Furniture Design

It's been a long time.  So this post is going to bring you up to date with my Furniture Design class (Fall 2011).  It's a small class--only 8 of us.  Even before I applied to GWU, I knew I wanted to take this class.  It hasn't been offered in the past few years, so I did everything I could to be sure that I would get in.  Through some administrative glitches, the class was full and I didn't have a slot.  I was furious and heartbroken. So I registered for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Leadership).  Well, a few people dropped Furniture Design, and my name was at the top of the waiting list, so I got in!  Yea!

Our professor is the internationally award-winning product designer, Jonah Takagi.

We started by studying a random object and brainstorming words about our object.  Then again with a different object.  This was to loosen up our creativity and get us to generate so many ideas that we'd get stuck and then have to work past that to generate even more ideas. 

Next, we were assigned a current famous designer and give a presentation to the class.
My designer was Inga Sempe.

Then we created an inspiration board.
Mine was very tactile with lots of objects actually incorporated.

We sketched lots of ideas for a table, which will be our final project.

Then we selected our top 5 choices and are refining them to narrow it down to one. Below is one of my top 5. It was origninally an oval with a swooch and circle that I would inlay with mosaics. Professor Takagi suggested that I have a purpose or some connection to the shapes and that they shouldn't be random. This was good advice.  I had been thinking if I do make this table, I'd like it to be in maple.

That made me think about maple and it's leaves, bark, colors, and seeds. The seeds are the ones that fly like helicopters. So I took one seed and worked with it to create a shape for the table top and the mosaic inlay.

That's enough for now.  Check back in a few days or next week for more about my life as a GWU Interior Design grad student.

Finally, something to post

This semester has been very challenging for me. I just couldn't seem to get it together after the Christmas break. Anyway, spring break was wonderful. All mid-term projects were turned in before the break, so I could enjoy the time off without worries, knowing that I had done my best and what will be will be.

We went skiing at Alyeska, Alaska. It was awesome. Beautiful, sunny, super slopes and so relaxing. One of the best vacations ever.

This second half is going so much better. Here is the concept board for Residental Project 2.

The image of the shallow bowl and the key are my illustrations. I did them with prismacolor markers. The key also has some prismacolor pencils. Both were done on vellum.

Not much to show

Residential is great

First class in Residential Design was great. I just know I am going to love this class.

A new year and a new semester

Classes start tomorrow, Jan. 10, 2011. I am expanding this blog to cover all of my classes. This semester, I am taking Residential Studio, 3D Drawing and Rendering, and Auto CAD. I am looking forward to these classes. The schedule this semester is also more condusive to working out on a regular basis.
Winter break was great. I got to spend a week in Texas with family. My son, William, came in a couple days after I arrived, so it was fun getting to spend time with him. I made it back to Virginia in time to spend Christmas with my wonderful husband, Keith. Then we went skiing in Utah. I got back yesterday and Keith comes home today. It was a relaxing, fun, and energizing vacation. The ski conditions were awesome. We skied at Alta, Snow Basin, and Snow Bird. Most days were sunny and beautiful. I took a lot of photos, but also did some sketching and practiced my lettering. Happy 2011!

Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.

Well, we're at the end of the semester. I think I just might continue this blog. I've had so much fun this semester. I can't remember when I have felt so alive and happy. Skiing a double black run in Utah comes close but that's only for a few days. :-)

I hate to see this semester end. I've made some really great friends and have just had so much fun!

Here's the final project. It was supposed to be a tiny, no-stress assignment. It took me 12 hours, not counting going to school to take more photos, but it was a good time. I think this is a keeper. A cool suprise when I was mounting them is that while I designed them to fit together horizontally (11 x 34) they also look good stacked (17 x 22).

Enjoy the holidays. Stay safe, be kind, and live happy.

The presentation

Group "A" gave their presentations and the projects were excellent. They had to move them to the front of the room where the judges were. The judges (professors) were critical. I was thinking, "I hope our models don't fall apart when we have to move them to the front."

Next came the group "B" presentations (our group). I think we went first. Our Kiosk was a wrapping paper boutique in a high-end mall. The concept was that every gift, if it is beautifully wrapped, creates excitement, anticipation, and wonder. It doesn't matter if the actual gift isn't any good, the wrapping can elevate its level of value based on the wrappings. So to display our beautiful papers and give them value, our boutique was quite glitzy and glamorous. Everything was gold and black lacquer. Fitting in with the glitzy glamorous theme, I wore a black skirt suit with gold trim, gold jewelry (extra to add to the effect), black stockings, and high-heel sexy black satin shoes with bows. I curled my hair and took extra care with my make-up to look the part.

Adding to the humor of the glitz and glam, I got Veera to offer the judges a silver platter of ginger cookies and caramels. While it was an absurd overt attempt to soften up the judges, it also calmed a few growling stomachs of the other students who I knew had missed breakfast.

My group voted me as the spokesperson. Having had a good night sleep, I felt confident and enjoyed the moment.

Then came the judges turn. The models were okay. The ribbons were too long and would make it difficult to people to get passed them. But then came the bombshell. They were really critical of the drawings. I felt badly for Suzanne, but it was a group project and we should have managed our time better so that we could review each other's work. Suzanne stepped up and said that she was responsible for the drawings. We were in this together, so we had no doubts that whatever the grade, we'd all be getting the same thing. So we'll wait for the grade and see what happens. Here are the photos of our project: