ASID Launch Held at SCAD

March 9, 2016  by in Designer Weekly   

Attendees learned about the career paths available with an interior design degree, as well as gained valuable insights on resumes, portfolios, networking, and transitioning from student design to practice.

“Launch unleased the power of design, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the results,” said Randy Fiser, ASID CEO.

Highlights from the three-day event included keynote speakers, Brooke Traeger-Tumsaroch, design director at AvroKO (Bangkok, Thailand), and Primo Orpilla, co-founder and principal at Studio O+A (San Francisco).

Traeger-Tumsaroch serves as a design director for AvroKO’s Bangkok office, where she oversees more than 30 designers focused on bespoke hospitality projects. She told attendees to be flexible with opportunities and open to what they have not imagined. 

Orpilla is the award-winning co-founder of Studio O+A, the San Francisco design firm responsible for workplace designs at Facebook, Levi-Strauss, Microsoft, Uber and Yelp. Orpilla addressed students on typologies and learning from the convergence of project types. As part of his presentation, Orpilla said, “Good design hurts,” and went on to encourage attendees to “see art, go to a junkyard, or take a walk” whatever it takes to get inspired to create a space where they would want to be.

ASID concluded Launch with the Student Portfolio Competition, sponsored by Kabuni. Student finalists with top portfolios were invited to attend an exclusive student portfolio track at Launch where they worked one-on-one with professionals to polish their resume, portfolio, and presentation skills. Leigh Ann Soistmann, a student at Virginia Tech, was named grand prize winner and will attend Celebration, the 2016 ASID National Awards Gala, in Minneapolis in July. Zijian Wang, a student from Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind., was the winner of an internship with Gensler; and Zhaoqi Su, also from Indiana University, was the winner of an internship with HKS Architects.

Honorable mentions included: Rebecca Thompson, Florida State University, and Yiyun Luo, Drexel University.

Also, ASID Premier Partner Kabuni announced its 12x12 internship opportunity for ASID students. The contest winner will travel around the world as a design ambassador, learning from and helping to tell the stories of local artisans, villages, and cultures. The winner will be announced on Nov. 2.