3rd Year Critique for studio class on 12/5/2008

Students were to create their own individual retail store within a larger shopping center. The two shopping centers were BioMech Mills and The Shops at Buffalo Creek. Students had to link or unify their store with the larger shopping center. From these powerpoint presentations I learned a lot about presentation as well as process work.

Cultivation- Plant store

The designer presented this store with many hand-rendered drawings of what the space would look like. To figure out the right color she made many different renderings with different colors for all of the accents. One of the most important and helpful parts of her presentation was the way she made the plan with color coded walls. She then showed perceptive hand-renderings of her store. Each perspective was color coded to match the wall that corresponded with the plan so that viewers would not become disoriented. She also included a small thumbnail plan picture at the bottom left of every perspective so that we could still see the plan in its relation to the perspective. The designer was criticized on the structure of her displays in that they stood on very thin poles that didn't seem to look like they could handle the weight placed on them. Also the amount of merchandise and displays within the store was very sparse.

Soiree Green- Party store

The designer spoke of the ways in which people would move through the store in a circular motion. Store has an elevated consulting area where party planners can meet with customers. One thing the designer didn't think about well as pointed out by Stoel was the the lack of possible child interaction with the store as the displays and products were mostly marketed towards adults.

Sight Waves- Camera Store

Designer was inspired by light waves and digital displays. Uses Digital display touch screens throughout the store so that customers can interact with the cameras, upload them to the screens and make choices based on this holistic experience.

Overcast- Overcoats, briefcases, and high-end office supplies

Her concept was overcast as well as urban business culture. The most important thing I learned from her store was the way she made the front displays. Each display told a story of people interacting with their urban environment with their briefcases and overcoats. One mannequin was shown running in the rain, one shown walking down the sidewalk and another going down stairs to a fire escape. The clothing and merchandise were showcased on dark backlit backgrounds so that a silhouette of light will accentuate and enhance the products.

The last stores included: Your State (produce mart), Choc-A-Lot (chocolatier), and Stiches (jeans store).

One of the most important things I learned from all of the presentations was that hand rendered drawings rather than computer generated renderings were much better in showing detail, attraction, light as well as what the designer wanted to communicate. Also all of the designers showed lots of process work in their development of logos, spaces, colors, modules and size.

4th Year Furniture Critique I attended on 12/1/2008

Because of my interest in the furniture design class, I decided to attend the 4th year critique. Students were to read a science fiction story depicting the world world in the year 2020 and design around what they read. The students talked of the specific character or character's house they were designing for and what purpose their furniture would serve. 

The first presenter (bottom two pictures) not only made sketches but actual illustrations of cityscapes she believed locations in the story would look like. From these pictures we were able to understand her interpretation of the world making her presentation more interactive and involving. She found the curved metal struts that bolster the table at at salvage yard. She also painted the table to complement the color of these struts. Although this was not discussed I felt that the shape and curvature of the table represented the rapid progression in terms of technology that is going on today and will multiply in the future. 

The second presenter (top picture) created a lounge chair where the main character would sit in his living room and read. He also provided a nice illustration of a person sitting on this chair reading in "his 140 floor high apartment." Stoel and Tommy discussed the flexing that which resulted when someone sat on the chair and that it is a "beneficial accident," however the legs and footing would need to address the issue as they would splay from the pressure. They also discussed the how the angle to the back rest was awkward and that the back rest perhaps wasn't tall enough to support the back well.

The third Presenter also had issues with the angle of the back rest and that the sitter was almost under tension when sitting in it due to the 45 degree angle the seat has to the back. 

The fourth presenter (top middle green chair) Also had issues with back rest height as the "hyperbola" curves would only come about half way up the back.

The first presenter's table was my favorite of all of the pieces as I thought it was the most visually interesting and it had a stylish way of supporting the legs from splaying. Other furniture pieces would have beautiful wood staining but then have chrome metal struts and large bolts protruding which seemed to interrupt the the natural qualities. Although the large metal parts may have been intended to represent the future, the first presenter worked with her metal struts in a stylish way by complementing color and form.

Redo of Woodland Chapel

I decided to redo my vellum trace of the Woodland Chapel because I felt I poched my original too dark. I ended up buying and using a gray marker (rather than black sharpie) for this new one so that the poche would not come out too dark. The bottom picture is the new one and the top picture is the old one. The new one shows all of the inner workings of the roof much better than the older one. 

The Class Final Exhibit

This was our exhibit which we presented on 12/1/2008. I was the spokesperson for our group. Many local professionals related to the industry lent their wisdom on how we could improve our projects.

New Final Scale Model For Presentation

These are pictures of Christy Wallace holding the updated scale model I made for the exhibit. The wave will now appear on the two sides facing the driveway through the parkinglot and "tails" from the waves ending will be on the other sides. This way people walking within the lot may want to walk around the cubes to see the wave continue around the cube. The cubes are also now flat on top rather than being wavy. From observing our second mold and turning it upside down we thought it looked better and it would also lessen the technical problems we face in integrating the top waves with the side waves. 

2nd Individual Drawings for Desert

These are my new section and top views. Because Stoel wanted us to downsize our cubes we decided on two new sizes for the small and large cubes. The small cube will be 1'6" tall and 1' wide. The large cube will be 1'10" tall and 1' wide. The hollow box is now 4" from the outside. 

My First Individual Drawings for the Desert

The top is my top view of one of the larger cubes and the bottom picture is a section. The white box in the middle is the hollow section of our cast. The hollowness provides a great weight reduction. The height is 2'1/2" and 1'1/2". 

First Scale Model For Desert

This is our first 1/2":1' scale model of our desert installation. We made it so that the viewer can see a continuation of a wave all the way across the four blocks. We made the blocks black with white waves so that the waves can "pop" better in the model. We also created a little scale 5'8" man to stand next to the cubes so that viewers can see the average person's size relation to the cubes.

Perspective Pictures and Drawings