Twins Room

The first step of this project was to choose a children's book that would be the inspiration. Immediately I thought of all the endless books that were favorites of mine when I was a child. By far, the Dr. Seuss books were my favorites, inspiring the design through the book, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. The keywords are rhythm, contrast and whimsical. Teal, red and yellow are the main colors, inspired by the book. In application of the room, rhythm was created with the vertical lines seen in the design of the furniture. Contrast was created in shape (square vs circular) and color (teal, red & yellow). Whimsical is applied in the child-like and carefree quality of design. If I did this again I would spend more time on the presentation board. I did not plan well enough as to how the floorplan, drawings etc would fit. Therefore I fill the board is a bit crowded. It is also harder to see the shape that is my board- which is a camel (from the inspiration image). Contrary to some belief, it is not a caterpillar ;) Overall I really like my design and feel it is able to transition with the twins as they get older.

3 concept study models

Final Concept Model

Accessible Kitchen

The kitchen was inspired by the original concept developement. This room was based on those 3 original study models. From that the keywords were chosen, which are movement, balance, & unity. What makes this kitchen unique is that it had to be accessible for a mom who liked to cook but was limited in what she can do because of a wheelchair. The dad also liked to cook so I had to make the kitchen functional for both of them and the height differences. Therefore I created an island where Patti, the mom can ride under the lower counter and eat at the bar with her kids and husband. Other features are there are 2 ovens, one high and the other low so Patti can use one oven and the husband can use the other. Also there are no cabinets under the cooktop so Patti can still use the stovetop safely.

I learned a lot during this project. My main lesson was to always consider every part of a space. I realized halfway through my design that I had a column in the middle of my Fridge. This wasn't going to work so I thickened the wall to accomodate this. Who knew something as small as a column could be such an issue in design! So note to self...always pay attention to the little details.

Combine Building Concept Development

"Domesticity, privacy, comfort, the concept of the home and of the family, these are literally, principal achievements of the Bourgeois Age." -John Lukas

I found this quote in a book about the history and importance of home. After quote analysis, I pulled the words privacy, conformity and desires. The latter two words coming from the analysis of Domesticity and Bourgeois Age. I wanted to show in my concept models the conflict between the outside world (conformity) and the home (personal desires). For many people, home is where we go when we want to get away from the world. I wanted to illustrate that in my work throughout this semester.

From Inspiration to Room

This poster is the culmination of the work I have done over the semester. I worked the entire semester on projects that were based on the artist, Georgia O'Keeffe. This shows my process, from finding my inspiration piece to my exploration and application to create an abstract room, illustrated in a To Scale model. Not only was my work based on my artist, it also included a quote from Georgia O'Keeffe. Throughout this project I learned a lot about Georgia O'Keeffe-about her life and her works. I also learned a lot about the design process, which is the process a designer goes through from inspiration to production. It was a journey and learning experience for myself during this project. I quickly realized that perfection is unattainable in this field, because a design can always be changed. There will always be something I did not think of that could make the design better. But there comes a point where I must stop or I will never stop! This is a very important lesson.

My resume

This is a copy of my resume. I took my generic resume I created several years ago in Word and transferred it to InDesign. InDesign was easy to work with during this project. I was able to put each paragraph in its own text box so I had the freedom to move it around. I added my logo because it is a good representation of who I am. I also decided to match the pink and green I used in my logo and use it to accent the lettering and to create a border at the bottom of the page.

My logo

This is my final design for my logo! This was an exciting assignment because I got to design something that expresses who I am. This was a little harder than I though it would be because I had to define my personal style. This was challenging because I do not believe I have one particular style but many. I love all styles-I guess you could say I am eclectic. Therefore I incorporated a couple different styles into my logo design. I chose cursive for my initials because I thought it conveyed traditional which is a big part of who I am. I wanted that to really stand out and be the focal point. For the word "DESIGNS" I chose more of an asian style with the simple, straight lines. The leaf was incorporated into my design for many reasons. It represents new beginnings and is reflected in the sustainable, chemical free design that I am interested in.

