During the Summer of 2022, Jaylin Young began her journey with DesignPhiladelphia as the Design Education Intern. This experience showed her how design can bring communities together and inspired her to study Product Design at Drexel University, where she is now a freshman. Jaylin is inspired by her creative peers and driven to find her own voice. Her designs are influenced by nature, especially the patterns in plants and biology. She feels most passionate about making everyday life easier through thoughtful, user-centered design.


Q: How has your experience throughout high school and your internship at DesignPhiladelphia influenced your studies at Drexel? 
A: "As my first ever internship in high school, I think DesignPhiladelphia put me on the path of discovering how creativity can be built. It was really the first time I ever had done something on my own (taking the subway into Philly, working independently outside of school and home). The encouragement from Mr. Spain and Ms. Niles during this time did wonders growing up. I’ve gained so much confidence and security in expressing myself, in school, in my compositions, and my art. I feel so much better and secure in my passion to pursue what I find interesting here at Drexel."


Q: What kind of classes are you taking? What’s your favorite and why? 
A: "So far, I’ve been taking a few general education classes and a few product design courses as well. I like my design and art classes, where we learn new ways to draw and think about form and color and movement. On top of your regular English and basic Chemistry classes, I’ve taken courses on Human Factors Engineering, Figure Drawing, and just this term- a class on getting to know Drexel’s hybrid makerspace, chock-full of 3-D printers, CNC machines, and other manufacturing materials!"

Q: We were told that Michael Spain and Liza Niles actually had an opportunity to visit on of your classes! Describe what that was like for you.
A: "For one of our classes, UNIV 101, we had the honor of having Mr. Spain and Ms. Niles stop by! Per our assignment, our class of fourteen students split into groups and were tasked to bring some professionals in to talk about design, and for us to give a little presentation about them. Immediately, my mind went to the two people that had given me so much wisdom during my tenure working at DesignPhiladelphia! My team used the time to pick their brains and found a wealth of insight and information. They spoke about what might constitute a “good design”, predictions on how the implementation of technology may influence the future of creative backgrounds, and advice for emerging designers like us to really expand our skillset and to think creatively! Their standout advice was to learn by doing and embrace both successes and failures. No creative venture is an empty one, so put yourself out there as much as possible, and be as ambitious, adaptive, and brave as you can!"

Q: What are you thinking about designing in the next year? 
A: "Just recently, for a design contest, me and four of my other classmates designed a satchel that you can roll open, that’s completely customizable and unique to the person crafting it. With multitude of attachable inner pockets and attachments in all shapes and sizes, it shows what you decide to carry with you can be telling of your personality and culture. 

Let’s say you use your pouch for holding pencils, because you always have them on you to draw. There's a slim pocket where you put your inhaler, a hole in the corner for your fun keychains, and a loop in which you hang it on your belt. You have a wide pocket for a hair pick, or maybe your $5 off Dave & Buster’s gift card. If you were to give that same pouch to someone else, they may find it difficult to use, as their day-to-day life may be unlike yours. This idea of insight into another person’s life based on how they uniquely customize their pouch is what we’re going for, and hopefully we can have a successful product for the competition."

Q: In your opinion how does a program like Design Education foster future designers and /or higher education in design? 
A: "Design is what keeps us alive, literally and metaphorically. Teaching kids to stretch their imaginations is extremely important to me, and to see design education teaching that to students makes me so happy. Sometimes you don’t realize the beauty of things if you don’t know how to look for it, and some people just walk on by beautiful design without a second thought. By having a design mind, you learn to see the beauty in everyday life and spark passion in your own life to design as well. Design Educatoin fosters the growth of that in students. And maybe these students will be able to become designers and architects and artists to inspire someone else, too!"