Statement

Hi, my name is Noel Seiji Ekker. I am 1/4 French, 1/4 Hungarian, and 1/2 Japanese, born and raised in Los Angeles. Growing up I was always aware of culturally different perspectives, and how each have unique value and insight. I started my design practice in Entertainment Design, combining of my love for industrial design and film. While interning at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, I experienced how real solutions can expand human knowledge and opportunity. I wanted to create that type of real-world impact, and transferred to Product Design. While at Art Center I’ve had the opportunity to study abroad in Berlin and Jerusalem, intern in Portland and Austria and spend months solo backpacking in Asia and South America. I am driven to explore the unfamiliar; to expand my understanding of the systems of the world, and how they contrast and parallel one another. I apply this exploratory approach in design, crafting solutions through a process that is both systematic and flexible, analytical and intuitive. As a macro goal, I do all of this in the hope to create positive global impact. I love this incredible and diverse world so much, and I seek to understand it in order to help it.

I have a special interest in Systems and Strategy, Traditional Product Design, User Experience, and Impact Design for humanitarian, social, and environmental causes.

I have had some amazing experiences in these beautiful countries: Germany (lived 3 months), Austria (lived 7 months), Israel (lived 4 months), Canada, Japan, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, France, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Denmark, England, Slovenia, Croatia, Turkey, Palestine, New Zealand, Mexico, Ecuador, and Colombia.