Im a big fan of reusing things instead in just throwing them away and replacing them with new things. I think that everything is worth taking a deeper look at and figuring out ways to integrate them into a new design in the same space.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Exhibit Artifact Brainstorming
I love the fact we are doing our exhibit on bathrooms and in particular the evolution of toilets over history and spanning over different cultures. Here are some links to websites that i found that might be helpful:
A toilet bowl from Weald and Downland Museum
I choose this image because of the decoration of a now blank object. In the 19th century inside toilets were a privileged that only the wealthy had so they were a symbol of class. The concept of adding adornment to a toilet if a concept that we have lost over time.
assignment 003 -- DC Speech Presentation
When approaching this assignment i looked at it as a way to express my options and thoughts about the DC trip and what i noticed while there. When the writing center visited us in class and talked about the proper approach to a presentation i felt is helped with basic things that i normally overlook when presenting. The basic things i took from the lesson were when presenting to set it up similar to a essay with a beginning with a hook statement and clear points and parts and to recap at the end so your point is clear and memorable. However when i was planning my speech out I tried to include these helpful points but when it came to presenting all my preparation flew out the window because of basic nerves of it being the first formal presentation for the class. Honestly i couldn't tell you what came out of my mouth but hopefully i did good and got my ideas and conclusions from the trip across. When it comes to the next presentation i will not be nervous since i have already got the first out of the way and i will make better note cards that are more organized and easy to read and present to the class.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Texture Study's for the IOB
extra ideas...
Friday, September 23, 2011
Random Things I Currently Like
Recently i have been loving the idea of placing a bed or needed object in a oddly shaped or cramped area because to me it makes it feel cozy and inviting. The windows in this image allow light in as well as making the space seem larger. One day when i have a house i am making sure that i have a upstairs room with these windows/skylights and awkward nook space.
On a completely random note the fact that someone took the time to actually cover this whole piano with a knitted cover is just cool :)
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Floating Sea City
So i was looking at caity's blog and noticed this design site that she blogged about and i instantly became obsessed. I found this project where designers were working on making the ocean a comfortable place for people to live. The idea behind the floating city it making more space for us to live instead of expanding upward. These sea cities have all the enmities as normal cities with the added bonus of being in the middle of a body of water.
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| "In a world where almost every square inch of (non-freezing) land seems occupied, it is no wonder that our imaginations take us to the high seas when we think of adventure, freedom and new frontiers. The floating ‘Lilypad‘ concept above envisions a series of entire mobile, self-sufficient and off-the-grid ocean cities" |
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| http://dornob.com/floating-city-futurist-ocean-frontiers-high-seas-homes/ |
Playing in PHOTOSHOP
We were ask to play around in photoshop and to do that using pictures we took in Washington dc. For my image i decided to layer the sky in the photo of the capital building and the american flag that i work with to make it not so vibrent and a picture of the
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| In this image i used the laso tool to remove the sky so i could layer things under it. |
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Blog Assignment 001
I had never actually noticed the IOB building before but when i was walking toward it i realized why. The street side of the building is plain white and looks like all the other building on lee street which are fairly boring and lifeless. The actual entrance to the building is placed on the side to view from the parking lot. The entrance side was brick and had plants and a flag pole which are pretty normal for an exterior of a building. However to enter you must walk around the plants and down a ramp to a hidden entrance which leads you to the vestibule. The plain white walls of the reception area and the standard reception desk makes the entrance boring and contradicting with what the IOB is all about. As you walked toward the steps there is a small meditation area with a fountain that shows the factory is not like all the others. When you walk upstairs you approach the office area where there is a conference room and the managements personal offices where there is a open door policy that shows because of all the chatter and conversations going on in the office. Past the offices are the factory spaces that are specialized to make the work process easier for the seeing impaired workers. The stairs are marked with white dots and marked walk ways. In the factory space itself there are clean work areas that allow for complete path ways and mirrors around corners that make it easier to tell whats on the other side of the wall. Overall the entrance spaces are closed off and uninviting and the IOB deserves a space that tells their story and spreads the wood to the community of the great things they are accomplishing. In the Industries of the blind the main issue of the space was making the space have a story of its own to tell rather than leading one to the story. The Industry of the Blind is a place where their story deserves to be told and the community needs to be made aware of the amazing things they are doing and their struggles and triumphs they experienced to get to that place. The workers overcome all odds and choose to work jobs that the far exceed expectations and produce high quality objects that save lives. With the new business management policy of Mr. Lopresti everyone has there own exceptions and are expected to meet them. This plan proves that people will work harder when they are expected to instead of being forced and punished in order to meet quotes. With this new work plan productivity has shot through the roof and now the IOB is a force in the production world. The IOB and people who work there inspire me not only to work harder but to overcome any odds that pop up along the way. Also the people an management team has taught me that people will work harder if they are expected to rather than being forced to succeed they will push themselves to success.
Knock Knock KNOCK
Front doors are the first detail of a house that you notice when visiting a new space and in this doors design there is a lot of importance. Wither it be color size or detail doors show a little about who lives in the house and tells the world about you. These doors are not just regular doors they are playful and impressively designed with the pattern, texture, and color as well as the scale and how the door is incorporated with the overall design its not just a whole in a wall with a plain door shoved in, its a piece of are that overflows onto the surrounding areas of the building.
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| photos were taken from pintrest.com |
Are those stairs???
"Never look backwards or you'll fall down the stairs." Rudyard Kipling
Recently stairs have been catching my attention since we discussed the stair case at the Greensboro Historic Museum. Designers have started to come up with new and exciting ways to get you up the stairs and make the space a little more interesting. These examples are using something other than the ceiling as a supports system and in doing so create a new way of looking at purposeful objects.
