Industrial Design student Ryan Muraro debuted his designs to the world via ice. Muraro, a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, designed a long-track skinsuit for British speed skater Philip Brojaka that has been worn in World Cup events.
Luck played a big part in his first “real” design job. Muraro’s sister is Brojaka’s girlfriend. She referred him as a designer when Brojaka put up a World Cup qualifying time, which snagged a sponsorship with Kia and the need of a new suit.
Muraro was given free reign creatively over the project and came up with a unique design. Brojaka wanted something completely original, so Muraro designed the first suit without looking at other skinsuits as references. He learned certain constraints as he went, which included areas on the suit that color changes or graphics weren’t allowed.
“I wanted to convey a simple motion through the suit, because long track skating is all about efficient, fluid motion,” Muraro said.
E-mail was key for Muraro to communicate with agents and manufacturers across the ocean.
“The biggest issues stemmed from the nature of the logistics. I was dealing with people who were in Holland, 6 hours different from here,” Muraro said.
After finishing his first design, Muraro was approached by the group that represents Brojaka to design skinsuits for the Ukrainian speed skating team. He was able to design more efficiently this time, building on the experience he had gained designing for Brojaka. Muraro wasn’t even aware that his designs were being used by the Ukranian men’s and women’s teams until Brojaka mentioned that they were wearing them in World Cup events.
Muraro’s experience designing speed skating suits has given him great real-world work experience, but he hasn’t quite settled on a particular career aspiration.
“There’s so much I could do, it doesn’t make sense to narrow it down before I even know everything that’s out there. If I had to choose, furniture and athletic apparel are the two things that I enjoy designing the most,” Muraro said.