pens.and.cocktail.napkins

Overall Course Evaluation

2011-04-25T00:40:00.003-04:00

Given that the responses here are all in retrospect of the assignments, I thought it would be nice to include a general response to the class as a whole. As a totality I think it was a very well executed class, much more intense than what it was in previous years. The lectures were much more detailed than I was expecting also. To be perfectly frank about the professional nature of the department, I am glad to learn from someone who has been there and done that. I think Iarc has a problem of hiring people who are very talented, yet un experienced when it comes to working.

I did not find the collaboration of the two classes, third year studio and pro practice, a very successful venture. In a cost/benefit view it was far more trouble than it was worth. I have seen few inter class collaborations executed by the department that worked successfully and were not catastrophe's in practice. It seemed like something that was great on paper, yet had so many moving parts it just was not as beneficial to the fourth year students because of the lengths that had to be gone to in order to accomplish it. That aside, the creation of mock firms and marketing packages for said firms was excellent!

To conclude the class response, it was amazing to me, someone without a sense for business to speak of, how much goes into practice as a professional. It is amazing how much goes into getting a business off the ground and keeping it from failing despite the most excellent of design being implemented. As Jeff explained about his music career, sometimes a failing business model can sabotage an excellent and highly talented professional.

Research Paper Response

2011-04-25T00:24:00.002-04:00

The research paper was curious to me. While the exercise of it was intriguing, the situation of this assignment within this class did not make complete sense to me. It seemed something that would be in a history and theory of design class. Such as the series Patrick taught.

Despite this, the paper did turn out to be very fun to me. Mine was on skateboarding and architecture. The main critique was that it needed to be written differently to present the topic in different light.... more like a research paper and less like an editorial. This is absolutely true as I go over it again. Another draft would probably solve this.

The thesis of my paper was concerning the interaction of skateboarding and contemporary architecture. It seems that due to the litigious nature of American culture, and liability issues, skateboarding is largely prohibited. This would seem strange, given that skaters are often the most observent participants in architecture. All in all it was a fun paper assignment.

Networking Response

2011-04-25T00:13:00.002-04:00

The networking assignment was INCREDIBLY difficult for me. I am very uncomfortable meeting new people and am not one of those social butterflies to say the very least. I found myself focusing so hard on just responding to what people were saying that I forgot what their names were, or I forgot what the previous conversation I had was about. It was good to get out and see other design professionals and students. As I said in my response papers, it really brought the industry down to human scale for me. Seeing how other professionals and students were in very much the same place as I am, struggling to find work and make contacts was very encouraging. I guess it's nice to know you aren't the only one.

While the assignment was very beneficial, on the other hand it was not entirely useful to me. My goals are not to find work immediately after graduation but to find a graduate school. I also have NO desire to work anywhere local or in NC. With that in mind it became increasingly more difficult networking with people at the AIA and USGBC meetings I attended, because it felt like something I was doing to fulfill a requirement for a grade, rather than a targeted effort doing what I knew I needed to do. Perhaps I was viewing the situation from the wrong angle.

At any rate it was quite enriching all together.

Group Marketing Package

2011-04-25T00:02:00.002-04:00

When I was an intern at CBI one of the most impressive things I noticed was their firm marketing materials. Everything was compiled into templates, formulas, and prefabricated proposal parts. When a new project or proposal binder was to be created, all that needed to be done was to pull together the parts needed and fill in the blanks of the pre configured templates. All the work that was done only needed to be done once in advance. It was a brilliant system really, and a fine tuned way of doing business.

This assignment really made me appreciate all that groundwork that had been laid out. It is impressive that when something is well designed and composed, it goes largely un noticed. This seems to be the testament of good design in general. Either it is bad and we see that it is bad, or it is good and we only notice the content. Getting a firm marketing package together that fit this simple, yet impressively difficult bill is quite the lengthy task.

This assignment was a unique one for sure. I found it particularly difficult to balance the workload of studio, as well as the group work involved in this one. To a degree it felt as if I had two studios.

Personal Marketing Package

2011-04-24T23:47:00.002-04:00

The personal marketing package is something I have struggled with consistently since the first time we had to put together a portfolio a few years ago. I find myself going from one design to the next without being able to commit to one without finding another I like better and changing. It seems something akin to designing a house for oneself. God forbid you ever move into it, you would never stop the critique! The only resume I have shown to an employer was one that I put together for my internship interview at CBI, and it was very unimpressive across the board. It was very plain and very simple in design. To be honest they barely even looked at it.

From doing this exercise I resolved some of my ideas about what a portfolio should be. I tend to think that the graphic design should be very good and catchy, yet the mechanical and physical personification of it should be as simple as possible. I don't know what most employers feel about portfolio design... from what I have learned thus far, the job search is something akin to dating... there are no hard and fast rules to go on. However, my limited experience has shown me that very little of a portfolio is actually viewed since the conversation in relation to the portfolio ought to take center stage.

For the same purposes as the first assignment, I think this is also an assignment that should have successive iterative submissions. This way all the kinks can be ironed out, all the edges filed down so to speak.

Proposal Response

2011-04-24T23:27:00.003-04:00

It is interesting how the most elemental parts of a personal job hunt are the most difficult at times. Just being able to describe yourself in a succinct and deliberate way is something we do very seldom it seems. Without a job title to use to describe ourselves, it almost becomes what feels like a long reach to characterize who we are on paper.

While I did not enjoy the assignment, I did find it enriching because cover letters and resumes are not necessarily something I have worked on to any degree in the past. I also feel that this is an assignment that should have been repeated multiple times throughout the semester with successive revisions and critique. I tend to gravitate to a militaristic view of conditioning when it comes to skill development. Do it once, then do it a hundred times, and then you will be able to consistently perform under normal circumstances at half of what is your best.

In retrospect I think this assignment was great, though it certainly would take on a whole new life if it were repeated several times over.

Building Design Charette

2010-12-13T04:00:00.004-05:00

These are sketchup snapshots of a preliminary building design used for our site and building design charettes. The Layout was a combination of a few different groups' projects.

Programming Document

2010-12-13T03:54:00.003-05:00

My group handled the sustainability portion of the programming document. This we tackled in various different aspects such as parking, water use, lighting, etc... This is an example of how we approached each subject from a general standpoint highlighting the problem, solution, and considerations.

Individual Detail Project: Checkout Desk

2010-12-13T03:41:00.004-05:00

The circulation and checkout desk became my individual building detail by way of an involved and long process. It took many different forms, but ultimately became the relatively simple solution shown. It featured self checkouts as primary processing with light staffing for technical and service support. It is constructed of a steel frame which supports OSB and Dupont Corian surfaces. High pressure laminate is used for shelving and cabinetry as well.

I did not come up with a flowery metaphor to use as a concept which would generally be expected, particularly in this program. Rather I chose to integrate it as seamlessly as possible with the design language of the stacks and atrium groups' designs. This became a much more streamlined solution and lent itself well to unification of the two spaces.

Salt Lake City Public Library

2010-12-13T03:19:00.004-05:00

This is part of my precedent research completed on the Salt Lake City Public Library. It is an incredibly complex and interesting building. I shudder to think what the programming document must have looked like for this project. I learned a great deal particularly when looking at the structural organization of the building. It took a bit of investigation and close examination to determine where columns and structural members were located in the plan, but once they were located the order of what looked like chaos became very obvious.

