3 Stories

The Designers

The Student Design Agency and ODUS wished that the alumni's valuable advice could be delivered to the students in a way that is more memorable than through printed posters, the agency's usual fare. It was decided that the event would resemble an exhibition, where students can both read the advice and interpret it for themselves.

Fifteen volunteer student designers chose a piece of alumni advice that personally resonates with them. Each designer then acquired and designed a bottle to contain his message. The bottle functions as both a container and an art piece; it displays the message literally and also expresses it visually based on each designer's interpretation. The involvement of current students helps to show that the Princeton experience can be simultaneously universal and unique.

Each SDA member approached the process differently, completing the project from all different corners of the world this summer. Below are blurbs in blog-entry format describing how each student arrived at his final design.

Bottles: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15

Bottle #1

Bottle location: On the large, stone table south of East Pyne
Message: Don't do anything you don't want to do, and don't let anyone make you feel bad for doing that.
— Carol Dreibelbis '11
Designer: Alice Zheng '13

Designer location: Design conceived in Columbia, MO and created in good ol' Princeton, NJ.

Summer activity: I spent about 8 weeks in a tiny town in the Adirondacks working as a Graphic Design and Media intern at an arts center.

Concept: To me, the message seemed like an assertion of the positivity of negativity, the good that can be found in "no". I wanted to express this in my bottle by constructing the letters out of negative space. Out of these negative words sparkle light, a symbol of positivity, optimism, and joy.

Why this message: Throughout my life I've spent a lot of energy trying to be a good person by doing for other people what they want of me. Sometimes somebody asks for something that I just can't give, but the guilt associated with saying "no" is almost more painful than acquiescing. I chose this message because I want myself, and anybody else who's ever been in a similar situation, to understand that it's okay to say "no", that we have the right to say "no", and that we have the right to feel completely comfortable saying it. In fact, in some cases saying "no" can be better for both sides in the long run.

Bottle #2

Bottle location: Near Woody Woo Fountain
Message: Reflect often. — Jasper Sneff Nanni '11
Designer: Ammar Ahmed '13

Designer location: Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Summer activity: Global Seminar in Italy/Poland

Concept: A moment of quiet reflection will reveal that everything in life, even the most simple and basic, goes beyond the mere experience of it. This design then suggests that as we find ourselves absorbed in the colors and sounds of the world outside, there's always plenty of room inside us, to reflect and to think.

Why this message: I often find it quite difficult to maintain things, life in perspective when I'm caught in between deadlines and schedules. I chose this message because it reminds me to look at the bigger picture and reflect on the experiences I've had at Princeton, in the endeavor to find improvements that are practicable in the immediate future.

Bottle #3

Bottle location: At the traffic circle south of East Pyne
Message: Don't sweat the small stuff. — Chris Tralie '11
Designer: Calvin Lee '12

Designer location: Princeton, NJ

Summer activity: Associate Product Manager Intern at the Google office in Tokyo.

Concept: My bottle is intended to look sloppily done, as if thrown together at the last minute (I swear, it's not). The cheap plastic reflects the rejection of perfectionism I find so hard to perform. Sand and grit fill the inside.

Why this message: Because life should be enjoyed.

Bottle #4

Bottle location: At the intersection north of Witherspoon
Message: Remember that though the Orange Bubble is amazing in its own right, there is an entire world outside of Princeton. Don't be afraid to reach out and taste it. — Jane Yang '11
Designer: Erin Byrne '13

Designer location: Gargnano, Italy. Gargnano is a medieval village on Lago di Garda, a large Alpine lake in the Lombardia region of northern Italy. Glancing from the ground to the clouds, you see the aged cobblestones of the piazza and harbor, the wrought iron streetlights and pastel buildings lining the lake, abundant citrus trees, the turquoise water of the lake and the striking Italian Alps bounding toward the sky.

Summer activity: I interned for six weeks in the Proposals Department at Christie's in New York City, helping to design and compile sales proposals for clients considering selling specific works or collections through the auction house. I spent the subsequent month in Gargnano, Italy, enrolled in an intensive Italian language and culture class with students of all ages from around the world.

Concept: My interpretation of this quotation was perhaps somewhat more literal than others; in it, you can see a hand (which is actually a plaster cast of my own) reaching out from an open-ended glass sphere. The sphere is filled with small glass marbles, which represent everything we have here at Princeton, but suspended above the bottle is one additional marble for which the hand is reaching. This marble represents the amazing world outside of Princeton. It isn't within the grasp of the hand, but it is clearly within reach.

