Summer 2011 | Radio Flyer | Chicago

I know its been a while since I’ve last posted. Not too much has changed, work is actually something I don’t mind getting up at 6:30AM for | that’s way earlier than I’ve been up for years |. I still am learning a ton but also I am now relying on skills that I only gained a short while ago. Its a good feeling. It also blows my mind to think that I’ve just finished my fourth week here in the city. Time is racing.

I guess to fill you in, Joanne and I, along with many other new and old friends had a chance to hang out over the past weekend. I think I managed to meet a significant percentage of all student designers at a little get together that a friend had at his place. That weekend was also filled with food. Delicious food. We returned to a Vietnamese place near my apartment who’s owner will soon know my name | he already recognizes me, its pretty awesome |, we ventured to the Sultan’s Market for some middle eastern cuisine, we got up early for Sunday dim sum brunch in Chinatown, and finished the weekend off with dinner at Gino’s East.

I think the absolute highlight of my week, however, was KaBoom. Which was today. KaBoom is an organization that matches willing community volunteers | that’s us at RF | with places that need play areas | that’s St. Anna’s elementary school |. We got in early | I had to get up at 5:30 to arrive at work by 7:15 | to board buses that would take us over to St. Anna’s elementary school where our entire company, with the help of other volunteers, would assemble and prepare an area and playground that the children of the school had designed themselves. It was an absolutely incredible build that took us 6 hours to assemble a full sized playground, complete with stage, outdoor learning classroom, and blacktop. It was nothing short of amazing to see my fellow co workers, interns, and even my CEO | or Chief Wagon Officer for any flyers out there | working alongside one another to transform a completely bare dirt patch to the final spacious play area. I am sore, got dirty and banged up a bit, but it was more than worth it. The kids we got to meet and for whom we built this play space are amazing. They have a joy that was simply contagious. They would bring us water and ask questions and try and help move large chunks of dirt/clay to the wheel barrows for us to clear. They cheered and laughed as each section of the playground went up. It was an experience that is going to stick with me. Following the build, it was quite fun to have a bit of down time with all of the interns. And I’m excited, tomorrow, Greek food and One Republic at the zoo. It’s another great start to the weekend.

| See us in action here |

Summer 2011 | Radio Flyer | Chicago

First off, it is 10:20 PM and the crazy old lady downstairs who constantly bangs on the ceiling | yes like in a sitcom or movie | because the floor creaks while I’m tiptoeing upstairs is currently vacuuming. I have no idea why.

This week was an amazing week. I have completed my first concept here at Radio Flyer and it is now up for a design review on Monday. My mentor and supervisor Jeff Bricker has got me working on a new project and I got a chance to “find inspiration” by going to the warehouse of competitor’s toys to “study” how they work and what features and forms are effective.

I spent two hours being a kid on Friday, and it felt great.

We also just picked up a new senior industrial designer who knows Josh Finkle. Just a fun fact for you.

Aside from work, life has been really good. It’s weird coming home and having time to myself. There are so many times that I feel obligated to keep working on my projects as it feels like I should have homework even though I’ve clocked out. I guess that’s something I’ll get used to as the summer goes on. Well, I can’t get too used to it I suppose, but it is nice having the time to explore the city and find different things to do, both touristy and locally.

Today, Joanne, her roommate, her roommate’s co-intern, her roommate’s co-intern’s college friend, and I headed over to the Millennium Art Fest. It was a small showcasing of local and neighboring artists with many genres including photography, painting, jewelry, wood toys, sculptural | Installation pieces, and performing arts. We also attempted to visit the Lit Fest | Literary Festival | but instead got caught in the surprise torrential down pour. In the frantic attempt to open my cheap 4 dollar umbrella, I tore the handle from the top half and thus had to hold it by about 3 inches of metal shaft until we found the CVS. I now am a proud owner of a 12 dollar umbrella. As crazy as the afternoon was, I got a chance to experience the creative drive that Chicago has and I really do appreciate the cultural and artistic diversity that this city manages to bring together. There were many artists from out of state as well as literary critics, writers, and collectors at the Lit Fest. It is important to me that I can contribute in my own way to this creativity and make some sort of difference in another person’s life.

