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I'm a designer in Vancouver, Canada. I work at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, am a director of the 221A Artist Run Centre, and a member of Fieldwork design collective. I'm an Emily Carr and University of Victoria graduate and have worked in the Philippines, Indonesia and the Netherlands. I'm a cycling advocate and race on the Garneau Evolution team.

design industrial university School, December 2, 2006 11:20 PM 1 comments

Technical Skills

For all its foundations in conceptual learning and creativity, its teaching steeped in process, I find I'm actually learning some technical skills in art and design school as well.

And while I admire what the former gives me (and the way Emily Carr holds it above craft and technical skill; it's why I decided to get my degree here), I've noticed that the past three months in the Industrial Design program has given me some pretty good hands on, applied abilities that I can take with me anywhere.

Most of them are how to use power-tools, which when I think about it is a pretty sweet bonus in itself.

Following is a list of (mostly entry-level) technical skills I've gained after three months in the Industrial Design program at the Emily Carr Institute (a few of these were experienced heavily in first year, too):

I now know how (or at the least have tried) to use a:

• table saw
• dado blades, cross-cutting jig for the table saw
• pin router
• band saw
• compound mitre saw
• drill press
• scroll saw
• belt, dowel and palm sanders
• hand router
• industrial dust extractor
• set square, combination square
• lathe
• drafting table
• scale ruler
• glue gun
• pneumatic brad nailer and staple gun
• jointer and plainer
• utility knife
• respirator
• vacuum former

Holy jeeze do I use a utility knife a lot these days.

I have experience working with:

• many types of adhesives
• many types of materials which I then attempt to adhere together
• HPDE plastic
• wood
• cardboard
• foamcore
• foam (pink mostly)
• plexi (acrylic plastic)
• miled steel
• paper (craft, bristol, photocopy; folding, cutting, scoring, warping, etc.)
• photo documentation
• twine and string
• markers (for drawing)