NC STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF DESIGN
Joshua Garrett (he/him/his) is a senior studying Graphic and Experience design.
WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL INSPIRED?
I get inspired when I witness genuine care, specifically in any artisan craft — digital or physical. The nature of Design work can lend itself well to that goal, albeit at varying degrees, but that’s a big reason why I enjoy the 1:1 work-to-results output of design. I am inspired most when I come across people who do artisan work with genuine care; anything from a coffee shop owner to an architect — when you can see they really know what they’re doing and why they do it, it’s really inspiring. A great example of this is a man by the name of David, who I met in Evansville, Indiana. David and his family owned a coffee shop up there called White Swan, and I was really hit by the humble and driven nature of this guy. I don’t even drink coffee and I was blown away by not only the quality of the drink but also his authentic desire to serve people “a part of himself” or his “life” (I’m paraphrasing). He just really cared and would answer all my silly questions about it with so much humility — the humility of someone who doesn’t seem to compare himself to anyone else.
WHAT AREA OR AREAS OF DESIGN ARE YOU HOPING TO WORK IN OR SPECIALIZE IN?
I’ve become more and more interested in areas like Service Design and Experience Design. I have years of experience in Graphics, which has allowed me some cool moments to step into some of these other areas, whether it’s through a restaurant menu design, a website, or anything that deals with how people enter into an experience and stay there. With any design work I do, I want to think about it holistically — the start and end of a person’s time with that product, service, or experience. This is also why I love the idea of designing experiences. Anything from a floor layout to a cartoon character that waves at you from the bottom of the drink menu. I love that stuff!
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