The Giving Tree is a self-sustaining installation that offers free school supplies and words of encouragement to college students in need. This was created as a final project for my DES 001 Introduction to Design course. Working as a team of four, we created rapid prototypes, a final physical installation, and individual process books to document our experience from start to finish. Through my process books, I captured the goals for the project, displayed our creative process, and told an engaging story from my unique perspective. To further the impact this installation had beyond the classroom, we connected with the Education Opportunity Program at UC Davis and were able to plant The Giving Tree in their building. Witnessing real interactions with our project highlighted the importance of having access to basic school supplies in a learning environment, as well as the impact that a stranger’s kind words can have.
