Easy class today, since I put in so many hours over Tuesday and Wednesday night! Almost finished, I'm going to go by Hobby Lobby in a little bit and pick up some stuff and I should be all DONE by Friday =) Today I got a sweeeeet pencil in class and it was nice to be recognized! Later I'm going to organize all my photos and I will post some on here. I can't wait for Tuesday to see everyones lights and maybe some tacky christmas sweaters =)

Still have lots to do with the light but I am really happy with the direction that its going.So tonight I'm going back to studio and then probably tomorrow too!!

Also yesterday I met with Lance Rake who is a professor in the Industrial program, it was really nice to get  his insight on things and I am very confident in my choice to switch my major from Interiors to Industrial. I also got to speak with some seniors in the Industrial Design program and that was very beneficial. One thing that I took from both Professor Rake and the students is that I need to start sketching now! I do have drawing capabilities but I can improve upon them!! So my goal is to attempt to do a sketch a day!

School is almost out and I'm ready to see my family, its been a really good semester and I really enjoyed all my classes!

Today in class I got further on my design and I will post some photos up later tonight, I'm really happy with my design and the feel it has, so this weekend I am going to do a lot of work and make sure I get all the kinks out.

And also big news....I changed my major! I never thought I would but I just really feel that Industrial Design fits my desires as a designer. Previously I was an Interior Design major and was content with that, and then I started to explore. I still have another semester until I start my specific classes but I am very excited!! But most of all I am so happy to be here in Lawrence-at KU-in the Design program.I couldn't be more satisfied (well maybe if I had my dog up here with me too!)

And just for the curious eye I found this today while I was at work

Check out the video below!

Street Art: Joshua Allen Harris' Inflatable Bag Monsters

Honeycomb

Today was a good day to create and explore, I liked seeing what everyone came up with over the break and I think we are all doing well at exploring the possibilities. Its been kind of hard for me since we have so many directions that we can go with this project but I think today I found my solution! Over break I cut out this entire sheet of bristol paper that has a honeycomb pattern and today in class I came up with some ideas of how I am going to use it. I started to build a little model and I think I am sticking with my idea of having this light attached to the wall, almost like it is apart of the wall. One reason I think this came to mind is because Margie always tells us to push pin our things to the wall and since all of my designs have been made for a hanging lantern they just didn't fit, so I started to ponder my thoughts and for this project I really wanted to do something different because there are so many amazing light fixtures out there.  So for my design I want it to be attached to the wall with the light inside, so I'm planning on have the honeycomb layer on the outside and then another layer and then the light inside of that so its almost a glowing accent to your wall. If this product was actually produced I think it would produce a nice warm feel to the room and not take up too much space since it is on the wall. I took some pictures today so I hope they make sense, I really hope I can make this idea work!! I'm going in tomorrow to work so we will see what I come up with, but I think its going to be really organic and beautiful!!!

I had a wonderful break at home and am ready for class tomorrow!! Over break I did a lot of thinking and experimenting for this project and I feel like I am exploring all my possibilities...

Check this link below out!!!!

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/11774/dentsu-paint-sound-sculptures.html

While walking out of the design building today, I stop in the gallery and saw this beautiful work of art by Elena Brebenal, the show is titled Encoding [quiet memories] and is a MFA thesis exhibition. It was so intriguing that I had to take photos. I left very inspired and was so glad that I happened to look in the gallery!

Today in class we turned in allllll the work and you could tell everyone was exhausted, it was great to see all the finished works with the books and words mounted on mat board. Also I enjoyed walking through the other classes and seeing the similarities and differences. For our next project we going to be creating lights or lanterns and for us to get a start, we are supposed to make 25 "skins" or experiments with paper to understand the form. Ive already started some and have had fun just playing!!

This evening I attended the film "The Visual Language of Herbert Matter" which was shown at Liberty Hall here in Lawrence. I saw lots of familiar faces in the crowd and once the film started I was very intrigued, the man was a true designer who could work under any circumstances as long as he was working. What an inspiration, he had been all over with photography and design, coming up with design that still seem modern today. It was so great that the film was brought to Lawrence and I am very glad I got to attend. For me as a student is soothing to see other designers and their journeys...

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see"
                                          Henry David Thoreau

How does HOW you take the photo add to the meaning of the word?

We ended up shooting on Monday due to some minor conflicts (words being locked up,missing people,our location being used by workers,workers moving the structure) but it all worked out!
With our location we had so many options and we took the whole two hours to play with our options and try and get the best shots. Samantha and I both took photos and we had fun with each place that we put our word COMPRESS. We tried shooting from low and high, from the side and behind, by doing this I think we got some really good shots. For the meaning of the word it really didn't matter if we were above or below but as long as we got the right angle of the word so that you could read all the letters. For the book it was hard to pick photos since we had so many good depictions of our word! Some photos are posted below.

