Design 100

An autobiography can simply be put as an account of a person’s life written by that person. For this autobiography, I am able to take artifacts that represent my life and find ways they represent design in our world today. This class has taught me that design is more that what it seems and can be found in things we use every single day. It’s amazing how complex design is but also how far it can take you! AUTOBIOGRAPHY

I am from the city of Louisville, KY I have lived there all my life and am so glad my parents moved here 30 years ago. This city has shaped me into the person I am today and I will always be proud from where I come from. Louisville has taught me so much and I see design everywhere I go, from restaurants to houses to bridges and more. This city is home and it’s design is unique and brings in many consumers yearly. From hosting the Kentucky Derby to holding games and concerts at the Yum Center, this city is designed to bring in lots of people! LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY

South Oldham is where I attended high school. I played basketball here and my friends stayed the same throughout all my teenage years. This place comes with a lot of memories and things I’ll never forget. This place came with a certain culture that stood out. The people came from all over because of how good of a school it is to be apart of. This place has an element of safety and it’s designed for a safe and good learning environment. SOUTH OLDHAM HIGH SCHOOL

Anyone who knows me, knows family is so important to me. I feel so happy when I’m with them and they’ve given me a life that a lot of people would love to have. I think design comes into play here because I believe family is forever and design is forever too. It’s never going to go away and it’s everywhere you go no matter what. Design won’t fail you and at the end of the day I hope we would all say that same about family. MY FAMILY

I’ve never probably been happier about a decision I made than the one I made to come to UK. It’s probably impossible to look around the campus of UK and see design. From the actual construction of new buildings and dorms being worked on everyday to the consumerism aspect. UK brings in a lot of money from the college itself and our top notch basketball team. Lexington is home to so much design and it will only continue to grow from here. UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY

Basketball is something very near and dear to my heart. It’s something I’m passionate about and have been since my elementary school days. It became very important to me during my high school years and I miss it everyday. It’s such a uniquely designed game and media is shown to be an important aspect because so many college and NBA teams are shown on TV every single day. It’s something so many people follow around the world and it also brings in a lot of money for many cities. BASKETBALL

My Vera Bradley keychain/wallet is something I literally cannot go a day without. I carry my keys, money and all my credit cards in there on a daily basis. It portable and convenient design make it easy for me to carry around everywhere and it’s also fashionably designed which I like. It is a popular brand and seen around a lot. KEYCHAIN/WALLET

This is probably another very important artifact in my life because I have so many important things stored on my phone. I have contact information, important dates on my calendar and other reminders. Apple did a great job in my opinion when it came to the design of these phones. This is such a big part of consumerism because I really don’t know many people who don’t have an Apple IPhone. Their products are reliable, efficient and easily portable to make it easier on the consumer. MY IPHONE

Lake Cumberland is a home away from home for me. My family has had a lake house there for as long as I can remember and it holds so many memories for me. This lake is designed to be one of the largest in the world and its’ beauty is breathtaking. You can’t not be happy when you take in the gorgeous lake and scenery that surrounds you here. LAKE CUMBERLAND

My Lilly planner is so important to me because I like to always be organized and this is designed to keep you organized in a stylish way too. These items are so popular today, especially for college girls. I see so many females having these and this really says something about the consumerism aspect of design as well as the target audience design can have too. LILLY PULITZER PLANNER

My Bible is something that is important to me because my faith is important to me. My faith is something I am challenged by and wanting to seek out more information about as well. I think design can be seen in this way too because design can be challenging and it always leaves you with questions and wanting to know more. BIBLE

My church back at home is something important to me as well because my faith is so important to me. This church is a somewhere I feel safe and comfortable at. This church also has several campuses in the Louisville area and it’s design has been replicated into several churches. This church has the same basic structure and is designed to run the same way all over. These churches bring in all different types of people to worship together. SOUTHEAST CHRISTIAN CHURCH, LOUISVILLE KY

Delta Gamma is a sorority I joined my freshman year here at UK. It has also been one of the more important to decisions I’ve made in college because it has introduced me to my best friends and a sisterhood that will last a lifetime. A sorority’s purpose is to unify all different types of women and I think design does the same thing like unifying everyone when we use products everyday or buy something out in the world too. DELTA GAMMA

A place that makes me who I am as well is a mall in my hometown called Mall St. Matthews. It is located in Louisville and it’s important to me because I love shopping and it makes me who I am. This is apart of my personality and anyone who knows me will tell you about my love for shopping. This particular mall appeals to so many people it attracts thousands of consumers each and every year. MALL ST. MATTHEWS

As childish as it may sound, I still have a teddy bear that I’ve had since I was born and he sits on my bed every single day. This homemade artifact means so much to me and it’s something I hope to hold onto forever. Since it was a gift, it means even more to me and it really is a childhood toy that I never want to lose. It’s soft, cuddly and small enough to move around and place wherever. MY TEDDYBEAR

My MacBook laptop is an important artifact to me as well. I carry it around with me everyday and it is used by me daily. I store lots of school work and important pictures on here as well. MacBook's are so popular in today’s culture and market and so many college students have them here at UK. They are light and easily portable which is very appealing to consumers. MACBOOK LAPTOP

My initialed monogram ring is very important to me and is something I wear everyday. I don’t like to take it off because it has semimetal value since it was a gift from someone close to me. The designers of the ring made it so it fit comfortably and was light on your finger. It also has my initials monogrammed on it so it makes it personal to me and I think that’s what makes it appealing to a lot of consumers as well. MONOGRAMMED RING

My Nike Free Run shoes is an important artifact that describes me because I like to stay fit and go to the gym. I really have one pair of tennis shoes that are my “go to” and I really like the design of them. Nike Free run’s are my favorite type of running shoes because of how reliable they are and I feel like I'm getting the most for my money by getting this brand of shoe. This appeals to consumerism too because they are such a popular design and so many people wear Nike Free Run’s all over the world. MY NIKE FREE RUNS

My Camelbck water bottle is an important artifact to me because I carry it around with me everyday. It is easy to carry around and fits in my backpack easily. It also makes me feel good because I don’t feel like I’m wasting water bottles. I think the designer of these water bottles had these goals in mind while creating them and I think that could be a huge reason why they are so popular in today’s market. CAMELBAK WATERBOTTLE

I think all 10 of these artifacts says a lot about me. Even if someone I didn’t even know read this list, they could make a lot of assumptions about me. I think these artifacts especially tell someone that I love my family and they’re the most important thing as well as the church I go to. Other artifacts like the mall, basketball, and my iPhone describe what I enjoy and some things that are important to me. I would describe my lifestyle as laid back and pretty normal for a college student. I think I also fall under the category as a typical teenager and typical girl. Design and these artifacts represent my values and views because all of these are important to me for some reason and they all have important design features to them. For example, my iPhone is so important to me and it has design features such as convenience and portability among others. This is important to me because of those reasons and it is designed to hold all my important information and photos too. My artifacts fit into groups like family, faith, pleasure, school, etc. A lot of them fit into pleasure because they are things I like to do or places I like to spend my time. I think they say that I am a typical college girl with interests that are pretty common. Design comes into play with all of these artifacts. They each contain ideas about consumerism, media, social aspects, human experience, etc. I would say almost all of the artifacts I have listed, help me live an easier life and make it more enjoyable too. AUTOBIOGRAPHY SUMMARY