Blogging.

I didn't like blogging very much, I always got too caught up in everything else that I would forget to do it.

FINAL PRODUCT.

Black Light Chic

MORE IDEAS.

Some of my thoughts.

MAJOR SKINS.

My skins.

Just wait

I have a lot coming your way, so hold on.

Still thinking about light..

Although my break has been fun, I have still thought about ways I could do my lamp. I know I found that other lamp that I posted the link to
but I found yet another one that caught my attention.
http://store.yankodesign.com/twisttogether-lamp-candy

this lamp is very different from the other yet this one twist together and the other collapses
this lamp also has a lot of color and is a more fun childish design where as the collapsible light was  more elegant. There is much to consider when making these lights though, I have a lot to figure out from my prototypes before I finally come to a conclusion on what I actually want to do with my lantern.

Interesting to me

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/4smVi4/www.fastcompany.com/blog/cliff-kuang/design-innovation/crazy-lamp

^^ speaking of creating lanterns and lighting..

SKINS.

This was interesting..
I had a few friends ask me if crumpling up paper was actually my homework...I replied yes, and smiled. Because they had to write a a report. :]

Parts of a letter reflection

There are many things I learned from reading the Parts of a Letter. For starters I had no idea what a bracket was, or that there was even a name for that part of a serif letter. However even thought there were some things I didn’t know there were a lot of things that I did know. In a past graphic design class we did a little work with typography so the usual baseline, ascender, descender and serif were basic terms that I knew. Another thing I learned from this was that the parts of each letter had their own names. For example the P and C have similar curves but are not the same however they are called the same thing. Something that I found super interesting was that some of the letters had parts that are similar to human parts like the ear, arm, leg and crotch. Who knew there was so much that goes into making a font? Typography would be a very difficult major; I can only imagine the amount of work it would take to create a new font with a cool name. 

Oh the stress..

Well I got my grade back from my Makeup Brush project, and I am a little bummed out. My process book got an A [for all the nights I spent awake and drawing I think that A was well deserved :)] however my poster only got a B. Which in reality is a good grade. But it is the minor errors that really got me on this. My poster had been wrinkled by the wind so it's craftsmanship was not the best. It also could have been rearranged in an order so it would stand out more and it would look more original.
On the project overall I got an B+, I hope this next project I can step it up.

...Naturally with a higher goal means more work. This project is due Thursday...wish me luck.

Oh hey its me!

It just so happened that some of the letters could be rearranged to spell my name :] 

Hey Blog it's  been a while!
Well, My group got our letters done and the pictures taken!
Tuesday after school Steph and I stayed and worked on letters, then wed afternoon Makenzi and I worked and got most of the letters made and finished. Then On thursday afternoon Makenzi taped the edges of a letter and Madi and I finished up the taping so friday we could take the pictures!
We all got together and had a blast carrying our words around campus. We went to the elevator, stairs, an ATM, and the bus. We got a lot of funny looks but it was worth it!
Here are a few pictures to show off our work :]

First day of making letters.. Oh man.

I spent 2 hours making a lower case "e"

...we were going to use a projector to draw our letters, but then the projector I had didnt work so Steph did the calculations, I sketched them out and Mack and Madi made the card board cut outs :]
GOOD TEAM WORK GIRLS! we got a lot done!

Should have thought of this.

While I was randomly going through different websites I stumbled upon something that blew my mind.
It's genius.
And it made me reconsider the "Music Aide" from my first project. Man.. you can tell I'm a freshman design student.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/5DCPVu/www.yankodesign.com/2010/04/09/the-perfect-gift-for-your-woman/

^^^ Check it out!

My Word.

My groups word is

TRANSFER: 1. To convey or cause to pass from one place, person, or thing to another.

2. Law To make over the possession or legal title of; convey.

3. To convey (a design, for example) from one surface to another, as by impression.

Now the first thing that came to mind after seeing the word transfer was a few things.

1. Parking garage.

2. Bus

3. Wires

4. Bank/ ATM

5. Stairs

6. Science Lab

7. Bridge 

here are a few pictures of what I found when I was around campus looking for places :]

Typography!

Making all 15 blocks with the different colors was a challenge.
The colors I picked were orange, hot pink and green. And on the computer I was using they looked great, but after seeing all 1600 of everyone else's in class tonight I realized that I had a lot of refining to do, and possibly new color choices.
I found that some of my colors seemed too bright while others just looked bad in general. I feel as though I may have taken the directions too literally or didn't read them carefully.
I am however very excited for this upcoming group project. Everything from constructing the letters to taking pictures of the words in random places, this is where I believe my creative side can show its best work.

My old art teacher once told me that I need to be given an unusual project in order for my eye for design to show. There was one time when I constructed a flower in my metals class. My teacher told me not to follow the directions on the project and to just make whatever came to my head. Needless to say it turned out very well. From that project I also learned how to make earrings that I ended up making for every girl in the class because they found them so interesting.
I hope this typography project will prove my ability to be a design student.