The one thing that I will for sure take with me from design school is that if you think it will take 5min it will take 20 min and you have to be ready for anything... Everything always has a process and you just have to be ready to weave your way through it. Today we were unable to take photos because a fourth of our word is locked up in the wood shops spray room....sooooo we have to take pictures tomorrow at two, it is not the end of the world and it will all get done! Also tonight I worked for 3 hours on my book and I still have more to do. I wouldn't trade it for the world though, I love the visual world and everything that comes with it, but man does it wear me out!!!

Hard work hopefully pays off!

For today's Blog we were suppose to look at the HOW of taking a picture...since our words are constructed but not completely finished,  I think I will be able to answer this question better after we shoot our photos which will be on this Sunday. But looking ahead I think as a group if we try ALL angles we will get the best result. For our word we have an interesting space that is both indoor and outdoor. Also we are still working on the idea that our word will literally compress into itself. At the moment the letters are not complete because we plan on spray painting them. We decided as a group to do this so that they look professional and thought out.We are really trying to make the letter look like they were meant for that space and we hope the space accents the letters also.

So as a group we are doing really well at collaborating and working hard. We have about three letters left to make and then we start the process of cleaning up the letters and finalizing them. We are possible thinking about going with the industrial look since our space kind of has that vibe, and some color options were gray tones, maybe a blue or even yellow. We are also hoping to actually make our word literally compress into itself so that is another challenge this weekend that we will look at.  I am pretty sure that we finalized a location which is on the back side of the union, and hopefully this weekend we will be able to take some amazing photos. In class on Tuesday was great with all the creative minds working, at one point there were probably too many people in the space but it was still great to see everyone working together and coming up with such great ideas!!

C(aitlin)OM(ark)PRE(mma)S(amantha)S

The Final Six

Location...Location...Location!

  Today in class our group kicked  butt !  And I say this because we all got started right away and didn't waste a minute of class time, we mentioned locations and a few good spots but we decided that understanding the construction of our letters was a lot more important and we would do more research about the location over the weekend. I have to say I feel pretty lucky with the people I was paired with because we all are hard workers and I think we are going to do a tremendous job! We decided to meet this weekend and start on our large words and then finalize our location so I will be blogging about the final spot soon. 

Also I bought my cardboard today and I was not aware that cardboard came in sheets that BIG! I would have to say that this is one of my favorite projects since we get to be outside and we are dealing with the 3D aspect of things. I am definitely a 3D person, I love sculpture =). Along with doing this "COMPRESS" project we are still working on our original words and Margie talked to us individually today about them. I just need to clean it all up and get the right colors, everything that she said I agreed with!! Below are a few more location spots and images of us hard at work today!

PHOTOGRAPHY

The readings from today made me think of some of my own photography and specifically this photo which I took when I was driving home a couple weekends ago. It may seem very abstract but it actually is my windshield and this specific spot is where a butterfly skimmed the edge of the glass and left its glittery dust.

Some things that stuck with my while reading....

• Symmetry/Comforts
• Asymmetry/Challenges
• Repetition/Harmony
• Photography makes you pause, look, imagine and capture
• With eyes wide open, your day becomes a stream of photo oppourtunities
• Some of the best examples of framing are those that are scarcely noticed
• Always investigate different points of view
• You never know when and how beauty will present itself. Be prepared.

Wherever you go, there you are!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

com·press

 /v. kəmˈprɛs; n. ˈkɒmprɛs/ Show Spelled[v. kuhm-pres; n. kom-pres] 

–verb 

1.

to press together; force into less space.

2.

to cause to become a solid mass

3.

to condense, shorten, or abbreviate

Today in class we narrowed down our design even more, and for homework today I have to refine them. The colors I ended up choosing were a yellow, light blue, and turquoise. Also we are starting to think about our group words and the location that we are going to place them. For our word "compress" I started thinking about it being in between buildings or stuck under one. I think the hardest part of this second project will be constructing them!

Oh the design process... I really do enjoy my Think and Make class its the only homework I enjoy doing!! Good thing this is the field that I am going into! Also I can't wait to see everyone's final projects on Monday! P.S.- We got our groups today and mine is a great one!! So happy!

So for class today we did critiques and I felt like I got good responses to my work so I'm hoping I can keep a strong portfolio of work throughout the rest of the semester. I really enjoyed working with the word "extend" and I especially like the hands on cut and past part, the computer will be interesting but I enjoying using my hands the most! Some of the ones that I got the best feed back on I will post and then also some things that people told me to elaborate on was the letter X that is in my word and also my value variation with grays.

Extend

 Open out into space/ Increase size of something/ Occupy distance or space/Draw out to the full length/Increase time span/ Offer or give something/To stretch out/Continue for time…

Critiques were very helpful today! It was fun to see everyone's work and I am finishing up Project #3 tonight and going to get started on Project #4. I'm looking forward to starting a new proejct because my mind is drained from all the clamps!!!!!!!!