I originally designed my logo in black and white and was happy with it but I was encouraged to play around with color. Color is very important to me so it made a lot of sense to incorporate this element into my design. In the end I chose green for the leaf (very literal I know) and pink because it is my favorite color.

Looking back on this assignment I think I achieved what I wanted to. I designed a logo I am very happy with. Some may say it is too simple but I prefer simple. It expresses who I am. It's simple yet elegant.

The Ocean

This was created using the Wacom Tablet, which is an exciting new tool where you draw on what looks like a flat computer screen but acts like a piece of paper. This was my first time using it and I had a fun time. The advantage I see to using this over drawing on a regular piece of paper is that you can easily and quickly manipulate the images you already drew. So for this picture I drew the shapes and then added color but I was able to manipulate the shape and vary the color using opacity, which is how I created the transparency of the clouds. The one thing I would change if I did it again would be to add the background color first and then draw the shapes, specifically the palm trees over the color. It was very hard and time consuming to try to paint the background color between each palm tree leaf. Overall, I am extremely happy with this drawing. Now I have something to look at when I am in need of a vacation, that will take me to the beaches in the Carribean!

Banana Sketch

For this sketch we had to draw a piece of whole fruit plus a dissection. I chose a banana because it had an interesting shape and color. I like this drawing because of the contrast between the black pen and the yellow marker. If I did it again I would make the outside of the dissection more round instead of angular shaped as I have it. But overall, I like how it turned out. It was fun to use my favorite mediums to draw my favorite fruit!

Flower, Vase and Candle Sketch 1

For this sketch we had to draw 3 home accessories, two different ways. I chose a flower, vase and candle because these are 3 accesories I feel are important in a room. The smooth texture of the vase and the ice cube-like quality of the candle holder made this sketch interesting and unique. In this sketch I got to explore how light can create shadows and the different ways of expressing those shadows. If I did this sketch again I would vary the darkness/lightness and thickness of the pencil to make certain areas stand out more. I would also use more sure lines instead of many sketch lines.

Flower, Vase and Candle Sketch 2

My Heritage Textile

This assignment was my favorite of the semester. It was the second project we did using Photoshop. The assignment was to research our heritage; specifically what qualities and images represented the heritage. We then applied our research into a textile design.

Although I am made of many cultures, the Irish heritage is the one I associate the most with. Some qualities of the Irish heritage are the color green, clovers, the Celtic Cross and the Irish Blessing. I chose to incorporate those qualities in my design. The Cross and the Irish Blessing have special significance to myself because my religion is very important to me. I felt this was a way I could express who I am.

When incorporating these elements together I came across a dilemma. I wanted the Irish Blessing to be seen but I didn't want the design to be chaotic so I changed the opacity level. The result was it faded into the background, yet was still readable. It turned out exactly as I had envisioned. After I had perfected my textile design I then transferred it to InDesign to create a 3x3 pattern. I don't think I would change anything if I did it again. I am very happy with how it turned out.

Through this design I was able to gain skills in Photoshop and InDesign as well as research and apply qualities of my heritage into a textile design that is special and unique. This design expresses who I am and where I came from. It is exciting to be able to express such a unique part of myself to others.

Photoshop Quilt Pattern

This was the first assignment I did with Photoshop. Once I got over my fright I enjoyed all the cool things Photoshop could do. For this assignment I had to take pictures and manipulate them so they were unrecognizable. I then applied them to a quilt pattern. Some of the pictures I chose to manipulate were from my favorite architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. I chose to use a picture from Falling Water and a design of one of his rugs. I used one of Kandinsky's works in addition to two flower paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe. I also manipulated a picture of my dream car-a red mini cooper. My last three pictures are of the mountains and of my favorite place-the beach!

Looking back on this assignment I think it turned out well and allowed me to get introduced to Photoshop. The overall design is a bit chaotic so next time I might try to unify the colors more but overall it turned out well and I enjoyed manipulating the images!