Antonio Licari

This a photo of me cutting the excess material off of a cleat stud-plate, made of carbon fiber with a copper wire weave, I developed and casted it here at UO. This became the chassis to my “Arrabiato Boot,” which translates to Spicy Soccer Cleat. I designed it for my Fall 2022 Garment collection, right before the 2022 Qatar World Cup!

Degree: BFA, Product Design

Expected Graduation Date: Spring 2024

2023 Scholarship
Michael and Stacy Koehn Award

I Am Originally From New York, NY

WHY I CAME TO THE UO AND HOW I CHOSE MY MAJOR
What drew me in was the hands-on school environment. Oregon is the first state that comes to mind when I think about sustainability as well as innovation in products. Sustainability is always a concern in the development of a product and I love that it is emphasized and a requirement in our university. I originally applied here on a whim, with the dream to move to Portland and work for a major apparel company such as Nike or Adidas. Coming from the “great state of NY,” I strongly believe once I fulfill my dream in Oregon I would be able to make it anywhere.

In high school I took Architecture courses for four years, but while looking for schools to apply to I found many of them led to jobs in User Interface (UI) or User Experience (UX)  Design. These all could be viable jobs, but were way too boring. I hungered for something exciting to sustain my attention over the course of college and a full career. While on Nike’s website I saw they were hiring product designers and that was very appealing to me. Design school felt tailored to my interests, to learn how to really make a product, to solve real-world problems and bring concepts to life.

UNIQUE QUALITIES I BRING TO MY STUDIES
My favorite work I’ve done in the program is my Wood Warrior’s line. This figure’s parts will be packaged as a model kit, encouraging children to actively participate in the construction process of it. Building a toy for themselves, children will be inspired to explore different historical periods and cultures by dressing the wooden figures as iconic warriors from the past. Through imaginative play, I believe these action figures ignite a sense of curiosity, critical thinking, and cultural appreciation in young minds.The Wooden Warriors line exemplifies the potential of child-centered design, emphasizing both the joy of hands-on creation and the significance of sustainable materials in nurturing children’s creativity and connection to history.

MY INFLUENTIAL PROFESSORS
I learned a lot about how hard the industry can be from all of my professors and I am thankful for each one of them for their lessons. Particularly, an influential professor to my work is Tom Bonamici. Without his help, and patience, I don’t think I would half the drive I do today or know how to actually get a product manufactured in a factory. Tom’s belief in me let me push myself further than I ever thought I would get in my material research and my pursuit of new uses  for traditional materials.

MY EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
I am involved in UO Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) chapter. I attend weekly meeting for the design club and love to help younger students to answerer their questions, the same questions I had when starting out in the program. In particular, I would help kids with 3d- modeling, making their designs manufacturable, and answering any 3d-printing questions for my peers in the club.

MY GREATEST LEARNING EXPERIENCE AT UO
The greatest learning experience I had at school was when my 3-d printing studio was canceled last fall due to lack of enrollment, forcing me to take an advanced garments class with Tom Bonamici. With no sewing experience, the work load was extremely intense and difficult manual work, which forced me to make the prototypes my own way, with whatever means I had, and I found my personal style through it. Once I got better at sewing, the class became extremely indulgent and allowed me to be creative, sewing absurd garment assignments and a pdf in deadlines as short as 48 hours. It was challenging but fun because everyone was in the same boat and the other students and I would all be spending countless hours in the lab working on our garments. We all openly shared tools and supplies, processes, and learned from one another. I owe my attitude and triumphs in leather work to my fellow classmates who inspired me with the amount of work we all collectively put in.

AFTER GRADUATION
I hope to work in the garments industry, hopefully hands on with materials, and apply to Nike for an internship in summer 2024. After that, eventually I’ll get a steady job in this industry. I’m hoping that my wood warriors line will release locally at a toy shop in Eugene in later 2023, and I will use sales to continue to grow my business and to help me continue to fund my research down the line.

YOUR GIFT
This scholarship will help me to launch my Wood Warriors action figure line by allowing me to cut the cost and product a sample series. I will use the funding to upgrade my home shop with machinery like a safe table saw, router, drill press and more to make the first series.

Thank you for the chance to let me impact younger generations with my design. Seriously, Immense thank you for your help. I strongly believe in the toy line and the figure’s power to recuperate traditional manufacturing practices and use recycled natural material to culminate in a toy children want to grow up playing with and their parents will want them to have.