12 hours later...

I'd like to challenge you to see who had the most exciting Saturday! Results: you will win.

I spent the majority of my Saturday making my final "model."  It really wasn't that awful — and I am super happy with the final results.  I decided to go with my round, circular light.  I also added some pizazz to my inner tube by poking it with a safety pin hundreds of times.  I think it gives my light a little something extra.

Here are a few of pictures of my final lamp:

Now the fun part — getting it to class on Tuesday.

inspiration

While looking for ideas for my light fixture I came across these lights.  Some of these are really interesting and could probably be adapted to working for this project.

three models

after over four straight hours of work, I have three preliminary models.  here they are:

For the light above, I was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's light fixtures.  He is very linear and his lines are clean.  Here is an image of one of his lights that I was looking at:

by Frank Lloyd Wright.

A couple more of my fixtures:

 

My favorite thus far is the third one shown.  I've just got to figure out a better way to get the circular pieces to stay in place.  I am also a fan of the crumpled lamp, however it seems almost too simple and  as though this project is looking for something more.

reflections

The following are my reflections for our fourth project:

Parts of the Letter reflection

         This reading pertained very much to our project.  Knowing the parts of the letter made it easier to warp the letters into reflecting the meaning of our words.  There were many technical terms that I have not mastered yet, however being introduced to those terms will be a good thing for future classes on typography.  I thought it was interesting to see the many different fonts and their variations right next to each other.  This highlighted the fact that when one chooses a font, it should not just be random because each font says something different.  I thought the logo example of FedEx was a great addition to this reading.  It is one of my favorite logos because it is so simple, yet at the same time there are surprises within the logo that I did not see for the longest time (the arrow between the “E” and the “x”).  This reading also introduced the idea that people spend their whole lives analyzing fonts and their different parts and what those parts mean.  I think that sounds pretty amazing.  I enjoyed this informative reading because I enjoy looking at various fonts and it was interesting to start learning more about the individual parts of the letter.

Photography Essay reflection

         One of the ideas I found most interesting in these readings on photography was the belief that anyone can be a photographer at anytime of the day if they simply know some of the basic rules.  When I previously thought of professional photographers, I imagined them setting up a specific time and date to photograph.  However in this reading, the mentioned some of the best photography can come from ones everyday life and therefore, one should always have a camera with them and ready to capture those moments.  These readings helped prepare us for the photo aspect of this assignment.  They provided us with the basic rules for generating good photos — ranging from symmetry vs. asymmetry to framing and everywhere in between.  Those basic rues then allowed our group to showcase our letters in a visually appealing way.  I also enjoyed simply looking at some of the examples within these readings.  The idea of documentation also very much applied to what we were doing with this project.  We captured our letters in a certain location to document them because they would not always remain in said location.  It was interesting to learn about the difference between photographing a scene versus documenting something.  I think in the most basic terms, documenting is when you are taking a photo of something that will only be there for a limited time (for example our letters, or war, or hurricane victims, etc.).

Word Collages/Designs reflection

         The process of creating my word collages was very much fun and exciting.  For the handmade collages I felt a little limited but I think that is because I didn’t push myself far enough.  After our first critique of the designs, so many more ideas popped in my head and I started sketching ideas immediately.  I enjoyed this part of the project very much because I like typography and messing with type to reflect the meaning of the word.  Once we got on the computer I felt more capable of creating various designs.  I learned a lot during this part of the project about illustrator.  The pathfinder exercises and the color exercises showed me tools that I hadn’t worked with before (as I am new to illustrator) and through playing around with some of those tolls, I got some interesting results.  The most difficult part of this part of the project was deciding how to place color within my designs.  I felt as though support didn’t really lend itself very well to specific color choices, so I ended up choosing colors based on personal preference.  However, after many revisions, I thought my color designs turned out pretty successful.

Big Words on Site reflection

         When our group was deciding where to photograph our letters, we had so many ideas it was difficult to narrow it down to just one.  So we didn’t.  We ended up photographing our word, “transfer,” in an elevator at Snow Hall, on the bus, and next to an ATM at Wescoe.  We choose the elevator because of the idea of moving the letters from one floor to another reflected the meaning of our word.  The bus was successful because it relocated our letters all over campus.  Finally, the ATM reflected the idea of a money transaction and transferring money from an account into ones hands.  The most difficult part of this assignment was determining different angels to capture the letters in.  We had to make sure our letters were set up just right, so that one could read them without struggle and then we had to be creative about the way we photographed them.  Mackenzie (our group’s photographer) tried to capture the letters in as many different ways as possible and some of the photographs ended up being very successful.  In order to have a variety we also tried setting up the letters in different ways at each location.  During this part of the project I learned more about thinking outside the box.  This assignment pushed us to not only come up with the most obvious solution, but to try and surprise someone.  I think our ATM location was one that not many people would have thought of.

