Sketch
       
About


Capstone: Iris

A journal celebrating the modern
self-portrait: selfies.


Selfies capture who we are, yet they’re often seen as performative. Iris reframes selfies as a practice for self-reflection.

Time: Spring 2025, 13 weeks

Team: Billy Peng, Stanley Ip

Tools: SolidWorks, Keyshot, Adobe Illustrator, Figma





        
Why?







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 Today’s fast-paced media often leaves little room for thought, leading to lost time, weaker memory development, and consequently, one’s sense of identity.

Modern forms of documentation tend to be geared toward sharing and social media, not the self.

What would a familiar medium, photography, look like as a tool for self-reflection?







Concept Development

Tradition of Self PortraitsHistorically, self portraits have served as a tool for deep self-exploration and understanding. Today, we continue that tradition through selfies.






The Modern Selfie DualityAt first glance, the selfie is seen as vain. Yet, it has the potential to become a tool for identity formation and memory keeping. Selfies can place you in time: in the context of the past, present, and projecting the future.


From there, we designed a system inspired by how memory works: encoding, storage, and retrieval. A camera that captures (encodes) selfies, while another device stores and lets you revisit them.


Encoding: Camera

PhilosophyEncouraging people to take authentic selfies - ones that don’t interrupt the moment and lower the fear of judgement.




At first we focused on portable, stick-like concepts to enable a greater field of view.
Moved to a more compact form, taking inspiration from pocket mirrors.

Gradually, we pivoted to a circular design resembles a cookie. It feels warmer in the palm and naturally guides the way you hold it—encouraging you to point it toward yourself.
We also explored a magnetic cover that protects the lens and mirror due to the long-term nature of the design. Eventually scrapped for a faster, one-hand capture experience.
Adding a large shutter button, mirror, and establishing hierarchy on the face.

The Final Camera


Smaller form refinements such as a finger divot on the shutter button, a convex back, and chamfer surfacing were made to serve the idea of a quick but durable camera.






A dial for scrolling through images.
A rotary switch for filtering by time: day, month, or year.
Includes a selfie-specific camera on the left.




Designed for assembly + disassembly as a long-term object.







© 2021 - 2025 Aimee Li. Thanks for viewing!