Seize the Moment

This project was an adaptive reuse project where the integrity and form of the original structure was maintained to minimize environmental impacts and waste. The historic railroad depot was converted into an artist’s residence, art studio/gallery for an artist and his wife who has a visual impairment. The design of the space was inspired through the concept of Seizing the Moment. The inspiration for this design concept came from the clock that is fixed to the outside wall of the train depot. The first task was to learn as much as possible about the challenges of visual impaired so that the design of the space was fully functional for someone with visual challenges. The next task was to communicate and develop the initial idea, or concept for the design. I had to learn how to transform a client's request into a presentable concept. After assessing the clients needs I created descriptive visuals, from sketches to study models to iterate the design of the artist residence and art gallery/studio. This project helped me better understand the importance of universal design.

Sherwin Williams Colormix 2014 Competition

The Sherwin-Williams colormix Competition is the first design competition I have entered. The task was to render three perspectives of an art gallery in a color palette chosen from Sherwin-Williams colors. Choosing five Sherwin Williams colors I rendered the entrance in the color Downing Straw, the hanging clouds and trim in Pearl Gray, and the gallery walls in Link Gray, Aurora Brown, and Chinese Red. The color choices were an inspiration from the artwork of Cary Henrie. Can you imagine a world without color? Sometimes I think we take the importance of color for granted. Color is very powerful it plays an important role in the world we live in. Color can bring about different moods. A color may be soothing to an individual while aggravating to another. When working with colors I find it very difficult to match a color unless I can identify the color. Sherwin-Williams has created a wonderful phone app called ColorSnap. With Colorsnap downloaded on your phone, you can take a picture and match colors to the picture.

Art Gallery/Art Museum Experience

During a recent stay in Chicago I had the opportunity to visit the Averill and Bernard Leviton A+D Gallery located at 619 S. Wabash Avenue. This gallery is a part of the Art + Design Department at Columbia College Chicago. The gallery's mission is to present professional exhibitions and educational programming that encompasses the broadest possible definition of visual art and design. The exhibition that I observed was on the perception and reception of the 3-dimensional as it relates to both conventional practices and new technologies. The approximate square footage for exhibitions in the gallery is 1500. There are several methods for displaying work, movable walls, pedestals and immovable wall hangings. Track lighting is utilized as the primary form of lighting in the gallery, this type of lighting is a very vivid, dominant lighting. In the front entrance there is a large window for natural lighting, the floors are painted cement and the walls are a warm gray to enhance the focus are the art that is displayed.

Impaired Vision Experience

Visual impairment can have a significant impact on the person's quality of life. As a designer my responsibility is to have an understanding of people whose background, education and culture may be different from my own. Gaining insight into a user's emotions, aspirations and fears can provide inspiration to create a more balanced functional design. To achieve a greater awareness and sensitivity to a client who is visually impaired I participated in a vision disability ability workshop. The workshop definitely heightened my awareness of how people with differing physical abilities experience the built environment. In groups of two we were given a route to walk while wearing a pair of sunglasses that were obstructed. The minute I put the sunglasses on I had a great sense of fear, I immediately took my partners arm for fear of running into something or falling down stairs. A few things I noticed on my route were the contrasting colors helped in determining where I was, upon reaching the elevator I could not see the panel of buttons because of the glare of light and color on the wall. Another not so easy task was walking down stairs, if there is not contrast it is very difficult to determine depth, but going up stairs seemed much easier, I think this may have been due to a shadow at the base of each tread. This time of the year the weather can play a significant role in the mobility of someone that is visually impaired. Not only is the glare from the snow and puddles but the wear of the paint markings that are normally visible for guidance is worn off making it extremely difficult. Rather than aiming to design for the ideal user, I am going to try to focus on using a universal design approach.

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

A good design begins with a good design concept. The inspiration object I chose for my design concept is a clock that is mounted at The Northern Pacific Railroad Depot, the clock is the framework for all my design decisions. Using a visual language of form, color and line departing from the reality of the image of the clock I created 50 abstract parti sketches. From those 50 parti sketches I narrowed it down to four sketches and from those four it was narrowed down to one. The reason for my choice was that I felt this parti sketch has the same elements and principles the clock has. The parti sketch was then manipulated digitally to create a pattern and color scheme that is used for a textile pattern that I had created through Spoonflower.

The next step in the concept development process is to choose a 2-dimensional partis sketch and extract this drawing into a 3-dimensional model that illustrates my concept.

CONCEPT STATEMENT A clock marks the passing of moments though the course of time. It represents a circular and sweeping motion that mirrors the lines of design. This flowing movement is stopped at each intersection giving a moment of pause to reflect. The clock reveals circular lines and stark differences in color between the pale white face and the dark black hands. These contrasts bring harmony through the tick tock movements of the hands and the centrality of the circular motion, resulting in a harmonious balance of all elements. The concept model portrays the movement and harmony through its light and dark contrasts as well as the balanced and flowing lines. The contrast and balance represented in the model mirrors that of the face of the clock, with each sweeping turn representing that of the hands marking time. The clock has a focal point in the center of its face, just as the model has a represented focal point.

HOLABIRD and ROOT

In a group of 3 we came up with different templates for our poster. We ended up combining ideas from all templates to make a contextual investigation poster of architects (one each) of our choice during the time period 1890-1930. The architect firm I chose was Holabird and Root, a firm located in Chicago, Illinois. The original firm started out as Holabird and Roche, but a new partner was brought in in the 1920's and it became Holabird and Root. This firm is still practicing today. Designers are one part of a visual culture that includes art, architecture, and design, and it is very important to have an understanding of what has happened in the past to influence designers. This will not only help you understand styles, but will also aid as inspiration for projects.

Habitat for Humanity

The team of designer's I was paired up with on the Habitat for Humanity project was June Cai and Erica Buehlmeir. We were tasked with designing a Habitat for Humanity home. Habitat houses are simple, decent and affordable. The habitat houses are modestly-sized. The design of a habitat home is to reflect the local climate and culture. The labor of volunteers and partner families, efficient building methods, modest house sizes and no-profit loans make it affordable for low-income families to purchase Habitat houses. The needs for this Habitat home included a maximum 1,280 square feet with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and a single car garage. A couple challenges we faced was the narrow lot size and to include the garage within the square footage of the plan. We were able to fit three bedrooms, one on the main floor and two more upstairs, as well as a decent size family room upstairs. We also obtained a very open design on the main floor with the kitchen, dining room and living room sharing a common space. Not only did we come very close to meeting Habitat for Humanities square footage but the front facade of the house blends nicely with the existing neighborhood. The house does have some limitations with minimal hall space throughout due to utilizing every square inch for living areas. Overall the design is very inviting from the front porch flowing into the inviting living, dining and kitchen area while still leaving enough room for three bedrooms and two baths.