Blog That! [assignment 005]

alright my pumpkin pies! it's Halloween!!! how magically fantastical! this week, if you decided to be a lame-ooo and not dress up in costume for the wicken festivities, I would like you to post an outline for the speech you will be giving on your studio design project. the outline should be overly detailed expelling what will be said, who will say it, and an estimated time frame of how long each person will be talking. since you are working in groups it's perfectly fine to work on this together, but I want it individually posted ... if you dressed up in costume for our class today then you're exemp from the assignment. the other members of your group are responsible for completing it.
This is just a rough draft to get an idea of what you'll be discussing. later you'll have to go back as a group and finalize your speeches!!

have fun & HAPPY HALLOWEEN :)

Blog That! [assignment 004]

[always consider the light]

after talking with Scott last week friday and learning a little bit more about the effects of light in space, this week I would like you to blog about what you discovered about light.

How will natural and artificial lighting improve your space?
Will you use focal lighting to direct people?
How will you create moments of interest within your space using light?
.......

blog that [assignment 4]

As a way to better understand your studio projects and were you've come this semester, this week I would like you to describe your group projects using the Elements and Principles of Design ...

Principles: Rhythm. Balance. Emphasis. Unity. Proportion.
Elements: Line. Color. Shape. Texture. Form. Space.

Ralph Lauren 4D Experience!!

Check out this video!

outside Ralph Lauren's Madison store front in New York, a light an projection show was displayed on the facade of the building. the building was transformed to create a story describing their new men's fragrances 1,2,3, & 4.

perhaps a similar idea can be used in your projects ...

Blog That! 003

Based on your speeches in class last week Wednesday, write a brief paragraph describing your thought process and opinions on the assignment. Discuss your performance and how well you think you did.
Was the speech given by the Speaking Center representative helpful?
Did you visit the Speaking Center before presenting?
If so, was it helpful - if not, do you think you might have done a better job if you did go?
Since this was the first "formal" presentation, how will you better yourself for the next one?

assignment due: september 30, 2011.

Blog Assignment 002

it's time to photoshop !!

i don't how familiar you all are with photoshop but i LOVE it! i'm constantly amazed at how you can change a picture and warp it into something completely new and different from what it originally was!

so .......

for this weeks assignment i want you to explore the many wonderful possibilities of photoshop. i want you to use a picture or pictures that you took while in DC and transform it into something spectacular spectacular!

add layers, change the coloring, distort it, transform it into something new and beautiful! then right a paragraph describing how you made this image, what tools you used, and how you feel about your fantastical creation!

due on Friday, September 23 - i want you to show me how creative you are!

this assignment is based on completion, but TRUST i will judge you =)

HAVE FUN !!

... below is an example i threw together in about 27 minutes and 43 seconds exactly ::

(photo credit: kalani gonzalez)

first I started with a FABULOUS picture of the 

White House! i was so excited when i saw it for the first time 

that goose bumps and butterflies consumed me.

(photo credit: fantasy of a night sky)

i decided that i wanted to play with the way the sky looked 

in the photo, so i went online and found this interesting 

picture on Google. i enjoyed the hues of blue and 

the strong contras in the image.

i cut out the white sky on the original photo and layered the "sky" image underneath.

the image looked "just alright" with the contrasting sky, 

but it needed more to round out the composition. so i found this 

photo of the planets and decided to layer them onto the 

"sky" image. i cut out, flipped and warped the 

planets to fit well in the composition.

(photo credit : planets in the sky)

after playing with some "filters" in the program, i edited the 

amount of light and contrast in the overall image, threw on a solid 

black boarded and ended up with final composition below ...

(composition credit: kalani gonzalez)

have fun with photoshop ...

get lost and wrapped up in it! 

be creative, be original !!

feature of the week "Assignment 001"

every week, after reading through everyone's "Blog That" Assignment posts, i pick one that i find the most interesting and share it on the class blog! this week i'd like to show case John Jeppsson. he walked us through the space of the Industries of the Blind in a humorous way! 

enjoy the read ...

My day began much as anyother day began with the happiness I feel as I park in the Gatewood parking lot.  God I do love parking there and no longer having to ride the park and ride bus.  When I got out of my car I was finishing up my morning-car-drive cigarette that I have on my way to campus everyday.  When I arrived upstairs I remembered that we were having our tour of the Industries of the Blind today. I sort of did a face-in-palm deal in not remembering my favorite pencil that I use for all my sketches an 8B led pencil.  As our class walked over to the Industries of the Blind I lit up another cigarette enjoying it as I walked slowly savoring every last puff and drag. When we arrived at the building I, like so many others, hated the ugly main entrance.  As I walked inside I felt a cold chill wash over me unsure as to wether it was the air conditioning or the cold embrace of the building itself.  I looked to the left and noticed the big glass window of the main lobby separating the vistors or employees from the lady that is buzzing us into the main parts of the building.  When I got buzzed into the second area I noticed immediately the odd and out of place little floral garden that has been placed there underneath the stairs.  As I traversed the stairs I wondered what wonderful machinery would be held within the confines of this building.  When I got to the second floor we were met by David Lopresti and he proceeded to tell us all about the history of the building and its employees.