Greensboro Central Library Precedent Study

2010-12-12T17:53:00.005-05:00

Circulation diagram

Public/Private Spaces

Structural Organization

This is a sample of my work for the Greensboro Public Library precedent research. It is a very nice library, however I did not enjoy analyzing it quit like I did with the Salt Lake City Library. There were a great number of programmatic similarities between the two buildings, despite the vast difference between their design and construction styles.

Studio Reading Space 2

2010-12-12T17:33:00.004-05:00

Studio Reading Space 1

2010-12-12T17:02:00.006-05:00

I think this is one of my favorite design drawings ever. The 3 point perspective really brings it home for me.

This project was very enjoyable to me once I got into a good groove with it. There were many aspects of the presentation that were extremely frustrating to me, and never were really resolved. It was however a great project and I still am in love with my concept idea. I think I will definitely re-use it in a later project. The notion of a library that is the physical embodiment of the workstation used in the movie Minority Report or "Jarvis" from Iron Man is a very cool think to think about with lots of possibilities.

Design Development 1

2010-03-03T22:04:00.005-05:00

The concept of this design solution is that of a sound wave. It provokes interest in all that it reaches. Sound makes us turn our heads and take notice. It is this quality that will be imbued in the design in order to make other communities take notice of Albemarle, and more to the point, it will make Albemarle citizens take note and interest in their own downtown.

This bubble diagram illustrates the basic relationships of the building as proposed. The major spaces of the building (entrance, dining floor, and bar area) all have a view to the stage area. Other adjacentcies and relationships exist, however it is this central stage that became the pivot point for the design proposal.
The floor plan of the street level also incorporates a large portion of the basement due to the floor being cut out to unify the spaces around a two story dining room and venue space. From the dining floor, the bar situated on the first floor becomes "upstairs" and an entire new perspective of the building is gained. The ceiling will incorporate an undulating form over the dining room to allow for enhanced acoustics as well as a great view from the hostess station as well as the bar and venue space.
The upper two levels of the building will be converted into small efficiency apartments. Square footage was kept to a minimum in order to keep the rents lower in order to be in a wider markets price range. They will feature an open floor plan with minimal permanent walls. The apartments are thought to be "expanded bedrooms", this shift in viewpoint allows much different design choices, providing the inhabitant a much more energetic and enriching downtown living experience, while maintaining the benefits of a small city.
The section view illustrates the relationship between the basement level and the first floor in creating the dining space. HID lights will be installed above the undulating indoor trellis to create a filtered light condition on the floor, as well as a more dynamic ceiling treatment for individuals who are moving through the space. The passageway and vertical access to the upstairs apartments is private and accesses the street directly. It has an overlook which provides a view looking down on the trellis from above. This feature allows the ceiling to be encountered from both sides from both groups of primary users.
perspective view upon entrance from the street on the first floor.
View from the lounge area looking out over the dining space towards the front entrance.
Dining area view, directly in front is the stage area.
This view illustrates the view from the catwalk looking towards the lounge area. The catwalk along the side of the building will provide the primary circulation pathway from the front door to the lounge, it also affords a view of the lower dining room.
The upstairs apartments have very large windows, in relation to their modest size, these will be taken advantage of to allow as much natural daylighting as possible, making the space feel much less cramped. Some new windows will be proposed in order to serve certain apartments not adjacent to pre-existing fenestrations. Also an exterior ladder fire escape will be added as a supplemental egress route for residents in case of emergency.

A Place to Dine

2009-05-08T00:53:00.003-04:00

Wall Section including lighting detail. The recessed lighting in the ceiling perimeter had to be changed. Track canister lights were added in lieu of the canted mounts shown here; they can be seen in the computer renderings.
Elevation of dining space including circulation pathways.
This exploded view shows the table used in the space. It is the table that can be seen in the White advertisement for visual communications.
Floorplan
Reflected ceiling plan, again the canister lights on the perimeter have been changed.
FF&E Schedule.

Urban Pathways

2009-05-08T00:37:00.003-04:00

This was a very cool scene however, blogger is a dirty dirty wench and would not load the image without changing the colors. This is a work in progress.

Visual Communication Ad/Poster

2009-05-08T00:19:00.001-04:00

Spring Studio Final Project

2009-04-30T23:29:00.003-04:00

This project was to take an existing warehouse space, and convert it into studio apartments. Needless to say this project required volumes of drawings, diagrams, pictures, and charts to finish; far more than would be appropriate for this venue, thus the most salient examples were included in this post.

These two tables are the Materials and finishes schedule for my loft design. It is included in this instance with some of the process work due to the fact that materials consideration was a very important starting point for the development of my project.

These two charts are from The University of Oregan's solar research laboratory, they show the path the sun takes through the sky including elevation through the year. Sun exposure is a critical factor to consider needless to say. Especially since there were presentations where the orientation of the building as well as the sun exposure was presented incorrectly.
Given the nature of the cement floor, and massive square footage of gypsum wall space, acoustics of the space needed to be calculated to an acceptable range. The ceiling of my space is covered with acoustic tiles for this reason. This acoustics chart came from ATS Acoustics which provided the raw data needed to calculate the number of necessary tiles to provide adequate die-off time.

Loft Building Plan/ Lighting

2009-04-30T23:08:00.001-04:00

The floorplan of the building has the apartments on the edges, to provide windows, while community spaces, art exhibition/venue space, workshops and studios, as well as storage are all kept on the interior where windows are not required by code.

This is documentation from an electrical engineer I consulted for help with the lighting. It provides the specifications for the floor lighting from the recessed lights in the ceiling. This information was very helpful in knowing exactly what kind of lights and how many would be needed for the appropriate foot candles dispersed across the floor.

Loft Orthographics

2009-04-30T23:01:00.004-04:00

3D perspective of the space as designed. Note that some elements of the design including the walls of the loft as well as the stove vent were omitted for clarity.
Plan view of loft.

Section view of Loft.

Loft Renderings

2009-04-30T22:51:00.004-04:00

View upon entering front door.

View from the living space to the kitchen, as well as the stairs.

Living space.

View looking down the stairs into the living space.

Reading nook incorporated into the stairs.

Master bathroom.

Loft.

View through the slat wall in the loft, overlooking the living space.

3DS Max Rendering

2009-03-31T02:08:00.007-04:00

These images are a little washed out, the light became too intense but I didn't have the nearest clue how to fix it, more instruction on this program would have been awesome. This whole situation is incredibly frustrating... I will leave it at that.

Scene of discourse

2009-03-31T02:02:00.002-04:00

Pattern from Cityscape

2009-03-24T02:48:00.003-04:00

Mens Sana in Corpore Sana

2009-03-06T11:58:00.006-05:00

This spa was designed to serve wounded and traumatized veterans possibly being seriously disabled from their service. It consists of a large, heated, aerated pool with individual adjustable hot tub spaces lining the outer perimiter. Zero entry ramps provide 100 percent accessibility throughout.

Birds Eye view of the Spa pool and pavilion.
Perspective standing in the water in one of the individual hot tubs.
Plan View: The red arrows represent zero entrance ramps into the pool.

The entire pool is aerated from the floor. Bubbles come from below in the same fashion a fish tank aerator works. These bubbles taper off in density as one moves closer to the ramped surfaces.

Walls and planters are constructed of stratified fieldstone in Sand, Dark Brown, and Grey.
Outdoor patio tiling is White sandstone 24"x 24" set on a 45 degree angle
Pool surfaces are poured cement with applied dark blue chlorinated rubber paint with aggregate added.
Pavilion Flooring is composite cedar over a poured cement pad.
Pavilion Roofing is Ceramic tile, Brown.

