Chosen UPH Alumni Project Entered in Design Book ?Collected? by DGI

Ismiaji, better known as Aji, told about how ?Collected? came to life. It started in 2016, when work was curated from professional designers. ?Collected? is the attempt to look for designers already having ?masks? on ? meaning those who already have their own specific uniqueness, characteristic, and maturity in producing work.

?This book is a collection of work done by 35 designers, both done individually or representing their design studios. It started with an open submission, where designers can freely collect their work to be assessed, and also spreading invitations to several designers asking them to participate. Both works from the open submission and the invitations have to be assessed ? filtered through a curation ?by judges of high quality, both from Indonesia and overseas. The Indonesian judges are Gauri Nasution and Sita Subijakto, while there are also those from New York, Eric Baker and Rafael Esquer. The involvement of these foreign judges is to give an objective, international view,? Aji explained.

?Since a long time ago, I have been concerned with design books, but there were always way more books from overseas than from Indonesia. So, when an effort was made by DGI and the people who work hard for this book – collecting the work of Indonesian designers, made maximally and is really presentable, I am really enthusiastic and I wanted to participate. This participation certainly is also able to bring the betterment of the work of Indonesian designers,? Kristina said. 

?I joined the open submission for ?Collected? when I was still a student. I feel like I needed to join this kind of activity because I think that in the future, there will be more Indonesian designers born to the industry, so I think I need to stand out. My participation through my work can be an effective step to gain exposure, so that I can develop and grow. This work can also an open opportunities for me in the future,? Evan explained.