Leaf Drawing

The drawing below was Phase 2 to our IARC 110 final exam. We were told to use the different techniques that we had learned over the semester and incorporate them into 9 different leaf drawings.

Ten Foreign Design Journals

1. Architese : German

Also while I was in Europe I was able to view the Architese Magazine in Germany. This sleek, simple magazine is full of stories about the designers lives and articles about their designs. I didn't really like the style of writing they used, it was almost as if the writers were trying to give a lecture rather than trying to intrigue you into wanting to design your rooms the way they did.

2. Case da Arbitare : Italian

When I traveled to Europe two years ago I was introduced to Case da Arbitare Magazine which is an Italian interior design magazine that is full of their wonderful culture and design techniques. This magazine is completely full of ads but is balanced back out with its use of pictures of buildings, modern products and designers. Each month it shows new products, materials, interviews, garden architecture, news and events from all over the world.




3. Cztery Katy: Poland

This Polish magazine started in 1991 and has since grown into the most popular interior design magazine in the country. This wonderful magazine includes ideas on how people can arrange and renovate their flats (homes) by themselves. I love their designs because they are based on pleasant, comfortable surroundings which a lot of readers want in their own homes.

4. Design Week : English

Design Week magazine is the UK's leading interior design magazine which specializes in design news and jobs. It also includes a variety of top designs, awards and graphic layouts from all over the country. It is not the most eye appealing magazine but it has so much useful information that you will find yourself reading it cover to cover trying to get inside tips on the newest ideas and products.

5. Divaani : Finnish

The newest interior design magazine in Finland, Divaani, targets middle aged women who view their homes as an endless project. It is a luxurious and attractive magazine that contains articles drawn from Bonnier Danish interior design magazine "Bo Bedre". The magazines has multiple articles on how design helps to bring out a person's style & personality. It has a wonderful layout that is classy and sleek.

6. Domus : Italian

While reading Arbitare I also found Domus which is also an Italian interior design magazine. This magazine was much better than Arbitare because it was created by Gio Ponti, famous designer/architect of the 1940's, and it is of a much better editing quality. Another bonus of this magazine is that it is bilingual, the articles are in both English and Italian. It keeps you wanting to read more because some of the pages are interactive, meaning they catch the eye and keep you attention focused on the designs.

7. Experimenta : Australia

This bimonthly, 6 times a year, magazine from Australia is published in Spain, and also includes bilingual text in English and Spanish. It was first published in 1989 and mainly focuses on Design Architecture and Visual Communication. I love how each page is specifically layed out to focus on that designers main ideas, whether it is water or straight lines. It is full of beautiful pictures that draw you into the pages, as if you were really there in the rooms.

8. I Design : Thailand

I Design magazine was Thailand's first interior design magazine ever published. It include a wide variety of bathroom, trend and workshop designs. It also contains articles on each designer used in the magazine and their products. They have amazing pages that are filled with beautiful pictures of their culture and styles. They even offer a design club membership for subscribing to their magazine which gives you discounts on many different items in Thailand.

9. Interior Design China : China

This internationally known magazine covers everything from interior rooms to large business design firms. It is a well designed magazine that includes every aspect of design you would ever need to know about, accessories for your rooms such as, hand carved tables, ornate lamps and cultural chairs. I love the layout because it is not too overwhelming with the pictures but includes enough so the reader can get the main idea of the design concepts. The magazine originally came in only Chinese but is now available in many other languages such as English.

10. Urbis - Architecture & Design Magazine : New Zealand

Urbis is unlike any design magazine that I have ever read. It delivers a stimulating, but entertaining look at architecture and design to a public which responds to the urban environment. I love this magazine because it includes the hottest news in design, architecture, interiors, art and fashion from New Zealand and around the world. Although it is only bimonthly every issue is packed with complete design and style guides that are delivered with intelligence and humor.

Fun Times In IARC

Ten Graphic/Media Designs

1. Titleist always does the best job with their graphics. They are able to catch your eye with the design and colors while keeping your focus on how their golf ball will make you play better.

2. Pepsi is my favorite drink and they are always coming up with new unique designs. I love the contrast of the blues and different shapes they use to capture our attention.

3. My new favorite snack are the Special K protein bars. They are delicious and make apparent on the label that you can lose 10 lbs in only two weeks. The Special K company is very successful at convincing the public to begin their diet with all their slogans and distinct colors.


4. The Deer Park label is so relaxing with its use of colors and setting that it draws you into believing that their water is straight from a fresh water creek.

5. What comes to mind when you think of the color orange and chocolate? Thats right . . . Reese's! I know for a fact that the label works because every time I see the mouth watering label it makes me crave the candy.