Artifact

2009-03-06T11:04:00.004-05:00

This is my artifact to represent design for me. What is so critical about design in my opinion is the integration of the many different parts. A well designed object or space can have no extraneous parts; each piece plays some role in the function of several others on multiple levels. This is my concept with my artifact. Each piece is bent to create tension which in turn, supports the stresses of other parts. If one piece were to be removed, the whole thing would come apart. Good design is like a puzzle, one in which we shape the pieces ourselves, but they still have to fit together just right nonetheless.

Sketchup/Podium renderings

2009-02-23T01:18:00.008-05:00

Mike Lin Graphic Workshop

2009-01-19T23:41:00.007-05:00

Mike Lin Graphic Workshop

2009-01-19T23:08:00.008-05:00

My two point perspective pre-test before any instruction.
My final two point perspective rendering.
This was the first perspective rendering we did, it wasn't what I was originally going for, but it did turn out well I think.

These two above drawings are a plan view and a perspective rendering of a monument that I designed. Mike said he would probably use them for his new book which he is assembling this summer. I am stoked.

Bus Shelter

2008-10-13T13:56:00.005-04:00

It all started out for me with a simple site analysis. At first i wished I had the location on UNCG campus rather than the A&T location. However, after going there and seeing the campus and all the things they had going on, I was very happy to get the site I did. A&T has a great campus with so much to pull from when designing such an installation. A big lesson I learned with this project is to make sure you go way beyond anything you will possibly need with the site analysis. I had to go back a couple of times to get more information and it was a pain. Make a GOOD site analysis! Also double check that the information you gather is accurate, I found out midway through the project that my sun exposure diagram wasn't correct and it pretty much turned my project on it's head... not cool. So get lots of accurate data from the getgo and things go much smoother later on.

I began with my new favorite technique of using a very very large piece of paper and listing aspects and qualities of the design problem, things that needed to be addressed, bubble diagrams for adjacency and the like. This also is when I started working on the concept which became a little process of it's own. One of the fifth years was helping me with the concept and pretty much gave me an idea that fit so well I had no choice but to run with it. Though for integrity sake I couldn't use it directly; thus began the development of my concept alongside the bus shelter design itself. It started as a rainforest: the closer you are to the ground, the less sunlight permeates through the canopy. As you progress through vertical strata of protection, you get more and more exposure. Gradient of protection was a prominent idea in my design so this was highly appealing. Also the natural references fit well with the university's agricultural background. This concept morphed into a simple tree analogy; the closer to the trunk, the more shelter, moving the dynamic horizontal rather than vertical. After abstracting these basic ideas, as well as using input taken from personal interviews with A&T students I arrived at something I hadn't expected in the beginning but that I felt was highly appropriate for the location and project. My concept is to create an architecturally abstracted, man made tree limb incorporating the ideas of gradient and progression into the future. Below is my response to this concept.

Sketchbook Assignments

2008-10-02T11:13:00.003-04:00

Shelter Bus Charette

2008-10-02T07:39:00.006-04:00

When I was in lifeguard training, we were always told that our number one priority when entering the water to make a rescue, was our own personal safety; putting one more person in a desperate situation doesn't help anyone. This is the approach I used with this design. In order to be of the most help to disaster victims. My clients, four construction workers, should place their own welfare as top priority. If they ensure that they get adequate rest, hygiene, and mental rejuvenation, they will in turn be of greater help to the people they are supporting. My design allows for these necessities by making use of specific zones, complete separation of work and relaxation areas, as well as soft and neutral blue and grey tones, to help my clients feel at ease and peaceful while inside this bus. This quality and approach allows the clients to be higher impact factors on the community they are aiding, and thus increasing the function of the shelter bus design.

As a precedent I used the Exaltis Tower in Paris France, designed by Arquitectonica Interiors. The curvy shapes and lines really pull you into the space and lead you from one zone to the next. This is a quality I incorporated in my design. The entrance way has flooring of heavy duty tile to serve as a "mud room" of sorts. The curved lines sprout from the seams in the tile work, unifying the space and leading occupants to the far end of the bus, and through the steps of rejuvenation; Cleansing, Relaxation, Eating, and Sleeping.

This is my bubble adjacency diagram for the main zones associated with the bus, following the important tasks of daily activity.

Scheme diagram showing volume of traffic in specific areas, as well as use of these areas whether public or private.
The bathroom wall is curved allowing it to follow the curvilinear lines of the walls and floor. This marries form with color scheme. It also allows for the sliding door pictured here.
Cross sections showing layout of various views of the interior.

Sections of each side of the bus. The curvilinear patter on the walls is notable from these images.

The finished project board.

Postcard

2008-09-29T18:27:00.001-04:00

Weekly Sketchbook Assignment

2008-09-29T01:33:00.003-04:00

Our first sketchbook assignment for Visual Communications Class. It is a fancy chaise designed with a student in mind. It looks pretty expensive to me, so I don't know how exactly that works, but that was their concept.

Negative Space Bicycle

2008-09-29T01:16:00.002-04:00

A warm up exercise for the first year drawing class. As notated I had to take a couple of good breaths to slow down and concentrate. It worked pretty well, I think I will start doing that more often. I drew it in 4H which explains why it looks so washed out. I will photo shop it later

Weekly Sketchbook Assignment

2008-09-29T01:07:00.005-04:00

A bed in water color. I really dislike this, and water color doesn't work too well for me. I give mad props to those who can use this medium effectively. So consider this a starting point I suppose.

Precis

2008-09-26T07:02:00.000-04:00

What Defines My Drawing Style?

2008-09-24T10:43:00.005-04:00

I did this diagram for the first year drawing class. It is essentially a distillation of a bunch of ideas and lessons I picked up along the way in the program. It is strange the things you wind up enjoying so much when you draw them. This cube, while it is absolutely non-engaging, was one of the most fun drawings I can remember.

Bubble Diagram Work

2008-09-24T10:23:00.006-04:00

These are the bubble diagrams I did for my group presentation of the shelter bus community. They represent the first time I have really done something like this in such a polished form to present. Normally they are much sketchier and are used solely for process and personal reasons. This is much trickier to get right than one would think at first glance.
Self Critique and Ideas:

- The lettering should be much bolder, use a black marker and not a pen
- Use non-bleeding, alcohol proof pens and markers so the colors don't smear your lettering or borders
- Use hierarchy of line widths and segment lengths to show relationships and connections on different levels
- Group similarly colored bubbles closer together and not so spread out
- Possibly use paler colors so the lettering stands out more.
- Work on getting just the right values of color for each color group to show hierarchy
- Experiment with using a background to ground the composition, or try different paper [possibly gray]

This all is just me copying other individual's style in doing this. Copy others until you find/develop your own. All in all, not a bad start I would say.

Guerilla Marketing

2008-09-22T01:10:00.006-04:00

These are two of the ideas for my groups guerilla marketing scheme.

