Emma Ireton
A multidisciplinary designer passionate about design at the intersection of human usability and fun
Modified Environments is an experimental physical design project, merging research and physical making. Born out of a fascination with the water cycle, and researching how cloud seeding is used in Utah to manipulate the natural environment, I questioned how clothing is used as physical modification. Two jackets were created, both tapping into nature’s water cycle, and a human’s temperature regulation. This physical exploration played with material, weight, and comfort, to confront ideas about clothing and our immediate environment. Thoroughly researched, physically constructed, and delightfully inconclusive, Modified Environments is a senior thesis that encapsulates my experience in design school.
Product Design, Research.
Wooden Puffy is the result of a multi-step process that utilizes technology to create this unique piece. Tasked with making a cube with texture on all sides, the process started by utilizing artificial intelligence image generation. Then, I used 3D modeling software to create a rendition of the cube in software that was readable to a CNC router, where each of the sides was printed. Finally, I used physical assembly skills to construct the six separate sides into a cube.
Named for its deceiving storage potential, the Keeper Purse is an essential bag for anyone on the go.
This bag is for carrying essentials and is an essential itself. Designed to fit items that transcend setting. From a night out to running errands, this stylish bag features minimal exterior detailing to seamlessly accompany any wardrobe.
Inside a zippered main pocket is a smaller pocket along one side. The exterior is PU leather while the interior is satin. This bag sets itself apart from others by retaining its unique shape whether empty or full.
Medium Library was conceived and created with Nikki Bennett in Spring 2023. We were inspired by the idea of a “Little Free Library”, small hand-built libraries in our neighborhoods that encourage people to “take a book, leave a book” and scaled it, dubbing it the “Medium Library”.
Medium Library encourages people to take, leave, or borrow and share. As a proposed permanent installment in a park in downtown Salt Lake City, this intervention identifies gaps in services available to a community, but optimistically enlists the same community to look out for each other by sharing resources and materials.
Colorful, shelf-like pockets on each side vary in size to allow for a variety of items to fit in the library, while the space surrounding them creates space for flyers and community communication.
Prototyped in cardboard, cut using a CNC router on MDF and onstructed with screws for assembly and disassembly.
Pure Play is a pogo stick designed in Fall 2022. The prompt for this studio was “survival”, so I took the direction of how children’s survival in Utah is being threatened by the
air quality.
Out of research about the air quality in Salt Lake City, I designed a pogo stick that is fit with air filters, to “clear” the air and engage kids in the conversation about air quality. Polluted air enters the pogo stick when it is extended, and as it compresses, the air is pushed through a filter, purifying the air and pushing it out vents in the handles. Crucial features of the toy include the filter, a removable piece that can be replaced with use, along with the pogo spring fitted with a disk that pushes air through said filter. Additionally, the chamber is fitted with a one-way valve to ensure the air follows the correct path and doesn’t exit through the intake.
To create this, I researched air filtration and kids’ toys. Using 3D modeling and then 3D printing, I created individual pieces of my design that were integral for the system to work.
Sage Plant was a research design project created in Spring 2022. The project began by diving into a natural system, in this case Common Sage, or salvia officinalis.
Research about the plant was combined and curated into an informational archive. The second part of the project was to dive deeper into one aspect of the natural system.
In the second part, I investigated and examined the soft texture of a sage leaf. This research resulted in the creation of an artefact, in this case a close-up view of the trichomes. Trichomes are the hair-like projections on the surface of the leaf that create its soft texture. There are a mixture of round trichomes, which secrete essential oil ceating the signature sage scent and pointed, triangular trichomes that act as a defense against predators and give the plant its signature soft feel. By eliminating the green color and soft texture associated with sage, the artefact is not immediately recognizeable, but accentuates the features that make sage stand out.
The Sound It Carries was a project completed in Fall 2021 under the prompt of making a mask under the category “Sound +”.
The first part of the project was creating a mask. In this case, the mask is a wearable hoop dress. The three-layered hoop dress has various diameters and lengths of chimes to create a mixture of tones. As it is worn, the chimes hit one another to create a cacophony with each step.
To construct this garment, I cut three wooden hoops, and sliced electrical conduit into a range of lengths. Then, using a drill press I cut holes into the pipes, strung them with clear wire, and attached them to eyelets drilled in the wood.
The second part of the project was to deconstruct the mask, and make a container for it. In this case, I created a box that held the hoop part on one side, and the chimes on the other. To construct the container, I used MDF wood, and then laser cut cardboard to correctly fit each chime in its slot.
Neon Rodeo is a creative conference in Salt Lake City, UT centered around creativity and House/Techno music. In 2022, I was the intern for the project, and in 2023 I consulted on the project.
The University of Utah Club Ski Team is a student-run sports club that competes against other college teams across the Mountain West. I participated in the club for four years, was a board member, and designed the club apparel. Some aspects of the uniform, such as the school logo, are not up to creative interpretation. But others, such as optional apparel, are up to the club to create and profit from.
I took inspiration from the nature of the sport, skiing down mountains, and the unique geography of Utah. Because of this, each design is related to the local Wasatch Mountain range, from the ridge line to the topography of the canyons made by the mountains.