mark your calendars

Wednesday, September 30 at 6 pm Bill Grant, President and Creative Director of Grant Design Collaborative, will speak about *branding* in a keynote address at the Triad Design Leadershop.  The event is *free* and will take place in Harrison Auditorium on the campus of N.C. A&T State University. 

Please join me for this learning opportunity.

blogging tips : themes

I've noticed that many of you are tweaking the layout of your blog based on the feedback you've received.  Cheers to this.  Way to follow through! Remember this digital interface will serve as your first impression to many people.

With this in mind, I thought you'd be interested in this article on blog themes over at Blogging Tips.

time stops for no one

Chances are, if you've done any searching, you've already found this link. But in case you haven't, here you go! May these examples inspire you to sssssssssssstttttttttttrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeecccccccchhhh the ways in which you calculate time.    

I look forward to seeing your BOLD ideas tomorrow.

week three | HANDS ON

photo by Helga Weber

Who forces time is pushed back by time; who yields to time finds time on his side. The Talmud

Time is literally of the essence in this short project.

Drawing inspiration from the story of your retail space, as revealed through your materials board, your challenge this week is to design three options for signature timepieces for the space that speak to the essential qualities of your conceptual framework.

You are to present your ideas through a series of high-quality rendered orthographic views. These drawings, complete with helpful annotations, are due on your blog.folio for presentation at the beginning of class Monday, September 14.

F : mini-review with a minimum of 5 sketches/models, guest presentation
M : project deadline + presentation

digital paint samples

In class today I shared with you one of my favorite blogs:  Making It Lovely.  I really enjoy the way Nicole Balch, the author, approaches presenting material inspiration and hope you will take note of her techniques as you move forward with your projects this week.  Many of you were curious about how Nicole created the paint splotches on her boards... Lucky for us, Nicole has shared her secret here.

developing a color palette

Along the same lines, I think you might find this post from a past 5th year studio helpful.

PHOTO:SHOP

I've found that a good place to begin a project like this one to compile images that speak to the qualities you are seeking. Check out these inspiration boards courtesy of Style Me Pretty as...well...inspiration! While these are geared around weddings, you can see how they begin to paint a picture of qualities that could easily be translated into an interior environment.

Don't forget to record these early stages of your design process on your blog. They are just as important as the final results.

week two | INSTAMATIC SCHEMATIC

carpet tile design for Mannington by IARc alum Heather Miller, read more about the concept behind Heather's design here

Image and perception help drive value; without an image there is no perception. Scott M. Davis, Brand Asset Management

In your first assignment you investigated and developed a personal brand. This week you will test how a brand can be expressed in materials.

In an effort to update the shopping center’s image and redirect its appeal to a new market of consumers, the owner of Seasons Greetings Town Centre has hired your firm, Revisioning Retail Design Consulting, to evaluate the possibility of exchanging several of the shopping center’s less-successful chain stores for high-end specialty boutiques. Using given products and concepts as primary reference, your firm must complete a series of conceptual/feasibility studies for new mall stores.

The owner of Seasons Greetings wishes to present your initial ideas, in the form of exploratory material boards (24”x 36” mounted), at a meeting with the shopping center’s board of directors Friday, August 29 at 4 pm. As you will not be present to explain your ideas, it is imperative that your design suggestions speak for themselves with appropriate annotations. Well-executed, high quality graphic and formal techniques are expected in order to sell your design.

Following approval from the board of directors, you will begin a more thorough study of specific store components beginning Wednesday, September 3.

W : mid-week mockup review
F : project deadline

Throughout the semester you will embark on a number of case study investigations. The purpose of these exercises is to heighten your observation of details in the retail environment, thereby increasing your body of knowledge for future projects. For each case study you must write a succinct 500-word analysis. The analysis should be complimented by a series of quality annotated/captioned sketches and photographs (if allowed by the store : be sure to ask permission!) that expand upon your written investigation. Each case study is to be presented on your blog with appropriate links and citations prior to the beginning of class on its due date.

Your first case study assignment, due Monday, August 31, is to review the material components of five retail stores.  How do these materials express the store’s brand?  What are key elements?  Are the surfaces smooth? Textured? Rough? Reflective?  How does the lighting work to highlight particular aspects? Do the materials change throughout the store or stay constant?  Be careful in your selection of stores to choose ones with interesting qualities/features as these will be the most helpful to your design development. You can choose to study stores in a variety of locations (malls, downtowns, retail parks, etc.) as well as those found in books, magazines and online (eek...did I just say this?) as long as they meet this criteria. Make sure, however, that you visit at least 3 of the sites in life. Not finding what you're looking for here in Greensboro? Try a little road trip.

week one | BRAND IDENTITY

photograph by Zombizi

It is never too late to be what you could have been. George Elliot

Much of this semester’s work will be spent developing and refining identity systems, or branding, as this is an important cornerstone of successful retail design. This week you will begin your branding focus with a subject you know best : yourself.

One of the most significant things you can do as a designer is understand who you are as a designer. After all, how can you convey the type of work you do to others, if you don’t first know this yourself? But this is much easier said than done, especially when who you are, your likes and dislikes, vary from day to day – and, certainly, evolve over time. Essentially, you must grab hold of what you’ve been in the past, what you are today, and who you hope to be and go for it!

This week’s project has two parts:

1. You will begin this challenge by first looking to others for inspiration. Each of you has been assigned a designer to research. Read over their bio from the text Women of Design, seek them out on the web, learn what they do. What is their style? How is this translated into their work, websites, etc.? Illustrate a page in your sketchbook with your notes and findings to share and discuss in class on Wednesday.  Remember that someone may be seeking you out the same way? What do they find when they Google your name?!?

2. Once you’ve done a little research it is time to turn your attention to your own brand as revealed on your blog. How can you ‘renovate’ this site to better reflect you? For Wednesday, print out a screen capture of your blog in it’s current state, and visually brainstorm three ways you can update it’s look including new font treatments, colors, images, text (and most importantly, the tried and true principles and elements of design). We will review your ideas on Wednesday, working towards digital implementation for Friday.


W : Women of Design Discussion, Brand Idea Exchange
F : Newly Branded Blog Due for Critique
Next F : Professional Input Due

BUY ME. I'M WORTH IT.

Visual Merchandising: Window and In-Store Displays for Retail
Tony Morgan (London: Laurence King Publishing, 1998)

COMMENT HERE.

Please leave a comment to this post from your blog by 9 am August 28 so I can compile a list of web addresses. In your comment please let me know a topic you would like to learn more about this semester.