Design website Core 77 recently published the final of a series of five reports from product design student Jenny Hsu documenting the Spring 2013 studio called Wasteless, led by SCE faculty Andrea Ruggiero. In this studio, a collaboration with Italian furniture manufacturer Poltrona Frau, students were tasked to design and create items using leather scraps left over from the production of Poltrona Frau’s home goods.

Product design students Jenny Hsu, Yuna Kim and Ben Billick at Poltrona Frau, Tolentino, Italy. Photo: Core77

Jenny, along with classmates Yuna Kim and Ben Billick, won a juried competition to travel to Poltrona Frau’s factory in Tolentino for a one week workshop in July. Of this workshop, in which she and her colleagues ultimately presented their creations to brand director Roberto Archetti and other Poltrona Frau executives, Jenny says, “Our trip to Poltrona Frau only confirms what school has taught us, that design is never arbitrary: Each step of the design process is a calculated and concerted effort, taking every minute detail into account. Understanding how a product concept is realized—from research and development to the cycle of design, prototyping, testing to marketing and pitching the idea—is a package for success. Design is not a one-way street but a confusing, kooky and exhaustive maze. You often hit a dead-end, but with a bit of perseverance, other roads will always present themselves before you. It is a long and iterative process one must continue striving for to arrive at a final destination: the end goal.”

Jenny Hsu presenting her design for Wastless, Piqnique. Photo: Core77