Chengtao Yi (B.I.D. ’15) was selected earlier this year to design the award for Legends 2014, Pratt Institute’s annual scholarship benefit honoring icons of art and design whose works have helped shape the cultural landscape.

For the last several years, Pratt’s Department of Industrial Design has worked with the Office of Institutional Advancement on the Legends award design project. Karen Stone, adjunct associate professor of industrial design and director of design at Knoll, chose Yi to design the award based on his skills and confidence, and worked with him through every stage of the process. This included the opportunity to work with artist Edison Zapata at Urban Glass and Adam Apostolos, sculpture technician at Pratt, to create the glass and metal pieces of Yi’s distinctive design.

In this short video on the making of the award, Yi discusses his inspiration and what he learned from the project.

Video production: Marion Hammon and Peter Tannenbaum