Team Dynamics reflection

         I felt as though our group worked really well together.  Everyone wanted the same thing — for our project to be successful.  We all brainstormed various ideas and brought them all together.  From there we decided as a group how we wanted to construct our letters, where we wanted to place them, and ways to photograph the word.  Sera was probably the ringleader of our group; she did a lot of the actual construction of our letters (although we all helped — I did the math calculations of how to make our letters larger, Sera drew the stencil base off those measurements, and Madi and Mackenzie cut the letters out of the cardboard). I took most of the pictures of the working process, Mackenzie took our groups photos in their locations, and Madi was key in helping us decide on our locations and setting up the letters.  I was happy with how well we worked together; it truly was a collaborative effort.

the end.

 

finishing touches

Our fourth project is coming to an end and I am beginning to get everything ready to turn in.  So far I've finished mounting my 9 "support" color refinements and I've got my accordion book pages completed and simply need to print and glue them together.  Then I've got to work on my reflections for our process "notebook."

Walking around and seeing other representations of words was exciting and I though ours was pretty successful.  My favorite pictures are probably from the elevator setting.  Here's an awkward elevator photo of me:

Construction, complete

Thanks to some awesome team members who worked on our letters yesterday we only had a couple letters to finish constructing in class today. After we finished construction of "transfer" we went on a tour of the local elevators and found the most perfect, most tacky elevator in snow hall. After the tour, we decided we'd duct tape the edges of our letters to make then cleaner, here's how it looks:

color and places

Here are my color designs of support thus far:

Any suggestions?

And here are a few places I've seen that we could place our word: transfer.

Working process

Today in class we got a lot of preliminary work done on our word project. First, we decided on out top 3 places to put our word, "transfer":

1. On the bus (in windows) bus that goes by the Rec because it stops longer
2. Elevator
3. ATM (at the bookstore, room at the union full of ATMs)

Then we got to work on how we would construct our letters by making mini-letters. Here are some photos of our work today:










And here are a few different ways we got our letters to stand, now we've got to choose what will work best.

transfer

trans·fer

–verb (used with object)

1. to convey or remove from one place, person, etc., to another: He transferred the package from one hand to the other.

2. to cause to pass from one person to another, as thought, qualities, or power; transmit.

3. Law. to make over the possession or control of: to transfer a title to land.

4. to imprint, impress, or otherwise convey (a drawing, design, pattern, etc.) from one surface to another. 

 

–verb (used without object)

5. to remove oneself from one place to another: to transfer from the new york office to London.

6. to withdraw from one school, college, or the like, and enter another: I transferred from Rutgers to Tulane.

7. to be moved from one place to another: to transfer to overseas duty.

8. to change by means of a transfer from one bus, train, or the like, to another.

support and color

The following are the three designs I am going to work with.  Now I've got to start working with color.  It may be a little challenging but hopefully I get some good results out of it!

type

I love that our new project is dealing with type.  I love looking at different fonts and can't wait to take a class on fonts — I've slowly been teaching myself about them.  Anyway, I found this and thought it was cute/funny.  I think my favorite is the baskerville (meaningless fact: that was one of the two fonts I chose for my high school paper).

here's the link to where I found this: http://9gag.com/gag/21488/#

More meaninglessness: I'm listening to really loud music right now.  Why? Because I love it.

printed

I printed my poster on Friday and am so excited to have this project completed!! Tonight I am working on finishing my process notebook.  Tomorrow night I'll work on the 20 typographic images with my word "support."  I am going to work on trying to depict my word using the word only once.

support

We are wrapping up project 3 (finally) and moving on to the next.  For this project we're representing a word and it's meaning.  I've chosen the word support.

According to the American Heritage dictionary, it's defined as:

TRANSITIVE VERB:
sup·port·ed, sup·port·ing, sup·ports

1. To bear the weight of, especially from below.
2. To hold in position so as to keep from falling, sinking, or slipping.
3. To be capable of bearing; withstand: "His flaw'd heart . . . too weak the conflict to support" (Shakespeare).
4. To keep from weakening or failing; strengthen: The letter supported him in his grief.

