ALUMNI UPDATES
Jackson Gordon ’08 Creates Functional Batsuit
For Benchmark graduates, and perfect some of the skills he was transformations from who they were learning in his design classes. “It was when they first arrived at Benchmark to simply an exercise intended to further who they are years after they leave can my education in design by providing be quite dramatic. For Jackson Gordon access to materials, processes, and ’08 (who prefers to be called Gordon), technologies I cannot otherwise afford this certainly rings true. “My time at [on my own],” Gordon said. A few years Benchmark really helped with reading, ago when he was first experimenting which is a huge life skill,” he said. “The with cosplay—a performance art in school also really encouraged individuality which participants wear costumes and influenced who I am today.” and accessories to represent specific But evidenced by the functional characters or ideas—he had made a Batsuit that Gordon created and version of the Batsuit costume from recently revealed at the Katsucon anime Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy Jackson Gordon ’08 in his functional Batsuit. convention, he also has the ability to that looked cool aesthetically but had make a transformation into Batman, limited functionality. This new project, making him something of a celebrity. however, was Gordon’s attempt at who is a black belt in Shaolin Kung-Fu, In fact, Gordon, who is a Philadelphia designing a Batsuit that not only was excited to reveal the final suit, which University industrial design student, has resembled the one worn by Batman, “won’t take a bullet, but can withstand been featured on a number of news but was an “actual fully-functioning punches, machetes and baseball bats.” sites and publications, including CNN, replication of what a person would want Made of materials such as Kevlar, silicone USA Today, Time, the UK’s DailyMail, in a modern-type combat suit.” molds, armor plating, and polyurethane, BuzzFeed, Comicbook.com, Fox29, 6ABC, In September 2014, he came up the final suit comes in at 25 pounds, while and CBS3, and The Discovery Channel’s a possible design that “wouldn’t inhibit the helmet is about three pounds. TV shows, Daily Planet and Outrageous my mobility and would actually provide While the daily press inquiries Acts of Science. “It was completely protection and function more like have slowed down, this is just the overwhelming at first,” Gordon said. “It Batman’s actual suit.” The only problem beginning for the go-getter. Gordon has all kind of spiraled in one day [after being was that the materials required to build plans for setting up a business creating featured in an article for USA Today’s the suit were out of his college student props for sale and getting into the world College section] and continued for the budget. To try and raise funds for the of research and development or prop- next three weeks or so.” suit design, he went to Kickstarter, the making, perhaps in Hollywood. With his But how does one even come online funding platform for creative talent, confidence, and positive attitude, up with such an ambitious and unusual projects, and, to his surprise, was able to it seems as though the possibilities are project? For the 21-year-old student raise $1,255 in just six days. endless for Gordon. “I’m a believer in the who has always been a “tinkerer,” it After five months of prototyping saying, ‘do what you love and the money began with a need to fill some free time and two months of construction, Gordon, will follow’,” he said.
In addition to Jackson Gordon, other innovative thinkers/designers who have graduated from Benchmark include:
• Chris Linder ’90, co-founder and lead engineer of Demiurge Studios, a video game developer, in Cambridge, Massachusetts • Haley Woodward ’92, a blacksmith and sculptor in Austin, Texas, who uses traditional and modern approaches to create custom ironwork and sculptures • Eric Welch ’00, a prototype developer for The Franklin Institute who was a principal designer on the “Your Brain” exhibit • Michael Grosso ’10, an industrial design student at Philadelphia University
Benchmark Magazine | Summer 2015 22