USU Senior Exhibit Showcases Outdoor Products, Brings Companies to Logan

Utah State University’s Outdoor Product Design and Development Senior Exhibit will be from 1-4 p.m. April 25 in the Sunburst Lounge on the second floor of the Taggart Student Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Graduating students from the OPDD program’s three emphases — design, development and product line management — will present their capstone projects at the exhibit, according to Chase Anderson, OPDD’s industry relations manager. Products include accessories, bags, footwear, technical apparel, clothing and other outdoor equipment, all fully researched and designed by USU students working individually over the course of a year.

“At a previous exhibit, we had a student who had made a ski press for creating skis next to someone who had designed a line of swimwear,” Anderson said. “It’s exciting to be able to walk through since you never know what you're going to see around the corner.”

OPDD’s advisory board, which includes members of companies and other organizations ranging from Patagonia and Black Diamond to the Economic Development Corporation of Utah and Outdoor Industry Association, will be in attendance and meet with seniors before the public event.

“We’ve had companies from Utah and elsewhere that come to recruit and identify future talent,” Anderson said. “Companies fly in specifically to look at certain projects, and we’ve had a number of students get jobs from those contacts.”

Among the students presenting at the exhibit is Maddie Gonzales, a design student who became interested in sustainability after taking classes on the subject. The courses changed how she thought about products and consumption. Combined with her love for apparel and a textile science class that taught her about the properties of different materials and how they affect skin, they inspired her to create a project focused on using natural dyes and fibers.

“Instead of thinking about materials or sustainability as an afterthought,” Gonzales said, “I wanted to focus on those things before I even came up with the design. So I knew I wanted to work with natural fibers and add a kind of naturalness to what I was creating.”

The project, which Gonzales finished just last week, includes 10 pieces of men’s and women’s apparel in a transitional fall line that includes T-shirts, pants and light jackets. The dyes were made from walnuts, cochineal, onion skins, coffee grounds and sumac. She also used organic cotton thread on similarly organic materials, including linen, hemp, cotton and canvas.

“One of the biggest challenges was the dying process, which I’d never done before,” Gonzales said. “There were also complications with getting an even color on all the pieces and not having a pot that was big enough, and just sewing in general. But it all came together, and I learned to embrace the imperfections. One of my jackets has a little bit of green from the onion skins on it, but I kind of like it in an odd way. It was fun to see the different variations from the dye on each fabric.”

While the exhibit is ultimately a celebration of students and their time at USU, Anderson said, projects like Gonzales’ are what make it a worthwhile event for the public.

“There will be lots of friends and family to support the graduates, but also just people who are interested in seeing cool ideas come to life,” he said. “It's an event for everyone, and we hope to see everyone there on April 25.”

As for Gonzales, she’s eager for the culmination of her time at USU to finally arrive.

“I've been looking forward to the exhibit ever since my freshman year when I saw the other seniors’ work,” she said. “I'm also nervous, but it'll be fun to finally see all of my work in one space, and to see everyone else's, too.”

Learn more about the OPDD program at https://caas.usu.edu/opdd/.