6. When I think of an energy drink I think of the late nights at studio and all my 24 packs of Full throttle. I love the different layouts of the cans and how the colors are not dull but pop right out at you conveying the feeling of energy.

7. When you think of chips and cheese you think of Doritos. Besides Lays, Doritos is the classic American chip that puts a whole nother meaning on Cheesy! I love the new designs on the bag that display the amount of cheese and flavor of the extreme chips.

8. Coca-Cola is the original soda that has kept with their original logo from the beginning. Although they have added to the backgrounds of their product labels they are most known for their coca-cola red.

9. One of the best designed software boxes is by Adobe. The colors get your mind going with imagination as you begin your journey with their software. Creative Suite 3 is relatively new so it is one of Adobe's top design softwares and it is well represented in the box layout.

10. I never used to be a cookie dough eating kind of girl until I was walking through the grocery store one day and I saw the packaging of the new Pillsbury cookie dough. Now I am addicted to it and basically everything else made by them! The label had such a big impact on me with its colors and mouth watering pictures of their food items.

Hagia Sophia Project

Tuesday we were given an assignment to turn a picture or title 1" x 1" box and into a 12" x 12" cube. Below is my title part of the secret project.

Time Capsule Layout

Below is my page layout for my Time Capsule.

I have also included my orthographic drawings of my time capsule.

Ten Design Firm Websites

Below are the ten websites of design firms and organizations that I have visited, and my constructive criticism of the quality of the website.

1. Ai3
http://ai3online.com
The clean lines of the website really make the layout stand out because the eye can easily navigate the page. The web page opens with the companies background and goals, and at the bottom of the each page is their contact information. I love how you can scroll the mouse over the topics on the home page and it is followed by a solid orange line. It is a simple addition that really helps the websites composition. Overall Ai3 did a very good job of creating their website to be user friendly and attractive to the eye.

2. Triad Design Group
http://www.triad-designgroup.com
Located in Greensboro, this home town company is known for their spectacular work with the Grandover Club House & Piedmont Triad International Airport Renovations. Their website is very user friendly which helps a lot because you can find the information you need quick and easy. The page consist of a simple blue and purple layout that is able to catch your eye beside of the architectural lines across the pages. All of the section titles can be easily read but the font size for the descriptive information could be a little bigger. The fact that it is really hard to read the small paragraphs in blue is the only problem I see with their design firm website.


3. Pink Door, Inc.
http://pinkdoorinteriors.com
Also located in Greensboro is the design firm of Glen Lavinder called the Pink Door. They have become well known all over the world for their passionate all inclusive interior design services. Their website is wonderful because of the strong contrast in the lettering color and the beautiful pictures on every page.


4. Brett Climan Design
http://www.brettcliman.com/bcgraphixlogo.htm
I love this website because it is what I think of as digital eye candy. This very interactive site is creative while keeping the theme of modern design. All of the links load quickly and the user is able to read the fonts with ease.


5. Urban Interiors Florida
http://www.urbaninteriorsflorida.com
This sleek website is layed out very well because of its. The simple yellow squares and 4 picture a page layout helps keep the web pages consistent and modern. The text is all readable for the titles as well as the paragraphs and I think that the font that they chose is perfect. Everything just mixes together and forms the perfect user friendly website.


6. Greenough Interior Design
http://www.greenoughinteriordesign.com

This layout is similar to the other websites because it has the section titles at the top of the page and the information that loads underneath it, such as pictures and paragraphs. I don't really like this design because it is kind of boring. The colors do not match very well and the font in the paragraphs alternates between blue and black lettering. It distracts the eye from the true concept of the page. Other that that this website works good and gets the companies point across.

7. Chase Collaborative
http://chasecollaborative.com
This website is wonderful! I love the page layouts with the beautiful interior design pictures. This very interactive site is simple and sleek where you can find quickly exactly what you are looking for. The pictures alone make you want to explore the website further. The text size and color is perfect and readable.

8. Fletcher Design Consultants
http://www.fletcherdesignconsultants.com
Compared to the other websites I have commented on this one is more words than pictures. I think it actually hurts the pages because it is not as pleasing to the eye as the other colorful ones are. The navigation tools work but they are kind of hidden on the right side of the page. It looks like the web page was put together in a few minutes due to the fact of the lack of extra options and pictures.


9. Cippananda Interior Design
http://www.cippananda.com
There is only one word that can describe this website... SIMPLE!! When the homepage opens you only see four things the three topics and logo for the company. The other pages however are similar but have a few added pictures of their designed rooms. I kind of dislike this website only because you do not get a feel for what the company is really like.


