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