| Mindy Cakirer
Melinda Cakirer is a fourth year Industrial Design student at the Rhode Island School of Design. Her design work primarily consists of practical design characterized by close collaboration with internationally known businesses and institutions. To date, she has worked with Brown University Engineering Department on a collaborative design project dealing with ecological innovation. She has also worked closely with the Brown University Swim Team and Arena in developing feeding system for marathon swimmers. Cakirer designed a watch prototype with EVO Design and Timex. She has worked with Frederic Spector Design Studio on a lighting project and has collaborated with Reebok and Harmony Pattern & Casting Company. Through all of her design endeavors, Cakirer strives to achieve an ecological consciousness deriving inspiration from the natural world. In addition to her design work, Cakirer continues to pursue the fine arts in painting, sculpture, ceramics, and textiles. Additional outlets for her talents have included helping to organize The International Festival in Providence, exhibition and volunteering at AS220, an artist-in-residence studio space in Providence, Rhode Island. She has helped to organize The Fools Ball: AS220's annual fundraiser. Cakirer also continues to play the cello, which she has played for ten years.
artist statement: Industrial design is a media of change. I have an optimistic belief in the potential of design to improve our lives - not just through pleasing aesthetics, but in more utilitarian ways as well. I believe that innovative inventions, new technologies and new materials can go a long way to correct many of the world's ailments. In my work I focus my attention on design that directly affects how individuals live. There are fields more harmful than industrial design, but only very few of them that have incredible potential for environmental and cultural impact. Bad design can harm our lives immensely. From the problems of the bad typography in Florida's voting ballots to excessive toy packaging and unnecessary junk mail, bad design makes the world a more difficult place to live in. At the same time, strong design for bad causes or products can hurt us even more. An example of this was the Nazi's age-old powerful symbol and its transformation into a very successful identity program. Therefore, I return to nature for inspiration, choice of materials, and answers to the problems I address in a technology driven world that seems to want to override nature. Only in nature exists the perfect balance between form and function. I also feel it is imperative for today's designers to pay close attention to the ecological impact their designs could have in both production and their final destination: the landfill. There's a fine line between solving one problem and creating many more. I choose a variety of materials to explore, attempting to balance the cost in production, aesthetics, appropriate usage, and the incorporation of green design. Material choice is important when questioning a facet of our lives that could improve through design. Working closely with a certain material will often lead to many unexpected solutions a pencil and pad just cannot solve alone. The constant in and among the variety of my work is my mark, my energy, and my translation of the world as I see it.
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