aesthetic. 

This poster was pinned up during my salon-style midterm capstone review and was intended to set the tone of my capstone topic for passers-by, while also providing a concise description of my problem and intended solution. 

The Finding explores the idea of inspiration, its power within the process of creation, and the emotional weight it carries. Inspiration becomes part of us, and yet it is never owned, seamlessly drifting between a state of discovery and loss. 

Brief: Research any subject and create a motion infographic. 

Brief: Create a Rube Goldberg-like animation using After Effects that creates a sense of realistic movements and interactions. 

Assignment
Step One: Using the visual design of Eyewitness Books, design a four-page pamphlet about herbs and home gardening from a single sheet of tabloid paper. 

Step Two: Design three variations of a table of contents for that pamphlet using a range of styles and inspirations.

My Concept
I strived to design a pamphlet that felt and looked bright, using the color from the various herbs as a point of highlight. 

Brief: Select a material and explore it. Design a tabletop object that exploits your material's characteristics and properties. 

Design Statement: Geo Set is the modular concrete table-top set comprising coasters, small trays, a bowl, and a candle holder, all designed with small rubber o-rings to prevent table surface damage.

Brief: Design an innovative kitchen tool that costs under $40. 

Design Statement: The Goodie Compost Bag is the re-usable compost bag that makes urban composting a cleaner and more environmentally friendly activity, while its leak-proof and compact-able design gives users confidence and ease-of-use for storing and transporting compost to urban compost sites.

An open source fabric construction system designed to act as a tool for the fashion researchers at cloTHING(s) as Conversation to quickly assemble and disassemble three-dimensional textile structures in order to further explore the relationships between people and clothing. 

Teammates: Sung Jun Yoon, Yu Rong, Zhengwen Zhang

My Role: I was one of two lead designers that developed our final designs and system. I was also the lead designer on all final presentations and acted as project manager. 

Honors: Allometry was included in Material Culture In Action, a conference presentation and paper at the Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, Scotland, UK, Sept 2015 and Aarhus, Denmark, Sept 2015. It was also included in the paper: Day Fraser, H. Doyle, K. (2015). Sites of Making – Sites of Riposte: cloTHING(s) as conversation. Making Research, Researching Making. ADAPTr Creative Practice Conference 2015. Aarhus, Denmark.

Brief: In a group of three, design and build a human powered car using CNC cut plywood. All designs and dimensions should be finalized through CAD. Push the limits of existing human powered vehicles. 

My Role: Although this project was fully collaborative, I was the lead designer for the chair, rolling sled mechanism, front wheel suspension, and internal steering mechanism. I also led the welding and cutting process of the car's metal frame and wheel suspension frames. 

Honors: Selected as the poster image for the 2015 Parsons Design Festival in Industry City, Brooklyn, and one of three car projects chosen to represent the entire Parsons Product Design department at the festival.

Teammates: Yingying Yang, Gabrielle Zelepos

Assignment Brief
Design a desk-accessories set totaling five objects that express a cohesive design language. Then select three out of the five objects to build appearance models.

My Chosen Objects
Stapler, Tape Dispenser, Post-It Note Holder, Paper Clip Tray, Digital Desktop Calendar

Design Statement
The Odyssey Collection is the desk-accessories set with a space-exploration inspired design so that outer space-enthusiasts can feel the excitement and wonder of the universe within simple office activities, such as writing Post-it Notes, using paper-clips, stapling papers, checking the calendar, or cutting a piece of tape. 

Assignment Brief
Create a 3D study of how light can create a tactile sensation.

My Chosen Tactile Sensation
Water

Design Statement
Liquify is a table luminaire that provides the light quality of a glistening stream of water. Inspired by the soothing physical sensation of flowing water, home office workers may receive the emotional inspiration and sense of escape offered through Liquify's organic sense of movement and graceful lighting quality.

Brief: Design a product that celebrates the essence of humanity and uplifts the human spirit.

Thesis:I began my project researching the concept of restoring empathy between people, narrowing the scope to college campuses and the ways in which multiple communities sharing the same space interact with each other. Recent protests and unrest at the University of Missouri and Yale University campuses made it clear that shared spaces at times are stimulants of friction and insulation among their occupants. 

To develop this idea, I used the Third Floor shared work space located in Parsons's 25 E. 13th Street Building as a test study.

Inhabit Parsons is the result, a collection of four objects working to build an empathetic working environment for creatively diverse communities in shared spaces. 

ASSIGNMENT BRIEF - Design a table finding inspiration either from science, technology, nature, or the arts. Your job is to research the industry of your inspiration, look at the imagery, the materials, and the construction, and incorporate those influences into your design.

INDUSTRY OF CHOICE - The Arts: Ballet

DESIGN STATEMENT - The Jeté table is designed to evoke the stunning physicality and flowing movement of ballet dancers onstage, and it would be placed in a dancer’s dressing room or backstage studio area to help emotionally inspire a dancer as he or she is preparing for their performance. 

The table’s flowing design would both inspire and sooth nervous dancers warming up for performances, while the top metal beam would function as a personal ballet barre to assist a dancer during their warm-up routine.

DIMENSIONS - (1:4 Scale) 11.5 x 6 inches 

Assignment Brief
In a group, redesign a simple hand tool so it can be operated repeatedly without any discomfort, while providing clear functional benefit − or advantage − to its user. Use market research to inspire your design. Furthermore, present a booklet of ergonomic research in relation to your hand tool and define the specific design criteria and opportunities for your team’s tool. 

Hand Tool Selected
Kitchen tongs.

Design Statement
The Curvy Tongs are the multi-purpose kitchen tool with an ergonomically considered head and body design so that anyone can toss, flip. or handle a variety of foods with the maximum amount of comfort and efficiency. 

My Responsibilities
Kitchen tong home cook survey. Ergonomic research booklet. Design of customized kitchen tong head. Construction of final model.

ASSIGNMENT BRIEF - 

In a group, redesign a simple hand tool so it can be operated repeatedly without any discomfort, while providing clear functional benefit − or advantage − to its user. Use market research to inspire your design. Furthermore, present a booklet of ergonomic research in relation to your hand tool and define the specific design criteria and opportunities for your team’s tool. 

HAND TOOL SELECTED - Kitchen tongs.

DESIGN STATEMENT - The Curvy Tongs are the multi-purpose kitchen tool with an ergonomically considered head and body design so that anyone can toss, flip. or handle a variety of foods with the maximum amount of comfort and efficiency. 

MY RESPONSIBILITIES - Kitchen tong home cook survey.Ergonomic research booklet—28 pages.Design of customized kitchen tong head. Construction of final model.

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All the photos in this template are taken by the talented photographer Akos Major.

ASSIGNMENT BRIEF - Design and build a tray using one bent plywood component and one bent hardwood component. 

DESIGN STATEMENT - The Ribbon Tray is the multi-purpose table tray and decorative sculptural piece that evokes a sense of fluidity and movement within the home. It’s rounded base can be used for storing objects such as fruit, magazines, or even a bottle of wine, while its flat top surface can be used for displaying various objects, such as drink glasses or small dishes.

18" x 12" x 6"

Assignment Brief
Design and build a tray using one bent plywood component and one bent hardwood component. 

Design Statement
The Ribbon Tray is the multi-purpose table tray and decorative sculptural piece that evokes a sense of fluidity and movement within the home. It’s rounded base can be used for storing objects such as fruit, magazines, or even a bottle of wine, while its flat top surface can be used for displaying various objects, such as drink glasses or small dishes.

18" x 12" x 6"