Carly Conduff

Carly Conduff
This is a photo of me (on the right) with two other students (Daniel and Adam) from my sports product design masters program at the ISPO Munich sportswear trade show masterclass!

Degree: Masters of Sports Product Design

Expected Graduation Date: Spring 2021

Previous Degree: BS in Design & Innovation Management, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR

I’m From: Beaverton, OR

Why I Came to the UO and How I Chose My Major
Growing up in Oregon, I always felt a sense of home, but going to college felt out of my comfort zone. The opportunity to attend an Oregon university helped me take that leap. When I thought of a university that was pioneering creativity I thought of the University of Oregon. While my undergraduate took me to Oregon State for apparel design, I was so excited to learn about UO’s master’s program in sports product design. Despite being in a design program in my undergraduate, I did not experience the collaboration of a cohort and the intensity of studio classes. The collaboration between peers to support each other in the College of Design has been unparalleled to anything else I have experienced.

Growing up I always wanted to be a fashion designer, and I was originally aiming for a career in high fashion. Through high school, I was a multi-sport athlete, and growing up in one of the sportswear capitols of the world, shifted what I thought fashion design could be. I chose this program because I wanted to take what I knew about apparel and fashion and push it into the area of performance and technology.

Unique Qualities I Bring to My Studies
I have held many jobs over the course of my life before coming to UO. Many of these were service jobs, whether at a breakfast cafe or delivering pizza. These skills do not pertain directly to my studies at UO but they encompass so much about how I work with people, speak with them and treat them. Those jobs require you to hold yourself to professional standards in what can be the most unreasonable of situations. I also  worked at a small outdoor fabric company in Albany, Oregon. I have always wanted to be at the forefront of what is new in apparel and was able to do an internship at Browzwear, a 3D apparel software company that allowed me to bring a strong 3D background into the program.

My Influential Professors
I had a very influential teacher in high school, Mr. Short, the art teacher. There were so many things to love about him and his free spirit. It was because of him that I took every art class there was to offer. I genuinely believe that had I had a negative experience in an art class, I would have taken a different route in my education. While there was a lot that I learned from Mr. Short while in school, such as the ability to learn creativity, I learned more after he was no longer my teacher. I kept meaning to reach out and check in on him, to let him know where I was in college and thank him, but I found out earlier this year that he passed away. I can only hope he knew the impact he had on me and the other students. What I do know is that I only have a finite amount of time to make an impact on even just one person if not the world and I hope that design can be my outlet to do that.

My Extracurricular Activities
In my undergraduate I was an officer member for the American Association of Textiles Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) at my university. I found it an awesome way to draw attention to the design program and the viable careers that can come from it to younger students at the university. While the UO Portland campus doesn’t have the same kind of student clubs offered in Eugene I am taking part in a student lead workshop for high school students, creating content videos exploring the practice of product design.

My Greatest Learning Experience at UO
The greatest thing I have learned at UO is how to take criticism. It was honestly something I had never really gotten before despite knowing how valuable it can be to growth. I found that in the sports product design program we are pushed past our ability, so even when I turn in good quality work, I am always being pushed to make it better. It can be frustrating, of course, but I have also seen the best quality, most thorough work I have ever done come out of this program. As a result, I was accepted to participate in a grant funded muti-disciplinary course for design for healthy aging and was able to present my work in a showcase at the end of the term. I was also accepted to go to ISPO Munich sportswear trade show masterclass where I spent four days in teams with students around the world to create a design solution to a futuristic problem that we presented at the expo on stage at the end of the week. I have also received an award from cotton works for my Apparel Studio final outerwear design as one of the most promising applications of sustainable materials. I am currently working on work for showcases and competitions and look forward to what the rest of the time at UO has to offer!

After Graduation
When I started at UO, I wanted to design women’s sportswear at one of the top three sports wear companies. This was something I had been certain about for quite awhile. While going through this program,  we have had companies traveling to talk to us and I’ve been exposed to some smaller brands that I now feel would be a great fit for me and I would be able to have an impact in. I have expanded my career interests, to look less at how prominent a company is and more at what their mission is and how they value their employees. I want to pioneer sustainability, inclusivity and accessibility in apparel.

Your Gift
Getting a Master’s degree has been more expensive than I ever imagined, but I know how valuable it will be for me to achieve my goals. During my undergraduate I worked a couple of terms  to cover some of my expenses. Those ended up being the only terms where I felt like I wasn’t getting as much out of the classes as I could have been. Receiving a scholarship means so much to me because I am working really hard and it is a way to help me pay for school without taking energy away from focusing on my classes.

Thank you for wanting to support the next generation of creatives and believing in us that we have something to offer the world. It helps give me motivation that I can make an impact and that this is absolutely the right path for me. It means so much to me to be able to contribute to school expenses through my hard work thanks to you!