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USC Product Design
USC ACAD-245 Final
I’m challenged with designing, sourcing, & building low-fidelity and medium-fidelity prototypes solving the need for a stadium chair that perfectly balances portability, weight, sturdiness, and comfort.
During my second year majoring in the Arts, Business, and Technology, I had a blast and tremendous growth in an area I’d surely love to explore even more in the future: product design.
ACAD-245 at USC taught me the processes necessary to determine consumer needs, market opportunities, and competitive product analysis. It also gave me a foundation in bringing the MVP of a product to life transitioning from sketches to prototypes made from cardboard and PU foam. I was tasked to innovate upon and model both a small personal item (epi-pen) and a portable carrying device (toiletry bag pictured left).
This class, unfortunately, had to still be held online therefore all of the prototypes you see here were made at home. Despite this minor setback, I’m still very proud of my product design journey, especially our furniture final…
When professors Grant Delgatty & Lisa Krohn delivered the prompt for our final – create a fresh take on the chair using a 2’x4’x1/8” slab of plywood – my mind instantly flashed back to all the meets I used to attend as a former track & field athlete. My family had two options if we didn’t want to sit on backless hot bleachers. We could pack heavy lawn chairs (that weren’t functional on bleachers) which my dad would have to lug a mile from the car to the stadium and back. Or we could pack the lightest and flimsiest stadium chairs that really gave no back support or lateral stability at all.
I wanted to make a chair optimized for both bleacher and non-bleacher use that was lighter than a folding chair, sturdier than an all-nylon stadium chair, and more portable than both options. This design challenge was an exhilarating change to my usual graphic design work I just couldn’t wait to get started.
My odyssey towards designing the chair that would meet my hard criteria saw many failed attempts! Stadium chairs that clicked into larger legs.. Inflatable chairs that roll up when you’re done.. Modified Adirondack chairs.. All of these designs were futile in what I was trying to accomplish, satisfying my competitive analysis breakdown.
It wasn’t until I began to look at the structure of beach chairs that I thought a great medium between flexibility and sturdiness was canvas material.
I began to draw what a stadium chair would look like if it only had four disassemblable components (the frame) and a maneuverable canvas that made up the sheet you sit on. Additionally, I knew I wanted a chair more comfortable and suited to the human form than previous stadium chair options; therefore, I researched how to add ergonomic curves in my improved version of the bleacher seat.
After committing to bridging the beach chair to the bleachers, I mocked up a life-size lofi prototype using cardboard and thin packaging foam. I included hooks at the base of the two side pieces to secure the foundation over the bleacher (the seat won’t lift off if you lean back); I also gave the sides two slits for horizontal beams to slide into (I didn’t want tying or locking to be necessary – I wanted the frame to hold itself based on friction alone). This was only partly successful because when I actually added weight onto the middle sheet, the sides slightly caved in towards each other. This result was partially because of the integrity of my cardboard material but also partly because of the design itself.
The feedback I received from my professors helped a great deal moving forward; I should carefully reposition my lateral beams to prevent collapse. And even though I knew this chair was disassemblable, I hadn’t thought ahead enough to factor how it should be carried. Thus, I brought these concerns into my ideation process for my medium-fidelity prototype.
Inspired by the past work of my own professor, I updated my stadium chair to feature numerous taut nylon cross-sections that were permanently fixed to my side pieces (now made from wood). My new base proved to be drastically sturdier with two horizontal planks on the bottom of the frame instead of one previously.
I laser cut the components to my wooden frame then proceeded to cut holes in each piece so when the chair was broken apart everything could stack and be easily held in one hand. Although the images show the chair packed in a portable mesh bag it’s my intention in the future to add a couple straps to the side planks, making the set self-contained.
In the end I had achieved my goals! Though the new prototype was ⅔ life-size, the wood and nylon composition made for a super light yet amazingly durable and comfortable chair experience. I call it the ‘sunny day’, modeling the comfort of beach life and bringing it to the bleachers.
Moving forward I would love to ideate ways to contain the fraying nylon straps that pop out when the chair collapses (just to make it look a bit neater). Nevertheless like I said before, I had a blast venturing into the world of product design. Thank you, professor Grant and Lisa! This is only the start!
Painkillerz Podcast Logo
I designed the logo and mascot characters, cartoon versions of hosts Daryll Evans and Brett Hinton, for their upcoming podcast “Painkillerz”. I wanted the heads to tell a story before a potential listener clicks on an episode and let them know through visuals that they’ll be in for a good time.
Art Director
Mya Davis, Eliza Glover, Kia McCormick
Haute x Mya Davis Merch Collaboration
USC’s art, fashion, and culture collective, Haute magazine, partnered with yours truly to release a limited hoodie run alongside the launch of their Fall 2020 issue. They were looking for a black creator with a unique style to highlight their semester theme, “Remember This”, which was a call to action for viewers to genuinely internalize what the globe had been through that year. I was motivated to illustrate a memorial of moments in 2020 that would change us forever, but in my cartooning style. The project was a tremendous learning experience and I loved the contrast in how such simple illustration could pack so much meaning.
