ENVIRONMENTAL GRAPHICS

GOOD NEWS

i checked the mail when i got home today and noticed an envelope from general electric. i opened it up and read the enclosed letter to find out that i won 1st place for my kitchen design. this contest was the only one i've done that wasn't required for one of my classes so it was pretty tough to make myself stay up 3 nights in a row to finish it. i guess the $5000* in prize money makes it all worth it though.

* with tax day tomorrow i can't help but wonder how deep uncle sam will dip into the winnings°°.

°° of which he rightfully deserves†††.

††† in other words, my kitchen design killed soldiers for Dick Cheney(among other things)

SCHOOL BLOG

so this has been a pretty killer semester and now that it's over i guess i should document some of it.

the first project i worked on was for an IDEC competition. it was a group project and the emphasis was to make a small housing unit that is extremely affordable. this is basically low-income housing but we also needed to incorporate the principals of sustainablity. the boards that we ended up creating were completely hand drawn. i spent hours writing out the text and another person in the group did the renderings. the corrugated part on the bottom is where we actually cut the top layer of the cardboard out so you see the inside of it. i think it turned out well and hopefully we get recognized when the time comes to be judged.

the next project i worked on was for another competition called Tasmeem Doha. a partner and i had the task of coming up with a design concept to better the world. it needed to have something to do with shelter. we decided to take the vague nature of the design breif and keep it really simple. basically we want to create a blueprint for a container that can be used for a whole bunch of other things. we called it xix and we submitted a video i made using 3DS max. hopefully you'll get a good idea of what we had in mind by watching it (please do because i probably spent like 50-70 hours on it). we also made a custom CD case with some images and a simple built-in scale model of our container that could be assembled when you open the booklet. p.s. the music on the video is arms at akimbo, the band that we had last year. (i think we're re-forming after the holiday too.)

the project that followed was one i did on my own. it was to design a piece of furniture that had multiple functions. it was to be presented to KARIM RASHID and so i designed it in a similar style to his work. we were required to build a model of our design and so i used a rapid proto-typing printer. it's a basically a 3D printer that makes objects out of a starch. it's pretty cool but expensive. my model cost me about 100 bucks and wouldn't you know it, i dropped it and broke it right before i handed it in. i ended up gluing what i could back together and it looks alright. below you'll see some photos of it. i'm aslo including a video file that played in the box that it sat on and showed the various functions.

after that it was another group project. we were given a project that a SLC firm is currently really working on. the objective was to design a space for SUNSET magazine which is opening an office in downtown SLC. each person on the team did different parts of the project. i'm just going to post some images of the layout which i did. i also built a model of the reception area but i haven't photographed it yet. note: the white squares had material samples attached after the boards were printed.

the last project that i've worked on wasn't technically for school. it was for a design contest i chose to enter. the object is to design a DREAM KITCHEN that uses GE MONOGRAM appliances. a friend of mine won last year and bought herself a harley davidson sportster with the $5000. i could really use $5000 too so i figured it was worth staying up 3 nights in a row. here are the images that i came up with and submitted:

NOTEWORTHY

yesterday i had the privilege of getting to hang out with karim rashid. some of you might recognize him from the dirt devil kone commercial:



he was in utah to do a lecture that usu interior design hosted. my friend deann and i picked him up from his hotel in slc. it was a really cool experience for us both and we ended up talking to him about everything from design (of course) to happiness to wolf parade. he even mentioned that i should come intern for him at his office in chelsea this next summer. who knows if i actually will or not but i guess it's a possibility since he suggested it. it's at least something to think about.