Summer 2011 | Radio Flyer | Chicago

| Thank you to all our men and women that serve our country selflessly to protect the freedoms that we all enjoy. Your dedication and loyalty is deeply appreciated and never forgotten |

I don’t really have anything insightful this time, but here are some pictures from my Memorial Day weekend! The weather has recently been more bipolar than Pittsburgh and went from severe thunderstorms, flash floods, and high winds yesterday to completely clear, sunny, and a high of ninety today. I took advantage of that and made my way downtown to find the John Hancock and Willis towers with one of the other interns at Radio Flyer. I love walking through the concrete jungle of a financial district and will be going back to shoot more photos. 

This looks like it was a lot of fun to make.

Summer 2011 | Radio Flyer | Chicago

A week and a day has now passed since I first arrived in the windy city, and I’ve started to fall into a semi-familiar routine of sorts.

I love what I do. I admit, it has been quite a challenge, this first week, adjusting my work style from that of academia to a professional capacity. I think the biggest hurdle I am working to over come is compressing my design process timeline from a matter of weeks to under one. In my studio, each project takes several weeks. During this time, I flesh out ideas perhaps by sketching or modeling, make an informed decision, and ultimately craft some form of final concept. These past five days have turned my process upside down. In under a week, an entire design direction must be decided so that a model can be created and tested. Granted, this process of testing, refining, engineering, and ultimately manufacturing takes much longer than any project we do in class, the pure speed of the concept development stage is somewhat daunting. I am, however, quite excited that I have gotten more comfortable drawing on a tablet in this past week than I had been all of this past year. It’s amazing what several hours of drawing every single day will do. 

Living in East Garfield is interesting to say the least. It is not the nicest neighborhood | by far | but it is also most definitely not the worst. My friends that I am living with sum it up best with several simple words of wisdom, be smart about your surroundings. There are times that I am hyper aware of where I am and who is around me, but for the most part, I just keep to myself and things go smoothly. I spend my days getting up and ready at 6:30 to catch the 82 bus at 7:09, in order to make the transfer to the 65 at 7:25 which then takes me all the way to the massive red wagon proudly displayed in front of our company headquarters. At the end of the day I leave work the same way I arrive, checking the arrival times for each of the buses that I need. Sadly, I have not, nor will I for the next week | until I move back to Lincoln Park |, get a chance to hang out with Joanne and explore the city. With the time it takes for me to commute over to the city and back, I simply can’t make it back to my apartment before it gets too late, and that’s a risk I’d rather not take.

But as I said before, I love what I do and I can’t wait to see what I will experience next week.

|| More pictures to come ||

Summer 2011 | Radio Flyer | Chicago

I landed at Midway Intl. Airport on Thursday the 19th. I got my first tour of the city spanning several boroughs as I sat in the back seat of the taxi on the ride from the airport. This is an interesting town, full of and making history everyday. I am excited to be a part of it all this summer.

Sunday afternoon, three days later, and it is still surreal. Joanne and I have spent the past couple days exploring the city through the extensive CTA | Chicago Transit Authority | network. Already, we’ve stopped by Lincoln, Wicker, and Millennium Parks, as well as Chinatown, the Navy Pier, and Greek town. I am a bit anxious about the first day of work tomorrow but at least the anxiety is somewhat shadowed by the wonders of this city.

It’s been an amazing ride so far. With day 2 under our belts, jet lag is catching up to us. Already, both Andreas and Arjun are asleep and I’m starting to wind down myself as I upload photos to the hard drive. I just wanted to give you all a small sampling of what we’ve gotten a chance to experience and see over here but will do it visually since I’m not very good at conveying my thoughts through words. I’ll try to update you all with something semi-profound later. Enjoy!

|Dan|