Creative Director, Art Director
Mya Davis
In the AM with PM logo
The summer of 2021, I designed the logo and flyer for USC radio hosts Pilar Lee and Marlize Duncan. Going for a soft airbrushed scene, I listened to Pilar and Marlize’s requests to fashion the logo after Y2K aesthetics and color palettes. This graphic is now used towards their social media branding (Instagram, Tik Tok) and is thrown up all over their showroom during episodes.
Art Director
Mya Davis
Evans Family Portrait
I was commissioned by an old friend, Daryll Evans, to paint a portrait of himself, his older sister Maya, and his cousin Ryan (the latter two are now deceased). Honoring his request to memorialize his family with a light cartoon style, I produced some of my favorite character work to date. Other relatives of the Evans family were thankful for the emotion I captured and immortalized and it was an honor to be of service contributing this gift.
Art Director
Mya Davis
USC Web Dev. 2 Final
For the final group project in my development class we were tasked with coding a travel website using mysql and php. I wanted to design a parallax background inspired by https://www.firewatchgame.com/ and advertise the beauty of a handful of renowned California landmarks. It was a blast crafting these scenes in almost a paper-art 2D style. I enjoyed the process of sketching then limiting myself by working solely with two tools in Illustrator.
Art Director
Mya Davis, Eliza Glover, Kia McCormick
Hollomon Family Portrait
I was commissioned by an old friend, Taylar Hollomon, to draw a caricature of her family as a Christmas gift. It was super fun crafting this style with minimal toon-shading
Creative Director, Art Director
Mya Davis
Black Out the Ballot x Melrose Trading Post Flyer
I helped nonprofit organization, Black Out the Ballot, advertise their presence at Melrose Trading Post offering free haircuts with voter registration. I modeled the characters and scene after the Schoolhouse Rock aesthetic BOTB embeds in their branding and produced a genuine and warm invitation.
Creative Director, Art Director
Mya Davis
Distorted Self Portrait
For a solo project I wanted to exercise myself and draw a self portrait using colored pencils. Rather than producing a portrait that was 100% accurate, I was more interested in opting to distort features and employ a frenzy of near psychedelic colors. The intent is not to resemble a druggy filter but rather to symbolize the natural auras and emotions I cannot control.
Art Director
Mya Davis
A Black College Show Premier Flyer
I designed the flyer promoting the launch of a passion project helmed by my dear friends and USC Drama students Wynton Jones, Dara Adedara, and Kennedy Hill. Their webshow revolves around six black college students and their adventures, conflicts, and growth at a PWI. Wynton & Dara really enjoyed my previous portrait work so I drew stylized snapshots of the main characters to drive intrigue towards the best element of this series, its cast. The promotion led to a packed lecture hall the night of the release!
Art Director
Mya Davis
Black Out the Ballot x Crenshaw Skate Club Collection
In fall 2020, I had the opportunity to mentor a high school activist from North Carolina and collaborate on designing a t-shirt that promoted the importance of active voting. I took my mentee’s concepts and turned them into a streetwear graphic reminiscent of Crenshaw Skate Club’s style (the brand launching the shirt). #vote4me is a national movement fueled by youth who want to see change and therefore encourage those of voting age to get involved. We listed a qr code on the back of our shirt that linked anyone curious to a custom voter registration site. It was amazing to see a creative project like this generate measurable impact.
Art Director
Mya Davis, Miliani Smith
Luv Leek Cover Art
In combination with the visualizer (found in the Animation gallery), I designed the cover art for rapper Luv Leek’s single, “Don’t Leave”. This project gave me an opportunity to stretch my character design skills and pull inspiration from anime inspired by artists like @yalocaloffgod. I was enthusiastic throughout the entire process from sketching the wardrobe to picking out a color palette for a branded rollout. Thank you Malik, it was an honor to produce this for you!
Creative Director, Art Director
Mya Davis
AP Art & Design Breadth Piece
Working with pastels, oil, and q-tips, I illustrated this 27”x22” piece exhibiting chaos in fine detail. Playing off the idiom of “spilling your guts” I thought it would be a fun image to paint human hands offering a mound of pumpkin insides. This blend of realism and surrealism was real treat to work on and a testament to what I enjoy cooking up on my own. Weird stuff.
Artist
Mya Davis
Verkoshansky Logo
For 40 years, Verkoshasky has committed to spreading an elite Russian Olympic training regiment to athletes across U.S. universities. Now in 2022, Verkoshansky needed a modernized logo to appeal to a new generation of athletes. I collaborated alongside their creative team to design a clean lettermark that includes their initials and an abstractified Olympic torch + athlete figure inside.
Logo Artist
Mya Davis