If you had asked me a year ago what I wanted to study, I would have never expected myself to reply with: “product design.” Since childhood, I have always been engaged in the arts and expressing my creativity through any means possible, whether scribbling endlessly with crayons, building custom houses out of legos, or even creating imaginary obstacle courses on playgrounds. I continue pursuing my passion for art by furthering my knowledge and skills in art school, majoring in product design. I chose this major after considering illustration, entertainment design, and even graphic design due to my extensive background in illustration-related mediums and my interest in the film industry because of the expanse of opportunities it presented me. Through product design, I can combine creativity, innovation, design, and physical creation to solve problems that exist on a small or large scale. It involves ideation, drafting, communication, and creation, all essential to developing a solution. I enjoy having the creative freedom to approach a problem with a wide range of materials, techniques, and software, so this field allows me to explore designing nearly anything from furniture to user interfaces to accessories. I want to be able to create and design, to use my creative skills and ideas to improve our quality of life whether it be through emotional, physical, or mental means, and product design is the field that I find best suited for this interest. Through my career in product design, I aim to improve the lives of others and our environment. There are many existing factors that contribute to the detriment of our environment, and one that I’m passionate about spreading awareness of is food waste. I’m currently designing a website that acts as a collection of information, media, and resources to educate the public about food waste's environmental and social impacts. In the upcoming years, my goal is to spread awareness through this site on news platforms and social media and eventually reach the government in order to generate change within communities, states, and perhaps even nations. This is just one example of how I plan on using my career in product design to make a difference in the world and benefit the lives of others, such as those who are food-insecure, as well as the environment we live in. Soon, I plan on creating my own small business and designing products such as fun stickers, prints, and ceramic creations to spark happiness in those around me. Even if my contributions to the design of a product only benefit the life of one person, I would be happy. Still, the idea of helping others through design motivates me to strive for excellence and quality in my work, and I hope that the work I do today will lead me to achieve my goals in the future.

Awareness surrounding mental health has increased significantly in the past few years, with the focus of the topic often surrounding teens and young adults, who are commonly the ones dealing with mental health struggles. Two years ago, I created a work addressing this topic in hopes of reaching out and connecting to those who personally deal with or have witnessed others struggling with mental health while further raising awareness on what the struggle may look like to those who are unfamiliar with it. My piece, titled "Routine," began as a simple study of perspective for an AP Drawing portfolio piece. I wanted to challenge myself to draw in a five-point perspective (also known as a fisheye perspective), so I started off by mapping out the vanishing points and creating a grid to work off of. As I set up the artwork, I thought of the possible subjects and environments I could include in the piece. I ultimately chose to illustrate a slice-of-life scene reflecting my own experience dealing with mental health in everyday life, mainly to maintain consistency with the theme I had in my portfolio but also to generate conversation and expose others to the topic of mental health through what appears to be a typical, everyday moment. Personally, a lot of my internal mental struggles took place in the bathroom, a place where I would marinate in thought while isolated in a closed space, which often led to overthinking but also a release of stress after mental confrontation. Using oil pastels, I translated a mental image of my bathroom at home onto an illustration board layer by layer, using cool tones to depict the cold, minimal surroundings to contrast the warm, colorful hues of the stress-filled figure. At first glance, the scene appears mundane, with a female figure standing in a simple bathroom environment, something a viewer might see in their own lives. Upon closer inspection, colorful layered marks, the figure's stressed pose, and details like the cluttered drawer and spilled pills subtly reveal the mental struggle. The fisheye perspective and black framing allow viewers to feel like they're witnesses and possibly intruding by peering through a keyhole or peephole, rendering the moment private and personal. I wanted this to be the intention, for the audience of my art to realize that mental struggles can look just as commonplace as this bathroom scene, for them to question how they should approach a situation like this in real life or how they should approach the topic of mental health as a whole, and for those who related to the scene to know that they are not alone. Even after completing 3 AP portfolios in high school and almost completing a year in art school, I still look back to this artwork as one of my favorites, and it reminds me of the journey I've had dealing with my own mental health and the progress I've made both mentally and artistically since creating this piece. As I continue my journey in art, I keep the idea of spreading awareness through my creativity with me, whether that may be in my own personal illustrations or in my designs at school.

@bellathehungryotter