This one involves acquiring a bunch of those yellow envelopes the parking people use for tickets, and putting them on everyone's car, only with a fake ticket inside. Make it so that people think they have received a parking ticket, and thwart that with a humorous, or catchy card which we design inside.
A fake arrest... pretty self explanatory. This one would be great especially if used in conjunction with other marketing tactics. Use this to really shake the campus up and draw attention, maybe people will think it's for real, but throw in certain elements to make it seem just a little skewed, such as what the police say, what is written on the car, etc... There could even be several arrests made in different places on campus. The main thing is that it is loud and dramatic: lights, sirens, footchase, calls for backup... the works. Also a great way to get the campus police involved with what the studio is doing this year. The other marketing strategies can be viewed here. Kevin Lahti, Lily Glover, Katie

Tiki Lamp [neptune] artifact

2008-09-22T01:09:00.002-04:00

The tiki lamp in this instance, is a relatively small cylindrical object. It's form mimics that of a totem pole or of an ancient polynesian tiki god idol. Their culture was polytheistic and highly permeated with ideas about each god and their place. Tiki figurines and statues were thus adapted and made as religious icons. In polynesian mythology Tiki was the name of the first man to exist. He was the originator of proceeding generations, thus the way that the tiki face, and styling is fashioned into a lamp, is a very appropriate adaptation.
This artifact is formed into a lamp of sorts. It is constructed of hand carved tropical mango wood, and polished with an antique, dark stain. The center is hollowed out by hand to allow a small lamp to be inserted in it and provide a small amount of light that passes through the mouth and eyes. This use of the design of the exterior of the object really marries the form with the function in this instance; the shape of the face, dictates the amount or quality of light being emitted, and also the mood which the lighting sets in the space being occupied by this artifact.
The composition of the carving is arranged in a symmetrical fashion across the vertical axis and is predominantly shallow relief sculpture. This gives the entire piece as a whole a subtractive nature, one can almost picture the piece of wood before the artist cut into it; it's shape and form are retained. All the decorative flourishes and carvings follow the features of the exaggerated face, this directs the eye to the center of the composition and it's subject: the face, and ultimately the light inside.

Better Late Than Never

2008-09-19T02:02:00.004-04:00

This is a design idea that came to me about how to rectify this issue of personal space and people not using a shelter to its capacity. If there were a pad of concrete or some base, with bar stool-like seats sunken into the ground in seemingly sporadic arrangement, more seats would be occupied than with a traditional bench. The stool pedestals would eliminate the idea of someone sitting next to you and create the feeling of a personal bench, personal space. Thus more people would make use of the space and wheelchair accessibility would be made much simpler. This represents a shift of thinking with traditional bus shelters however; It is not a place you stop and take a load off, sit and wait, but more of an active rest area. The previous precedent studies have shown that most people stand at bus stops anyway regardless of what shelter is available, this taps into that, and creates a semi-standing rest position which may be more comfortable and appropriate for the situation.

Bus Shelter/Shelter Bus Codes and Details

2008-09-19T01:45:00.005-04:00

These diagrams illustrate one of the conundrums of bus shelters, using our precedent shelter as an example. Individuals who are waiting for a bus generally do not use the shelter. A few individuals will use the benches inside the shelter, but most gravitate in clusters around the trees. This is true even during inclement weather, most people will stand outside with their jackets or umbrellas. Due to the proximetrics and space comfort levels of average individuals, very few get to use the structure, because nobody wants to get close to each other. Also is it that trees represent an iconic symbol of shelter with which humans subconsciously identify? Are there other lurking variables associated with this site or with any bus stop site that are influencing this pattern of activity? It seems by examining this detail during our code exercises, more questions were raised than were answered. This is my portion of the codes diagrams, the others as well as the essay outlining our findings produced by my group, the Jacks, can be viewed by visiting my group mate's blogs. Jennifer Cochran or Jessica Crews

Bush Shelter Charette

2008-09-19T01:24:00.006-04:00

These are my preliminary sketch models for the bus shelter assignment. They borrowed heavily from principles used in some of my earlier projects. The bottom image shows the model that we ran with adding a few modifications but keeping it in tact for the most part.

It was decided that the open end of the shelter is to face Spring Garden Street, because that is the direction from which the bus approaches. The vertical opening in the opposite wall of the shelter serves as a window of sorts for occupants to look down Tate Street in the opposite direction of the bus' approach.

The shape of the structure was implemented in order to connect visually with the sculpture garden recently completed outside the art museum. It has a natural area that is wavy, changing height in a radio wave-like fashion. Thus the curves of the bus shelter are an extension of this visual element.

Bus Charette

2008-09-17T10:50:00.011-04:00

These are my initial design drawings for the bus, exploring several ideas. Each drawing shows a feature that was incorporated in the final design. The top drawing shows the expandable side panel much the way campers or RV's work. The second drawing was where I began toying with the idea to use an articulated bus (a bus with a center joint) to make use of the longer body and more interior space. Finally the bottom sketch was an exploration of how the inside might be ordered.

Circulation bubble chart diagramming the relationship between public and private spaces, to both the bus' communications/survey and stress counseling roles.

A specific diagram of elements and operation associated with the counseling function of the vehicle.
The communications element was important to the design and incorporated several aspects: networking and communication with other buses to integrate aid operations, surveying and site control to coordinate following logistics, and database services to document survivors and ultimately locate separated family members for them. This diagram represents the integration of all these functions.

Ride Heat and Be Green!

2008-09-10T09:43:00.004-04:00

Jenny,
I thought it was very interesting to learn that so many students at UNCG would choose alternate transportation to and from classes if it were more readily available. This was opposite to what I would have thought and provides a great opportunity to make our campus a leader in sustainability. Increasing public transportation would also build and make our campus community much stronger and integrative. So Ride Heat and Be Green! It's what all the cool kids are doing! Thanks for the insights!

The Three R's

2008-09-05T03:43:00.006-04:00

I thought the text was highly revealing about what the desegregation years must have been like for minority individuals, particularly students. I also had no idea that Greensboro has such a vivid history during this time period. I did the bus ride before reading and frankly the experience did not affect what I got from the text at all. It seemed to me like they were unrelated. While the connection with desegregation and public transportation is undeniable, the connection between then and the present day experience of riding the bus is questionable to me. Much of what went on then still happens, though not in the organized way it was in the past. For example, People naturally separate themselves out based on race and gender. Look around the Caf and you can notice that mostly people sit with others of the same race. A&T is still a predominantly African American school, and UNCG is still predominantly female. Some things have not changed but then again nobody is forcing minority students to sit with others like them when they eat or ride the bus in this case.

I did have a very interesting conversation with the guy I sat next to and the driver. The man I was with taught me how to speak ghetto, which was the riot of the whole bus "yo man wat da binnes is?" The driver got a good laugh from that one. I think it's funny to note that everyone was worried about the people they would meet on the bus. Yet the first thing the man next to me asked when I sat down was if I had a "nine" in my bag. It seems that everyone was frosty on the bus, all on the lookout for what other people were doing.

It was funny to see how out of place we all were on the bus. Nobody knew how to act or to pull the cord to get the bus driver to stop for example. It's strange how there exist several layers of the same world right under our noses that we never experience in our daily routine.

I did not really learn anything new on this bus ride, but the text was interesting, even for the late hour that I read it.

The First Week

2008-09-01T20:24:00.003-04:00

The first week for me really was not any big deal. It just kinda came and went. I am glad summer is over but starting back was much less dramatic than I was expecting. For me thus far second year, this first week in particular, feels pretty much like last year. That's why I chose to do the design sketch above. This was one of the biggest things I learned from last year was being able to generate ideas on paper this way.

Pathway Drawings

2008-08-29T10:49:00.003-04:00

This is my path from my apartment front door (top) to the Smith Street Diner (below). The treasure map here shows the nodes and landmarks I pass to get there.

Final Project

2008-05-05T23:28:00.013-04:00

My client was Isamu Noguchi. For this project I really tried to create a space that would speak to him as a person and be a place in which he would like to be, rather than make my project simply a representation of his work. When I was researching what exactly the definition of a "wall" was, I ran with the idea that walls create space, and thus the project was very backwards; I created a space to create a wall.

