KPU students’ innovative minds shine at ‘Creatures of Curiosity’ grad show

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Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Wilson School of Design was filled with creativity and innovation on April 25 as graduating students showcased their final projects at a grad show open to friends, family, and industry professionals. 

Titled “Creatures of Curiosity,” the show’s theme was inspired by the Renaissance era’s cabinet of curiosity, often a collection of wondrous, rare objects that arouse feelings of curiosity, a concept students found their collective work represented. Ninety-eight students participated in the show, each from one of the Wilson School of Design’s seven cohort programs — fashion marketing, fashion and technology, foundations in design, graphic design for marketing, interior design, technical apparel design, and product design. 

Nyota Munga was one of 16 fashion and technology students and showcased her “Ba Soeur Ya Kilo” collection, which paid tribute to Black women of African descent aged between 30 to 40. Popping with bright pinks, blues, oranges, and purples, her collection defied gender norms of “La Sape” or “Society of Tastemakers and Elegant People,” a movement in which enslaved people dressed above their class with colourful suits, hats, and canes to fight against social inferiority in the 1920s. 

Mainly men participated in this subculture, so Munga designed “La Sape” clothing for Black women to not only empower but encourage them to celebrate their identity, strength, and beauty. 

“It’s for the women who were always [told], ‘You’re doing too much, you’re a lot, you’re so loud, you’re so extra.’ So this for her to be like, ‘Yeah, and? I’m loud and I’m extra. If you can’t handle it then move along,’” Munga says. 

“[The collection] is to kind of give a … middle finger to the patriarchy. Suits aren’t just for men, we can wear them too and we’re going to wear them our way.” 

The collection features clothing with dramatic fabric cut outs and eye-catching buckles among other hardware pieces. Munga says she spent four months researching trends, colour palettes, and designs, and sewed each suit by hand. 

“There’s so many women that have inspired me to be here and [become] who I am today,” she says. “My collection is kind of giving back to them, so it means a lot to be here today.” 

Now that she’s graduated, Munga is hoping to launch her “Ba Soeur Ya Kilo” collection. To learn more about Munga’s fashion, visit www.KbHouse.co or head to her Instagram @kbhouse.co. 

Brenlee Reid showcased her capstone honours project “Daybreak,” a recovery centre for women and children escaping domestic violence. One of 12 interior design students, Reid designed a floor and concept plan, in which she developed enclosed, semi-enclosed, and open spaces to support trauma recovery and serve different user needs. 

She selected soft, neutral tones of pinks, greens, blues, and beiges for the spaces to create a calming ambience reminiscent of nature to promote recovery. After watching documentaries about women escaping domestic violence, Reid noticed a lot of shelters are poorly designed which led her to develop the project, she says. 

“It’s just like these basic spaces with no thought, and a lot of the times [they’re] not proper spaces for communal connection,” Reid says. “That to me felt like something that was meaningful and missing.” 

She says she spent a lot of time researching the traumas women and children face when fleeing domestic violence and interviewed someone who runs a shelter to further understand what elements would be important for her to include in her design. 

“Once women leave a domestic violence situation, … a lot of the time they end up going back because they don’t have proper housing, they don’t feel comfortable, they don’t have a community supporting them, the spaces might not be conducive for their children,” Reid says. 

“So I really focused on putting kids’ spaces throughout the entire project and on every floor, and really honing in on having that community and communal areas, so they can really connect with each other. … It’s very important in the healing journey.”

Reid is hoping to find a job in commercial or multi-unit residential with a firm that promotes human centric, thoughtful, and sustainable design. 

Joohui Im was one of 17 product design students and created “HZ-1,” headphones integrated with electroencephalogram (EEG), which measures brain waves, for people who play video games. 

“Because of the emotion flow during the intensive game play, they will gain negative brainwaves, which leads to brain damage,” she says. “The brain damage also leads to depression, anxiety, and even suicidal ideation because those emotional and neuro behaviours of game addiction are equal to substance disorders.” 

She created this product to prevent this type of brain damage, in which the headphones measure users’ brainwaves. When it detects negative brain waves, the headphones will alert the user with a notification on their screen. 

“[Users] are more aware of their brain and [can] also increase self control and educate themselves about gaming addiction. When they have positive brain waves, they can still play [games] as long as they want,” Im says. 

“This project was an objective solution for the market because [they] want [users] to play more, while users need to control themselves. … We wanted to say, ‘You can play your game as long as you’re using proper brainwaves.’” 

To develop the headphones, Im spent time researching the gaming industry, neuroscience, and psychology, and focused on sustainability by using a 3D printer with bioplastics to make the product, along with bamboo fabric and charcoal foam, which is naturally antibacterial, she says. 

Im hopes to continue developing this project with more resources. 

To learn more about the “Creatures of Curiosity” grad show, visit thisiswilson.design/gdma/.