Austin Scott / The Ohio State University
2014 IDSA Central District Student Merit Winner
The best designers have a toughness about them. It’s a toughness born of the resolve and focus familiar to a leather worker. It’s the toughness that defines Austin Scott.
Austin Scott grew up in a house with artistic parents who encouraged him to do everything with excellence. His first creative love was leather making. “I started working with leather when I was 10 years old, and still do,” he recalled. “The dedication and attention to detail needed to make professional products out of leather has been a huge help in my industrial design career.”
His ID career began inadvertently with a choice made by his brother, Adam Scott, elder by three years. The younger Scott noted, “My older brother and I are very close and I really wanted to go to college with him, so I started taking classes at a local community college when I was 15 to catch up with him. Naturally, when he was looking into industrial design as an option, I was there.”
Austin Scott’s toughness enabled him to persevere while he ascended the design ranks at Ohio State. “I have always felt like design just came more easily to other people,” he offered. “I work hard to try to get good designs and treat every day as a unique learning opportunity.”
Two projects from Scott’s portfolio indicate the yield of his hard work. The first is Lift, a lawncare instrument designed to minimize labor impact for elderly users. “This tool helps seniors water their lawn and flower bed without having to bend over as often,” he reported. “It reduced the need to bend over by 75%, effectively reducing their chance of a back injury by 75%.”
Scott added, “The aspect of this project I was most happy with was not the solution, but the process. I started out wanting to design a sprinkler. But after a classmate pointed out that my scope was too narrow, I changed my approach and ended up with something totally different that solved the same problem.”
The second project, Freeframe golf bag, reveals Scott to be a fully realized designer. “The first two years at design school were just hard core problem solving and I didn’t get to thoroughly develop the aesthetics of my designs,” he said. “I feel like Freeframe was the first time I was able to do thorough problem solving, and develop a unique and consistent visual brand language.”
The Freeframe golf bag solves the problem of accessing the bag while the player carrying it is walking. Scott noted, “It has a hard harness that connects to the bag by a rotating connection rod. This allows the bag to swing around the body while keeping the weight evenly distributed on both shoulders.”
The bag could create a career path for the Student Merit Winner. “I really enjoy sporting goods, and would love the opportunity to work on some cutting edge sports equipment. I would also enjoy the chance to tie leather into some modern products.”
Scott is on his way via a position as an intern at Priority Design. “I’m starting at my favorite firm right here in Columbus, Ohio, and I just want to work as hard as I can and learn as much as I can.”
For more information on Austin Scott, visit: https://www.coroflot.com/austinscott
