Client Brief

Being able to talk to a client brings a whole new perspective to a project. It is definitely interesting to hear their viewpoints and what they envision in a space, compared to what I as a designer see in a space. One thing I learned was the importance to design around what your client wants. You are certainly able to add elements to the design that you like or think would be appropriate, but the design usually falls back to what the client needs. I am worried in the future of getting a client that has no room for compromise, or would absolutely love something in a space that does not work. One thing I can do to improve my interview notes would be to find a better way to organize them. Perhaps different section heads or labels would be the easiest way to organize them into smaller categories.

Urban Sketchers

Walking through the Olympic Sculpture Garden to sketch was a wonderful experience. I wish we could have spent the whole day sketching there. I feel like I still have a ways to go with my sketching skills, but I do see some improvement. One thing I need to work on is adding more reference points in my drawings, such as sky, buildings, people, benches, etc. Little things that make my sketches have more meaning. Looking at the sketches the urban sketchers did was amazing. I hope that one day my color application skills will look comparable to theirs. I just need to remind myself that they have been doing this a lot longer then I have.

H4H and Knoll

Learning about the house of the immediate future was very interesting. Habitat for Humanity constructs different houses depending on the area they are in. The materials, style of building, and size of the house are similar to the houses that already exist in that area. I thought it was nice that they did not have one cookie-cutter style house that they just plopped down in different countries.

Visiting Knoll was one of the highlights of this trip for me. It was so awesome that we got to learn about all these different chair types and about desk units for offices. It is really amazing that they put so much time into learning how people function in their workplace and what works best for them. So much time goes into the development of their office chairs, it is incredible.

Job Shadow

During our job shadow at Interior Design International I learned many important things about being an interior designer. Our firm does a lot of hospitality work, so it is very important that you use the right materials for the space. For example, the flooring needs to be very durable because of all the foot traffic a hotel or restaurant gets. Furniture such as seating needs to have durable fabrics as well, but they also need to be easy to clean if something is spilled on them. While visiting IDI we were able to actually help them with a project and gathered materials that they were sending off to a client in New York. We used organizational and lettering skills and it was really cool that we got to do a little bit of real life work. While having lunch we were able to have more one-on-one time and asked questions about things we needed to learn, or would be helpful in the field. Budgeting and information on materials were two important things that they brought up. They said we should learn as much as possible about the textiles, furniture, flooring, etc. that we would be using, so we will be able to inform our clients on the best choices in the future. I thought this experience was very helpful in learning about interior design, and it was amazing that we actually got to do work for them.

Ride , Don't Walk

Some designs seen in this environment do and do not work for people with special needs. For example, placing a door switch on a ramp is very difficult to use when in a wheelchair on said ramp. Also, some ramps are way too steep and very scary to go down in a wheelchair. The designed environment should be accessible to everyone, regardless of cost. Not everyone has special needs, but there are circumstances that would require someone to be in a wheelchair for a period of time, or walk with a walker. Making places accessible for everyone should be very important to all designers. If the designed environment is not accessible to everyone, only a fraction of the population would be able to enjoy those spaces and the remainder would be alienated from this population. Designing environments to be accessible for everyone creates no barriers and enables people to interact with each other on a level field.

Concept Development

The idea of home developed into varying line weights and groupings of shapes. It takes many sketches to really get into an abstract frame of mind, but when I come up with one good idea  I am able to come up with many more quite quickly. I enjoy doing abstract thumbnail sketches and getting to work with different types of media. In the future I would like to draw more sketches then I currently do and perhaps try and achieve an even more abstract end product.

Kitchen

This kitchen is not at all what I am capable of, I am very disappointed. The drafting and layout of the kitchen went well because I gave myself time to plan out where everything needed to go. This poster went downhill from there. I did not give myself ample time to accomplish everything that I wanted to. I like to think of this as a turning point where I will manage my time more effectively and take my time with drawing images, rendering, and laying out my posters.

Context Poster

The layout and background of this poster was done well, although my images could have been larger. These photos represented applications of color in different settings, and how people react to them psychologically and physiologically. For example, if a person wants to lose weight or eat healthier a kitchen with red tones is a bad choice.  These colors make a person eat more food and consume it more quickly. One thing that was difficult to accomplish was summarizing all this information to fit onto one poster.

Final Posters

One very important thing I learned while putting this poster together is that you should not use tacky glue on vellum. It leaves a very noticeable blob. All of my graphic design knowledge I learned really helped me create these posters. It made it much easier to figure out where to put things and how to space them. I feel like these posters portray the design process I went through while creating this seat and shelter. The one thing I like the most about these posters is how my background turned out. I spent a lot of time creating it in photoshop, so I am very happy that it looks so nice.