 Now I'm off to finish up my hairdryer project and study for a journalism test!
 

Fredrik Marsh

Last night photographer Fredrik Marsh spoke with us in the Hallmark Symposium series.  I found him very interesting to listen to – even though I may not be going into photo.  It is always interesting and more entertaining to hear from someone who obviously loves what they do (which Mr. Marsh does).  I loved his work where he was capturing the landscape with man-made influences.

 This was one of my favorites he showed.  The framing of the horizon and landscape through the building is very intriguing.

I also enjoyed the interior shots he did in Germany and thought they were more successful once he began shooting in color.  Here was one of my favorites:

One of the most interesting part of his photos. to me, was he said he never sets anything up.  He shoots what is left there for him.  This is very inspiring, I like the idea of just capturing what is already there.

If you want to see more of his work, check out his website: www.FredrikMarsh.com

thus far...

Here's what I've got so far, I still plan on editing some of these and then I obviously need to finish my gestural and texture still and scan those in.  Any thoughts?

hairdryers on illustrator

I am really enjoying working on this project with illustrator.  I've started refining all of my hairdryers and am getting excited to finish this project!  I've only got two more drawings to complete — the gestural and texture.  So, I guess we'll see what everyone thinks in class on Tuesday!

what? a computer?

I am so excited to be moving on to the next step in this project!  I am happy with the 15 drawings I ended up choosing to refine for the poster and hopefully they'll look great together.  I can't wait to mess around more with Illustrator.  I feel like I'm getting the hang of it — at least for basic tools.  I scanned in some of my drawings last night and couldn't help but already start to mess with them in Photoshop and Illustrator.

inspiration.

I got a new pair of shoes today from my favorite company ever, TOMS shoes.  Aside from graphic design, I also hope to make an impact on the world and TOMS shoes has been a huge inspiration in that aspect.  One guy has made a world of difference to young kids in poverty stricken countries by providing shoes (for each pair a customer buys, one pair is donated).  I can only hope to become involved in something as a great as TOMS.

Love.

wow, my posts are even getting monotonous

Not only do I feel like all we do in this class is draw, now that is all I post about.  My weekend will be spent finishing up these bazillion drawings.  Maybe eventually I'll have something new to post about regarding class...

drawings everywhere

Tonight I am trying to get caught up on all of the drawings we've gone over in class thus far.  I did that math - we're supposed to have 220 drawings by tomorrow. That's a lot...  So far, I've enjoyed working on the geometric, single line and index drawings the most.  I think that is because I like more abstract things and I am constantly doodling.  Hopefully all of these drawing exercises will help improve my skills overall, right now I am a little tired of looking at this hair dryer though.

Here are some painterly interpretations of my hairdryer laying out all over my bed.

This isn't even a good representation of my room.  You can't step anywhere without dodging paper.

**Update:

This is what happens when you decide to finger (or in my case, hand) paint.

life is getting crazy busy.

So today in class we worked more on sketching an object for our new project — mine is a hair dryer by the way.  I really liked the geometric drawings.  I think it's probably because I spend half my life doodling everywhere so drawing basic shapes is always fun for me.  I also like the texture/collage depictions.  It is fun to cut out and piece them together — however, I've only done one so far and I'm sure it will get tiring to do 20+.

But like the title of this blog states: Life is getting crazy busy.  I've got to study for my Community Leadership test tomorrow (that class is a nightmare fyi).  And then I've got my first test in art history on Monday.  I'm a little worried because I haven't been keeping up with the readings like I should have.  Plus I need to stay caught up on all these drawings/sketches we've got to do for design.  Annnnnnnddd, I am going out of town this weekend so I'm trying to get everything done tonight and tomorrow.  Today I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed, but I'm going to take it one task at a time!

Wish me luck.

why graphic design?

Some might ask, Stephanie, why did you choose graphic design as a major to pursue?  To them I would say:

In high school I was a part of our newspaper, The Tiger Print.  This was my main focus for three years and I love being a part of this group.  I worked extremely hard and during my senior year, was editor-in-chief.  However, writing was not my favorite part of the experience — layouts were.  I loved creating packages for the pages.  It was like working on a puzzle, getting the pieces to fit just right.  During my senior year, I also started working on the covers of our paper and that exposed me to even more of the graphic design world.  My process for coming up with new ideas often led me to searching through magazines like Communication Arts and Before and After.  I will always be grateful to my years on the high school paper for helping me find something I truly enjoy doing.