Why this message: Princeton really is a bubble. And having lived here my whole life, I say this from experience. People get caught up in all that we have here, and even if it is done unintentionally, they may forego the abundance of opportunity beyond Fitzrandolph Gate.

Bottle #5

Bottle location: On the corner between West College and Witherspoon
Message: Advocate for yourself. No one else will do it for you, and no one else is capable of doing it as well as you can. — Shannon Togawa Mercer '11
Designer: Gabrielle Chen '12

Designer location: New Jersey, US. I'm in a dear friend's common room listening to Bombay Bicycle Club as she whistles along. The couch I'm sitting on is comfortable but kind of gross, and I'm shedding corduroy scraps all over it.

Summer activity: Computer science research, watching dumb movies, and playing computer games (making up in the finest way for the lost summers of adolescence).

Concept: How do you design advocating for yourself? It has to be something that conveys both the internal self and the external forces; the loneliness and reward that is being your own biggest supporter. I decided to fill the bottle with a lovely glowing shift-like fabric, the inside that perhaps needs revealing, and use interactive materials as wrappings (with an emphasis on the tactile: free for the touching, ripping, or popping).

Why this message: Halfway through the fall of my junior year, I fell into the sort of despair associated with the chump; aimless, apathetic, agonized. The process of struggling out of that gloom led to a new understanding of myself in relation to the world: You have to advocate for yourself and what you think you need— even if you're sometimes wrong— because to live your life waiting for things to happen is to be half a person.

Bottle #6

Bottle location: Picasso statue outside of Spelman
Message: Don't get too caught up with your work, my most incredible experiences have been the amazing people I have met here and lifetime friendships I will leave with. Get to know the inspiring people around you!
— Janelle Morris '11
Designer: Genevieve Irwin '12

Designer location: I purchased the bottle from a wonderful boulangerie while wandering through the streets of Paris. French pastry shops are filled with delectable and irresistible treats designed to satisfy all taste buds. My sensory memories of Paris are particularly vibrant. In keeping with this experience (which inevitably worked its way into the formation of my design), my bottle is composed of varying textures and colors.

Summer activity: Interning in New York City, followed by travels in Paris

Concept: Take the time to fully appreciate your Princeton peers and the relationship you have with them. The figure inside the bottle is suspended from a string that allows him or her to rotate, looking around at the surrounding figures. While the figure is alone inside the bottle, he or she is also inseparable from the host of personalities that wrap their way around the bottle. My Princeton career has been marked by independent growth but it is important not to forget that a lot of my learning has come (and continues to come) from the friends and acquaintances who inspire me.

Why this message: When my freshmen on this year's OA trip asked me what my favorite aspect of Princeton was, I knew my answer right away. Quite simply, my experience here has been defined by the diverse array of people around me. The friendships I have formed have not only provided me with social happiness; they have fed my intellectual development as well.

Bottle #7

Bottle location: South of Cannon Green
Message: Be ordinary and imperfect. — Sophie Chen Jin '11
Designer: Laura Preston '13

Designer location: I’m working in an art studio in Brooklyn that’s on the top floor of an old brick warehouse.

Summer activity: Painting, drawing, and printmaking, visiting friends, reading books.

Concept: I find beauty in things that are a little ugly or inelegant. The tiny cat at the bottom of the bottle – which I found in a pile of junk on the curb – is meant to be a humble reminder that it’s often the imperfections that make something (or someone) charming and interesting and wonderful.

Why this message: I chose this message for its honesty. Princeton will always encourage you to set lofty goals and stretch yourself intellectually, but it’s equally worthwhile to experiment, make mistakes, have guilty pleasures, find joy in little daily rituals, and sometimes stay in on a Saturday night to watch TV with your roommates. It’s important to nurture your own humanity, and it’s okay to not know all the answers – it can be liberating to acknowledge and embrace your human limitations.

Bottle #8

Bottle location: Between Woolworth and the Architecture building
Message: Breathe. You'll be fine. — Elizabeth Borges '11
Designer: Liyan Zhao '12

Designer location: On a rooftop in Spanish Harlem, listening to old school hip hop blasting from the neighborhood block party below

Summer activity: Interning at an architecture firm, urban exploring in my free time

Concept: This miniature moss garden within a bottle serves as a tiny haven away from the stress of the world. Stop by, take a look, get lost in another world. Take away a piece of zen for a rainy day – a reminder that life is so much more.

Why this message: I came into Princeton pretty uncertain about a lot of thing - trying to figure out what I wanted to do in life on top of classes, social life, and extracurriculars definitely felt overwhelming at times. With so much going on at Princeton, it’s good from time to time to take a step back, remember the bigger picture, and just breathe.

Bottle #9

Bottle location: In the courtyard between Fine, McDonnell, and Jadwin
Message: Choose what's important to you, and stick to it. Yet, always be open to new ideas. I know, it sounds like a contradiction, but it isn't. Every morning you should wake up and remind yourself that you want to be here, doing the things that you are doing. — Nizette Edwards '11
Designer: Luke Cheng '14

Designer location: My design was conceived while I was teaching at a middle school in Zhejiang, China. My bottle contains the toothbrush that I used as I traveled through China this summer. This toothbrush has been in vast bamboo forests, dusty countrysides, clean city hostels, and the student dorms at two rural secondary schools in Zhejiang and Sichuan province.

Summer activity: Public sector consulting internship in Washington, DC and then teaching English to middle and high school students in rural China.

Concept: I wanted to emphasize the words "every morning" in my design, because when I read my message, I envision myself standing in front of a mirror, brushing my teeth while reminding myself of the things that I love and my goals for the future. The used toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes are evidence that our lives are the sum of each day that we spend on this Earth, and it's up to us to use each day to pursue what's important to us.

Why this message: It's easy to get bogged down by the trivial frustrations and small obstacles that you encounter. During my freshman year, whenever I was feeling down, I would take a moment to remember that I was working toward a goal, and this was just a small step -- and suddenly my troubles didn't seem so overwhelming anymore.

Bottle #10

Bottle location: Under McCosh arch
Message: You were born an original. Don't become a copy. — Léa Steinacker '11
Designer: Maryam Patton '14

Designer location: Istanbul, Turkey. From my balcony I could see the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Topkapi Palace all clustered together on their perch overlooking the Sea of Marmara. Beneath me, noisy drivers went about with their day to day chores, as much an element of the city as the ancient buildings. And before me, the warm air blowing off the water of the Golden Horn relaxed my mind as I sat contemplating the implications of truly being myself, and no one else.

Summer activity: Princeton Global Seminar in Istanbul to study the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey.

Concept: Stay true to yourself. Don't let others influence you to the point where you lose your individuality. The design is simple, like the message. The lone blue marble sitting atop a pile of indistinguishable copies stands for those who truly follow this advice, and who thus shine by the vibrance of their true character.

Why this message: I chose the message mostly because it echoes a belief I wholeheartedly believe in myself. All too often, I see others around me occupied with following a certain path for various reasons, and not infrequently these reasons do not align with that individual's true character. Avoiding this, and staying true to one's self are some of the highest values one could ascribe to.

Bottle #11

Bottle location: Along McCosh walk
Message: If you don't like it, change it. If you don't see it, create it. You might wind up with something terrific.
— Margaret E Harris '11
Designer: Rose Nguyen '12

Designer location: The design was conceived in Honolulu, HI and completed in Princeton, NJ. Swedish indie pop is set on infinite loop in the background. The bottle rests on my windowsill, softly backlit by rays of the early morning sun.

Summer activity: Cover art internship for a major publishing house in New York city.

Concept: The bronze chain encasing the bottle is purely decorative and non-functional, an illusory barrier to self-improvement and change. The bottle is partially filled with multicolored beads, which can take on an infinite number of different arrangements with only a shake. Hanging from the bottle cap is a "tool kit," a set of decorative beads, thread, and miscellaneous supplies that the viewer could theoretically use to fabricate an entirely new object to contribute to the piece.

Why this message: I really could've used this wisdom as a freshman -- three years ago, I set foot on campus determined to be discontented with my lot. I couldn't see past my own unhappiness to realize that Princeton was not to blame for my troubles and that only I had the power to better my situation. During a particularly rough time that year, a friend said something to me that made all the difference: "Change something. Make something for yourself." So I did -- in the following years, I took advantage of the limitless resources and opportunities at Princeton and indeed wound up with something terrific.

Bottle #12

Bottle location: In the Rocky courtyard
Message: Don't forget who you are and who you want to be. — Nadia Tsao '11
Designer: Samantha Ritter '13

Designer location: Design developed in Prague, Czech Republic. Bottle built in New Jersey, USA.