Final Model

Coming up with a design for a seat and shelter was more difficult then I thought it would be. Trying to create something functional from abstract sketches and models is definitely a new process for me. I was able to create the metal shelter from the idea of a sea shell wrapping around itself, so the idea for the bench was to have something that appeared more solid and grounded. I am really happy that I was able to make the metal in a shape that would provide shade throughout the day. To improve on this model I would have liked to make the base of the bench a bit taller, so it would look more realistic and comparable to an actual bench.

Final Abstract Model

The most difficult thing about creating this model was working with the wire. It took a good hour or two to bend it the way I wanted. Creating the rest of the model went pretty smoothly. To improve this model I would have chosen a heavier material for the base. The chip board I used is not very good at holding up heavy wire.

Shadow Sketch

The first mistake I made with this drawing with choosing pen over pencil. I would have been able to show shadows with more variation in value with pencil. I do like how the shadows on the handrail turned out, even though the rail itself looks a bit contorted. I rushed through this sketch and did not take as much time as I should of. On a positive note I learned that I should give myself more time when sketching to avoid rushing and missing important details.

Proportion Sketch

I usually have a lot of trouble drawing things in proportion, so I am quite pleased with how this sketch turned out. I get very frustrated and disheartened when my drawings do not turn out how I thought they would. I took more time then usual planning out this sketch in my head, so I believe that is one of the reasons it turned out so well. Looking at this sketch makes me feel like I am actually learning from my mistakes and my drawing skills are improving. 

Negative Space Sketch

This was a quick sketch that was not too difficult to complete. I would have added more leaves to make it more interesting now that I can see the final product. Drawing only the negative space of an object really made me focus on the shape and form of the object, and not the tiny details. I feel that this will help me in the future to pay attention to the overall shape of objects.

2-Point Perspective Sketch

I feel like I was able to show the different values of this room decently. I still think my perspectives still need work, but I am starting to improve. It was difficult for me to draw the pipes on the ceiling. I could not get them to turn out the way I wanted them to.

Perspective Sketch

Each time I draw a perspective it gets a little bit easier and makes more sense. I feel like a did a really good job creating a feeling of depth on the floor. The hallway closest to the far wall looks ok to me, but the one in the foreground looks a bit off.

1-Point Perspective Sketch

Another quick sketch that I should have spent more time on. Perspectives really frustrate me. I was too close to the door and should have backed down the hallway a bit more so that I would have had more of a space to draw.

Abstract Models

Most of these models appear very flat to me. I had a difficult time trying to make them appear three dimensional. I think I tried to make them appear exactly as I saw them in my drawings, when I should have been more flexible. I could have abstracted them even more instead of trying to make them exactly the same.

Designer Poster

Most of the time making this poster was spent trying different layouts for images and text. The quality of the images turned out really well, but I feel like the quotes I chose are floating around.

Hybrid Drawing

If I could improve this drawing, I would have chosen a better image for the brick. The size of the brick I chose is not proportional to the rest of the room. I feel like the value and color of the floor turned out well.

Fruit Value Painting

Creating value with paint takes a lot of time and effort. It is hard to creates shadows and darker areas with paint without making it look muddy, which is what happened on my lemon. Outlining the fruit with pen really helped define its' shape.

Hand Sketch

Hands are usually difficult for me to draw, but I really think this turned out well. I tried to draw slower and think about the different lines and shadows on my hand. Drawing the object my hand was gripping also made me focus on the lines the object had, as well as my hand.

People Contour Sketch

I like that contour drawings can still show action and activity without too much detail. I chose to do this sketch in pen since a lot of detail was not needed, and I can create solid, definite lines with a pen.

Tree Contour Sketch

Sketching these trees by only showing the contour lines wasn't too difficult to accomplish, but I feel like I didn't use enough contrast in value and line weight. I found that by clustering lines together I could show which areas were denser in branches or leaves. I do like how both of these sketches turned out, but I wish I had more of an idea of how to make them better. Perhaps I could look at other examples and learn from them?

Pattern

Lining up the images was difficult for me in this pattern. Even though all the squares on the background were the exact same size, my triangles would not line up. This pattern took a long time to complete, but I feel like it turned out really well. To improve upon it I should have found images with varying visual texture, or transformed them so they appeared to be different.

Design Definition Posters

Creating the layout for these posters was difficult since my images varied in shape and size. I feel like the overall layout works even though my images do not line up perfectly. Most of my time was spent resizing images and trying out different layouts to see which ones looked the nicest.

Palouse Tablet Drawing

I really enjoyed making this drawing. I like how the buildings turned out, but I wish I spent more time on the snow. It looks pretty flat and there is not a lot of contrast in the colors. I am still figuring out how to draw with a tablet, so I think I was able to create what I wanted with the knowledge and tools I had at the time. I definitely would like to improve my drawing skills with a tablet.