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Contents

F O R E WO R D

STO R I E S & R E F L E C T I O N S

Alex Flamini

Joseph Bergdoll

Édouard Urcadez

Taylor Lineberger

Nicole Stumphauzer

T H E P O ST E R S

T H E E X H I B I T I O N

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Foreword

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The project that would become SHIFT began in April of 2012, just about a month

before the end of all of our junior year in the Visual Communication Design program at

Arizona State University. After numerous application emails (236 in total), interviews,

and flights, myself, Alex, Taylor, Nicole, and Édouard had all locked down internships

out of state. Three of us would be spending our summers in New York City, and the

other two in Portland Oregon.

We had all bounced around the idea of starting and maintaining personal blogs to

document our adventures, and decided to combine them all into one. Thus, Five Stories

was designed launched via a custom Tumblr at www.fivestori.es, and we did our best to

update weekly with text and photo posts. During the four months that we were posting

to the blog, it received over 3,000 pageviews from visitors originating in 11 different

countries.

But our goal wasn’t achieved by just making and contributing to the blog. While

we enjoyed sharing our experiences with those who followed along, we wanted to

do something bigger in hope to inspire others to seek discomfort. We put our heads

together and came up with SHIFT. An exhibition in the format of a poster show, with a

call to action: “How will *you* make a shift?”

We set a fundraising goal for $950 – just enough to cover poster printing costs and

other associated things to put on the exhibition, but we raised well above that. A total

of $1700 was raised in 6 days, which allowed us to go above and beyond with the

exhibition. While we weren’t able to secure a dedicated exhibition space, VCD program

director Al Sanft gave us permission to utilize a section of our classroom. We purchased

lights, built rigging, and in a handful of days we turned the classroom into a gallery for

the night of March 8th, 2013.

While no official numbers were taken, we guess that a little more than 200 students and

community members came through and checked out what we had worked on. Many of

them wrote their goals on “SHIFT Sheets”, and then taped them to the large cardboard

walls we hung. Many others came up to ask questions and seek out assistance in how to

push themselves to achieve. It was a tremendous night to experience.

That was almost a year ago now. The five of us have been very busy with our post

graduate lives, but this book is something we never forgot about and we all felt the need

to complete. We thank you for your contributions, for your patience, and for believing

in us to give something valuable back to the community, and we hope you enjoy this

collection of our stories.

C H A P T E R O N E

The Stories

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New York City11 May – 19 August 2012

Local Projectslocalprojects.com

A l e x A n d r A F l A m i n i

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Go it alone.

Such pessimistic words for such an optimistic venture; but this is the most valuable

advice I can give.

There’s a more eloquent quote out there that says something along the lines of:

“Don’t rely on others for happiness.”

I’d say this is the lesson I took from my summer in New York City.

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Before I left, I always imagined it as the city in the movies: full of serendipitous

moments, A-list celebrities, magical night clubs, and French Bulldogs.

It’s really nothing like that at all (well, except for the bulldogs).

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It’s a city of noise and empty corners. Full of hide-y hole apartments, living nights, and

stories galore. Stores are wedged in the most peculiar places and business men eat lunch

sitting on curbs in their suits. It’s dirty but remarkably clean. And somewhere the 21-25

year olds were hiding, but I never found them.

so i went it alone.

21

A classmate mentioned to me that he thought I came back and valued interpersonal

relationships more than before. I wasn’t sure what he meant because I felt that I relied

too heavily on what others thought and wanted me to do. But change is good. And good

change is better.

So I went it alone,and it was glorious.

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I learned that I can’t just wait for someone else to want to go to food trucks, or wander

the parks, or go to a street fair, or see a movie, or eat at the strange Indian food place

down the block, or backpack through the most beautiful scenery.

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I don’t think there is a more important lesson to be learned at 22 years old.

I have a lot of life left to explore. Sometimes I’ll have a partner in crime, but

sometimes I’ll have to just go it alone.

New York City20 May – 19 August 2012

Piscatello Design Centrepiscatello.com

J o s e p h B e r g d o l l

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My summer spent in New York City was my first extended time away from Arizona

since I was 8 years old. When it was time to begin college, had chosen to attend a

university thirty minutes south of my parents house. Although I was living on my own

since freshman year, my life was completely immersed in comfortable familiarity.

May 20th came around, and I was falling asleep on my cousin’s couch in Greenpoint,

Brooklyn. I had been to New York City numerous times, including an 8 day stay just a

few months prior, so I already knew all of the trains I was going to be taking to get to the

shiny white studios of Piscatello Design Centre in midtown Manhattan. My life was a

dream come true – I had been hoping to intern in New York since I started design school.

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The thrill of “being there” only lasts for so long, though. The reality was I was going

to be there for over three months, and I needed to figure out how to have fun. Having

upgraded from the couch to an NYU apartment on the eastern edge of Washington

Square Park, I was surrounded by culture – “nightlife”, good food, and the guy that plays

the baby grand in the park every weekend. I only had two good friends also interning

in the city (who just happen to be a part of the project), but I also had a handful of

acquaintances I knew from or through Arizona who were in the city as well.