Looking back on my makeup brush project..

Reflection on the project: What did you learn:

This has been my favorite project of the year so far. I am not the most talented drawer, so when I found out that I was going to have to draw several hundred sketches of one object I got worried. However, in working on these sketches I feel as though my technique and knowledge of different mediums and utensils has expanded. Along with the sketching practice, the information we learned about color and icons has also given me a new outlook. I never realized how basic something can look, but still mean so much. The same idea applies to color, I had never thought much about what goes into color other than it makes the object look nice. However the color plays a significant part in portraying the mood and idea of an object. Such as pink with the makeup brush, the pink is girly and a makeup brush is one of the most girly things out there. One of the most important things this project has taught me is that design is not just a walk in the park. I spent many hours working on my sketches and the layout of my poster; some of those hours being very late at night. When I talked to a second year design student he said “Get used to it, the real work hasn’t even started.” I realized that this project was not just an illustration project or a graphic design project, but more of a “get used to the work load” project. Many students have complained that these projects do not apply to their majors or that they do not teach the material we need to succeed, but this project has shown that there is more to design than just the type of work, design IS the work. I believe that the information learned from this project will help me on more projects in the future.

Reflection on the Understanding Comics Reading:

The understanding Comics reading was a very interesting outlook on comics. Over the summer I had watched the history of comic books and I was intrigued by the story lines of most comics. I had never realized how much thought and iconic symbolism goes into the actual comic. I had never paid too much attention to how sometimes you see something with no detail, but the second the character brings it up, it is suddenly so realistic.  Another thing I had not previously noticed was how much we react to line as emotion. Before I just read and understood the emotion without paying much attention, but now the lines stand out more and It makes me think about what other emotions it could portray. It was obvious that the jagged lines showed anger and the curved lines showed calmness, but the shading on a characters face when they show emotion change with these lines as well. The most interesting thing about this reading was the idea that humans are selfish. We put our face on everything! It is so true! There are so many inanimate objects that would have no relation to life or even resemble life, but put a face on it anyways as if it had feelings or was truly alive. Overall this reading got me thinking, I will never look at a comic book or an electrical socket the same again because the more I think about it I have never looked at an object and saw anything but a face. Houses, vacuums, cars, everything I have associated with having eyes and a mouth. It was only after this reading that I have started seeing things for what they truly are.

Reflection about how and why the color you picked was used:

The color I picked came pretty easily considering my object had a colored handle. The vibrant pink represented more than just the femininity of the makeup brush, but the boldness and brightness one gets while wearing makeup. While working on my project I really wanted to bring out the effect a makeup has on women. Many people see makeup as a very classy elegant thing, however to some girls it is much more than that. Makeup is a means of expression. What better way to be proud of the expression than a color that really stands out and catches your eye? Not only does the expression matter, but the association the color pink has with women plays a huge roll as well. One can tell that this object was not made for a man. Since pink is a less violent form of red it shows that it may not be as “in your face” as some other colors, it is still strong enough to hold class but be bold at the same time. Some may say that pink is a weak color because it is a less vibrant red, however in this case it is quietly strong. Makeup is supposed to look natural, and pink is a softer more natural, subtle hue of red. 

So much to say.

For some reason I find it hard to keep up with this thing. You would think after all of the other social network sites I use this would be the easiest to keep up with, because it is the only one that is an actual grade. I guess the way I see it my thoughts are not as important when regarding school projects. It seems to me as though everyone feels the same way about the projects for the most part, and if they are saying something differently..they're just sucking up. But, that's life.
Anyways, my thoughts go as followed: Sketches = lots. Am i worried? Yes. Is this class kicking my butt? More than I ever thought possible.
But I refuse to give up.
My next update will prove that I have been thinking about my blog, I just have not actually gotten on it.

So far in Our Latest project.

So far I have drawn over 190 different makeup brushes:

I have drawn it out of circles, lines, photos, paint, charcoal, actual makeup and I have used make up brushes, twigs, leaves, photocopies, ink, crayons and almost everything you can think of. It has been rather difficult to devise several ways and sometimes I feel as though I am getting lost in my object. Some of my pictures are of pure muscle memory of drawing it so many times. It isn't all that easy to capture the beauty and elegance created by a makeup brush, a lot of my abstract drawings are obviously more edgy than elegant. However, I am only half way done with this project and hopefully by the end I will have my technique down :]

Process for Music Aide

Interviews: Typical Headphones

Max: Freshman, Male.

How often do you use headphones?

Every day, for music purposes.

Likes/dislikes?

They are uncomfortable, Easy to break, music quality sucks, cords can get annoying. However the all black is nice.

Nathan Strack: Freshman Male

How often do you use them?

Every day for music purposes, usually when sleeping and walking to classes.

Likes/dislikes?

Cheap, fall out easily, wires get in the way and are annoying. However the all black is nice.

Faith Bitterman: Freshman, female

How often do you use them?

Every day, for music when going to different places.