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| pictures came from pintrest.com and did not have any further links attached |
Thursday, September 8, 2011
GHM Exhibit Visit
{ 1 } "VOICES" Exhibit
{ 2 } PERIOD Rooms and POTTERY Display
The period rooms and the pottery display is located on the second level where the pottery room is in the center and the period rooms are in a circle surrounding them. The period rooms display Greensboro's founding families home. The Tate families early 1900's home is shown through the replicas that show the style of home furnishing at the time. This helps set the tone so you can imagine the time period in which the family lived. However the placement of the rooms around the pottery exhibit do not make sense because the two exhibits are two compleatly different things that have no relation to each other and it seams almost like a after thought to combine the two. In order to get to the period rooms you must walk compleatly around the pottery display cases which draw more of your attention so i would assume that the rooms get overlooked pretty easily and people just move on to the next exhibit. The units of pottery show how the original artist in Greensboro adapted styles of diffident cultures. The bright colored pottery pops against the white display stands and the lighting reflects from one piece to another making the eye move back and forth around the display case. In my option the pottery exhibit is stronger than the period rooms since they are colorful and purposefully displayed where the rooms seem to be cluttered and poorly lit so you have it focus your attention on each room to understand exactly what is going on in each room.
{ 3 } The "GATE CITY" Exhibit
When you walked into the gate city exhibit its like walking into the middle of a town in the 1900's. The exhibit was a combination of sound, texture, lighting. The first thing you notice when you walk in is the tree right in the middle of you line of sight then you notice all the buildings with different exteriors arranged in a circular fashion around the center point. This area has a nice flow to it because you can just follow the circle around till you reach where you began. This part of the museum was different from the rest because you could walk into each staged room and experiences each of them for yourself instead of being divided from them by a pain of glass. The narration throughout the space was helpful because it allowed you to learn more about the spaces rather than just things on the surface. The lighting made certain things in each space pop out and spotlighted the key aspects in each room.
{ 4 } The Traveling Exhibit "DOWN HOME"
The down home exhibit is split between two different spaces which splits the focus half is located on the left side of the lobby where the rest is on the third floor. The exhibit consist of a time line of the history of the Jewish peoples lives in North Carolina and Greensboro specifically. Also depicts customs of the Jewish people and how the celebrate different events in their lives. In the first section there is a synagogue and different artifacts. This flows directly into a kitchen scene where you can interact with the objects and a auditory element is introduced into the exhibit. This helps connect the visual aspects with our normal culture and better realize the differences and similarities. The next area ties together the other parts of the exhibit wrapping up the overall concept of the display's. The division of this exhibit helps direct one through the exhibit and the lighting and the audio elements further focus your attention to the main points the GHM is trying to convey.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
where i want to LEAP
When asked to make a choice of what location i would like to work on i first sat down and wrote out all the design issues i thought each space had. After doing this i realized that the issues of the Weatherspoon art museum and the Greensboro historic museum both had were ones dealing with leading people to destinations that informed the viewer and making things make more sense within the spaces. However, in the Industries of the blind the main issue of the space was making the space have a story of its own to tell rather than leading one to the story. The Industry of the Blind is a place where their story deserves to be told and the community needs to be made aware of the amazing things they are doing and their struggles and triumphs they experienced to get to that place.
I would love nothing more than to be able to say i was one of the students that made that dream a reality. To this project i would be personaly beneficial because i am someone who is good at communicating and drawing ideas from what people are saying they want and expanding on them rather than just doing exactly what they request. With my time management skills i will make sure every step of the way that we are on task and heading as a group as a whole in the right design direction for the space. Normally on projects i end up leading the group simply because i am good at juggling many task at once and on this project that is important since there are several things we need to consider and focus on. While the project is going on i normally gather all the work and put together all the information from all the group members so if anyone in the group need access to it then it is all in one place and it makes the design process flow easier. I think it is a very important task to help the IOB and i will make sure that everyone in my group is working as hard as possible in order to get the work completed high above what the IOB could ever imagine we could accomplish.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Industries Of The Blind Site Study
The industries of the blind was not what i was expecting. I was expecting it to be a normal factory where people worked mechanically all day and came back the next day to repeat the task. Instead the president of the corporation running it like a sweat shop he knew each employee and respected them and their work.
{narrative}
I had never actually noticed the IOB building before but when i was walking toward it i realized why. The street side of the building is plain white and looks like all the other building on lee street which are fairly boring and lifeless. The actual entrance to the building is placed on the side to view from the parking lot. The entrance side was brick and had plants and a flag pole which are pretty normal for an exterior of a building. When i learned what the IOB was i began to wonder why i had never heard of it or the amazing things they do there. To enter the building you have to walk around the plants to a ramp that leads you into the lobby space. The plain white walls of the reception area and the standard reception desk makes the entrance boring and contradicting with what the IOB is all about. As you walked toward the steps there is a small meditation area with a fountain that shows the factory is not like all the others. When you walk upstairs you approach the office area where there is a conference room and the managements personal offices where there is a open door policy that shows because of all the chatter and conversations going on in the office. Past the offices are the factory spaces that are specialized to make the work process easier for the seeing impaired workers. Overall the entrance spaces are closed off and uninviting and the IOB deserves a space that tells their story and spreads the wood to the community of the great things they are accomplishing.
{thumbnails}
{diagramming process}
{refined diagram}
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| Right now the IOB is a locked book and their story need to be told |
{factors that impact use + perception}
occasions-factory, meetings, casual conversations
players- employees, visitors, clients
resources-offices, presentation/conference area, gift shop, meditation area
surroundings- staircase, offices, conference room, bathrooms, reception area, windows, light artificial and natural, shadows, sounds
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