Tag: Adobe Illustrator

  • EcoFriend

    EcoFriend

    2024, Fashion Toy Design

    Collaborative project by Eva Kramer, Laynie Berkey, Sebastian Vladimir, Diego Paniagua Heredia, and Daniel Ratzloff

    EcoFriend was a conceptual design for a sustainable dress-up toy made of bioplastics that aimed to teach STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) to children through the science of bioplastics and the art of fashion design. Children would make clothes for their EcoFriend using reclaimed fabrics, build furniture from interlocking bioplastic tiles, and could even open the original packaging to form a house for their EcoFriend. The toy had an androgynous design and a variety of skin tones, body types, and facial features to try and help represent as many children as possible. Each EcoFriend box would include the toy itself, a character card with their hobbies and name, reclaimed fabric and glue for simple clothing construction, a character-specific booklet of easy-to-follow clothing patterns, and the shipping box itself that would transform into a reusable playhouse. I was in charge of the visual design for the brand materials and the characters which I completed in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign. I also was in charge of most of the bioplastic formulation, experimenting with many different formulas to try and develop a potential material to create the dolls with. I carved several potential head mockups out of bricks of some of these bioplastics, and developed an interactive display of the brand concept to show these bioplastics, brand concept art, and example shipping container that our team collaborated on for Spring 2024 Open Studios at the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts in Lincoln, NE. This project was part of University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s 2024 participation in the international Biodesign Challenge program, and my write up for the project as well as some documentation can be seen on their website.

    Early bioplastic tests
    Bioplastic dyed with tea
    Test model of EcoFriend head made of bioplastics

  • “Enceladus” Production Design

    “Enceladus” Production Design

    2025, Short Film

    Director: Isaiah Griffith

    Producers: Isaiah Griffith, Marley Hewitt, Simon Podliska, Dito

    Production and Costume Designer: Eva Kramer

    Enceladus is a short sci-fi film exploring corporate control of resources and water scarcity. The main set piece and structure was built previously by my peers as part of their immersive experience Capstone project. My job was to adjust, decorate, and add props and set pieces to transform the immersive experience into a film set that better reflected the script. I examined the script and redesigned the submarine set in order to fulfill the needs and the story and reflect the lived in feel of the submarine. I designed both the updated layout of the set and several new machines that were key to the plot. As the Production Designer, I led a talented Art Department team. I organized and assigned tasks, communicated between my team and the Director and Producers, and also designed and sourced the costumes for the film. I also assisted on set to make sure that the set and costumes stayed consistent. Throughout this process I worked with Arduino, Adobe Illustrator, and Procreate, as well as with physical tools and materials.

    Photo by Keren Carlson @kerencarlsonphotography
  • Carousel Skirt

    Carousel Skirt

    2024, Wearable

    Project by Eva Kramer with technical support from Professor Dan Novy (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts)

    Inspired by a historic carousel in Colorado, I designed and developed a wearable carousel skirt using digital fabrication techniques. I replicated the spokes of the carousel in Adobe Illustrator to create the structure of the skirt, then I laser cut these pieces from plywood and hand painted them with help from my friends. I experimented with 3D printing the carousel animals, but I landed on laser cutting animals and hand painting them as well, matching the rustic aesthetic of the panels. I used LED lights to give light to the carousel and a speaker to play carousel music. I also designed a belt mechanism to rotate the carousel around the waist using a continuous rotation servo motor programmed with Arduino. I modeled this in Rhino and 3D printed a small test version to display at Spring 2025 Open Studios at the Johnny Carson School for Emerging Media Arts in Lincoln, NE.