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I recognized that when thrown in these situations of unfamiliarity, you need to be who

you really are and place your full confidence in doing so. Making friends quickly has

never been my strongest suit, but once I stopped trying to be one thing or another

and just went with myself, things came easy. Many nights were spent with new friends

bouncing around the city from a club to a bar to a rooftop to somebody’s apartment

with a case of beer or bottles of alcohol and a need for early 2000’s hip-hop.

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And then there was that one night at this pub in Hell’s Kitchen where Alex was treated

to numerous free drinks by the bartender and then stole a red cart while walking home.

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And then the next day when she happily found the same type of cart at the Smorgasburg

food festival in Brooklyn. (Sorry Alex)

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So yeah, I worked on some fun projects at my internship and met some cool design

people, but above all I learned that it’s okay to be myself, and that genuineness is often

reflected back by those around you. And that, in a place that many consider “fast paced”

(debatable), the only thing you can really trust in is who you are and what you know.

New York City27 May – 8 September 2012

Smart Designsmartdesignworldwide.com

É d o uA r d u r c A d e z

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When in the desert, you can look straight out in front of you and see that eight times

out of ten, over half of your field of vision is sky. Just that concept of an open skyline is

something you really take for granted when you’ve essentially lived out your life in the

desert. When presented with the Manhattan sprawl for the first time, I eventually came

to the conclusion that I really enjoyed the introspectiveness and near-myopic quality of

living in a “large city” — I realized I had begun to frequently people watch, resulting in

me really noticing People and their Problems while in the city, no doubt aided by having

many people and many problems shoved in my face at every turn.

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I never really spent the time or effort to apply people watching to an “always on”

mentality prior to experiencing New York. In the desert, there’s generally too much

space involved to innately and actively question the workings of other people’s lives. As

a designer, one’s eyes should be attuned to the minute and invisible, conversely towards

the meta and ‘big picture’ - things most people pay little to no attention to.

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Living in NYC is a kind of shortcut to achieving one half of the

above. It can be very hard at times, especially when it’s the first

time you’ve ever set foot in the city to begin with. There’s a lot of

really good advice you can glean from friends and the internet, but

most of what I’ve heard can be easily distilled into:

“Throw yourself into it and go with the flow.”

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Get to know the city on your own before letting anyone

else tell you what it is.

If I had three recommendations to make, they would be to (1) take an easy week and

purposefully lose yourself in the subway system throughout that week, (2) walk straight

from the Staten Island Ferry to the northernmost edge of Central Park, meandering if

you so please, and (3) do it all alone.

Portland, Oregon & Camas, Washington18 May – 6 August 2012

ADX Portlandadxportland.com

TAy lo r l i n e B e r g e r

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Right now I’m sitting at my desk trying to accurately reflect on the time I spent in

Portland this summer. I want to write something insightful. I want to come off as a

talented, intelligent, young designer who can gallantly delve into her experiences and

analyze them in a way no one else would have been able to. I should use words like

“meta.” I want people to say “Yes, this girl. She understands the world on a level that we

can only imagine. Not only that, but she is very, very cool and I want to be her friend.”

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I’m realizing now that’s just not going to happen. My experience this summer was

a valuable one, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I didn’t learn anything about

design and I’m pretty sure if you asked the city of Portland personally it wouldn’t even

know I was ever in it to begin with. Sure, I had a ton of fun. I partied on boats on the

waterfront into the wee hours of the morning. I got lost. I made friends. I drank lots of

coffee and realized that wine just isn’t for me. I became a gym rat and listened to a lot of

top 40 radio. I accidentally met the members of Earth Wind and Fire.

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I smoked cigars on the roof as fireworks rained down upon me. I shot a lot of guns. I

learned that Northwesterners call indian fry bread “elephant ears.” I succeeded in getting

my little cousin irreversibly addicted to Pokemon. I hiked tons of mountains and swam

in tons of lakes and rivers. I also made over 600 tiny booklets for my internship.

The thing is, I didn’t take much out of the experience that I didn’t already posses when I

began. I only developed what I already had.

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I used this trip to ground myself. There’s nothing like removing yourself from your normal

environment and throwing yourself into unexplored territory to force you to become

more familiar with yourself as an individual, not as a story or a circumstance. I have a

better idea of who I am, what I’m capable of, and I have a more solid idea of where I want

to go with my life and my career. Not to mention, more confidence to boot. If anything,

this summer served as a fantastic springboard into my senior year of college.

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Over the course of the summer, I anticipated that I would miss people, and I did.

I called my mom every week and virtually never stopped texting my best friend.

What really surprised me, though, was how much my friends missed me. Not just that

alone, but I was caught off guard by the idea of people missing me. It never occurred to

me that I would be missed. Not in a selfish way, I hope. I don’t think that I wouldn’t

consider the way others might be effected by my actions. I always just assume that

I don’t cross anyone’s mind when I’m not around. I came out of this trip with the

knowledge that people do love me, and that feels really nice.

