The only thing that may rival our Clydesdalian work ethic, is our Barnum and Bailey-esque play ethic. After producing future-tech design all week, we sometimes need to live in the moment and kick the living daylights out of a little rubber ball. Any kickball teams reading this should recognize ASTRO as the SMKA Champs and should feel free to entertain the idea of getting whooped by us.
Astro Studios recently mentored a group of students at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for the Fall 2009 semester. Lending his 20+ years in the design consultancy field, Kyle Swen, VP at Astro, had a lot to offer the students looking for credits in the course entitled Product Design IV taught by Jim Shook.
Astro Studios recently mentored a group of students at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for the Fall 2009 semester. Lending his 20+ years in the design consultancy field, Kyle Swen, VP at Astro, had a lot to offer the students looking for credits in the course entitled Product Design IV taught by Jim Shook.
The goal of Astro sponsoring this class was to bring real-world expertise and process to the classroom. Kyle tasked the students with a project that required them to design a timepiece for a brand of their choosing. Kyle proposed the timepiece theme due to its natural blend of technology, style, and fashion. Believing that he could push the students even further, Kyle had them design the out-of-box experiences for the products as well. Kyle wanted the students to fully understand the brands and clients they were designing for, and pushed the students to define the demographic groups that the brand was trying to reach. For their finals, the students showed their presentations here at the studio, pitching their ideas to the Astro crew for critical review.
The class thrived on the invaluable “in the trenches" point-of-view from Kyle, and in return Kyle gleaned fresh zeal from the students. "It's always inspiring to see young enthusiastic talent excited about design. As working designers it re-sparks our creative engines as well”, stated Kyle.
It was truly a pleasure working with the Academy of Art University and their students. We look forward to expanded mentoring and educational collaboration in the future.
A BIG THANKS to all of our families and friends for making this year's Astro Holiday Party such a huge success! A pinch of decadence, a dash of kitsch, and some rad DJing by Woo and Devo made for an unforgettable evening. Thanks again for helping us put the Arty back in Party!
—Best Wishes for a Happy New Year!, The Astro Crew.
Sure you know about Christmas - and maybe even Boxing Day - but are you familiar with St. Andrews Day? With all the popular holidays zooming past this time of year, it's tough to remember those slightly obscure but just as important ones.
Sure you know about Christmas – and maybe even Boxing Day – but are you familiar with St. Andrews Day? With all the popular holidays zooming past this time of year, it's tough to remember those slightly obscure but just as important ones. St. Andrew, the Patron Saint of Scotland, is celebrated every November 30th, and Ian, our VP of Biz Dev, is all over it!
Ian doesn't usually need much nudging to get into a skirt – oh sorry I mean a kilt – but we’ll give him a pass this time. It’s a tradition just like haggis, whiskey, and Cullen skink right?
Check out Ian (above) decked out in his Scot-tastic best for SF’s biggest St Andrew’s Day celebration held at the British Consulate. Our in-house paparazzi caught him red-kilted, sporting his traditional dress Chisolm kilt (his grandmother’s family plaid of course) and some crazy Scottish kicks called Ghillie Brogues. And lets not forget that ever-important wooly mammoth of a sealskin change purse, known fondly as a sporran, hanging just under his midsection. Who knew kilts didn’t have pockets?
So next time you have a new product pitch or need some caber toss lessons, call Astro and we'll put you in touch with the man, the myth, the Scottish legend, Ian Myles – who comes from a long line of Atholls.
Peep behind the scenes and get a quick taste of what it's like to work, play, and live the life at Astro.
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