These are preliminary concept sketches. I chose to work with these because they showed the most promise for development
There was one more iteration before this one, it did not have the turned roof plane and was basically an exact model of the sketches above. I forgot to take a picture of it however and realized this by the time I had this model completed by adding parts to it
The slats on this model were an original idea I had to use water running down the sides for a calming visual and audio effect. It's way too boxy though, too much like a room.
This is not a new model but just turning the above version on it's side, the atrium-like feature at the top was very interesting to me and basically I used that and cut the rest of it away.
Using the little hut idea, I revamped it to abstract and lend itself to ancient Japanese temples.

The final model. A further reduction of it's features and the addition of pale, blue and green (on the underside of the panels). I chose Japanese style colors for a relaxing and calming effect on the ihabitant.
Throughout his life Noguchi had estrangement issues with his father, as well as had to put up with a lot of anti-Japanese sentiment during the world war II era. Thus with my project, in design it is directed at creating a sense of identity and security.

Stoell's House Project

2008-05-04T19:28:00.002-04:00

El Carreton

2008-05-04T19:25:00.001-04:00

My drawing from our field trip to El Carreton.

Elsewhere Drawings

2008-05-04T18:51:00.008-04:00

Well I do okay... sue me.

My "moment" of the space was this door, it's no secret I was not into Elsewhere at all, but the warnings chalked on the this door were very cool to me, and ironic. The distorted perspective worked out very nicely as well, especially for a first time experiment.
A more realistic and detailed drawing of the door.
I think this drawing of the lock of that door is one of my favorite drawings of all time.

5 Things from my room

2008-05-04T18:47:00.004-04:00

Sketchbook Assignment Furniture Rendering

2008-04-01T22:09:00.002-04:00

The Baths of Diocletian

2008-03-24T07:39:00.003-04:00

Produce and Pattern Project

2008-03-07T12:39:00.014-05:00

Concept sketches from preliminary ideas I didn't use, to final designs. These I did after the project was well under way, and were done for ideas how to revamp the project. Originally I worked directly from the 2D patterns below.
These drawings of the pepper are just horrible.
As noted above, these were my inspiration for the project and there were no sketches originally.
This model was made when I really didn't quite understand the direction in which my project was headed or what I was to do with my patterns. It is a testament to what doesn't work, and my repulsion to it was what lead me to successive iterations. In a way, without this failure, none of the other successes of this project could have happened, irony at it's finest.

I really liked the concept of this model and how it abstracted the pattern from which it came.

This version of the above white model shows the inclusion of a color, in this case orange. I chose it for it's brightness and high luminosity. The focus of my idea was to pull attention not to the interior of the geometric shapes, but to the spaces between them. I used orange there so that the light would reflect and create an aura so to speak inside those gaps. These pictures do that quality great justice. This model was also a great improvement on craft over the original all white version.

After the second geometric looking model I hit a wall and could not come up with anything new for that idea. I felt like the project needed a breath of fresh air, something to change it up and provide more material. During times like these, I always go look at the buildings of Santiago Calatrava. His work is absolutely breathtaking and always inspired me to look at or interpret my concepts and projects with new light. In this case, the Qatar Photography Museum led me to re-evaluate how I wanted my project to convey the sense of interior space, and was the reason for the revamp on my final model.

Drafting Projects

2008-03-04T15:56:00.012-05:00

EUC presentation board

2008-03-04T11:30:00.002-05:00

2008-02-20T17:18:00.007-05:00

These are some of the one minute sketches we did in class. Of all of them I think the three darker ones are the most successful in the style for which I was shooting.

These are great, I love how they came out sketchy yet communicate motion, I added some notes to try and remember what it was about them that worked.
This was just something I did to try and pull it all together, it is much harder to draw them I found when you have a specified height. A vertical start and stop point for the figure adds a lot of challenge, for me at least.

Coffee shop sketches

2008-02-20T16:59:00.006-05:00

I tried and tried to make this all work, and for some reason it just wasn't my day to draw. Eventually I got fed up with it all and started drawing lamps and chairs like the ones above. It was an incredibly bad day in just about every regard possible.

Entourage Examples

2008-02-15T18:05:00.007-05:00

These are some of my thumbnail sketches of the EUC from earlier in this assignment, the figures were one of the most fun part to draw for me, they add a lot of perspective with their height differences.

Style exploration

2008-02-14T02:09:00.009-05:00

The top right drawing was used as reference and was taken from the book Drawing and Designing With Confidence. Mine didn't come out quite right, the lines were not nearly sharp enough, and my markers/pens were too new; I couldn't achieve the worn out marker look that caught my eye in the inspiration image.

The image above, the one at right being used for reference, was also taken from Drawing and Designing With Confidence. For the same reasons as stated above, my picture didn't come out right. This technique isn't suited well to what I was drawing, there was not nearly enough perspective or detail to make it look right.

This page came from a book called Drawing Crime Noir, by Christopher Hart. The way you can only use two values proved to be more challenging than expected, but I think it turned out alright. It portrays the EUC as a place where you stand a fair chance of getting mugged if you aren't packing heat. This dramatic effect is just so cool to me.

serial enVisioning thumbnails of the EUC

2008-02-06T18:06:00.000-05:00

Detail Sketches

2008-02-05T23:36:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite parts of my 2x4 project was how I had to custom shape and trim one of the triangles so it would be tailor fitted to the spire giving it a flush fit and added stability. It was one of those problems that I ran into that got resolved nicely and was very unnoticeable, this was what did it for me, the fact that nobody noticed that it was different.

2x4 System Assignment

2008-01-31T17:53:00.000-05:00

This is usually how I start my projects. It is basically a big mess of everything I think the project could be; everything I want to incorporate or just questions to investigate. Since all our projects are so open ended, laying down some ground rules for yourself provides a great leaping point so to speak from which to develop. It is something I personally have really come to rely on during the process. In this case I was really striving to make a system with no ambiguous parts; every piece was to play an integral role in controlling tensile forces. The idea of tension and potential energy was very intriguing to me such that it was my main goal for the project. The materials and scale however dictated otherwise. As far as my original idea and plan goes, I wound up deviating very very far from it, but satisfied it's requirements in a very peculiar way I hadn't thought of. This will be explained lower on the page.

These are examples of the many concept sketches I did over the last two weeks, this is the real meat and potatoes of design to me; it's where ideas are in their truest forms. It also can be the most difficult step, therefore any ground gained here is worth it's weight in gold. Many of these were inspired by buildings by Santiago Calatrava and Foster and Partners architecture firms. Their work is just amazing to me and provided great insight and ideas. The darkened sketch in the bottom of these three pages was what I eventually built, surprisingly with very few alterations to it's design in it's own right. This was after trying other ideas to no success. While on paper it didn't embody what I was striving for, it did however become a vehicle for something new all together.

Originally I was trying to make something that was totally balanced in it's forces by interaction of even the smallest pieces; what I wound up making was something that was balanced in a visual way. It wasn't until I had finished the project and stepped back that I saw how much equality of visual weight there was in it. The twisted pieces give volume to the standing series of triangles. The triangles on their side spread horizontally and the spires extend vertically. While there is nothing symmetrical about the piece, it has great balance of visually weighted parts... this would not be the case had some of the parts been omitted. This in itself was a great success and learning point for me. Also I realized that it made use of the rule of threes which we were discussing in Patrick's class, what a coincidence.

