Introduction

Three years ago, two Environmental Design students founded the OCAD Student Press with the intention of publishing OCAD design thesis research that normally never saw the light of day. It began as a humble collaboration between Environmental Design and Industrial Design, but today has grown to include work from all design streams at OCAD. Every year, we have asked the same thing of our contributors: Show us what you are passionate about in design. There is no imposed theme or categorical limitation, and every year we find ourselves amazed by the eclectic mixture of submissions we receive. This year’s edition is no exception.

More than anything, this book should act as a tool for students and up-and-coming designers to better understand how truly vast the design world has become and how elastic our process can (and should) be. From all corners of design at OCAD, the pages that follow represent a cross section of the research and work being done by some of our most talented and engaging students. Design is a global conversation that is constantly changing, and we hope that this and all future publications will continue to add to that conversation in a way that is always critical, relevant, and genuinely positive.

Welcome to Shift:Approaches, the third installment of the Shift series.












Published Summer of 2009.