Our cover from March last year that I designed.

The layout for our center spread on communication I designed.

Our cover from September about communication that I designed.

Through this class and similar classes, I hope to learn more about the graphic design world in general.  I'm not sure what area of graphics I want to get into.  There are so many choices, I hope these classes will help me narrow it down.

best. group. (picture). ever.

Taylor, Caleb, Me, and Caitlyn

brainstorming

Our brainstorming session on the paintbrush and how it can be improved.

interviews on the hairbrush

Just in case you want to know why people use a hairbrush, here you go:

Saundra Roche, female age 48

Q: Why do you use a hairbrush?

A: Mainly for when I get out of the shower to comb out any tangles and also when I am blow-drying my hair to help control the curl.

Q: What is most important when picking out a hairbrush?

A: I look at the shape of the head of the brush; I need something a little larger to help control my hair.

Q: Where is it most convenient for you to store your brush (i.e. In a drawer on hanging on the wall)?

A: I just put it in a drawer with all my other hair stuff.

Q: What is your least favorite part of the hairbrush right now?

A: On my hairbrush, the handle is very hard to grip in a comfortable position.

Christina Hurley, female age 34

Q: Why do you use a hairbrush?

A: I use my brush all the time, whenever my hair starts to get tangly or while I’m flat ironing it to help.

Q: What is most important when picking out a hairbrush?

A: I like one that is easy to clean — I’ve got so much hair that it sheds a lot in my brush and I need to find one that I can clean easily.

Q: Where is it most convenient for you to store your brush (i.e. In a drawer on hanging on the wall)?

A: Probably just in a drawer.

Q: What is your least favorite part of the hairbrush right now?

A: I don’t have one that is easy to clean right now so like I said earlier I need something that is easier to clean.

Melissa Illies, female age 18

Q: Why do you use a hairbrush?

A: My hair is pretty straight so I just usually use it when I get out of the shower.

Q: What is most important when picking out a hairbrush?

A: I need something that I won’t drop because I’m so clumsy.

Q: Where is it most convenient for you to store your brush (i.e. In a drawer on hanging on the wall)?

A: Right now I keep it in a drawer but I guess if it was easy to put on a hook that would be cool.

Q: What is your least favorite part of the hairbrush right now?

A: Um, probably the handle.  It is just hard and uncomfortable.

Chris Roche, male age 16

Q: Why do you use a hairbrush?

A: I don’t really use a brush, just a comb.

Q: What is most important when picking out a hairbrush?

A: Mom buys me it, so whatever she likes.

Q: Where is it most convenient for you to store your brush (i.e. In a drawer on hanging on the wall)?

A: It’s just on my sink right now.

Q: What is your least favorite part of the hairbrush right now?

A: I guess that it would be cool if the brush and comb were in one.

Sara Hurley, female age 61

Q: Why do you use a hairbrush?

A: I brush out my hair every morning and at night before bed; otherwise it’s a big bird’s nest.

Q: What is most important when picking out a hairbrush?

A: I’m starting to get arthritis so I need something I can hold onto easily without dropping or cramping up my hand.

Q: Where is it most convenient for you to store your brush (i.e. In a drawer on hanging on the wall)?

A: You know, I never really thought about it.  I guess I would like to hang it up along my bathroom wall where I’ve got my hairdryer.

Q: What is your least favorite part of the hairbrush right now?

A: I wish I could change the shape of the head of my brush — it’s too narrow and yanks out my hair.

IDEO video / visual writing handout

After watching the IDEO video in class, I was very excited by the prospect of one day working in an environment like that.  Creativity and new ideas seem to flourish there.


The practice we did with the visual writing was also helpful because often I will think of one thing that leads to another to another and then they have nothing to do with what I originally wanted.  It is constructive to get it down on paper and maybe those far out ideas will become the basis for a goal.

the hairbrush

On my search for a poorly designed object, I settled on the hairbrush.  There is nothing exceptionally horrible about it, however, there is nothing great either.  The handle could use a lot of work and the head of my hairbrush could be a bit larger.

Giant hairbrush! (not mine. I wish.)

my view

Photos I've taken over the years at concerts. Some of my favorites:

a beautiful day

Mumford & Sons - The Banjolin Song / Awake my soul - A Take Away Show #105 from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

find me

Find me on Facebook here

my 5 Objects

Stapler
Book light
Soap Dispenser
Salt and Pepper shaker
blender

ideas for my first project on great design