Summer activity: I took a puppet-making workshop in Prague and spent the summer designing and making marionettes.

Concept: Perhaps because I was already studying puppets, this piece of advice screamed "marionette!" to me. The design is very simple and places the emphasis on the puppet inside, which lies limp until a viewer picks up his strings. It is the individual who brings the design to life, and the individual who is in control.

Why this message: I chose this message because "finding yourself" is an experience that most people go through during college. I feel that it's very important to remember who you want yourself to become, and not to let others control you or your future. Don't be somebody else's puppet, be the master of your own strings.

Bottle #13

Bottle location: Under Blair arch
Message: Take your wildest dreams and make them possible. Princeton is a place with no boundaries and limitless opportunities - take advantage of your four years here. — Haley Thompson '11
Designer: Sonya Huang '14

Designer location: In my house in California. In my kitchen, flooded with light. Makes me want to play with the transparency/opacity of the bottle.

Summer activity: Investment banking in California and astrophysics research in Princeton

Concept: I tried to abstract a dreamcatcher in this bottle with a simple, modern twist. The white paint in the neck of the bottle represents the twine you would find in a Native American dreamcatcher, that catches bad dreams and stops them from getting in. The single light feather symbolizes limitless opportunity. A ribbon with the message written on it will hang from a string at the bottom of the bottle, paralleling the feather hanging from a string within the bottle. Both the feather and the ribbon are very center-heavy, with the asymmetrical white paint providing a twist on the center-focus.

Why this message: I was scared to be the little fish in a big pond when I came to Princeton. Little did I know that Princeton is a world, inside and outside the classroom, that hands us so many opportunities and makes anything possible. I want this bottle to help the class of 2015 open their minds to the idea that Princeton is not here to test us and hurt us, but rather to nurture us and hand us opportunities beyond our wildest dreams.

Bottle #14

Bottle location: Under the cloisters in Whitman courtyard
Message: Follow your heart and listen to your gut. You may be young and have a lot to learn, but your heart and your stomach will lead you to the right people and decisions more often than not. — Kara McKee '11
Designer: Tiantian Zha '13

Designer location: Rome, Italy. The multitude of small alleyways filled with hidden treasures made me feel that each time I was making a turn, I was foregoing another world of possibilities. But I couldn't dwell on missed opportunities, because there were so many other colourful sights and delicious smells that filled me with wonder.

Summer activity: Interning and travelling in Italy, before returning to Beijing.

Concept: When facing difficult decisions, though you may seek advice from as many trusted sources as possible, only you can make the final decision. The impossible-to-decipher map suggests that you can never fully rely on others, and informed as you might be, the final decision (in this case, of which piece of origami to take from the bottle) is up to you. Inside the bottle, each piece of paper, though different on the outside, reveals the same message on the inside: that whatever your instincts tell you is the right decision in the end.

Why this message: When I first came to college, my greatest and deepest fear was that I would somehow end up regretting my decisions. Only now do I realise that though I have made mistakes, each was instructive and led to good things. Each time I was in doubt I chose what felt right--and I think everything's turned out quite alright.

Bottle #15

Bottle location: Outside entry 4 of Edwards
Message: Fail early, fail often. No, but actually. If you do, your four years will be so much more rewarding.
— Karen Campion '11
Designer: Tim Kunisky '14

Designer location: I thought of the design in Barcelona, and built it at home in New Jersey.

I'm walking around a historical plaza in the city, where sleek modern buildings stand behind beautiful ancient sculptures and monuments. Ugly? Maybe so, but a little way down the street is much the same situation, the modern side-by-side with the classical - and here, the tourists and natives have stopped on the sidewalk to gaze up at the beautiful combination. Something tells me they couldn't care less about how many ruined plazas it takes to get one spot like this.

Summer activity: Internship in New York, then traveling around Europe.

Concept: Fearing failure is no reason not to try something new. Each time, your concern and frustration over your mistakes will diminish, like the levels of the remains of mistakes in each successive bottle. Keep trying - after four years, the mistakes may well not bother you at all.

Why this message: I chose this message because it points out a barrier that lots of students, myself included, face at the beginning of college when given the usual advice to "try new things". Oftentimes, being comfortable in one area or subject has stopped me from trying to pursue others. The message reminds me that there are many experiences available at Princeton - but if I am afraid to break out of my boundaries, then I may miss the very best ones.