SARAH XU


Physical
Digital
Traditional
Production Design
Work for Hire

About


100 Days of Eyeliner
Design, Makeup
[ September 2023 - January 2024 ]
 In my course, 100 Days of Making, I challenged myself to design and implement a creative eyeliner look each day. All 100 can be found on Instagram. Below are a selection of my favorite days.

I found that the daily practice transformed an otherwise typical everyday rite into wearable art. Many days, I decided on the design while sitting at my desk, staring into my mirror, eyeliner in hand. Others, I preplanned with a face-chart on Procreate, as well as inviting my classmates to submit ideas. I was inspired by whatever caught my eye: trinkets on my shelf, the pattern of my shirt, tattoos. Besides traditional makeup, I also used rhinestones, real flowers, jewelry, glitter, temporary tattoos, and hot glue.

Yes, I did go outside with them on my face.


Day  59
Day 99
Day  29
Day  20
Day  30
Day  25
Day  80
Day  67
Day  60
Day  70
Day  90
Day  63
Day  79
Day  66
Day  47

7 x 11.5 x 7 inches

William Morris Book Nook 
Digital/ Fabrication, Design
Illustrator, Laser Cutting
[ February 2023 ]


For the course, Intro to Digi Fab, I was tasked with creating an object for a specific purpose using laser cutters and Illustrator. I had an odd space in my small room that I thought would be perfect as a little book nook. 

I challenged myself to only use scrap/recycled material from the IMA shop’s junk shelf. To achieve the necessary height with the limited dimensions of the scrap wood and the laser cutter bed, I devised a design composed of three tiers: a bottom drawer, the middle case, and a clerestory top. As a decorative theme, I chose William Morris’ The Strawberry Thief pattern for the drawer front and clerestory cutouts.


The nook in it’s odd space
Finished piece
Cardboard prototype
Laser cutting the prototype
Initial visualization in Illustrator

Ode to the Moon
Digital / Fabrication, Design
CNC, Fusion 360, Illustrator, Laser Cutting
[ April 2023 ]


The prompt from my Intro to Digi Fab class was to create something with a CNC using Autodesk Fusion 360. Inspired by art nouveau illustrations and the cover of Dear Old Dixie Moon, I created a 3D plaque dedicated to the moon accompanied by a poem by E.E. Cummings, Amores (III).

My goal for this project was to focus on aesthetics, with an emphasis on creating layers of depth. To achieve this, I created decorative shapes as both recesses and protrusions at varying depths. Laser cutting was used to engrave the letters, the face and hair, and the irises.


Original Cover
Post CNC / before laser cutting
Created with a ShopBot Desktop Max


10.25 x 5.5 x 0.75 inches