Apparently everyone thought this would make quite a church because of the spire. This fact made me like it a little less actually. The vertical height was intended to imitate a skyscraper, maybe it just wasn't tall enough for that. I love this shot though, it really distorts the distance.This is another cool one that plays with perspective.
I can hear Tommy's voice now: "I wonder what it would look like on it's side?" Incidentally I had never considered this; my project was designed to be viewed from any angle while sitting upright. I will say it looks ten times cooler though at a peculiar angle, I only wish I had envisioned something like this.

Three drawings

2008-01-29T09:23:00.001-05:00

This is the stuff on my bathroom counter. This one was a lot of fun to draw, I really like how the brush and shaded wall came out.

For some reason my roommates have this thing with saving every beer bottle and can from which they have ever drank. It's not even good beer either, every box, can, or bottle in this picture is cheap domestic piss, and can be bought on sale at your local supermarket. They even go so far as to save the boxes for their 24 pack... wow. Like the bathroom sketch above, I highly enjoyed this one. It seems I am always looking for drawing material with drama or action, something that touches you and is worth drawing. I suppose in this case the flair and drama were provided by the irony of underage kids with delusions of refinement and taste, saving a whole lot of incriminating evidence right on the living room wall.

I will admit it was very late when this drawing was completed and I wasn't totally into it. It started out with potential to be pretty good but I don't think it turned out like I had hoped. The divisions of the shelves are not equal, and the hatching for the wire frame could be much more consistent. The perspective worked perfectly the way it changes from the top shelf to the bottom shelf though.

Leaf Drawings

2007-12-10T13:21:00.000-05:00

Part of the left side got cut off due to the size of the paper not fitting in the scanner.

Design Firm Website Critique.

2007-12-09T16:02:00.000-05:00

It is ironic I think that in a profession based on design and visual appeal there are so many poorly designed websites for design firms. There are so many that are based off of magazine design. While if we were leafing through Dwell they would be great, however on the web the bar is raised. Because there are capabilities to add video, multi-layered graphics and other organic features to a website, the traditional cut out pictures and text just don't cut it. www.ricescabinetry.com and www.pvzdesign.com are examples of this. They are not inherently bad, just poorly suited for the medium being used. www.shugartbates.com, www.gglo.com, www.clairenightingale.com, www.pauladevonraso.com, and www.weberthompson.com are some websites that I particularly enjoyed and that stuck out. They usually had some sort of introduction that took advantage of multimedia capabilities. Something like this really captures attention and makes the material much easier to read and take in, it makes it effortless. When you have to really go out of your way and try to get the information, it just defeats the purpose of thoughtful website design. It's all about visual appeal and efficient presentation of material. www.sapphire-studios.com, www.officewraps.com, and www.hendersonkelly.net are a decent cross section of the middle ground between these two extremes. Frankly though I think there is absolutely no excuse for any architecture or interior design firm to have a website that is anything short of eye popping.

Designer Research

2007-12-09T15:33:00.000-05:00

Personally I think it is absolutely absurd to be researching and studying designers and architects. I looked at examples of many famous architects to include Frank Lloyd Wright, Albert Kahn, Le Corbusier, etc... and to be perfectly honest while their designs were incredible, they were not that far removed from a talented contemporary non-famous architect or designers' work. I think revolutionary design is everywhere, we just don't look for it outside of certain venues that we restrict ourselves to. Critique of design is so subjective anyone can find wonder or disgrace in just about whatever they choose. Maybe this occurs to only me, but it also seems there are quite a few individuals involved in the design of a building, to attribute all credit to just one person is simply asinine. With all this being said, to study a building for it's features or merits seems highly appropriate, but it seems our minds are already made up before we even consider the piece simply for knowing the designers name.

Graphic Media Design Research

2007-12-08T17:19:00.002-05:00

Ahh the Ipod. This style of advertisement is very forward thinking and ingenious. When you walk around campus you can always spot students listening to their Ipod. this is obvious by the iconic white ear buds and wires we have come to associate with the apple brand. It doesn't matter what the person looks like or is wearing, this stands out like a drunk in church. This abstraction of the figures foreshadows this effect excellently.

The graphics of this advertisement are very well suited to the subject product. the greyscale of the mans face and hair corresponds well with the color of the blender's metal finish, topped off with blue snowflakes. At first glance you wouldn't be able to tell what was being marketed because the picture is so small in the upper right corner. This graphic reveals just enough about the product but not enough to figure out what it is in a glance; it draws readers in to read the caption and look closely at the product picture. I found this to be an interesting strategy given that most ads are designed to present all their information in a second's clance.

No photo of a car looks this spectacular. In fact outside of a carshow with special lighting, you rarely will achieve such reflections. Why are they there in this photo? By adding those reflections, the car takes on a whole new dynamic feel. They hug the curves of the vehicle's body making the form stand out. Also it can be noted that most of the reflection lines travel from front to back on the vehicle. This gives the car a much more sleek, and fast look. I imagine that taking a snapshot of this SUV under normal circumstances it would look totally ordinary. Not the case in the advertisement, and afterall nobody sold a car by making it look ordinary.

This image reminded me of an ipod commercial with the iconic white earbud wires being all that is visible. What is interesting is how the line is continuous, shaping one person and the other. It gives the picture a great sense of movement drawing the eye from one corner to the other, and in the process, to the advertised earrings. I have noticed that many jewelry ads are highly abstracted with dark colors to contrast the bright diamonds. This is a classic example of such strategy.

Imagine aliens emerging from the mother ship over middle America in search of drinkers with taste... what?! they don't want to talk to President Bush? who would have though?! The simplicity of this design is it's strength. The fact that the brand name is not so highly known as most may be considered a weakness, but in this case it turns that into a strength. I can read that easily in a second or two while leafing through a magazine, taking it all in. I wonder, if Ketel One means style and taste, and I have never had it... this draws me to want to go out and sample it for myself. Such cleverness is key.

The selling point of this notebook computer is the circular shaped hinge when it's profile is in view. By placing the image in a large circle in relation to the page, this feature is highlighted, because one naturally sees things that continue the theme of the page. It is as if Dell included a closeup view of the product over top of the side view.

Not only is this faucet simple and elegant, but half of it is shown as a concept drawing. Drawings are normally more appealing to the eye when they are simpler and roughed out. It leaves much more for the mind to piece together on it's own. This element of the picture taps into that appeal. One appreciates the form of the fixture, while being able to look at a concept sketch at the same time. This also shows the process of design taken to arrive at the final product.

This is another highly successful example of how omitting details makes an image much more pleasing to look at. By showing this faucet only by specular highlights in it's profile view, you get a great feel for the shape of the object as well as the three dimensional form. This is a neat abstraction of an image to show more of it's essence and feel.

The rendering of this image is remarkable and is what caught my eye when I first saw it. I wanted to look at every feature to see how it was portrayed with value or color and not necessarily line. It is a great image that makes the advertisement look more traditional and fine quality.

If you look at the carpet swatch at the bottom left of the page, it aligns with the edge of the stairs, which have the same pattern carpeting covering them. It seems as if the pattern is spilling out towards you from the stairs, it becomes more than just a printed floor covering but something alive.

Buildings Design Research

2007-12-06T22:01:00.001-05:00

This building has so many features that are clearly seen in this picture. The key is the use of such intricate lighting. It really brings out all the cornices and moldings of the facade that would go unnoticed otherwise. The building has a very striking first impression, with a very regal look. This was what I like about it, with particular emphasis on the lighting effects.