Likes/dislikes?

Too big for small ears, cheap, break easily, wires break, get tangled, really poorly designed.

Pat Monroe: Junior male

How often do you use them?

I never use the ear buds because it is horrible for your hearing.

Likes/dislikes?

Horrible sound quality, you could go deaf, no volume control, doesn’t block out other noises; just bad for you.

Rob: Senior male

How often do you use them?

I use them regularly.

Likes/dislikes?

Uncomfortable, don’t stand out, wires get annoying, they break easily, not long enough wires.

Design For Under 5 bucks

Project Brief:

            The project we were given was Design for under 5 bucks. This project required us to go out and find a poorly made object that was under 5 dollars. Then we were to figure out a way to redesign it to make it meet the dieter rams 10 elements of design. The class was split up into groups to design our object. My group consists of an industrial designer, a graphic designer, an interior designer, and an illustrator. After our groups were made we not only had to make a prototype of our new design but we had to make a poster explaining the object and our process and present it to the class.

Reflection:

            The project we were given was clear but difficult. At first I felt like I had it under control; the idea process is my strong suit. Although I have trouble conveying my ideas through sketches our concept mapping and planning went well. However, when it came to the building my group was stumped. We assumed a simple clay model would do the trick but we soon learned it was not enough. We made prototype after prototype until we were able to find the materials suitable enough to convey the right idea we wanted. Of course this is the problem most designers face when given a task like this. But I think it would have been nice if the directions said “don’t use clay and be specific”. In terms of mapping we all wrote what was on our minds onto a poster. Once they were on the poster we organized them into groups. That mapping process seemed to work well, another thing that worked well was writing down all of the likes and dislikes of each idea we had. Both concepts worked perfectly while working together in our group. We made sure every idea was shared.

What I learned about my object:

            I realized after this project how much head phones really bother me. They are constantly getting tangled and always end up hurting my ears. I also never paid much attention to what they were made of and how boring they were. I wasn’t sure if there was a way to change it.

Summary of IDEO Video:

            There isn't much more to say about the free spirited, outgoing creation that is IDEO. Coming from a hopeful industrial designer IDEO seems to be my dream come true. I can picture myself going to work everyday with fresh ideas only to be more inspired an airplane wing hanging from the side wall or my bicycle hanging above me.  As I watched the video on the recreation of a shopping cart, I thought to myself...The process is so simple, obvious, and natural but not a lot of people choose to do it. Everyone thinks to themselves about ways things could be better but no one ever changes them. All it takes is a good laugh, some sticky notes, and a sketch pad.

My Object: Head Phones

Likes:

•          Many colors

•          exchangeable ear pieces

•          reusable

•          works well

•          labeled

•          the wire is nice

•          good quality

Dislikes:

•          Gets tangled

•          Ear buds don’t stay in

•          easily lost

•          wire is sometimes exposed

•          Can be uncomfortable

NEEDS:

•          needs to last

•          form to ear

•          sturdy

•          Key chain?

•          Metal retractor?

•          flexible material

•          not tangle

•          stand out

•          kid proof but elderly proof

•          can’t get in the way of activities

•          has to be comfortable enough to sleep in

The Group:

Sera Lanzer

Industrial Design

Caleb Butler

Illustration

Bailey Wells

Graphic Design

Lauren Lawton

Interior Design

Industrial design

When I was in school all I wanted to do was come up with the ideas. I didnt want to do the math to make it work, I didnt want to paint glorious works of art (I am not the best artist); I just wanted to design.
The idea of architecture  made its way into my mind first, that was until I realized that I wanted more than just buildings. It wasnt until half way into my junior year that the word Industrial design made its way into my vocabulary. I had never heard of it before, but ever since, I have been in love. I cannot wait, the thinking process is my strong suit and im very excited to see what happens :]

Music Aid.

Here is a sneak peak at a future of music:

We started out with this:

and we ended with this :

Music Aid. No wires. No problem.

Innovative Fun.

IDEO = Fun.
There isn't much more to say about the free spirited, outgoing creation that is IDEO. Coming from a hopeful industrial designer IDEO seems to be my dream come true. I can picture myself going to work everyday with fresh ideas only to be more inspired an airplane wing hanging from the side wall or my bicycle hanging above me.  As I watched the video on the recreation of a shopping cart, I thought to myself...The process is so simple, obvious, and natural but not a lot of people choose to do it. Everyone thinks to themselves about ways things could be better but no one ever changes them. All it takes is a good laugh, some sticky notes, and a sketch pad.
I tried to take as much information as I could from the video and tie it into my research of the highlighter. As i asked several people about the design and shape I more or less started looking at their reactions when i handed them a simple highlighter. The main reaction was "So What?" Not a lot of people think about the highlighter, they just use them. Some people use them daily and others hardly at all. However, even though they have never thought about it, I have. And I will devise a way to improve the poor design that is: A Highlighter.

I Made A Blog.

...And this is it.
This will be interesting considering the fact that I do not do well with words.