I was very intrigued to learn about the history of the people who had been working here and all the other things that David had to share with us.  Just a little bit of information about the company:  The Industry of the blind has two hundred and fifteen employees and on hundred and fifteen of those is legally blind.  The terms for being legally blind are having twenty over two hundred vision or worse.  Only a select few of the employees are totally blind.  As we began our official tour of the factory I noticed how much the factory floor looked just like the factory that I was working at in Norway.  They had those odd little painted lanes that are solely for dictating foot and machinery traffic.  When we got to this one press that had an awesome amount of camouflage on it and was being used to cut out templates for the bullet proof vests that are supplied to the army or at least they looked like they were the cut outs for those vests.  When we left that room we continued onto the other room and were meet by a very eccentric woman who was running a shirt press that was putting out shirts and sleeves that were being used for the wicket shirts.   When we were finished with our tour we then precede to measure out the area assigned to us and Anna Hambly and I knocked that out within minutes.

... thanks john !!

we're in DC ... HOLLAAA

hello  beautiful !!

are you ready for the most fabulous group of people you've ever seen !?! 

this weekend the Iarc 2nd year studio got to travel to Washington, DC to explore the Amazing museums of the Smithsonian. We started our journey right outside the Castle on the lawn (above). here students were given their assignments for the day - three museums to focus on. part of the assignment was to observe specifically the outside of each museum, its lobby space, and the main reception area.

Iar 2nd year studio on the steps of the Library of Congress

Jessica Krasuski, an alumni of the Iarc program, currently lives in DC and works with the Library of Congress as an interior designer! she gave us a tour of the Library and told us a little about what she does. it was fantastic to hear from someone who graduate from our department and made it with such a fabulous job!

Jessica giving our class a small tour of the library.

GHM - diagram that space ...

after visiting the Greensboro Historic Museum, we came together as a class and decided to diagram the space out! every student was asked to individually create a diagram that they thought was representative of the space. using the same brown trash paper, everyone found a spot to draw on and it turned out to be a pretty spectacular composition!

ideas on paper ...

after our visits to the three spaces we will be working with during the first part of this semester, we decided that the best way to throw out all of the ideas fluttering through our heads would be to put it to paper. the class was split up into seven different groups and told to create a composition, using text and diagrams, describing the Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro Historic Museum, and the Industries of the blind.

after brainstorming and discussing their findings, the teams 

walked up to the "paper wall" and composed all 

their thoughts into one.

 it was great to see everyone working together and interacting 

with the space, rather than sitting at their desks 

and sketching in their notebooks.

the final Lovely set !!

Blog Assignment 001

On Friday, September 2, we all visited the Industries of the Blind for a site assessment. I hope everyone realized how incredible the workers of IOB are and how much of an honor it is to even think about ReDesigning a space for them.
I find that when taking on any project the most important thing you must do is fully understand your client. Then, you must invest everything within yourself into your Design. You have to fully commit and that is the only way you can produce a truly great piece of Art.

Maya Angelou said ...
"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

So tell me your story ...

For your Blog Assignment 001 I want you to Narrate your experience through the Industries of the Blind. Walk me through what you saw. Tell me what you learned. Describe to me how you felt throughout your time there. Use one ... three ... twenty five ...... two hundred and forty one pictures to help tell your story.

i only want everything ...
and by that i mean at least 521 words and one [if you want to be boring] picture

thanks ya'll =)

A New Perspective ...

Today in class we traveled to the Industries of the Blind, Inc. of Greensboro, NC.

The company mission is, "to provide opportunities for employment and personal development for people who are blind or visually impaired to achieve greater independence."

While touring the building we were all introduced to an environment we would have never otherwise thought of. Firstly, there are so many different categories under the title "legally blind." Some workers have  Diabetic Retinopathy, Macular Degeneration, Retinitis Pigmentosa, Glaucoma, and some are completely blind. It was an amazing visit and an opportunity to engage with so many different people.

Original Main Conference Room

Snap Shots of the Amazingly talented workers at IOB

Come Together

It's time to start a new tradition ...

Today we gathered both second year studios and joined together with the Iarc first years. We extended our hands and welcomed them with warm smiles and open conversations. Our department is so unique and special to this university, and while drama will always be present wherever people are - it's important to know when to set that aside and Come Together as Whole. We see the world in a creatively different way than every other person on this campus. We look at every inanimate object as inspiration rather than "just" things. We are the imagineers that help design the Built Environment. Embrace your peers and feed off the passion for what they find beautiful ...

young designers learning from each other.

