Back to School, Back to Creating 🎨 📓
Hi Designers,
We hope you all had an amazing summer and are feeling refreshed and ready for an even better year ahead. As we kick off the new school year, we’re excited to dive into all the incredible things we have planned to fuel your creativity and enhance your design skills. 🤿 Let’s make this year our most innovative yet! We have lots to share, so let’s get into it.
🏅 Top Submissions from Our Design Challenges 🏅
As the Fall Quarter begins, summer Design Challenges are coming to an end. From August to September, Design@UCR released a series of design challenges for participants to showcase their innovation and creativity. The goal of design challenges was to familiarize new designers with Figma and provide prompts for experienced designers to go back to basics.
Now, let’s take a look at your amazing submissions! 📲✨
Design Challenge #1: Recreate an App Icon
For the first design challenge, participants were prompted to recreate an app icon of their choice, focusing on how the design reflects the app's elements and user experience, and taking into consideration how each icon would appear from a distance.
The highlight of Design Challenge #1 is, drumroll please… 🥁
A recreation of the Apple Maps logo made by Eva Zhao! Eva did an exceptional job capturing the essence of the original design. Her attention to detail was evident in how she carefully matched the colors and recreated each element of the icon. From the layered shapes to the precise curves, Eva’s submission stood out for its accuracy and how well it maintained the look of the original Apple Maps icon. Great job, Eva! 👏
Design Challenge #2: Create a user-friendly search bar
For the second design challenge, designers were prompted to create a search bar that seamlessly fits into. Designers were encouraged to consider implementing features to make the product more accessible and visually appealing and to consider the adaptability of the product across different devices (desktop, mobile, etc).
The highlight of Design Challenge #2 is..
A functional search bar by Kyle So! Kyle’s design incorporated several features aimed at enhancing the user experience. Not only does it provide a simple way for users to search for content, but it also displays their search history for easy access to previous queries. Additionally, he included a microphone icon, enabling voice search as an alternative to typing, making the bar more accessible and convenient. Outstanding effort, Kyle! 🎊
Design Challenge #3: Create a mobile navigation bar
For the third and final design challenge of the summer, designers were prompted to create a mobile navigation bar. Similarly to Design Challenge #2, participants were tasked to create a search-like feature, specifically iterated to fit a navigation app on a mobile device.
The highlight of Design Challenge #3 is…
A sleek mobile navigation bar designed by Sophia Medina! Sophia did an excellent job positioning the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen, optimizing it for ease of use. Her design featured four clean, minimal icons for search, history, and profile, ensuring a user-friendly experience. What stood out was how she used blue to color both the home icon and text, clearly indicating to users which tab they were on. Well done, Sophia! 🙌
🌱 General Meeting #1: Design 101 🌱
Design@UCR’s first general meeting of the quarter is almost here! Join us for Design 101, where we’ll cover the fundamentals of design and share what’s in store for the year. 🎯 Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned designer, this is the perfect way to kick off the quarter. Here’s what to expect:
What is Design?
DAU’s Mission
Resources for Success
A Glance at the Quarter
Don’t miss out on a fun and inspiring session to start the year strong. We can’t wait to see you there!
📅 Event Details:
Date: October 1st, 2024
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: SSC MPR #2
🎉 Design & Engineering Fair 🎉
We are thrilled to announce our participation in the Design & Engineering Fair this fall! This event offers a great opportunity for students interested in Design, Marketing, Computer Science, Software Engineering, and more, while promoting campus organizations and providing valuable resources. 🌟
The fair will bring together student organizations to showcase opportunities in these fields. Attendees can participate in an interactive workshop on the intersections of UI/UX and Software Engineering, covering topics like:
How UI/UX and SWE complement each other in product development?
How to get more involved in both UI/UX and SWE?
The design process through the lens of SWE experience?
After the workshop, attend a tabling session where organizations will share insights and resources. 🤝 Connect with peers, explore career paths, and discover the dynamic world of design and engineering!
🗓️ Event Details:
Date: October 8th, 2024
Time: 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Location: SSC MPR #2
✌️ Design Duos ✌️
Design@UCR is excited to introduce Design Duos, a program designed to connect designers who want to collaborate, share skills, and learn from each other’s creative process. 👯♀️ Whether you're looking for peer mentorship or a partner to tackle design projects together, this program is perfect for those who may not want to work alone!
Preparation for Design Duos will take place during Week 3, spanning three days, each with a unique focus:
Day 1 – Introduction to Design Duos 🙋
Get an overview of the program with icebreakers, socializing, and a beginner-friendly lesson on design principles.
🗓️ Date: October 14th | Time: 5:00 PM | Location: HUB 269
Day 2 – Design Duals ⚔️
Participate in fun icebreakers, learn about the design challenge, and start working on it in groups or pairs.
🗓️ Date: October 15th | Time: 6:30 PM | Location: SSC MPR #2
Day 3 – Socializing & Fundraiser 🗣️
Wrap up the preparation with a casual hangout and fundraiser while completing the pairing form for your Design Duo partner.
🗓️ Date: October 16th | Time: 5:00 PM | Location: HUB 367
Participants will be paired up the following week. If you’re unable to attend any of these events, feel free to reach out to our board members for a recap and join our Slack for updates and community engagement!
✨ Board Member Spotlights ✨
This month, we're excited to showcase two more incredible members of our 2024-25 Design@UCR board! Meet our talented Project Managers: Garman Zhen and Dario Guzman!
🏀 “Hi, my name is Garman Zhen and I am a 4th-year Computer Science with Business Applications major. If I'm not in front of my screen working, you'll probably find me at the SRC playing basketball, rock climbing, or playing badminton!”
⚽️ “Hi everyone! My name is Dario Guzman and I am a 4th-year psychology major. One quick fact about me is that I work for an ABA therapy company as a behavior therapist and I have a huge interest in the intersection between UX Design and healthcare. I also love to play soccer and volleyball in my free time!”
As Project Managers for Design@UCR, Garman and Dario lead committees in planning and executing design projects, fostering collaboration and innovation every step of the way. Additionally, they oversee Design Co., working closely with other organizations to provide members with case studies, real-world projects, and technical opportunities that foster skill development and hands-on experience.
🖋️ Design Co. Updates 🖋️
As you already know, DesignCo. offers a dynamic program focused on enhancing your design skills through two specialized committees. The application window is now closed, and emails with your application results have been sent out. 📬 Be sure to check your inbox and respond promptly—we can’t wait to see where this journey takes us together!
📢 Get Involved 📢
We’d love for you to stay connected and engaged with our design community! Join us on Slack for real-time updates, follow our Instagram for event highlights and inspiration, and subscribe to our Substack for deeper insights and tutorials. 🖇️ Plus, connect with us on LinkedIn to expand your professional network.
Don’t forget to visit us in person! We’ll be tabling every Wednesday from 9 AM to 2 PM on campus. 🤗 Stop by to say hi or ask questions—we're excited to meet you!
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
Contact us via Instagram: @DesignAtUCR, or our Slack. 🧸
Best regards,
Cece Johnson and Natalie Trinh
VPs of Internal Affairs 🌱