Department of Design

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I2koKZUFRk BYU students from the School of Communications and the Department of Design came together to create ‘Handimojis’ — an ASL-friendly version of Apple’s ‘Animoji’ BYU students Sam Carlson, Amanda Rasmussen and Coni Ramirez were given an assignment in their advertising class — create an idea that uses technology to connect customers to a brand. The result of this project extended beyond the classroom walls and has encouraged a wider conversation about inclusivity and diversity. Carlson knew he wanted this project to focus on the deaf community because of his deep admiration of American Sign Language and deaf culture — a respect he gained while serving an ASL mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and working as an ASL teaching assistant for BYU. During the brainstorming phase, Carlson proposed to Rasmussen and Ramierez that they use the idea of Apple’s Animoji technology and add the ability to depict hand movement. This would allow users who couldn’t previously use the feature to have access to Animoji technology in a new, exciting and personalized way. In addition to using this for their class project, the team decided to enter ‘Handimojis’ into the Future Lions advertising competition. The challenge for the competition was to “connect an audience of your choosing to a product or service from a global brand in a way that wasn’t possible three years ago.” ‘Handimojis’ fit the goal of the competition, so they decided to make the April 15 deadline. When the team presented the idea of ‘Handimojis’ to their BYU class, they were met with hesitation as many people were under the assumption that it would be impossible for deaf users to be able to hold their phone and use ‘Handimojis’ at the same time. However, the team explained that deaf people already use just one hand when video chatting on the phone. The new feature could be easily integrated into the existing culture. The team enlisted the help of Britta Schwall, a member of the Salt Lake Deaf Community, to sign in the one minute and 15 second video clip. After they finished shooting the footage of Schwall and others from the Salt Lake Deaf Community, there was still an integral part missing — the animation for the ‘Handimojis’ hands. This task proved to be the most challenging aspect of bringing ‘Handimojis’ to life. The three advertising students knew what they wanted but didn’t have the skills themselves to execute the 3D graphics for ‘Handimojis.’ As the team hurried to find someone to do the animation before the upcoming competition deadline, they turned to the Department of Design and its animation students. They eventually got in contact with Emily Ellis, who had just learned in her animation class the exact skills and techniques that would be required to complete the ‘Handimojis’ idea. “Emily was the answer to our prayers,” said Carlson. “With four days until the deadline, she pulled off some kind of magic. Seeing her animation was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen — it was exactly how we imagined it.” Rassmussen took Ellis’ animations and added them into the video only hours before the Future Lions competition deadline. Although the team’s idea didn’t advance in the competition, the team felt proud of their work and commitment to include a group of people that had previously been excluded from using Animojis. Schwall asked the team for permission to share their video on her Facebook to show what she had helped with. While the post was initially intended for Schwall’s immediate family and friends, the post now has over 48k views and 800 shares. Many of the comments on the post ask if ‘Handimojis’ is available for download or mention they weren’t able to find it in the App Store. While this app hasn’t been picked up by Apple, these comments show high interest and appreciation for this idea created by BYU students. “Seeing how the Deaf community reacted to it was more fulfilling than winning any award,” said Carlson. “It was a reminder to me why I first got involved with advertising — there's so much good and positive change we can be a part of.” Read additional coverage at ABC4.

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About a decade ago, the ancient form of Japanese woodblock printing was considered by some to be a dying art form — then BYU alumnus Jed Henry came along and shook things up. Henry took a genre of Japanese woodblock printing known as ukiyo-e — which translates into English as 'pictures of the floating world” — and gave it new life by using it to represent his other love: video games. Although Japanese woodblock printing may seem niche, Henry says it is gaining traction. “It’s a growing scene largely because of our efforts to draw attention to this craft, to this medium, through pop culture connections,” he said. Henry’s latest accomplishment is an exhibit in the Harold B. Library Auditorium titled “New Kids on the Block,” which he says is a punny nod to the process of block printing as well as a comment on how he and his business partner, Dave Bull, have “stormed onto the Japanese tradition print making scene.” The exhibit will be up until May 24, 2019. The idea to hold an exhibit at BYU was facilitated by Japanese professor Jack Stoneman, who, according to Henry, thought an exhibit would be a great way to promote Japanese culture on campus. “I’m very grateful for all the hard work and planning that went into making the exhibit look good. I think it was a success,” said Henry. For Henry, the exhibit also represented the first time all of his work has been displayed together. Usually his prints are stored in stacks or in folders in his office and other places. “To have them all up in one place for viewing is a little overwhelming,” said Henry, “I’ve been doing this for seven years now and it’s amazing how much a catalog of pieces can build up over that much time of dedicated, focused work.” The theme of the exhibit is inspired by Henry’s general approach to his work. “I didn’t do any work to match the theme of the exhibit, but rather the exhibit was created to reflect the focus of my work — breathing new life into a traditional medium by combining it with more relevant pop culture references that speak to modern people,” said Henry. As people look through his work, Henry says the experience is like “a guessing game.” “With the pop culture references we use, I think people have a lot of fun trying to recognize this or that video game or this or that movie when it’s veiled in a new light with this traditional Japanese art style,” said Henry. Henry also hopes that individuals who view the exhibit will be inspired to learn more about traditional Japanese printmaking and perhaps even experiment with it on their own. Through his and his business partner’s efforts, many people have been introduced to the art form. Henry says he works with individuals from all over the world, including Brazil, Mexico and the U.K. His work has also paved the way for more diversity in the industry. “A lot of our partners, employees and contractors are women who — as it is with most things in Japanese traditional culture — were traditionally excluded from participation,” said Henry. “They are very talented craftspeople who otherwise might not have been able to have work in the male-dominated arena of Japanese printmaking.” Henry and his partner have created hundreds of jobs in the craft, something Henry says is funny since they’re “an American guy and a Canadian guy.” But Henry’s widespread success may never have happened were it not for his outlook on art. “I always approach my work as a balance between what I want to express as an artist and also what I think customers will want,” said Henry. “Be yourself as an artist and express your true feelings about things through your art — don't be a hack, don't be fake, don't just chase the dollar — but also be your most marketable self.” Approaching art in this manner has allowed Henry to work on art every day and also have a stable economic situation. However, Henry warns that the life of an artist, while enjoyable, is not an easy path. “You have to work harder than most people in life,” said Henry. “The 40-hour work week with three weeks of paid vacation and benefits may not be the life that you get to live, but you can be very successful in the arts if you are willing to approach your work from a 50-50 balance between artistic integrity or emotional expression balanced with creating products that people want to buy, collect or display in their homes.” Henry says this attitude was something he picked up during his time as an undergraduate in BYU’s animation program. He said his animation professors, Kelly Loosli and Brent Adams, didn’t shy away from being realistic with him about what it would take to make it as an artist. “Kelly and Brent really galvanized my work ethic, which has continued to this day,” said Henry. “I work crazy hours and I get up really early in the morning so I can get some work done before my kids get up. I try to have a work-life balance, but I sacrifice sleep and maybe some hobbies. I sacrifice those hours to work on this more because I know what it takes to make a living in the arts.” To learn more about Henry and his work, visit his exhibit or watch his documentary “Art of the Game: Ukiyo-e Heroes.”