Kate Harris

Industrial Design Thesis - A joint Senior Thesis Project, we created a handbag company called emka design. The final emka bag line includes five bags; a tote, purse, handbag, clutch and zippered pouch. They are constructed of colored canvas, which was chosen for it’s versatility and durability. The interior lining fabric is a vintage canvas print. All bags incorporate emka pink zippers with pink zipper pulls for ease of use. In response to the data collected from our research, we gave our bag set the added function of being able to nest inside one another. We designed this feature so that our user might use her larger emka bag as a “home base” throughout the day, while keeping her essential items in one of the smaller emka bags. This feature allows the user to switch bags easily depending on her daily activities, without having to carry multiple bags.

Circolo & Piazzo Tableware - As a part of a “create your own design firm” project, I created a company called ‘kahdesign’. In turn, I decided that my company would focus on creating a line of functional tableware that would appeal to a younger, hipper market. The double line of mix and match tableware and servingware are classic shapes, but have a pattern with a twist. The circular plate set has a partial square pattern on each piece, allowing a larger square to form when arranged together on the table. The square dish set is the same, only with partial circles on each piece, allowing a large circle to form when arranged together. Each of the dish lines also has a corresponding servingware that matches.

Piegato Bedside Table - This project sort of evolved without my knowing. It started innocently enough, with an idea of my messy room and how to get it just a little bit cleaner. I draw, write and doodle on every small scrap of paper (or not paper) that I have lying around, so this led to my incorporation of paper into my piece. I wanted a furniture item that I could build the paper right into. As I said in class... “a furniture-type-thingy-that-has-paper-built-in-that-I-can-yank”. Well said, I suppose.

Model T Kitchen Colander - The Model ‘T’ colander rests on the “T” shape that is formed by a divided kitchen sink. It sits on a triangle of legs, two in the back that rest on the sink edge, and one in the front that fits over the middle divider of the sink. Because most households do not have clean surface areas to work on, the Model ‘T’ colander eliminates the need to balance hot foods on a flat surface, instead fitting onto the middle divider of any standard sink; raising the food up to the user’s working level, lessening the risk of steam burn and preventing food loss.

Paomola Toaster - The paolmola toaster was created in my Industrial Design I studio class as an introduction to numerous different aspects of product design. The primary goals of this project were to understand form, styling, and physical model making. The end product was a full scale model made of a high density foam call RenShape. The model was to look as much like a real product as possible, with a flawless craft and moving parts if nessicary. My toaster included a package design and a brand name, “paomola”, which means “bread spring” in Portuguese.