The color choice with this coastal house in Ireland is absolutely brilliant. It compliments the blue colors of the water and the sky with lighter tones of cream and eggshell. While it is hard to make a structure like that seem to belong in such a location, this choice of color really pulls it off. It is not that the house belongs per se, but that it compliments the natural hues to make it's intrusion seem more natural.

This estate looks to be something strait out of a Disney movie. One would expect to see Cinderella get punched out by her evil stepmother in a setting such as this. This is very intriguing to me in that a building would be constructed to resemble such mideavil styling with features such as the circular turret at center with conical roof, or the vaulted doorways and windowpanes. It all is one big throwback albeit very tastefully done.

Ivy growing up sides of people's houses is generally not a good thing. I know my mother goes to great lengths to see that the ivy in the backyard is kept under control and doesn't take over the yard. In this setting however, it seems that it is condoned. The ivy is growing all over the front side of the house and over the walls. The effect of this is to tie everything in the courtyard together. It makes the setting come alive. The white color of the house would stand out a little too much for this type of environment over powering the subtleties of it's surroundings. Due to some handy grooming though the ivy looks like it belongs, like it was intended to grow in such a manor to complete the setting.

You are looking at the essence of green design. This summer home in Australia was built to have a little environmental impact as possible. Here are just a couple of the features this house has to minimize it's environmental footprint. It's roof is covered with solar panels to supplement and offset normal power use. Behind the house you will notice several large metal containers which are used to collect rainwater. Green design is the new and coming trend in architecture and design but clearly it is not as widespread as global warming dictates that it should be. This house stands as an example however to lead the way in minimal impact design.

This vintage inner city building to me just has such a neat appeal. The fire escape zigzagging down the side of the building with the "seeds" lettering incorporated into the proportions of the structure make it interesting. There was an old factory in High Point that looked very similar to this building that was renovated to become an expensive furniture showroom. The exterior was left unchanged for the most part though, only the insides were gutted and rebuilt. The mixture of rough industrial
and upscale design and fixtures really popped and turned the building into a trendy moneymaking machine. I see a lot of that in this building, particularly the roof with the rusty siding.

I think that today there are far too many cookie cutter buildings so to speak. Everything is about square features. Everything lines up and fits together. This building stands to mix things up a bit. it is buildings such as this that bring life to a cityscape; they put their location on the map. Nobody would have come to see this structure had it been cheaply constructed in squared fashion such as everything else is. They would however come to see it as it is now though with it's obtrusive angles and brushed titanium surfaces. I wish every building could be as unique as this one is.

The Natuzzi building in downtown High Point. I can't say much for the town itself, however this building is remarkable. When you drive down Main street this building comes into view and it looks as if there is a massive ship sailing right down the center of the road. There is even an abstracted hole in the curved side to denote where an anchor would go. The experience around this building is so crucial to it's purpose. During furniture market, there are thousands of representatives milling around downtown on foot. Seeing such a sight would pique interest and curiosity, drawing customers. The integration of design and location are highly successful.

This is another interesting building that adds flavor to an ordinarily boring downtown drag. Inset in the picture is a concept sketch on a cocktail napkin that was drawn by the architect. The similarity of the first sketch and the finished building is remarkable. What makes the experience of this one is the juxtaposition of traditional square construction with radical shapes and angles. It is almost uncomfortable to look at without being able to explore the shape more fully.

Not much of this building is visible, however something very peculiar is at work here. The pool has no outside edge, the water's surface extends all the way to the edge of the pool. I imagine it spills over the wall a little bit however, this integrates the pool into the building in a way not done often these days. traditionally you have the pool deck with a little drop to the water. This builds the water directly into the shape of the structure making it seem like it belongs, rather than just something added later.

Product Design Research

2007-12-05T20:39:00.000-05:00

Now I am no big shot furniture designer, but having lived in High Point for the last fifteen years has given me a great ability to spot comfy sofas at a glance. This happens to be one of them. The way the cushions are quilted really shows how soft it is. This element also provides a soft touch to the environment without even having to sit on the piece; put that in your game room and it's sure to make things a little more homey and relaxed. It is this visual appeal that I find so intriguing, you sit with your eyes first.

This kind of wall covering is so interesting to look at. Being comprised of many tiles that interlock to form various different customizable patterns provides so much versatility of use. Not just that but look at the photo, you could look at that for hours and not get bored; it provides so much depth and texture. I imagine this would be awesome as a small accent wall or something of the like. Too much use of it could be bad however, but get it to the right proportion... wow.

This tile by Ann Sacks has much the same appeal as the product by Wovin Wall Coverings pictured above. Both have intrigue, this one though has movement. When I look at this tile I feel as if I am looking at a very shallow reflecting pond. Maybe a half inch of water or so glimmering in the sunlight. The way this feel and image has been put into tile form is truly a remarkable design. Be able to walk on water... Step aside Jesus, the new kid is in town and her name is Ann Sacks!

I confess, I used this image for layout as well as for this product review. I just find both so cool. This product's strong point is more of a technical achievement. It blends ice into snow. Perfect flakes. It has been said by Esquire magazine that no man's blender is seeing enough use. With this in mind who doesn't need an appliance that will enable them to make a daiquiri with snow!? That guy using this blender by Breville is the master of all he surveys. If ever there was a kitchen appliance that would get his hot date's clothes off, this is the one.

This refrigerator made by Sub Zero refrigerators has a very remarkable feature. It blends in with the rest of the cabinets. In the average kitchen of today the refrigerator is very distinct and stands out as it's own piece. This approach integrates it into the flow of the rest of the room. Not only that, but it keeps separate compartments totally isolated from one another. This ensures there is no cross contamination of flavors between possibly sensitive foods. After all who wants ice cream that smells like your grandma's specialty meatloaf?

Casablanca fans sure got something right when they designed this. The ornate brass frame, with stretched cloth is not your ordinary ceiling fan. This exotic construction makes you feel almost as if you are being fanned by hand by a personal servant or something. It really ices the cake so to speak with this gazebo. It is a step away from the ordinary whirring fan of contemporary style.

Originally tomatoes were believed to be poisonous, when really it was just that the acid they contained leached the lead out of pewter flatware they were being eaten from, which in turn got into the food. Apparently Match has found a way around giving their customers heavy metal poisoning. This elegant style of pewter dish is very classic and clean, with a touch of ancient-ness to it. I would very much like to enjoy a rare steak on something like this, perhaps wearing a scarlet toga while watching a gladiatorial combat.

This Asko dishwasher shows something very important in it's design: an eye to the future, to that which hasn't been thought of. The average dishwasher is meant to cater to general fare: dishes, pots and pans, silverware, etc. What about those of us that entertain often and need a solution for specialty glassware? That's where this baby comes in. It rescues suburban moms to the hostess of a church ladies meeting alike from the perils of damaged crystal. Ingenious. Outside the home, the only place you might find something like this is in a bar or restaurant.

There are multitudes of kitchen designers out there, page through Interior Design magazine, you will probably see them all. But Snaidero Kitchens has set themselves apart I think with one element of this kitchen's design. The stove vent. The two cylindrical forms coming down from the ceiling is such an interesting approach. It is a very clean, platonic form in brushed metal, contrasted by the black cabinetry. I only hope my kitchen has something this cool one day.

The faucet at center was what really caught my attention. Designed by Lefroybrooks, they incorporate a sense of vintage refinement to otherwise contemporary style. The old style thermostat knob is very classy. Using a fixture like this is sure to make you feel older and more refined, as if your name were Arthur, Vincent, or the like; a crucial element for a bubble bath with Mr. Ducky.