10. O Design Solutions
http://www.odesignsolutions.com
I love this elegant website. It catches your eye while keeping your attention on the rooms they have designed. The navigation is very simple and has clean lines a the top of each page to keep the pages consistent with the rest of the website. All of the text is readable on the white background and overall the site flows very well.

Two New Technologies

When looking at the field of interior design you can see how quickly technology is changing. Each and every day there are new inventions that makes work quicker, easier and more energy efficient. Below are two examples of new technology in the design field.

1. Adobe InDesign CS3

This new professional page layout program delivers new features that allow you to explore more creative possibilities, experience greater productivity ad streamline repetitive tasks. It was released in April 2007 and offers upgraded programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, InCopy and Dreamweaver. For around $699.99 you will get an amazing package of programs that have been specially designed to run on Windows Vista and Intel Macs. This package is being innovated into the environment we inhabit by allowing designers to better develop web sites, page layouts and be apart of an online community forum called CSS advisor.

2. Genius PenSketch

PenSketch is a new high resolution design tool for professional artists. The cordless digital pen and mouse is used to draw and illustrate effortlessly and process the images more precisely and rapidly. This product by Genius cost about $49.99, but it also comes with a Adobe Photoshop CS (trial version), Corel Painter IX (trial version), and Adobe Photoshop Elements (full version). This PenSketch drawing pad is innovated into the environment we inhabit by making it easier to quickly transferring a drawing or hand written paper into the computer. It makes our society much more efficient.

Ten Sustainable Designs

After searching through dozens of research journals I have come up with my final definition of what a sustainable design is, it is essentially designing objects and their built environments which both comply with the principles of social, economic and ecological sustainability.

1. The Journal of Sustainable Product Design

This wonderful quarterly journal put out by The Centre for Sustainable Design not only stresses the importance of economic, environmental, ethical and social issues in product design and development but also the assessment of dematerialization and system changes. JSPD aims to initiate leading-edge thinking in eco-design and sustainable product development and design. It also provides a platform for organizations and individuals to discuss new solutions to complex issues surrounding sustainability.




2. Scarpa & Brooks Firm

Lawrence Scarpa sees strong solar architecture as the ultimate solution to the debate between the pros and cons of solar energy. While remodeling, Scarpa became a serious sustainability pioneer by reinforcing that solar panels should be treated as art objects. He later was a finalist in the 2003 World Habitat Awards for his inventions.

3. HOK
I love how HOK embraces their responsibility to advance sustainable design for every building type, geographic region and budget level. Their approach to sustainable designs includes limiting the consumption of resources, improving the building performance, and promoting health.



4. Sustainable Design Group
This very active group is devoted to helping you design buildings or renovate your home to make it as energy efficient and harmonious with the environment as possible. The designs try to incorporate nature and self sufficient in energy, water, waste and food production, with the use of solar, wind and biological cycles.


5. Syska Hennessy Group
The Syska Hennessy Group is well known for their work on the Santa Monica Library because of the sustainable mechanical, electrical, and plumbing that they added into the building. The library contains high efficiency lighting systems, underfloor air distribution, demand-controlled ventilation and many other features that make this library truly stand out of the ordinary. They strive to establish sustainability goals and to implement green building strategies.


6. American Society of Landscape Architects
This professional design group is committed to ecology based planning and design. They create landscapes that balance the needs of man and the environment while benefiting both. While trying to balance the needs they also plan to advance the theory of sustainable design in landscape architecture and planning.


7. Sustainable Suites Initiative
This partnership between the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and the United States Botanic Garden to develop guidelines and standards for landscape sustainability. Their services provide climate regulation, clean air and water, and an overall improved quality of life.



8. Sustainable Web Design

Not only do we need environmental sustainability but we also need web design sustainability which is offered by the Sustainable Web Design Group. Their guideline is that the web should be an informative, lively place that includes as many individuals as are wiling to participate.

9. Solar Power
Solar power is more widely used now because it has become cheaper and people have figured out that it has no negative effect on our environment.






10. Geothermal Energy
This method of heating emits only minimal amounts of gases into the atmosphere making it a very reasonable source of energy. It actually keeps the water below ground above boiling point and the pressure from the heat causes it to stay in the liquid form underground. When the water is pumped out of the ground it reduces the pressure which causes the water to flash into steam and turn a turbine to generate the needed electricity.


One of the biggest challenges of sustainable design is blending it with architecturally appealing and interesting design. Would you rather live in a house without windows that may be more energy efficient or in a house with windows?