During Sam's decade-plus experience in outdoor work and the Boy Scouts he observed that a campfire has a powerful effect on the social behavior of people at night; campfires, and more specifically “light” brings people together at night.

This observation led to the creation of the Clover Lantern, the “modern campfire”. Clover is an all-in-one device that combines a flashlight, lantern, and personal device charger that works simultaneously with a multifunctional app. On the side of the unit is an RGB area light, and on the base is a bright white LED flashlight. Due to the lantern’s unique extruded triangular form it can be magnetically connected with other units to form a cylindrical 360 degree lantern (4 units) or a linear arrangement that sends light in all directions if you have more or less than 4 units.  

This project has been featured on the international design site Yanko Design: 

www.yankodesign.com/2016/06/21/replacing-the-campfire-with-lampfire/

+PAK aims to reimagine the backpacking pack from ground up by responding to 4 primary pain-points observed in current internal frame packs; limited accessibility, poor item and weight distribution, a lack of organization, and zero multi-functionality. 

This design solves these problems by introducing a modular design approach; +PAK features three removable Cordura stuff-sacks that are mounted to a lightweight polyurethane frame, these sacks are easily accessed from side-mounted zippers. When backpacking, it is essential to maintain ideal weight and item distribution to avoid back injury/ discomfort, +PAK ensures comfort by clearly indicating where items should go (lightweight items on top, heavy items in the middle, and medium weight items on the bottom). These graphic indicators also help to keep items organized, so nothing will go missing when needed. Additionally, it is important to maximize functionality, hence, each individual stuff-sack can be removed to be used as a small drawstring day pack or a comfortable fleece lined pillow (when turned inside out).

+PAK is Sam's 2016 Senior Thesis Project, this is the result of a year's worth of research and development; this project was featured in CCA's ID Senior Show at LimeLab, San Francisco.

The Combine leash was designed as a short term class assignment focused on creating simple pet products. The premise of "Combine" was to make walking 2+ dogs easier by freeing up a hand by combining multiple leashes on a simple loop handle. This loop allows for easy addition of leashes or accessories (like a pet waste bag), and simple attachment to fences or hooks.

Please view the linked Kickstarter video.

Sam has done app design work for the Clover Lantern and a San Jose based consumer electronics company, these app layouts were mocked up using Adobe Illustrator, then handed to developers.