Presentation drawings for time capsule

2007-11-29T15:35:00.001-05:00

Due to the fact that this time capsule project is a textured sphere, the orthographic drawing is very simple if not boring. The dimensions at the bottom are a little cut off because of the paper size; it wouldn't all fit in the scanner.

These are pretty strait forward. Drawings of the context in which the time capsule will be seen; where it will be placed. In this case it will go on the second floor next to the water fountain outside room 204.

Layout Assignment

2007-11-20T15:42:00.000-05:00

This project gives a very negative impression of my first semester. This is certainly not the case, I enjoyed this class very much and love to draw. I just was not really in the mood to draw to say the very least. This and I found no intrigue with the subject or assignment, and thus could not be very passionate about it. As I said in the caption, it is during times like these that all my abilities just leave me.

Time Capsule Zine

2007-11-19T20:09:00.001-05:00

Zine Prototype Spread

2007-11-19T20:03:00.000-05:00

Value Shading Excercise

2007-11-19T19:55:00.001-05:00

Drawings from class on Tuesday

2007-11-15T12:43:00.001-05:00

This one is Karis.

This is Zach.

Time capsule model sketches 2

2007-11-15T12:29:00.000-05:00

This is my shading assignment with a little more contrast. As I said earlier, the spherical one is made of black matboard... damn near impossible to see any shadow or value on it, thus most of the shade and form had to be improvised.

time capsule model sketches

2007-11-13T23:12:00.000-05:00

The round model was all black matboard so there was absolutely no shadow or shine on it regardless of the light I used or at least that's how it seemed, I was clueless how to add value.

2007-11-08T01:54:00.001-05:00

shading practice assignment

2007-11-06T12:26:00.001-05:00

These are the best of my shading excercises.

This is the cap for my pencil sharpener sitting next to a pile of nerds.

I gave Liz that bullet.

Shading Excercise

2007-11-01T14:28:00.001-04:00

Zine layout for interior spaces.

2007-10-18T13:42:00.000-04:00

This is my layout project, the subject is interior spaces.

Front and back covers.

Memory Box Morph

2007-10-11T18:01:00.001-04:00

For this project I combined the memory containers of Krista Giles, at top, and Lauren Foster, bottom right. These sketches proved highly useful because when drawing them I unknowingly accentuated features that became important to me later on, making future steps much easier... Lesson learned: sketch and don't photograph at this point. My projects look nothing at all like these two because I was really striving to capture their essence and not their physique. This is why I chose balsa when both Krista and Lauren used mat board, I was concerned that if any part of my project had similar material as the originals, that would be all people see. Thus they would make physical connections, as opposed to essential ones when considering similarities of my work and Krista or Lauren's.

From Krista's moving box I took the idea of being divided as shown with the piece of Plexiglas through the middle. Lauren's container, on the other hand struck me as a great contrast between a smooth, graceful shape, and sharp spires holding it up. The curve inside the slats of my three projects became my conduit for combining these two qualities. By making the curve flatter the project leaned towards Krista's, while making it smoother and more round pulled it closer to Lauren's. That being said having three different iterations to do with varying levels of involvement from the two originals, was very well facilitated by this design.

These are some of my thumbnail sketches, the one at the bottom left was done by Jake.

This drawing gave me the idea for how I did these three projects. It originally was a sketch of a heat sink that I drew to explain to Anna how computer processors are cooled. It wasn't until a day or two later that it really struck me when I was looking for clean paper in my sketchbook.

This has stuff piled on it to hold it together while the glue was setting.

This version closer to Lauren's project had no hangups at all in construction, it pretty much just fell together. This is why I have only this picture of the it's process, by the time I realized I needed to take a picture it was nearly complete.

These are some construction photos of each of the three iterations. The fabrication was very strait-forward using only bond glue. Due to the fragile nature of balsa however, it did take several attempts at first to get a feel for the material, and understand how things needed to go together. After that first rough part, they pretty much built themselves with few major problems.

These are the final pictures. The top one is closer to Krista's moving box, followed by a "middle mix" and at bottom a version closer to Lauren's.

Layout Project

2007-10-11T13:46:00.000-04:00

This is my thumbnail drawing of the page layout I am using. It came from the May 2007 edition of Interior Design magazine. Apparently there are several May editions and despite my best efforts I was unable to locate the page.

Here is my layout page, the original from the magazine had black where i am using a white page on the left, and the lettering was much simpler than what I am using. I thought that using black would overpower the marker colors on the right side and so I went with white. Had the picture been a professionally edited photograph i would have gone with a darker color.

Memory container final picture

2007-10-02T16:09:00.001-04:00

Here is another photo of my final iteration, it is much cleaner than the first.

Memory Container 2

2007-09-29T19:36:00.001-04:00

These are some sequential pictures of making the final iteration. They leave out a good portion of it I know, it was hard to remember to stop and take pictures of stuff.
Cutting out the parts for the box.

Here you can really see the tiles inside the box. I decided to raise them up off the bottom a little bit, as well as bring the corner pieces in some; they originally held the sides on, so I added similar tabs on the outside. Both of these features I scored and mitered so the outside edge would be clean. This box has much better construction than previous versions of the project.
This is the project after adding the red parts and such. You might not be able to tell, but it was just dripping with Sobo glue at this point. The red pieces also penetrate through the sides and bottom of the box forming legs for it. Thus the whole thing rests at a peculiar angle

Here is the final product. The memory is when I made a fool out of myself with my sisters in a nice restaurant when we got drunk, disturbing countless other patrons. I hated this project originally but think it didn't turn out too terribly bad in the end.

Memory Container 1

2007-09-29T19:12:00.000-04:00

This is my concept sketch, with important elements/notes at the top, and a few computations to clutter it up nicely. This is the essence of the project for me, everything I was trying to accomplish through it. Normally this is the first thing that happens however, I had no clue what I was doing until later on, thus the first step happened later in the process.

First iteration: Like I said I had no clue what I was doing so I just threw this out there, (this was before I got an idea and did the concept sketch above) It had the martini glass-looking cone upside down on the spire. I cannibalized that part for later iterations which is why it is not in the picture.
Second iteration: This was the first after the drawing and includes the cup shape taken from the earlier version. It is hard to see, but there are mat board tiles checkered inside the box. The construction of this is clearly sub-par.

Black Paper Self Portrait

2007-09-25T16:34:00.001-04:00

Pencil Box Project

2007-09-20T18:23:00.001-04:00

Profile Drawings

2007-09-20T13:23:00.001-04:00

Profile Drawings

2007-09-18T12:41:00.000-04:00

Egg project

2007-09-14T11:08:00.001-04:00

People Drawings

2007-09-13T13:23:00.000-04:00

My drawings of people look so sketchy, and for some reason they always wind up being in a weird perspective, different from what I see.

Negative spcace bicycle

2007-09-11T13:01:00.001-04:00

Line contours of downtown

2007-09-11T12:58:00.001-04:00

I was really not in the mood to draw at all when I did these, suffice to say it was a bad week of drawing for me. I think they are terrible.

Line Contour Number 2

2007-09-07T13:50:00.001-04:00

This is the second of the two Line Contour drawings I did from this view. The first however was in a sketchbook that got lost. This one is not nearly as good as the first, I was so incredibly tired when I drew it and just didn't care.

Contour of Downtown 1

2007-09-05T15:21:00.000-04:00

The windows of the parking deck in the foreground are not right, they don't converge at a vanishing point making the building look slanted.