And now having returned home, the people I met and lived with in Portland are the

ones letting me know that I’m missed. It feels fantastic to learn that I do effect people.

That my presence and actions are noticed and appreciated.

Portland, Oregon & Seattle, Washington2 July – 3 August 2012

Official Mfg. Coomfgco.com

n i c o l e s T u m p h Au z e r

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If you aren’t struggling, you aren’t trying.

No one ever looks backon their life and

remembers the nights they had plenty of sleep.

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When I think back to the idea of struggling, I’m met with memories of stressful, sleepless

nights coding my portfolio site, setting an alarm to email cover letters, raising money,

searching for roommates. Some may deal with the situation by simply abandoning it,

but those who stick around during the most bleak times will be rewarded.

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The more you struggle, the less likely you are to fail. Honestly, I look back at the

obstacles I had to overcome to get Portland and can’t believe I maintained the extreme

amounts of optimism and drive to make it happen. Because it happened, it has played

a significant effect on my mindset for future goals. This experience has truly brought to

life the idea that I can achieve anything if I’m willing to put forth the effort.

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Throughout this process of struggle and inspiration, I think the most valuable aspect that

I have been able to take away from this experience is self-discovery. This story brought

to light extreme tests of curiosity, flexibility, and resilience which then gave me a better

grasp on my strengths, weaknesses, and willingness to make something happen.

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Struggle is important because it leads to self-discovery. It can be an ugly process, but

even the ugliest parts can be transformed into something positive and beautiful down

the road. Stay hungry.

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The Postersc h A p T e r T Wo

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I anticipated some culture shock when I moved to New York City

last summer, but I never thought about how the lack of nature

would effect me. Its absence led me to search out the city’s greenest

spaces. New York’s urban parks seemed so out of place amongst

the concrete and metal. These posters reflect an inverse of that

experience: NYC’s most iconic structures in some of the nation’s

most beautiful national parks.

N: the Empire State Building in Yosemite Valley, CA; Y: the

High Line in Monument Valley, AZ; C: the Statue of Liberty on

Cannon Beach, OR

A l e x F l A m i n i

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J o s e p h B e r g d o l l

While in New York City for 3 months, there were a few things

that became very dear to me. The first was Washington Square

Park, where I lived in an NYU apartment at 79 Washington

Square East in Greenwich Village. I spent many afternoons

in the park watching people and enjoying performers. The

second being the New York Subway system, which facilitated

countless adventures between myself and friends. The last

being my place of work, a tranquil workspace in the middle of

hectic and noisy Midtown Manhattan.

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The first poster is about the various weird objects I found my

friends and myself carrying while “out and about and moving”

throughout the city. Living in the LES for about two months

proved to be a crazy way to experience NYC for the first time.

This poster is a from-memory construction / abstraction of the

neighborhood I lived in, the intersection of Delancey and Ludlow.

Relying on Google Maps to navigate throughout the city became a

habitual pastime even while sitting still and not walking whenever

I decided to take a route I wasn’t familiar with.

É d o uA r d u r c Ad e z

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During my time interning in Portland I made a lot of things,

commuted to a lot of places, and hiked a lot of mountains.

The dog in the first poster is the artwork that I painted on

the skateboard deck that I made out of a piece of barn wood

in the woodshop at ADX. It is the only thing I was able to

make during my time there. I was also taken by how different

hiking is in the Northwest than in the Southwest. Get this:

they have trees, and it’s beautiful. I also paid for an A ticket

5 days week for my 45 minute commute to work, which

included driving, bussing and lightrailing.

TAy lo r l i n e B e r g e r

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These posters are a reflection of the way I spent my summer in

Portland. Being curious reinforced the mindset of seizing each

day in a new atmosphere which led to self-discovery and a clearer

direction of future goals. Curiosity and the phrase “carpe diem”

contributed to the strong belief of holding myself to the highest,

golden standard. Don’t settle for less because anything is possible if

you put forth the effort and keep a positive attitude. Stay gold.

n i c o l e s T u m p h Au z e r

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The Exhibitionc h A p T e r T h r e e

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Credits

D E S I g N & D I R E C T I O N

Joseph Bergdoll

CO N T R I B u TO R S

Alexandra Flamini, Édouard Urcadez, Taylor Lineberger, Nicole Stumphauzer

A S P E C I A L T H A N kS TO O u R S P O N S O R S

Randy Lineberger, Rose Stuber, Angela Stumphauzer, Paul Howell, Michael Flamini,

Carla Goodhart, Marie Urcadez, Mookesh Patel, Kris Olmon, George Drach,

OMFG Co., Mark Dudlik, Bill & Jo Ann Bergdoll, Josh Gallagher, Ramon Barcenas,

Caitlin Cruz, Lauren Bratlien, Amanda Williams, Jamie Cerretti, Spencer Ramirez,

Tate Williams, Wil Heywood, Ling Chen, Meghan Trimaloff

M O R E I N F O

www.MakeAShift.co

CO PY R I g H T

© 2012–2014

A L L R I g H TS R E S E RV E D. This book contains material protected under

International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use

of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in

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or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission

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