Gifting Design

For this assignment, I designed a gift for an upper-level design student based on feedback I received about themselves through a questionnaire. With the answers I received to the questions I asked, I came up with many different ideas for their gift. However, I ended up designing various music playlists that feature cover art created by me that express the recipient's personality and what they find important in life. Some design inclusions found within the cover art are birthstones, sayings, and favorite items. The songs featured within each playlist reflect the designated cover art, such as calm songs to destress or upbeat songs to motivate. The packaging of the gift is a QR code that the recipient can scan with a phone camera that then leads them to the five playlists.

Upon completion of this project, I learned that what packages a gift can have a significant meaning to the overall design of an item. I also gained knowledge on how to work with a client and listen to their needs, as well as how I can incorporate my style into the work I produce for others. I focused the creation of my gift and its packaging on visual communication techniques to further the connection between the project, the recipient, and myself. By doing this, I got a glimpse into the visual communication design major, as well as learned that function over beauty means more to me than beauty over function does. Overall, I enjoyed designing a gift for someone else because there was a large focus on user experience and listening to the recipient’s feedback.