back from spring break

Hey Guys,
So I know that I haven't been around for a while, obviously spring break put me back from school a little and honestly, it took me up until the end of this week to get back into the swing of things.  However, I truly believe that I learned more in this week than I have all semester.  After being taught by the head of ID on Monday (professor Don Carr) I learned a ton of things about model making that really helped me improve my skills, and after some awesome lectures by Project H and Professor Dennis Earl, I completely changed my idea about industrial design.  Project H helped me see that design is more than making the next best thing, its become a way of helping the world to become a better place.  (If you don't know what Project H is and you are interested in design at all - check out their website at http://projecthdesign.org/). Emily Pilotin (the founder of project H) is an amazing designer who takes a new look at design for humanity and clearly has some amazing potential to change the world.  The other lecture was about biomimicry (copying natures design in our own human designs) which really inspired me to change my ideals about design.  Using nature as inspiration and actually learning from the way nature designs things will really help all designers to make better products.  If you are at all interested in this idea check out asknature.org and click on the link learn about biomimicry and watch the little video.  It's a lecture and I know that it may sound boring but it is an incredible talk and Janine Benyus talks about some extremely important ideas.  

Finally I just wanted to take a moment to talk about my future plans as a designer!!! Right now I am a second year and I have a twin in mechanical engineering.  What's funny is that there are two other twins in my year whose twin brothers are also in mechanical engineering.  After talking to my advisor I discovered that engineers and designers work together and therefore I came up with the ground breaking idea of Twintuition.  Obviously it's not a serious idea yet but its a fun little firm that maybe I can talk all of the six of us into doing.  It would have some pretty interesting marketability and honestly it would be a fun future for all of us. 
Well, i know this has been a long rant but I hope you enjoy the websites I posted and once again if you have any questions contact me by facebook!!

Repetition

okay, i know this sounds very familiar guys but i realized that you may need to become my friend on facebook to view my albums.  just add me as a friend and make sure to send me a message saying you are a prospective student and i would be glad to add you as a friend.  this is the easiest way for me to show you my work and it would be great for you guys to comment on the pics too! it would be a great thing for you guys to see what my high school portfolio was like (to get me into the school) and the type of work i'm doing now!

look me up, its Jason Ketcham from Syracuse... if you have trouble finding me my email is jrketcha@syr.edu

Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2055623&id=1387367229


go there, its all my favorite works up to this last weekend, from high school drawings to photos to Industrial Design idea sketching...

check it out and don't be afraid to add me as a friend

oh the weather outside is...

Mmm friday mornings!! What could i love more than sleeping in after a long night of snowboarding? That is one of the best things about Syracuse and college in general, having the choice of when your classes are.  Thankfully as you may know, i do not have any classes at all on friday so i get to have an extra-long weekend.  Last night i went snowboarding with a friend out of a last minute decision because we were bored.  It was incredible and the weather outside was wonderful, blue skies (yes Syracuse does occasionally have these) and no wind at all.  Unfortunately today is different, it's grey and dull and not too pleasant.  Besides the weather, i have absolutely nothing to complain about.  i love my classes this semester, they are so helpful and interesting.  As for projects right now there are a few things.  I am currently working on pages for my professional portfolio (through indesign, photoshop and illustrator). This is a cool project because it is fun and helpful at the same time.  (a quick tip for you guys out there interested in any design field... get adobe cs4 creative suite and play around with it!!! the best way to learn these programs is to jump into it yourself!).  Besides that i am working on a vacuum...no i am not designing one, but i bought one from the salvation army and now i took it apart and have to create a 3d exploded view to show all of the parts, then research everything about it.  It doesn't sound enticing, but oh man it is so cool to see all the motors fans and other various parts.  Okay, well as i mentioned before if you are ever interested in my work or have questions for me please feel free to look me up on facebook!!!  my name is jason ketcham and my email is jrketcha@syr.edu

Here is a page that will be included in my portfolio.  It features the stiff wood form that i created last semester in Principles of Form class

Spring

Hey guys, so I'm back in action at the school and unfortunately the weather isn't being nice to us.  Its windy, snowy and very cold.  The good news is that this semester is so much better than the last already.  these classes I am in are super cool and I feel like I'm going to have a ton of fun this spring.  I have made my schedule much easier than last semesters and now I have no friday classes!!!!
the class I am taking are:
Principles of Form II  - study of forms
Principles of ID II - theories and ideas
Visualization And Representation - learning indesign and photoshop
Environmental Issues - talks about sustainability and "green" design
History of Illustration - ... self explainatory

Hopefully I don't have any hard times like that semester so wish me luck!!!

Fin

Lucky me, my classes and finals are all over!!! i am proud to say that i done much better in this semester than i had recently believed. i just want to say that you really shouldnt stress yourself out when you feel bad about your work because chances are that you are doing much better than you believe. as christmas has grown closer i have been worried about what to ask for, all up untill today. i decided that i need to step up my game in my program and become one of the best. so for christmas i ended up asking for books and supplies all related to my field! if you really love something, you should put your efforts and love all into that one thing.
so my final thoughts about this semester are the following. i have learned that i can do anything i want and all i have to do is step up my game. i have come out of this semester with some awesome work and some awesome friends. i have an amazing girlfriend and everything seems to be wonderful for this christmas break! good luck to everyone and i hope you all have a wonderful break!