After Coming Together and introducing themselves to each other, the first and second year studios were split into groups and asked to discuss three major issues of Design ::

where do ideas come from?

how do you unveil them?

& what sources must you consult?

professors and their teaching assistants discussing rather important things!

What we discovered is that ...

design comes from everywhere. design comes from your own personality. design comes from how you perceive life. design comes from precedent studies and examples.

"everything comes from history!"

Frank Cheney

We also heard from ...

guest speaker Brett Carter, the Dean of Students, UNC - Greensboro

Mr. Carter came to visit our studios to discuss the University of North Carolina, Greensboro's Academic Integrity Policy. He had a lot to say about the topic and engaged all of us in an energetic conversation. The experience was enjoyable and entertaining! Rather than explaining our whole Academic Integrity Policy, I'll sum it up for you ... Don't cheat and site your sources or you'll get kicked out of school, never get into another university, and you may get your degree taken away! Honestly ... it's not that hard.

... our standing ovation for Mr. Carter.

After the Weatherspoon ...

While at the Weatherspoon Art Museum each student was asked to document their experience from the moment they approached the building to the time they left. Afterwards our Visionary Explorers created vignettes of their time in the museum and wrote a short narrative describing what they saw.

below are some of our Explorers findings ...

by: Alex Pokas

For my final diagram, I decided to break the experience into five different sections. the first is the entrance to the sculpture garden, the second is inside the sculpture garden, the third is the overhang, the fourth is the vestibule, and the last is the lobby.  I wanted to focus on the way the light effects the experience as you make your way towards the lobby.  the entrance to the sculpture garden and the garden itself are both completely naturally lit, and therefor the light is uncontrollable.  this effects the way the sun shines or doesn't shine on the sculptures as you pass through the garden.  the next picture of the overhang is a lot darker and shaded and takes you out of the direct sunlight.  you then pass through the vestibule, which is also darker than the garden.  I think these two experiences are very important to the experience of walking to the lobby because you start out in such light and then you are immediately pulled into a darker setting.  then as you enter the lobby you are thrown into a soft white light that is much calmer and lighter than the other lighting that you have experienced.

by: Anna Hambly

For my narrative i wrote from the point of view of an art student who had sculpture class in the gatewood studio arts building and then art history in the WAM. my trip took me from the studio to the weatherspoon and i had a few sidetrips along the way. in my diagram i expressed the trip step by step and emphasized the more important steps in different ways. The bigger squares are the main objectives and the main places i needed to go on my trip to class. the smaller ones are side trips and distractions. the more i drew my diagram over and over the better it got.

A Walk through the Weatherspoon

Art is best understood when one interacts with it. In class today, we journeyed to the Weatherspoon Art Museum, to experience and understand the design of this unique space. From the sculpture garden to the exposed lobby to the galleries filled with beauty, the Weatherspoon offers moments to sit and marvel at the art it's consumed with.

Change Style Indicator

On the first day of class members of the studio completed a profile based on the CHANGE STYLE INDICATOR to assess their ability to cope with change in a design context. In doing so, we learned who in the class associates more with ORIGINATOR, PRAGMATIST, and CONSERVER roles in group settings when dealing with change. Generally, students as originators prefer the fluidity to make their way by challenging rules and systems... and openly embrace change. Students as conservers tend toward the security of the known and familiar... often resisting change. Students as pragmatists balance these two constructs of the world. In our studio, we ended with a balance of roughly thirds in each category, with slightly more than half leaning toward conserver tendencies. Both of the instructors for the course [Lucas and Gonzalez] scored high as originators, with only one student higher on the scale.

[roughly ... the SIX students to the left are ORIGINATORS, the TEN students in the middle are PRAGMATISTS, and the NINE students to the right are our CONSERVERS]

A Little Inspiration

Olaf Hajek 

[visionary explorer & inspirer]

Everything I learned I learned from art. Olaf Hajek is an amazingly inspirational painter. His use of color, texture, and above all light is extraordinary. No matter how bizarre some of his pieces may be he Designs his Dreams. You all are coming from your first year Iarc where you are taught to use your imagination and create off the wall projects ... think outside the box, turn it upside down, smash it and see if it looks better. Now that you are in your second year you're going to be asked to explore the more analytical side of Design, and while the process is necessary never forget to Design with your heart and always consult your Dreams.

A Lesson from Pretty in Pink

Hello and Welcome to another day of higher education Visionary Explorers ...

Its time to pull out your dusty book bags from underneath your bed, grab a sketchbook and some pens, and get yourself ready for another year. It's going to be a tough one, but what the hell life goes on ... maybe there won't be any sleep, maybe there won't be anymore desks in the computer lab, and just maybe Adams will run out of everything you need ... but by God there will always be dancing! So do it like the Duckie does and glide your way through whatever situation you find yourself in.

Good Luck!!